After forming a high profile tag team with Flair throughout the fall of 1989, Sting went toe to toe with Flair at Starrcade in December. This match was the result of an iron man tournament to determine the number one contender toward Flair's world heavyweight championship. The tournament used a point system and featured only four individuals (Sting, Luger, Flair, and Muta). Points were given out as follows: 20 points for a pinfall or submission, 15 points for a countout victory, 10 points for a disqualification victory, 5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. Sting faced off against Lex Luger in his first match of the night, and Luger won the match via pinfall. Later on in the evening, Sting faced off against the Great Muta and won the match after a superplex. The final match of the night featured Sting going up against his tag team partner Flair in a classic encounter between two men who had already wrestled twice that evening. Sting ended up getting the victory by reversing a figure four attempt into a cradle for the pinfall. This victory gave Sting the point total he needed to win the iron man tournament and a future opportunity to wrestle Flair for his title. The final standings were as follows: 1. Sting (40 points; 2 pinfall victories, 1 loss) 2. Lex Luger (35 points; 1 pinfall victory, 1 disqualification victory, 1 draw) 3. Ric Flair (25 points; 1 pinfall victory, 1 draw, 1 loss) 4. The Great Muta (0 points; 3 losses) Despite the fact that he had earned a shot at Flair's belt, Sting went on to officially join the Four Horsemen following Starrcade due to the several month long alliance the two had enjoyed. The Flair, Sting, and Andersons incarnation of the Horsemen only lasted a couple of months, though, as Sting was booted from the group at Clash of the Champions 10 when he declared he would be challenging Flair for the belt at WrestleWar '90. This match would never happen, though, as Sting tore his patella tendon on that same showedition of Clash of the Champions during an attack on Flair. The match was pushed back to Great American Bash '90 where Sting returned and won the belt from Flair.
