Sting has always had an undeniable cool factor. Whether as the neon warrior of the late ’80s/early ‘90s, the dark avenger lurking in the rafters, or the fearless daredevil in his later years, it’s no surprise so many wrestlers have emulated The Icon. From villainous deception to heroic tributes, here are fifteen of our favorite performers who have donned the makeup and ring gear of Sting!
1. Barry Windham as Sting (WCW, 1990)
Barry Windham prowls the ring at Halloween Havoc, disguised as Sting. Photo Credit: WWE
Sid was a relative newcomer to WCW at the time. Standing at 6 ft 9 and looking like a million dollars, the Four Horsemen brought in this hot new prospect to help combat Sting and his new ally, Robocop. Man, do I miss the ’90s.
A few months later, Sid faced Sting in the main event of everyone’s favorite spooky spectacular.
Towards the end of the match, the two brawled on the outside, making their way to the backstage area. When they returned to the ring, The Icon attempted a body slam on the ginormous Sid, but the weight was too much, and Sid landed on top, pinning him 1-2-3.
But wait, who is this making their way from ringside wrapped in rope? Another Sting?
It turns out that no-good Sid pinned a doppelganger, portrayed by Barry Windham. The real Sting slid back into the ring, the match restarted, Sting hit the Stinger Splash, and he retained his title.
2. Jeff Farmer as nWo Sting (WCW, 1996)
Jeff Farmer as the infamous nWo Sting, one of the most successful imposters of them all. Photo Credit: WWE
The most famous Sting who wasn’t Sting has to be Jeff Farmer as nWo Sting.
Sting had been feuding with the new heel faction since their inception at Bash At The Beach in 1996.
A couple of months later, on the September 9th episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Sting’s friend Lex Luger was in a match with Rick Steiner when referee Nick Patrick suddenly came to ringside and told Luger he had to follow him back.
Fearing for the wellbeing of Sting, Luger made his way to the parking lot demanding answers from the New World Order’s beneficiary Ted DiBiase. As Lex confronted Ted, he was attacked from behind by the nWo, led by Sting himself.
Of course, this Sting wasn’t the real deal, as confirmed at the Fall Brawl War Games match where both Stings competed.
“Eric (Bischoff) would have to tell you because I don’t know where the concept started or who came up with it or the whole kind of birth of where that came out of, but I know that they thought that physically I was similar to Steve (Sting).
“Size-wise, we are about the same size. Even though I was probably heavier than him, we were kind of the same general size.”
Farmer continued, “They had to find someone who could look the part and be able to pull off the switch. They actually took me in and did prosthetics. I wore contacts and it was very elaborate how they went in and did a mask, like a plaster mask, of Steve’s face and did a plaster mask of my face.
“They used a guy from F/X that was a really good F/X guy that they were using that did all the whole prosthetic pieces of my eyebrows, forehead, and chin that they made to make me look similar in the face, but later we dropped that because you couldn’t tell with the face paint on and I didn’t even use it.
“At first, I did, and I’d sit in makeup for an hour and put in contacts because I remember when I got out of the limo that was me when that happened, and when I kicked Lex (Luger), I couldn’t even see that good because of the contacts.
“Eric had told me that if it got out, they were going to squash it and kill the deal, so I didn’t say a word, and everybody else involved didn’t say anything.
“It was pretty kayfabe at the time, including the boys, who weren’t sure if it was really Sting. I think that was really one of the coups of wrestling at that point, that even though it was a work, the guys didn’t know if it was Sting.
Rather than end the gimmick with the reveal, Farmer would portray the character for another two years, joining nWo Japan in New Japan Pro Wrestling and even appearing in video games. Surely the most successful of all imposter gimmicks, let alone imposter Stings.
3. Hollywood Hogan in Sting Disguise (WCW, 1997)
Hollywood Hogan disguised as Sting, tricking fans and wrestlers alike. Photo Credit: WWE
Despite having their own in-house Stinger, members of the nWo would still use any excuse to dress up as the original. We decided to highlight this one as it’s one of the more comical.
