12 Things You Didn't Know About Sting
1. He Was Nearly The Leader Of The NWO
Though this holder of All Elite tag team gold (at time of writing!) did very much find himself sporting an equally iconic nWo shirt on WCW programming in the end, there was actually a moment there when the original New World Order could have been led by the 'Stinger' himself.
Before he'd memorably clash with Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall's villainous stable, Eric Bischoff shockingly had Sting in place as the potential third man set to be revealed by Nash and Hall all those years ago.
The 'Icon' had fully agreed to join forces with the invading former WWE superstars, with Bischoff eventually noting on his 83 Weeks Podcast how he would have likely had the popular hero drop the face paint and energetic persona, replacing that character with a more "real" version of Sting for the new heel group (via WrestlingInc).
Bischoff had already seen a pitch to turn Hogan heel in WCW turned down by the 'Immortal One' a year before the nWo was born, so it honestly looked like Sting would be the one to lead the unit... right up until 'The Hulkster' changed his mind late on.
That said, Sting was still the back-up third man in Bischoff's mind (as he'd tell Talk is Jericho via WrestlingInc), just in case an infamously unpredictable Hogan backed out at the eleventh hour.
So, there you have it. Had Hulk suddenly got cold feet on the night of Bash at the Beach 1996, then there's a world where this long-time legend could have possibly been the face of the nWo instead.