Let’s look at the rivalry between Sting and Vader from WCW. I feel that these bouts really defined peak-performance Stinger. In-ring Sting as he was pretty much everything WCW could want in a heavyweight superstar: a great look, charismatic, solid on the mic, and very athletic.
Why These Two Rocked
He could also work with roughly anyone and during the early 1990s, he delivered several bangers with two regular dance partners in Vader and Cactus Jack! Our focus is three matches against the Mastodon. This raises another thing I loved about Vader. He came along at a time in wrestling when gimmicks didn’t need a deep backstory or origin story.
Big Van Vader was just a large man in a singlet wearing gloves and a mask. You didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to be but what he showed.
I’ll say that Vader was one of the vaguest gimmicks ever and that’s mainly from wrestling in Japan at a time when gimmicks weren’t important at all. Not only that but whether it was the US or Japan, no one cared to ask what he was.
The same goes for Sting. You could follow both of their origins back to their debuts but what they were supposed to be exactly and how they came to be is never actually explained. The Road Warriors had more backstory.
Now we can get into their match from Starrcade 1992 in the finals of the King of Cable tournament.
WCW Starrcade 1992: King of Cable Finals: Sting vs. Vader
For the bulk of this match, Vader just battered the Stinger. His main weapon here was obviously his strength advantage. Meanwhile, Sting’s advantage was his agility and fighting spirit. Vader just couldn’t keep Sting down for a pin. All the Stinger had to do was soak damage and wait for the big man from Boulder to make a mistake.
The plan worked as Sting’s strongest offense came after a lapse in judgment from Vader. He would follow up on his attack when the big man took too much time. At a few points, Sting really pulled out the stops by just throwing his body at Vader which always managed to take the super heavyweight off his feet.
Vader managed to slow things down in the latter portion of the match thus killing Sting’s momentum. This is the best plan when dealing with surfer Sting. The guy had way too much energy and if you couldn’t match it, you either took his legs out or killed his stamina.
When he was satisfied that Sting was sufficiently out of gas, Vader attempted to put Sting on the top turnbuckle to finish him off but Sting fights back. However, the damage is done and the Icon can’t follow up. Big Van Vader goes on the offense pummeling Sting until the surfer’s fighting spirit kicks in and he starts absorbing Vader’s beefy forearm shots.
The final minutes of the match are everything. Sting manages to down Vader with some hulked-up-infused punches then shakes the big man’s spine with a last-ditch Samoan Drop that drains his energy. Interference from Harley Race turns things back in the super heavy’s favor.
A big splash from the second rope fails in putting Sting away. Race calls for the second splash but Sting catches him with a fabulous last-ditch powerslam in mid-air on the masked man and pins him!
Stinger Scale Rating
This was a great bout, folks. Admittedly a lot of this is old hat and you’ll see a lot of the action featured as a throwaway spot in a match today but this match occurred at a time when every move made mattered. The pace of the match mattered. Two guys breaking out stuff they don’t normally do or have never done means so much in telling the story.
As a result, this match goes beyond the really athletic exhibition approach of today’s product and becomes something truly amazing because nothing is wasted or thrown away just for a pop. The match is up on YouTube and I recommend giving it a watch.
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