On the October 13th, 1997 episode of Nitro, interim WCW Commissioner Roddy Piper found himself in the ring having a heated debate with Eric Bischoff and a neck-braced Randy Savage.
When more members of the nWo b-team arrived, it looked like Piper might have his work cut out for him. But have no fear—Sting was there to back up the Hot Rod. A weirdly bulky, tall, uncomfortable-looking Sting, who had opted for a mask instead of face paint.
As Sting slowly made his way into the ring to stand beside Piper, adorned in what appeared to be a Betty Boop wig, Roddy must have been too caught up in the moment to notice any discrepancies.
Sting then turned on Piper, hitting him with a bat as the nWo attacked. That’s not Sting—it was Hollywood Hogan, fooling everyone in the crowd with a visual impairment. And Roddy Piper, too, evidently.
A recovered Roddy Piper came out to hand over the belt to DDP, but once again, the nWo attacked.
But who was that making their way through the crowd? Another weird-looking Betty Boop Sting, and then another, and another. Then some more made their way down from the entrance ramp. An army of Stings.
We use the term ‘army’ very loosely, as their tactic seemed to be taking turns entering the ring while the nWo laid them out one by one with very little effort. That is until Buff Bagwell planted one on the face of a Spirit of Halloween Sting, and he doesn’t budge. It’s the real Sting!
After a Scorpion Death Drop on Bagwell, the rest of the New World Order cower back up the entrance ramp.
Sting handed the nWo-painted WCW World Championship to Roddy Piper, who proceeded to swing it around his head like a crazy person, and so Nitro ended on this chaotic, confusing, but admittedly awesome scene.
5. Jeff Jarrett as Sting (WCW, 2000)
Jeff Jarrett stands face-to-face with the real Sting, continuing their heated rivalry in TNA. Photo Credit: TNA.
October seems to be imposter Sting season. In the wake of another Halloween Havoc, on the October 9th episode of Nitro, taking place from Brisbane, Australia, a merch table is set up in the center of the ring, covered in Sting posters, T-shirts, and other assorted pieces of Sting merch.
The Icon’s music hits and out comes Sting, dressed in old-school bleach-blonde surfer attire. Of course, this isn’t the real deal, but Jeff Jarrett, who was set to face The Stinger at the upcoming PPV.
Jeff tells the crowd how he is the real Sting, before he lost his heart, and has come here to cash in before Double J pins and retires him at Halloween Havoc. The real Sting then rappels down from the rafters and puts a beat down on Jeff, highlights of which include Sting putting commentator Stevie Ray’s cowboy hat on Jarrett before delivering a double-handed thunderclap across the chops of the copycat.
Jarrett then actually gains the upper hand, even managing to pull off a Stinger Splash on the Stinger before smashing him through a table with a suplex. Sting no sells and locks the Scorpion Death Lock on Jarrett while refs plead with him to stop.
Jarrett fondly remembers the experience while chatting with Conrad Thompson on his My World podcast.
"I loved it. There are parts of this, working with Sting, that I really enjoyed. Other times, it wasn’t Sting, it was the circumstances. We both kind of knew that ‘Wow, this is too much. This creative is not going in the right direction"
“That’s Sting’s original jacket that he dug up and had to haul all the way to Australia. The make-up? I didn’t do that, he did the outline and the make-up artist…Just doing all that, the reaction, hearing all that when I headed out to the arena, it was big babyface pop and then they went ‘Oh, wait a minute’…all of that was cool."
6. The Many Fake Stings (WCW, 2000)
Sting prepares to throw a doppelganger over the top rope at Halloween Havoc 2000. Photo Credit: WWE
So remember way back when, at the beginning of this list, we spoke about a fake Sting invading the Sting and Sid Vicious NWA title match? Well, ten years later, history repeated itself, but this time with even more Stings.
In true Dickensian fashion, these “Ghosts of Stingmas Past” interfered with Sting and Jeff Jarrett’s Halloween Havoc match one by one. First, 1989 Sting made his way from the entrance, only to be met by the real Sting and hit with a Scorpion Death Drop for his troubles.
