Sting Recalls Near-Tragic Stunt On WCW Nitro

WWE Hall of Famer Sting has revealed that a technical mishap nearly cost him his life during a daring stunt on WCW Monday Nitro in 1997.

Speaking in a 2004 shoot interview, Sting reflected on his first descent from the rafters, which took place on the 20 January episode of Nitro. Despite having no prior training, he was expected to execute a zip-wire stunt, practising just hours before the show at Chicago’s United Center.

“My training happened on the very first day that I did it. We had a couple of stunt guys there working with me, and I rappelled four times earlier in the day to practice. 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.”

However, the process was not as smooth as he had hoped, with Sting receiving conflicting advice from the stunt coordinator.

“[He said] ‘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.’”

Concerned for his safety, Sting voiced his fears to then-WCW President Eric Bischoff.

“‘I can’t do this, I tried it four times, and it’s just not working very good.’”

As the moment arrived, the deafening crowd, flashing lights, and pyro only added to the tension.

“The crowd is as loud as you can imagine, and the sound just travels up, it’s deafening. 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.”

Just before he stepped off, the crew discovered a major rigging error. Sting believes that had they not caught it in time, he could have suffered the same fate as Owen Hart, who tragically died in a similar stunt in 1999.

“If I’d stepped over and done it, the same thing that happened to Owen would have happened to me.”

Which Former WWE Star Said That Sting Is Not A Wrestling Icon?

Former WWE star Mideon spoke on The Undertaker’s podcast and said that Sting is not a wrestling icon. Mideon said that Stinger is a WCW icon and not an overall wrestling icon, despite his famous moniker of “The Icon,” Mideon said that because Sting didn’t work through multiple promotions at the height of his fame he cannot be classed as a wrestling icon.

H/t to ProWrestlingStories.com