10 Things You May Not Know About Sting's TNA Run

The TNA run of Sting often gets overlooked when it comes to his career legacy. Many fans go from the WCW tenure to the short WWE run and now his AEW stint since all three promotions were bigger than TNA. However, Sting ended up spending over a decade in the company hoping to help it grow.

There were some interesting stories about Sting’s TNA career both on-screen and behind the scenes. TNA tried to make Sting one of the faces of the company, and he felt more comfortable there than making the jump to WWE. Fans of Sting will appreciate his TNA run more by looking back at the interesting scoops from his time there.

10 First Version Of Himself Without Paint

The idea of Sting appearing in a character without his face paint was foreign to fans who witnessed his WCW career. There would be matches where Sting’s face paint wore off due to sweating, but he never worked without his paint beyond an occasional appearance.

TNA went that route with Sting when he led the Main Event Mafia faction. Sting appeared in a suit without his paint to match the other members. Fans were surprised to see a real side of Sting during the Main Event Mafia run.

9 Spike TV Paid His Contract

Sting cuts a TNA promo with his Joker character

The help of Spike TV gave TNA both a national television deal and partner who wanted to help their growth. Sting was the highest-paid full-time wrestler on the TNA roster for a few years making over seven figures.

TNA received financial help from Spike TV who reportedly paid most of his deal. Eric Bischoff revealed that Sting and other legends dealt more with Spike executives than TNA when it came to negotiations during that time in the company.

8 Turned Down WWE Multiple Times

Sting joining WWE in late 2014 saw the move coming at least over a decade after fans initially expected it. The belief was that Sting would join with the likes of Scott Steiner, Goldberg and the New World Order who signed after their previous contracts expired.

TNA signing Sting in 2006 was a big surprise since they had yet to sign someone of that legendary status over WWE. The various contracts ending saw WWE showing interest a few times, but Sting remained with TNA until the company started to take bigger declines.

7 Lost World Title Due To DQ

TNA decided to go with an old school idea when having a major title change hands via DQ. Sting defended the NWA Heavyweight Championship against Abyss just one month after winning it from Jeff Jarrett.

The match featured Abyss winning by DQ, but fans were stunned when the title changed hands. Abyss became the new NWA Heavyweight Champion due to the old stipulation of the title going to the victor even in the chance of a disqualification.

6 Rarely Worked House Shows

One criticism towards Sting and some of the other legends to join TNA was that they rarely appeared on house shows. The model of touring usually sees the main eventers and world champions on the non-televised events representing the television product.

Sting had a huge contract, but his older age and legend status saw him working few house shows. There were rare bigger events in New York City and the United Kingdom that would see Sting working. However, it was a rarer instance of seeing Sting wrestling on the average house show.

5 Was First Wrestler To Win Both TNA & NWA Heavyweight Belts In TNA

The world title history of TNA is a bit confusing since they used the NWA Heavyweight Championship before making their own belt. Sting won the NWA Heavyweight title from Jeff Jarrett in a huge moment for his TNA career.

The TNA World Championship was created in 2007 since the company realized they should have their own name in the title. Sting won the new title from Kurt Angle to become the first wrestler to hold both of those belts in TNA.

4 First Time Having Family Involved In Storyline

Sting decided to do a few things differently in TNA given how much time had passed since his WCW days. Reality became more engrained in the wrestling storytelling and Sting wanted to represent that in the right spots.

The family of Sting was mentioned when Alex Shelley was filming Sting attending his son’s high school football game for Jeff Jarrett. Sting was livid and it added a personal touch to his feud beyond just wanting to win a world title.

3 Wanted To Put Over Magnus In Final Match

The final TNA match of Sting featured him losing with the stipulation of him leaving the company. Magnus was the new top heel for TNA and Sting was a big supporter of him after witnessing the improvement through the years.

Sting was starting to consider joining WWE when his contract expired and wanted to help Magnus benefit. The loss to the new star gave Magnus some momentum in his main event role. Sting truly wanted to help TNA from his start to the end of the road.

2 Had Hulk Hogan's Final Singles Match

TNA booking a feud between Sting and Hulk Hogan played into the WCW history of their legendary rivalry over a decade prior. The big match came with Hogan putting his control over TNA on the line and taking the loss to Sting.

Both men were banged up, but the fans appreciated the effort for the older stars trying to have one more classic. Hogan wrestled a few more tag matches during a United Kingdom tour, but this was his last singles match ever.

1 Had Ric Flair's Final Match

The decision to continue wrestling in TNA by Ric Flair was polarizing since he received the best retirement from WWE. Flair received a contract when Hulk Hogan took over and wrestled more matches for the smaller promotion.

The final match from Flair’s TNA stint came against Sting on television. Sting winning allowed him to get his other match against Hulk Hogan a few weeks later. Even though Flair’s WWE send off was better, there are worse ways to go out than facing your best rival one more time when putting over Sting.