 The following is a musical journey through the career of the icon Sting. An icon of the sport due in part to a career that has spanned over five decades and throughout numerous promotions, Sting has seen and done it all in the business, while also influencing and inspiring today's wrestlers like Seth Freaking Rollins and John Freaking Cena back when they were just little stingers themselves. And now at the ripe old age of 62 years young, Sting continues to perform at a high level and turn back father time. Musically speaking, the stingers' vast array of entrance themes are an eclectic enigma of genres that reflect the variety of twists and turns that his character's personality has had to endure to remain a centerpiece in sports entertainment. From sticks to seek and destroy, let's take a look behind the themes. Castle Walls by Sticks The 1980s were a time of hulking physiques and over-the-top characters that fit right in with the Saturday morning cartoon crowd. But growing up in Southern California, wrestling was never something on Steve Borden's radar as he was more interested in a career in bodybuilding. However, after attending a premium WWF live event in Los Angeles featuring Hulk Hogan, Borden was bit by the wrestling bug. He began training with promoter Rick Bassman, who paired Steve up with another muscle-bound athlete named Jim Hellwig and power team USA was born. Now the team didn't have much success working for Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, so they turned heel and became the Blade Runners. Sting and Rock This change helped earn the duo a spot in cowboy Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation where courtesy of hot stuff Eddie Gilbert, they used the eerie interlude of Sticks' song Castle Walls for a scary-sounding entrance theme, to which we say, Domo Origato, Mr. Robato. Everybody wants you by Billy Squire. Eventually, the Blade Runners gimmick ran its course, and Borden and Hellwig went their separate ways along the band journey. Hellwig went to Texas and world-class championship wrestling before Vince McMahon came calling and turned him into the ultimate warrior, a character that will go on to become immensely popular and a future WWE Heavyweight Champion. As for Sting, he remained a key piece of the UWF, joining Gilbert's hot stuff International with Missy Hyatt and Rick Steiner before making his first real surge as a babyface after hot stuff turned on him. But you see, behind the scenes, Gilbert was UWF's Booker and could tell that there was something special about Sting, pegging him to become a megastar in the future. Akin to his Billy Squire entrance theme, everybody wanted Sting, and later that year, when the National Wrestling Alliance and Jim Crockett bought the UWF from Watts, Crockett's Booker The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, was excited to have Sting on their roster. Rattlesnake Whip Dusty wasn't the only person that understood the it-factor that Sting possessed. The fans all across the Mid-Atlantic territory took to the Stinger's energetic, exciting personality and unique look. Looked super strong out of the gates, the bleach-blonde, face-painted grappler, hailing from Venice Beach, California, brother, was voted the 1988 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Most Improved Wrestler of the Year, thanks in part to his challenging Ric Flair for the NWA title in the main event of the inaugural Clash of the Champions. It was in that match that any doubts of Sting's eventual greatness would be erased. For 45 minutes, the Stinger hung with the greatest in-ring performer of his generation, and in doing so, elevated himself in a single night. This tune is synonymous with his rising star power that would continue to carry on in the following decade. Turbo Charged Pro Wrestling journalist Bill Aptor wrote of Sting, his colorful face-paint, piercing war cry, and signature Stinger splash, electrified fans both young and old. He boasted one of the largest and most loyal fan bases of any in-ring personality in history. Sting's rivalry with the great Muda over the NWA World Television Championship demonstrated that Sting was charged up and ready to take that one last step toward greatness. To July 7th, 1990, finally capturing his first WCW Heavyweight Championship by defeating the Nature Boy in what was a crowning achievement for the young man. With some new hardware around his waist and the love and support of the WCW fans behind him, the Stinger was ready to do this and ready to do that throughout the rest of the 90s. A Man Called Sting The year was 1992 and World Championship Wrestling was desperately seeking mainstream acceptance. Thanks to a young crop of talent like Sting, the total package Lex Luger, and the Steiner Brothers, things were slowly beginning to happen down in Hot Lanna. WCW was also becoming more merchandise savvy with action figures, its own magazine, and of course, a cheesy CD featuring wrestlers' entrance themes. Now we can all agree that this tune for the surfer Sting persona of the late 80s and early 90s is Sting's most famous music. Despite some questionable lyrical choices, he's as big as a bull and quick as a cat could be words written by a kindergartner. But A Man Called Sting was WCW's answer to the WWE's Real American and a great representation of their most popular star, although it probably could have used a little bit more cowbell. Sting's Crow Theme Motorhead once said that evolution is a mystery, but in reality, in order to remain relevant and not fade away and become obsolete, you'd need to change with the times. There were two chapters in Sting's WCW career, and most fans would agree that the Dark Avenger version of Sting was the best and his theme song followed suit. A complete 180 from A Man Called Sting, the important sounding, operatic music that accompanied the Stinger into WCW's war with the