NWO Twenty Years Later: Where Are They Now?
33. NWO Sting
Jeff Farmer was a nobody in wrestling before joining the nWo, and returned to his inconsequential role soon after leaving. Appropriately enough, the only way he could make a mark in the industry was by imitating somebody else.
Not just any 'somebody', however, but specifically WCW's former franchise star, Sting.
After the nWo's formation, Sting's allegiance was drawn into question: was he in or out? Fans seemingly got their answer when The Stinger attacked best friend Lex Luger on a September episode of Nitro.
A painfully thick Luger, incapable of recognising his best friend from less than a yard away, began to cast aspersions about Sting's loyalty. Seemingly, he was yet another turncoat to the renegade faction.
He was wrong - a simple phone-call to his pal could have established that. Luger's assailant was an impostor; it was Farmer dressed up in the Sting garb.
Soon after, the real Sting began his transformation into his brooding Crow persona, and the fake Sting faded into the background, his one important role done and dusted. - at least in the USA.
As part of nWo's Japanese contingent, the facsimile Stinger ironically became even more popular than the real deal. Despite portraying an evil version of a long-time established babyface, Farmer's credence in the Far East was such that he enjoyed a prominent run as a good guy. Don't try to understand that logic.
When Farmer's time in WCW was up, he continued to wrestle under the nWo Sting guise on the independent circuit. Why have the real thing when you can have a fake imitator who was popular in Japan?
Farmer retired from the ring in 2005, returning to college to study genetics. Makes sense for a man whose entire career was based on being someone else's clone.