Keep reading to find out who invented the Crow Sting gimmick!
Sting is one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. With his early Surfer Sting gimmick with bleached blonde hair and face paint he became a multi-time champion and icon in WCW
. However, he later donned black and white face paint with his famous Crow Sting gimmick, which was one of the most recognisable gimmicks of the Attitude Era.
Before his transformation to the his darker character, Sting was the ultimate good guy. He battled against the toughest heels in the business, defeating the likes of Ric Flair, Vader and Cactus Jack in monumental battles inside the squared circle.
However, the mid 1990s came around and things started changing. The era of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and the yelling and screaming, coke fuelled promos were over. Fans wanted something different, more unique.
Sting realised that the wrestling world was changing. He knew had the in-ring skills, he had the crowd support and he had the microphone skills and charism to be a star in WCW. But he was lacking a certain something. A grittiness that was missing. A darkness to his character that WCW fans were crying out for.
Sting admitted as much in an interview at Big Time Wrestling, stating that he knew fans wanted to see something different and that it was time for a change for Sting.
It was a different time for sure. It was special. Wrestling fans were really really changing, and wrestling was changing. Fans wanted to see something a little bit more gritty. You know, a little darker, a little more mysterious, whatever.”
Sting, on changing from Surfer Sting to Crow Sting
Who came up with Crow Sting?
WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall came up with the Crow Sting character during his time in WCW.
Despite recognising the need for change within himself and WCW, Sting needed some help before he discovered the change from Surfer to Crow. Sting had begun to think of a new direction for his character to go in, but it took help from a former WWE and WCW star to truly break the mould with Crow Sting.
Eric Bischoff, the former President of WCW, revealed who was behind the creation of the new Sting Crow character. He talked about the creation of Sting’s new character, based on the 1994 movie The Crow, and how Sting needed a little help from his greatest rivals, the NWO, to form this character that would ultimately do battle against them.
On his podcast, 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff that it was Scott Hall who was the brain behind the Crow-influenced Sting gimmick that debuted in 1996
“Scott, in that very inspired, lucid hour and a half or two hours that we probably spent discussing this new character, painted a picture that Sting, he was just drooling, he couldn’t wait to launch this character.
“So there was no inhibition, there was no second thoughts, or he wasn’t doubting himself or second-guessing himself. The way Hall laid it out, the opportunity that that character clearly had with its relationship to the NWO, and how that story could play out, we were all just chomping at the bit to do it, nobody more than Steve Borden.”
The change into the Crow Sting was one of the most genius moves in wrestling. It no doubt elongated the career of Sting by years, if not decades, with the years of “Power and Face Paint” long gone in American Wrestling.
The genius of Scott Hall, who himself never won a World Championship, help cement Sting’s legacy as one of the greatest all time by completely changing his gimmick from a tired old 1980s legacy to a contemporary icon which has kept him relevant throughout the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
Sting’s Future
Sting is still going strong. Despite being 62 years old, he still wrestles semi-regularly for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is in one of the highest rank tag teams in the division, alongside his partner and protegee Darby Allin.
Sting still has a lot left in the tank, thanks to his change into the Crow gimmick. He will wrestle in AEW for as long as he is able to, and based on recent performances it seems like that could be for a while.
His tag team with Darby Allin has been one of the highlights of AEW in recent years and lets hope that he goes out with a bang when he finally retires, hopefully in the long-awaited Sting vs Darby Allin match to round of a 40+ year career.
Sting’s crow gimmick is one of the most legendary gimmicks of all time, and has now been his most recognisable look for the past 25 years. Sting should wake up every day and thank Scott Hall, the man who came up with Sting’s Crow gimmick.