NWO absolutely enthralled and captivated the WCW fanbase. Trading in his brightly colored attire and over-the-top mannerisms to develop into one of the most enigmatic characters in all of wrestling, a reborn Sting helped WCW overtake the WWE as the number one wrestling promotion in the world. And Sting's Crow Theme, produced and recorded by Jimmy Hart and Howard Helm, truly knocked it out of the park. Wolf Pack In The House by C-Murder and Jimmy Hart Remaining a staple of WCW throughout his career and never once jumping ship to WWE, no matter how flattering Vince McMahon's offers may have been, the franchise player of Ted Turner's organization and the greatest star ever produced by the promotion found himself a part of the group he had been battling for the better part of a year when he became a member of the NWO Wolf Pack. Yes, this was hypocritical booking 101. However, the Wolf Pack's hip-hop entrance music was pretty sweet back in the day and seeing Sting with a little more color options was also a welcome sight. Seek and Destroy by Metallica We never got the Sting vs. Undertaker dream match, although the option was certainly on the table and we can chat about that a little bit later on, but we did get the dream sharpshooter vs. Scorpion Deathlock match when Bret Hart jumped ship to WCW. Unfortunately, two of the best of all time squared off on one of the worst wrestling shows of all time, Halloween Havoc 1998. The hip man was victorious after beating up Sting with his own baseball bat which led to the Stinger being shelved for several months. By the time Sting returned to active competition later in 1999, WCW was getting pummeled by the WWE and in full spend everything you got in order to win mode. From out of nowhere, Sting began using the Woodstock 1999 live version of Metallica's Seek and Destroy, certainly not a very business savvy move that no doubt costs WCW far more cash than it ever made them. The whole song slaps hard while adding another layer to Sting's magnetic personality. Slay Me by Dale Oliver One of the most loyal performers in wrestling history, Sting stayed with WCW until the very end. After all these years of supporting the company through thick and thin, it looked like the Stinger, if he wanted to continue his career, had no place else to go than Stamford, Connecticut. However, Sting is a superstar with values and the WWE's attitude era really turned him off. So instead of chasing McMahon money, on June 18th, 2003, Sting returned to the ring for the first time since the end of WCW, debuting for Jeff Jarrett's TNA Wrestling promotion. What was originally meant to be a four match deal turned into a decade long run with TNA, during which he added to his spectacular legacy by working with some of the brightest stars of a new generation. Sting did as much to help the company gain a following and establish itself as the number two promotion in the sport without him. The oft scrutinized promotion would not still exist today and his chaotic, out of control theme song definitely fit the Stinger during his TNA career resurrection. Out of the Shadows by Jim Johnston On the July 14th, 2014 episode of Monday Night Raw, a trailer for the upcoming WWE 2K15 video game featuring Sting aired for the first time. After decades spent avoiding Vince McMahon's promotion, the commercial was a historical change of course for the only iconic star from the Monday Night Wars, never to work for McMahon, his unwavering loyalty and his willingness to sign with an upstart promotion like TNA made him the face of that promotion for a decade, proving just how unselfish the veteran performer was. Now associated with the WWE, Sting put his trust in McMahon, Triple H and others in power to do whatever it took to preserve his legacy. However, instead of just using his WCW Crow theme, to which they obviously own the rights to, the E enlisted the goats of wrestling music Jim Johnston to produce this unspectacular entrance theme. There was absolutely no reason not to use the classic Crow theme, but it was obvious that Vince and company were just looking to make a quick buck off the vigilante. And what a stupid nickname that was too. Arrival by Mikey Ruckus Sting is an undeniable icon and he deserves every bit of recognition he gets at this point in his career. And while an induction into WWE's Hall of Fame was a nice gesture, his entire run answered the question of what would happen if he were to ever sign with the WWE. Fans' worst fears about him being misused came to fruition and a subsequent neck injury and retirement announcement all but guaranteed the Stinger's career was over. However, when Sting shockingly debuted for AEW in December 2020, it was clear that the man, Steve Borden, wanted the chance to write the end of his storied career the way that he wanted to. A huge get for the upstart promotion, this isn't just another WCW or WWE personality becoming all elite. This is a wrestler who transcends any one promotion. On top of that, Sting's new theme song is music to our ears. Mikey Ruckus called the making of Arrival his white unicorn, the organ and orchestra echo memories of his Crow theme in WCW. The wailing guitar pays homage to his TNA and in a way his WWE theme and the crescendos carry the tune forward putting a bow on Sting's successful pro wrestling story. Thanks for watching and we hope you enjoyed this episode and we look forward to taking you further behind the themes in future episodes. Please do us a favor if you can by giving this video a massive thumbs up and go ahead and share it with your friends who you think might also like it because it really helps our channel grow and reach new people. Also, if you haven't already, please consider subscribing for weekly wrestling theme song content and don't forget to follow us on social media so you get all our latest updates and we'll see you next time wrestling behind the themes.