I voted for Sting last year but didn't this year because I voted for some others that weren't on last year's ballot but I would easily vote for him again. Sting was the heart and soul of WCW for years whether they were successful or not and he was huge among the children at the shows I went to which back then were numerous. I want to look at the years 1988-94 and see how Sting progressed.
1988: He got the jetpack on his ass on "Ric Flair Night" in Raleigh and that led to the Clash match which was one of the greatest matches of his and Flair's career and their best singles match which is interesting that their 1st big match was their best against each other. Their feud kept going until the Summer when Luger got extremely hot and feuded with Flair which dominated the rest of the year. Sting became basically a tag team guy with various partners the rest of the year and it looked then that Luger passed him by in status but Sting was still very very popular way more than his push.
1989: Sting stayed in the same spot for the first 4-5 months of the year although he did win the TV title which gave him a rebirth as a singles wrestler along with feuding with Muta. Sting latching on with former rival now extremely hot babyface Flair led to a great last 6 months of the year and was building up to a great next year when they would eventually feud.
1990: The turn goes down and Sting gets injured which kills all the future plans they had as Sting was going to beat Flair then move on to Luger who was the hottest heel in wrestling for the biggest feud of the year but that injury killed everything and you can link that injury to the beginning of the end of the Jim Herd era as they would turn Luger in a panic which should've never been done and he never really recovered from that as far as status with the fans as sure he was cheered but it wasn't the same as 1988 and Luger was so awesome as a heel everyone still saw him that way. Sting would of course come back and beat Flair and it was a big deal but not nearly as big as it should've been and then of course the bookers completely fucked up his title reign which wasn't Sting's fault but it happened and you can't go with a fantasyland in a HOF situation.
1991: They take the strap off of Sting and back on Flair at a house show no less and they wouldn't have another big match against each other for another 3 years. Sting of course is still the top babyface but he isn't programmed with Flair but with Luger against The Steiners which was a great match but the fact that Sting like Flair a year earlier never got the high profile rematch on PPV or on a Clash was idiotic. Sting spends the Spring and Summer in a holding pattern before Rude comes in and they start their feud but again they never have that big singles match with a rival as they had Battlebowl at Starrcade.
1992: The Sting/Rude situation continues as they have a tag match at the Clash before going to the Luger feud which was started at the Clash in November as he was behind a fake injury angle. The problem was the heat was still all on Sting/Rude not Luger who was basically MIA for the entire month of build for Super Brawl II thus killing what should've been a big match as it was their first singles match against each other in over 2 1/2 years. Sting again wins the title but it still feels cold and then yet again theme shows killed Sting as a singles star as there was War Games at Wrestle War, he wasn't even on the next Clash which was the NWA Tag Titles tournament. Sting then moves in to a mini feud with Cactus Jack leading a damn good match at Beach Blast but the next PPV which was GAB saw Sting lose his title to Vader in a match which was damn good but again wasn't properly built. Yet again Sting gets screwed as they start a new feud with Jake Roberts who injures him so he couldn't get a rematch on a TV taping and Watts puts the jetpack on Ron Simmons while Sting gets in a good feud with Jake ending at Halloween Havoc. Sting then gets programmed back with Vader winning the King of Cable trophy at Starrcade ending one of Sting's greatest years as a wrestler in the ring but definitely not in the booking.
1993: They kept up the Sting/Vader feud which was good but Flair comes back to town and immediately overtakes Sting as the top babyface in the promotion and Sting is now relegated to teaming with Davey Boy Smith so it's 1988 all over again but this time though they are teaming against Vader and Sid Vicious as WCW is in very bad shape business wise here and not running big shows as much as they used to especially Clashes. Sting & Flair would have a TV match for the NWA title in August which was a pretty great match since both were babyfaces but Sid would get involved for the cheap finish. Sting stayed as a tag team guy basically teaming with Davey, Steamboat, Flair, & Road Warrior Hawk and the year was a bust other than a handful of matches.
1994: Sting was again working various opponents the early part of the year before going back to feuding with Rude 2 years after their first one winning the International title before losing it in a unification match with Flair who was turning heel again and to push Sting out of the way for Hogan to come in and to dominate the next 2 years as a babyface.
Sting became Hogan's buddy and never really got that #1 babyface spot back until Crow Sting as he would always be Sting and have a top spot but he wasn't the guy anymore. Sting was so obscured by booking it isn't even funny as every big feud he was in basically only featured one big match between them. Whether it was Sting/Flair in 88, Sting/Flair in 90, Sting/Rude in 91, Sting/Luger in 92, Sting/Vader in 92, and Sting/Flair in 94.
Sting wasn't given the chance to realize his full potential which wasn't his fault but again fantasyland what if scenarios shouldn't be talked about only what really happened. I vote for Sting because I grew up with him as the face of my favorite promotion so I'm biased but I can totally understand why some don't see him as a HOF guy.
