A Friendship & Rivalry Born In WCW
Mia Walsh
Published Mar 28, 2026
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Along with Ric Flair, Sting and Lex Luger will always be two of the names foremost associated with WCW. Aside from a brief detour taken by the Lex Express in the mid-1990s, the careers of "the Total Package" and WCW's Franchise ran parallel from their earliest days with Jim Crockett Promotions in the late '80s through the company's demise in early 2001.
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The eventual on-screen best friends' story was anything but linear, which made for interesting long-term storytelling, even when it went awry. While in real life post-WCW, Luger initially went down a much darker path than the incomparable Stinger (who's somehow still wrestling, in case you haven't heard) after suffering a severe injury followed by partial paralysis, they continued to associate well into the 21st century.
Sting And Luger Had Similar Paths To Prominence
Both men started as aspiring young ex-bodybuilders, with Lex - also a former NFL player for a cup of coffee - establishing himself in Championship Wrestling from Florida. Meanwhile, after training in California, Sting began making his name in Louisiana under Bill Watts with the Universal Wrestling Federation.
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Fate brought the two impressive specimens together for the first time in 1987, with Luger arriving first that February and immediately making a tremendous impact as an associate member of Flair's Four Horsemen. The Stinger followed a few months later in July with Crockett's purchase of the UWF, but like most of Watts' roster, needed time to become integrated into mainstream JCP storylines.
Lex And Sting Set The Tone Early
According to Cagematch.net, the two were opponents before they were friends, as their first official in-ring interaction occurred in October '87 at the landmark Greensboro (North Carolina) Coliseum. Luger, who'd been United States Champion since July, successfully defended his title in their only one-on-one match for two more years.
While Sting was a babyface from the moment he arrived on Turner television, Luger set the stage for a long career of alignment whiplash beginning in his rookie year. When he was kicked out of the Horsemen that December, he and Sting were suddenly on the same side, and despite both challenging (and failing) for Flair's NWA World Championship, their common foe began bringing them together.
The Two Got Some Time Apart Eventually
Just before 1988's Crockett Cup tag team tournament, Luger's scheduled partner Barry Windham turned heel on the Total Package. Despite Sting as the last-minute replacement leading to a surprise Cup victory - and dozens of tag and multi-man (including War Games) matches with the two as partners - singles gold was always each man's primary goal.
Twice - first in mid-1989 and then almost two years later - Luger turned heel again, however, as he and Sting were soon facing each other in a series of matches for Luger's U.S title again in late '89. Despite all this, they were teaming once again the following summer, after Luger supposedly "saw the light" and Sting won the first world title between the two, defeating Flair in July 1990.
Absence Made Sting and Luger Grow - Well, the Same!
However, months later, as Lex finally shed the underachiever label by winning a (WCW) World Title of his own in June '91 (in an injured Sting's absence), he did it by turning heel yet again! This led to a championship match between the two at SuperBrawl 2, which should have been a dramatic (temporary) conclusion to their topsy-turvy relationship. Instead, it came off flat, as many fans knew by then that Lex was on his way out - and up North to WWE.
Luger's return to WCW on the first episode of Monday Nitro - and in the middle of a Flair-Sting match, of course - made quite a splash, even after a mostly-failed, three-year detour to McMahonLand. For the next several months, he engaged in a strange storyline where he and Sting remained best friends and frequent partners despite Luger's association with Jimmy Hart.
Lex and Sting: Friends (and Opponents) 'Til the End
None of this confusing cluster of an angle mattered once the nWo invaded in June '96, but Lex's doubt of the Stinger's integrity - pretty rich from Lex, when you think about it - in the light of the Fake Sting angle ultimately was the catalyst for the Icon's Crow-inspired character change. Weirdly, by 1998, Lex would recruit Sting to join a babyface nWo offshoot (the Wolfpac), but their time wearing red and black seemed to push both into Kevin Nash's shadow more than highlight either.
RELATED: WCW's Fake Sting Storyline, Explained
Ultimately, the two found themselves back-and-forth a few more times during WCW's dying days, and even initially followed each other post-WCW into Australia's World Wrestling All-Stars promotion. After that venture fizzled, Sting began his storied run with TNA, and he and Luger competed against each other one last time on opposite tag teams in November 2003. In real life, Sting - who notably became a born-again Christian in 1998 - and Luger have remained friends, especially after Lex's own 2006 spiritual awakening led to the two reconnecting and the Stinger even having the honor of baptizing his one-time opponent.