Next, a pink 1990 Sting, complete with a military jacket, made his way through the crowd. Sting hit this fella with another Scorpion Death Drop, and off he went.
WOLFPAC IN THE HOUSE! It was Red Sting’s turn to make a cameo, and like his predecessors, he got dropped—Scorpion Death Drop style.
The Stings Keep Coming!
Sting comes face to face with a fake Sting, ripping up through the wrestling ring canvas. Photo Credit: WWE.
With all those Stings out of the way, the real Sting wrapped Jeff Jarrett up in the Scorpion Death Lock in the center of the ring, when ANOTHER Sting, this time crow style, ripped up through the ring mat and pulled the real Sting down with him.
After a couple of silent beats, the real Sting emerged, pulling the fake Sting up with him.
Fake Sting had blood on his face, no doubt the result of a sound thrashing the real Sting gave him under the ring for his cheekiness. Rather than give him yet another Scorpion Death Drop, Stinger opted to throw him over the top rope instead—a choice that would come back to haunt him.
Now Sting could finally focus on Jarr—oh wait, no, he couldn’t. The lights went out, and another crow Sting dropped down from the rafters. Sting smashed this one with a Scorpion Death Drop through the announce table.
FINALLY, back in the ring, Sting prepared to finish Jarrett with the Death Lock AGAIN when the first fake Crow Sting (the bloodied one Sting didn’t death drop) interrupted AGAIN, hitting Sting with Jeff’s guitar and giving Jarrett the win in a match widely considered as awful as it was confusing.
7. Eric Young as Surfer Sting (TNA, 2006)
Eric Young dresses up as the pink Surfer Sting during his TNA tribute. Photo Credit: TNA
After the closure of WCW, Sting made a few sporadic appearances for TNA before going full-time with the company in 2006.
In the build-up to his eventual TNA debut, wrestlers paid many tributes to the legend, and in January 2006, Jeff Jarrett decided it was his turn to show some "respect."
Declaring that no one else in the company knew Sting as well as he did, Double J dusted off the ol’ fake Stinger gimmick once again, first introducing the crowd to ‘90s Sting.
Out came Eric Young, dressed as the same pink Sting Barry Windham portrayed years ago, which was fitting as Jarrett was essentially rehashing his Halloween Havoc shtick from six years prior.
Young walked down to the ring, mimicking everyone’s favorite face-painted surfer along the way.
8. Chris Harris as Crow Sting (TNA, 2006)
Chris Harris as Crow Sting, with a chicken sidekick, pays tribute to the legend. Photo Credit: TNA
Next, Jarrett introduced 1996 Sting, and out came Chris Harris dressed as ’97/98 Sting,’ but let’s not get into semantics. Harris appeared as Crow Sting, bat and all, while being followed by someone in a chicken suit.
Interestingly, Chris Harris had already played Sting multiple times back in WCW, as part of the ’00 Sting baddies and more.
He recalled his not-Sting days in an interview with Chris Van Vliet:
"I think I was picked back then because of the look. I had the long hair, even if Sting didn’t have the long hair anymore, I fit more of The Crow Sting. I got Sting’s outfit, he’s the one that painted my face up, it was crazy."
Harris continued, "Even Sting looked right at me as he’s painting me and said, ‘This is so weird, it’s like looking in a mirror.’"
"I’m most remembered for the Halloween Havoc when I came out of the ring. That was the most fun.
"They got clips of me in the rafters where you couldn’t really tell exactly who it was. There were times I was in the coffin, I would bust out of a coffin and beat somebody up.
"I think Jeff Jarrett remembered that from WCW when we did a couple of TNA deals. I guess in a way that’s kind of been my relationship with Sting. He remembers me from doing all of those deals. If there was anybody out there doing a fake Sting, it was me."
