As Sting stepped off the edge of the platform, suspended 140 feet above 17,000 fans, he quickly realized something was very wrong.
Sting rappels from the rafters for the very first time on WCW Monday Nitro at Chicago’s United Center on January 20th, 1997. Photo Credit: WWE.
The Birth of an Iconic Entrance
Sting during his vibrant surfer phase in WCW. Photo Credit: WWE.
In the late 1990s, as the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWE reached their peak, wrestling promotions pushed the boundaries of entertainment to new heights – sometimes literally. On January 20th, 1997, WCW was about to debut one of the most memorable and dangerous entrances in professional wrestling history at Chicago’s United Center.
The man at the center of this daring feat was Sting, whose transformation from colorful surfer to brooding crow had captivated audiences. To complete this metamorphosis, WCW planned something unprecedented: having their biggest star descend from the arena’s rafters, a stunt that would become his trademark but nearly cost him everything.
Preparation and Trepidation
Before his daring descent at the United Center in 1997, Sting trained with professional stunt coordinators on natural cliffs and rocks in California. Photo Credit: WWE.
Understanding the gravity of such a dangerous maneuver, Sting took his preparation seriously. Before the United Center event, he trained in California, practicing rappelling techniques on natural cliffs and rocks with professional stunt coordinators. However, nothing could fully prepare him for the challenges of descending in an arena setting.
In an interview with Wrestling Epicenter, Sting revealed the intense preparation that preceded his first descent: “My training happened on the very first day that I did it, which was Chicago at the United Center. We had a couple of stunt guys there working with me, and I rappelled four times earlier in the day to practice.”
A Terrifying Height
Sting’s 140-foot descent posed unique challenges, including uncontrollable spinning during practice. Photo Credit: WWE.
The sheer height of the descent – 140 feet – created unique challenges. “When we were up there trying to talk to the guys on the ground earlier in the day, they couldn’t hear us. We had to use walkie-talkies,” Sting recalled.
The practice runs revealed troubling complications, with Sting experiencing uncontrollable spinning during his descents.
The stunt coordinator’s advice seemed counterintuitive: “Look, if you just go down it [at] one speed, and just control your speed on the way down – but just go a little faster – you’re not going to spin.”
After four unsuccessful practice attempts, Sting approached Eric Bischoff with serious concerns: “I can’t do this… I tried it four times, and it’s just not working very good.”
The Moment of Truth
As show time approached, the atmosphere grew increasingly chaotic.
“The crowd is as loud as you can imagine, and the sound just travels up — it’s deafening,” Sting described. “Then we’re talking to each other up there, and then you’re screaming at each other- the pyro’s going off, the lights, and suddenly you can’t even think straight; you can’t even hear yourself think.”
It was in this moment of sensory overload that disaster nearly struck. As Sting prepared to step off the platform, the team made a horrifying discovery – the rigging was set up backward. Standing precariously on the edge, they had to quickly flip the rope around and reweave it through the equipment.
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A Near-Fatal Error
Former WWF photographer Tom Buchanan shared this photo of shackles identical to what Owen Hart used the night he tragically passed away on May 23rd, 1999. Photo Credit: Tom Buchanan.
The gravity of this close call wouldn’t be fully appreciated until two years later when a similar stunt resulted in Owen Hart’s tragic death at WWE’s Over the Edge pay-per-view. Reflecting on his experience, Sting acknowledged the chilling parallel: “I’m telling you if I’d stepped over and done it, the same thing that happened to Owen would have happened to me.”
Thankfully, Sting and his technical team caught the error in time. The successful descent that followed would become one of wrestling’s most iconic entrances, repeated many times throughout his career. However, the risk never diminished.
“We did it a couple of different ways, and it didn’t matter which way we did it; it was always scary.”
Watch Sting Rappel From the Rafters for the Very First Time on WCW Monday Nitro on January 20, 1997:
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JP Zarka is the founder of Pro Wrestling Stories, established in 2015, where he guides the site's creative vision as editor-in-chief. From 2018 to 2019, he hosted and produced The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo, brother of WWE legend Macho Man Randy Savage. His diverse background includes roles as a school teacher, assistant principal, published author, musician with the London-based band Sterling Avenue, and being a proud father of two amazing daughters. He has appeared on the television show Autopsy: The Last Hours Of and contributed research for programming on ITV and BBC.
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