10 BEST Wrestling Rip-Offs

4. Sting (The Crow)

Billy Graham Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

There's a lot to enjoy from going back and watching Sting's transition from heart-on-sleeve WCW lifer to iconoclastic loner in 1996, particularly in how his look shifted from the last vestiges of the surfer act to the era-defining aesthetic that became his calling card.

Crucial to its completion was Scott Hall, and not just because he was one of the men stood on the opposite side of the ring every time Sting hit the ring. Hall was the one who suggested taking inspiration from The Crow, look included.

In the 1994 film, Brandon Lee's Crow exerts a campaign of revenge as a vigilante, decked out mostly in black with the relatively expressionless white face to boot. He's neither a man of the law nor the people in this moment, but operating for himself for a greater good. This suited Sting's motivations to a tee, particularly in the exceptional early stages of the New World Order angle and especially due to the colour scheme matching theirs rather than the WCW group he'd finally side with after almost a year of watching from the rafters.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett