10 Unthinkable Masterminds Behind Legendary Wrestling Ideas

5. Scott Hall Credited Himself With Crow Sting

Kevin Kelly Triple H Stephanie McMahon
AEW

Sting has been so incredible in AEW that Tony Khan has usurped Paul Heyman as the booker who can best accentuate the positives of talents with certain limitations. Sting can no longer wrestle a very good singles match of any significant length, but the "Sting party match" is so creative and wildly entertaining that it doesn't matter: at 63, Sting casts a spell of pure wrestling magic like few others.

The paint-job helps. With the genius of his modern match layout, carefully structured to flatter him, he looks ageless. His presence and mastery of body language is enhanced by that killer, immortal look. He can't be Surfer Sting anymore - that look is synonymous with his explosive babyface work - but no matter. Crow Sting is eternal.

It was, per his own re-telling of the story, Scott Hall's idea. In coming up with it, Hall didn't merely transform Sting's career; he added decades to it.

When changing together backstage, Hall - an expert pro wrestling mind who knew where the business needed to go in the mid 1990s - asked if Sting was still wearing the "happy guy" tights and if he'd seen the 1994 film. "I ain't telling you to rip off 'Taker," Hall claims he said on 83 Weeks, "but rip off 'Taker".

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!