9. Monty Brown’s Sting Parody (TNA, 2006)
Monty Brown, wearing Sting makeup as “Current Day Sting,” adds humor with his golfer attire. Photo Credit: TNA
Finally, Jeff Jarrett introduced us to current-day Sting, and out came Monty Brown in Sting face paint.
However, Brown’s attire resembled that of a professional golfer rather than a pro wrestler as he wheeled a baby carriage down to the ring, complete with a baby doll wearing a Sting mask. Get it? Sting’s old!
The four (or five, if you count Crow Sting’s chicken man) danced around the ring until, thankfully, Christian Cage and Team 3D came out to end the shenanigans.
10. Ken Anderson’s Surfer Sting (TNA, 2011)
Ken Anderson channels the blue-and-yellow Surfer Sting during a memorable TNA segment. Photo Credit: TNA
Five years after the last imposter gimmick, it was time for TNA to rehash fake Sting once again, this time with Mr. Anderson donning the war paint.
After defending the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam the previous Sunday at the Sacrifice pay-per-view, Sting made his way to the ring to give props to Rob Van Dam. Suddenly, yes, you guessed it—he was attacked by Sting.
Ken Anderson, as blue and yellow surfer Sting, hit the icon with a baseball bat and followed it with a Scorpion Death Drop. The show ended with Anderson gloating over Sting’s prone body.
Ken remembers that night fondly, as he expressed in a Reddit AMA:
"That was actually my idea. I said in passing one day, ‘What about me dressing up as old Sting?’ I mean, I had the blonde hair. And Sting actually loved it.”
Anderson continued, “Those outfits that I wore were actually Sting’s old gear, and he painted my face. A cool moment. Looking back on that, I would have to slide him into that group of most significant opponents that I’ve had."
11. Tyler Breeze Pays Tribute to Sting (WWE, 2016)
Tyler Breeze dons Sting’s iconic Crow look during a Halloween tribute. Photo Credit: WWE
Okay, we hear you. This list is starting to get a little repetitive with all the imposters and mind games. Luckily, by 2016, Sting had ascended into legend mode, so from here on out, it’s mostly tributes. In fact, you can even pay your own tribute to Mr. Borden, thanks to this YouTube tutorial.
In 2014, Sting finally made his debut in WWE. Sadly, by 2015, his career seemed all but over due to a neck injury and years of wear and tear.
As Halloween and Sting go so well together (just check the dates in this list for confirmation), on October 29th, 2015, WWE released this video with Tyler Breeze to help all the little Stingers with their face-painting needs:
12. CM Punk and Sting Unite (AEW, 2021)
CM Punk and Sting team up, paying homage to each other with special face paint. Photo Credit: AEW
Sting’s true final run took place in AEW, where he teamed with Darby Allin for most of it.
On the December 22nd, 2021, "Holiday Bash" edition of AEW Dynamite, the Dynamic Duo teamed up with CM Punk to take on The Pinnacle’s MJF and FTR.
Such an epic team-up needed some equally epic make-up to mark the occasion. Sting wore a punk-inspired crossed fist and lightning bolt design on his face, while CM Punk sported Chicago-colored Surfer Sting-inspired attire and war paint.
AEW make-up artist Danni Dinino spoke to the A2theK Wrestling Show about the process of painting both Sting and Punk’s faces.
“I’ve learned with him (Sting), let me hand him the mirror and have him check it as I go. When you do it yourself that often, you get used to how you like your stuff, and I get that.
“For this one, I literally cut it out and taped it to his face first so he could see where I was going to do it and had him ‘okay’ it. Then I just went for it. Everyone loved that one, and I didn’t know if it was going to be a hit or miss, but everyone loved it, and they turned it into a toy.”
“Punk’s look—he came in with a photo of Sting that he wanted me to copy, but with the Chicago colors. Both of them are such icons, and it was nerve-wracking to do their paint. The guys don’t like to sit there long either, so when they were like, ‘Okay, this is good enough, we’re going to go,’ I was like, ‘No, I need to fix this.’
“They’re extremely popular, and going to be on TV, so if it’s messed up, it’s on me. But a lot of people liked that look, so I’m glad it got good reviews.”
