WCW witnessed huge success with Ric Flair and Sting as the two biggest names on the roster. Flair and Sting carried the banner in the late ‘80s and early ’90s to make WCW a respected second major promotion to WWE. Other big names like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage joining couldn’t take away from the matches between Flair and Sting still holding great appeal.
The duo loved working together with Sting giving credit to Flair for making his career in the early years, to Flair claiming Sting carried him towards the end of WCW. Both guys wouldn’t be remembered as fondly as they are today without the time working together. There are some interesting things about Flair vs Sting’s rivalry that deserve more attention today.
8 Sensational Sherri Betraying Sting
The career of Sensational Sherri saw her having matches when booked, but she mainly just contributed as a manager for WWE and WCW. Sting and Ric Flair’s feud would see Sherri get involved without making her preference known until their title unification match at Clash of the Champions XXVII.
Sherri made Sting trust that she wouldn’t interfere, and she did just that against him. Flair unified the two WCW world title belts and added Sherri as his manager moving forward. Hulk Hogan signing with the company led to WCW using this angle to make Flair’s credibility as a heel even stronger.
7 Sting Beating Flair In TNA To Get Match Against Hogan
The short time of Ric Flair in TNA featured him having a regretful run of embarrassing moments in his post-WWE retirement. Sting and Flair working together in some capacity was a given due to their legendary feud in WCW still holding interest from viewers.
Flair joining Hulk Hogan’s Immortal faction led to Sting using him as a stepping-stone. Their final match against each other took place on free television for TNA with Sting getting a match against Hogan as part of the stipulation for defeating Flair.
6 There Were Ringside Judges For Infamous Draw
The first major title shot for Sting came against Ric Flair for the NWA Heavyweight Championship at the first Clash of the Champions event. This was the night Sting jumped from a popular rising star to a respected main event act.
Flair and Sting went the full 45-minute time limit for a draw as a unique finish to make them both stronger. It is overlooked that there were judges there to score the match in case of a tie, but it was too close for them to call, which helped Flair retain by draw.
5 Match To Become President Of WCW
WCW spiraled in 1999 when the booking reached new low points and the product fell far behind WWE in the Monday Night Wars. Ric Flair gaining power from Eric Bischoff as the President of WCW should have led to a nice payoff of the evil heel being defeated.
However, the same thing would happen to Flair when he instantly turned heel by abusing power. Sting was the one to challenge Flair and demand he put the President position on the line in a singles match. The win made Sting the new President, but he relinquished the role a week later due to the motive just being to get rid of Flair.
4 Barry Windham Impersonating Sting On Flair's Behalf
The use of the Four Horsemen backing up Ric Flair added another layer to his feud with Sting. Various members of the Horsemen got involved and had their own storylines with Sting. Barry Windham was part of Flair’s favorite incarnation of the group, and it led to a fun Sting moment.
Everyone remembers the New World Order having a Sting impersonator, but Windham did it first in the Horsemen. The impersonation saw Windham doing his hair like Sting’s and wearing face paint during a match against Sid. Referees realized Windham was trying to lose the match as Sting before restarting it with Flair as the mastermind.
3 Flair Saved Sting From Terry Funk & Great Muta
One of the rare times of Sting and Ric Flair being on the same page saw them uniting against common enemies. Flair turned face for his program with Terry Funk, but fans still assumed he was a hated enemy of Sting due to their past.
Sting shocked the world when saving Flair from an attack by Funk and The Great Muta. There was a mutual story there with Sting feuding against Muta, but it was a huge moment to signify Flair being a real face at the time making peace with his enemies.
2 Sting's Final WWE Appearance For Flair's Birthday
WWE didn’t use Sting in many relevant roles since he retired like they would with other names like Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Sting’s final appearance with the company is barely remembered at Ric’s 70th birthday celebration event.
Batista attacked Flair to get Triple H’s attention making everything else about the night forgettable. The use of Sting appearing as part of Flair’s career wasn’t even warranted given the bigger story. However, it sparked the end of Sting’s WWE tenure before his release and move to AEW.
1 Flair Refused To Lose Title To Lex Luger Due To Sting's Injury
One of the behind the scenes tidbits about the Ric Flair and Sting rivalry featured the mutual respect behind the scenes. Flair was scheduled to lose the NWA Heavyweight to Sting in 1990 until Sting suffered an injury to take him off television.
WCW wanted Flair to drop the title to Lex Luger instead, but Flair refused due to Sting earning that moment. Flair continued the title reign until Sting was healthy enough to get his big moment defeating the Nature Boy for the top prize.