Less so for his WrestleMania match and WWE Championship challenge in 2015 and more for his arrival the year before, Sting's debut was as much representative of the winds of change blowing through the wrestling landscape at the time.
'The Icon' had dodged WWE for 13 years since WCW's demise in 2001, but nearly a decade with TNA had reached a natural conclusion and the organisation he'd avoided now looked completely different.
'The Stinger' was a welcome babyface vigilante in the face of The Authority's oppression, perfectly pitched against a Triple H character well and truly drunk with power. It's not the story the pair would tell in their enjoyably daft Monday Night Wars redux at the 'Show Of Shows', but Sting's mere footsteps in a WWE ring were seismic when the ground beneath the industry felt a little too settled.
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