13. STANG’s Comedic Take (2020)
“It’s STAAAAAAAANG!” STANG delivers comedic relief, continuing the legacy of Sting tributes. Photo Credit: Talk ‘N Shop A Mania.
During the lockdowns of 2020 and ’21, a shadowy figure stalked the independent professional wrestling scene. A man named STANG made sporadic appearances, often terrorizing the likes of Matt Cardona, Curt Hawkins, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson.
Speaking of Gallows and Anderson, it was at their “Talk ‘N Shop A Mania 2” pay-per-view, a homemade comedy event held under strict lockdown restrictions, where STANG had his most infamous moment. He hit Chad 2 Badd and Sex Ferguson in the nether regions with a barbed wire baseball bat.
Not much is known about the man called STANG, but smart money says it’s Heath Slater in a bad wig.
14. Garrett Borden as USA Sting (AEW, 2024)
Garrett Borden, dressed in his father’s USA-themed attire. Photo Credit: AEW.
All good things must end, and for Sting, his career concluded at AEW Revolution, where he once again teamed up with Darby Allin to face The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Team Championship.
After the familiar electric guitar tones of Sting’s AEW entrance music played, Sting made his way to the ramp—or was it Sting Jr.?
Garrett Borden, dressed in his father’s iconic American flag attire, complete with bleached blonde hair, was the spitting image of his dad.
15. Steven Borden Jr. as Wolfpac Sting (AEW, 2024)
Steven Borden Jr., portraying his father’s Wolfpac Sting, hits the Stinger Splash. Photo Credit: AEW.
Soon, Garrett was joined by Wolfpac-era Sting, portrayed by his brother, Sting’s elder son, Steven Borden Jr. Then, as Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy” hit the speakers, the patriarch of the family joined the boys to massive applause. A family that Stings together sticks together.
The Borden brothers weren’t just there for the entrance; they got involved in the match itself, with both hitting a Stinger Splash on each of The Young Bucks.
Something about the experience must have struck a chord with young Steven. Despite previously stating he had no intentions of following in his father’s footsteps, Darby Allin revealed to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp that the son of The Stinger may rise again.
“Steven, his son who played football, is actually staying at my house training to be a pro wrestler. He’s sleeping in a tent in my front yard. He’s literally never thought of it his whole life, but being there at Revolution, he caught whatever urge to train.
“I talked to him and Sting on the phone and said, ‘Come down.’ I have a ring at my house and everything. He’s there now.”
The Icon Himself: Sting’s Legacy Lives On
Sting, with bat, in all his iconic glory. Photo Credit: AEW
Of course, one person who enjoys dressing up as Sting is Sting himself. Ever since dropping Buff Bagwell with a Scorpion Death Drop all those years ago, Sting disguised in a Sting mask has become one of wrestling’s greatest running jokes.
Even though Sting has retired, the dress-ups haven’t stopped. With Britt Baker recently pulling off the Sting mask surprise to get the drop on Mercedes Moné, it seems the Sting tributes are far from over. And with more of the Borden bloodline in training, it looks like this tradition will continue for years to come.
Pro Wrestling Stories is committed to accurate, unbiased wrestling content rigorously fact-checked and verified by our team of researchers and editors. Any inaccuracies are quickly corrected, with updates timestamped in the article's byline header.
Got a correction, tip, or story idea for Pro Wrestling Stories? Contact us! Learn about our editorial standards here.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us provide free content for you to enjoy!
Tim Buckler, a senior writer here at Pro Wrestling Stories, has been an author for over a decade, penning articles for sites such as WhatCulture, Screen Rant, Inside The Ropes, and many more, but his heart will always belong to Pro Wrestling Stories. He also presents a pop culture radio show entitled "The Little Telly Upstairs," which airs every Thursday 8-10 pm on Radio Woking, featuring news, views, and music from film, television, comic books, video games and, of course, Pro Wrestling. Follow him @blockbusterman on Twitter for more of his ramblings!
Author: 
