10 WWE Stars Who Managed To Shake Off The 'TNA Stink'

4. Sting

Consequences Creed Xavier Woods
impactwrestling.com

Not only did Sting overcome the TNA stink, the 'Stinger' also overcame the infamous stink of late WCW to make it to the promised land of Vince McMahon's WWE.

To be fair, Sting is Sting. As in, a true icon of the professional wrestling business. The thing is, likewise Vince is Vince - and so it seemed that Sting was destined to be the one WCW megastar who never once competed in a WWE ring.

When TNA first had Sting turn up in 2003, it was seen as a huge coup for the fledgeling company. Of all of the free agents out there at the time, Sting was the biggest name that TNA could've possibly landed. And from there, Sting went on to compete for the company across the next 11 years, becoming a four-time World Champion.

Still, despite Sting's heavy association with WCW and TNA, WWE eventually ironed out an agreement for him to begin a loose working relationship with the company in 2014. What began as talking head interviews, a DVD release, action figures, and a video game appearance, would go on to see the 'Stinger' wrestling in a WWE ring by WrestleMania 31.

Of course, Sting's career would sadly come to an end in WWE ring when a buckle bomb from Seth Rollins forced the Hall of Famer into retirement with a neck injury.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.