The Monday Night Wars between WWE and World Championship Wrestling kicked off with the premiere of WCW Monday Nitro in September 1995, but they really heated up the following year. Not only did Hulk Hogan turn heel, becoming Hollywood Hogan and forming the New World Order faction, but the nWo got a formidable rival in a Sting, who revamped his look and his attitude to take them on.

RELATED: The Sting Vs nWo Storyline, Explained

It’s tough to argue against it being WCW’s best feud ever, but there are some fans that would argue that Sting vs. The nWo is actually overrated. Let’s take a look at why fans might not be totally into this classic angle, which certainly has its problems.

10 Greatest: The Defining Feud Of Monday Night Wars Era WCW

Sting Confronts Randy Savage

For the 18 months it lasted, the Sting vs. nWo storyline was the hottest thing going in wrestling, helping WCW score many of its television ratings victories over WWE. But outside of ratings, it also perfectly resembled the weekly clashes between the two rival promotions. While it all took place in WCW, the New World Order was primarily made up of ex-WWE stars, while Sting was not only a homegrown star, but also one of the wrestlers best associated with the promotion.

9 Overrated: There Are Other Great Feuds In WCW History

Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair in WCW

When it comes to WCW, Sting vs. WCW is easily a Top 10 feud, if not Top 5. That said, it isn’t like WCW didn’t have other classic rivalries during its time. Sting himself had several great feuds in WCW, including with Ric Flair, Big Van Vader, and The Dangerous Alliance. Outside of Sting, there’s Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero, Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage, and — if one wants to dip into the pre-WCW Jim Crockett Promotions era — Dusty Rhodes vs. The Four Horsemen. One could easily argue that Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat is the true GOAT, as it produced some of the greatest matches of all time.

8 Greatest: Revitalized Sting

Sting At Great American Bash 1990

Since the late 1980s, Sting pretty much portrayed the same character: an excitable babyface with colorful face paint and beach blond surfer look despite being scorpion themed. While “Surfer Sting” ruled, one could see that the gimmick was going to hit a wall once the cool, black-clad nWo took over the airwaves. Sting needed to change with the times, and his evolution into “Crow Sting” made him not only relevant, but even cooler than the nWo.

RELATED: 10 Things WCW Fans Should Know About Surfer Sting

On top of that, WCW came up with an organic reason for Sting to change nearly everything about himself, as he felt (in kayfabe) betrayed by the distrust he was receiving from both friends and WCW management amid the nWo invasion.

7 Overrated: Sting Barely Wrestled

Sting in the rafters with a vulture

For some fans, a fault of the Sting storyline is the lack of matches. After December 1996, Sting (kayfabe) stepped away from active in-ring competition as his character grew increasingly dark and brooding. While he regularly showed up on WCW television, he didn’t wrestle a match for an entire year. It wasn’t for a lack of trying — on several occasions JJ Dillon came out to offer contracts for matches against nWo members like Syxx and Curt Hennig, and Sting would descend from the rafters only to rip them up because what he really wanted was a shot at Hollywood Hogan.

6 Greatest: Made The nWo Seem Vulnerable

Sting attacks Eric Bischoff

Fans who remember the whole nWo storyline certainly remember how the bad guys almost always got the best of the good guys to an almost one-sided extent. It seemed like countless Monday Nitro episodes went off the air following a beatdown of the babyfaces by the nWo as fans pelted them with trash. Meanwhile, Sting usually got the upper hand whenever he showed up, playing mind games, staging sneak attacks on the nWo, and being generally spooky and threatening.

5 Overrated: Made Sting Seemed Overpowered

Crow Sting 

During the angle, Sting was the one man capable of effectively standing up against the New World Order, but at times that made him seem a little too overpowered. While he didn’t hit those terminally unbeatable John Cena levels, Sting regularly got the best of the nWo with acts like summoning an army of Sting impersonators to terrorize the group. In fact, during the year he was antagonizing the group and not wrestling, the Stinger didn’t actually suffer the trademark nWo beatdown until November of 1997. While the antics were cool, it may have put the Sting character at a level he could never live up to.

4 Greatest: Hogan vs. Sting

Sting vs Hogan

As stated, Sting was obviously WCW’s top babyface — that is, until 1994 when WCW signed megastar Hulk Hogan away from WWE. From there, everything became about Hogan, turning Sting into a secondary babyface and occasional tag team partner of Hogan’s. It’s the 1990s equivalent of John Cena showing up in AEW at the expense of Kenny Omega.

RELATED: Hulk Hogan vs. Sting: 10 Things Most Fans Don’t Realize About Their Rivalry

While they clashed once to an inconclusive finish as babyfaces, Hogan’s heel turn set up what the promotion narratively needed: a battle between the guy who defined WCW and the guy who took it over — both in kayfabe and in real life.

3 Overrated: Starrcade ‘97

Sting Starrcade 1997

The whole storyline was leading to Starrcade ‘97, WCW’s biggest show of the year, where Sting would challenge Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Championship and score a big, decisive victory. The massive payoff to over a year of set-up should have been WCW’s crowning achievement, but the result was anything but. Much has already been said about the bout — plans changed and a botched three-count resulted in a nonsensical finish — but for many fans the massive disappointment of the big climax to the storyline is enough to keep it from being WCW’s greatest.

2 Greatest: Slow Burn

Sting walks out of War Games

Fans love a good long-term storyline. After all, one of the most popular angles of recent years was Sami Zayn going from Bloodline sycophant to beloved underdog against forever champion Roman Reigns in WWE. The Sting vs. nWo storyline was even longer, lasting a total fo 18 months. It was a slow burn even compared to the Sami Zayn story, but one full of intrigue. No one had really seen a transformation like Sting’s before, and there was often a question of if he was defending WCW, siding with the nWo, or opposing both groups.

1 Overrated: Petered Out

Sting holding up the WCW Championship. 

It should come as no surprise that the Sting vs. nWo Storyline lost most of its steam after the Starrcade ‘97 incident. A rematch the next day resulted in the title being held up, leading to a dramatic but entertaining showdown between Sting and Hogan at SuperBrawl 8. Sting came out on top once again, but his ensuing title reign lasted a weak 56 days as the new WCW World Champion was overshadowed by a larger narrative of nWo infighting.