10 Most Universally Respected Wrestlers Ever

8. Sting

Sting may have ruffled a few feathers early on in his career, but in 1998 The Icon became a born-again Christian. In doing so he confessed his sins, his adultery and his substance abuse, and begged forgiveness in order to clean the slate and start again. Whilst some may have lost some respect for The Stinger at that time, the man has bean a beacon of respectability ever since.

A combination of piety, longevity and simply being able to stay out of the clutches of Vince McMahon for all but three matches of his career isn't going to hurt your respectability, and despite finally moving over the WWE in 2014 Sting will forever be remembered as the biggest non-WWE star in North American pro wrestling history. A couple of twilight matches do not change that.

When WCW's demise is critically analysed, the many egos and personalities that conspired to drag that company down into the grave are ostensibly at the top of the sh*tlist. Sting's name is absent from this list, a man who seemingly didn't take advantage of his position and did what was best for the company at the right time, whatever it meant for his own career.