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#2. AEW legend Sting without face paint
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Sting is arguably the most successful wrestler to ever wear face paint, given his legendary career. His evolution from the 'Surfer' gimmick to the 'The Crow' persona has kept him relevant and won him legions of fans who gravitated towards his iconic looks.
The 'Crow' era of Sting is his most famous face paint, consisting of black and white. The AEW legend credited Scott Hall for initially coming up with the idea:
A WWE Hall of Famer isn't a John Cena fan. More details HERE
"They wanted something dark and dirty. I thought my character had to change before fans started sticking their finger down their throat. I was trying to figure out what to do and Hall says, ‘You know what you should do? Get a trench coat, man. Paint your face white. Put some black around your eyes. Something mysterious. That’s what I would do, man," Sting recalled.
The gimmick was inspired by Eric Draven's character from the Crow movie. He first debuted that character to fight against the members of NWO, but the makeup has evolved multiple times since then. He changed the colors to red and black for the Wolfpac run, another fan favorite. Sting even experimented with Joker-Esque clown paint.
The legend is also comfortable going bare-faced outside of his wrestling appearances, usually sporting sunglasses. Now enjoying a career resurgence with Tony Khan's company, Sting mostly teams up with the young Darby Allin, who introduced the veteran to a younger generation. Speaking of Darby...
#1. AEW star Darby Allin without face paint
Darby Allin is one of the original AEW wrestlers best known for sporting face paint. He revealed that a traumatic car incident influenced his usage of face paint:
“I paint my face because 50 percent of me is dead inside. When I was five, my uncle was driving drunk. I was in the car with him. We crashed and he passed away," said Darby Allin.
It is also one of the reasons the former TNT champion decided to be straight-edge. Allin chose to stay away from drugs and alcohol, which has taken many of his friends' lives. The face paint has become synonymous with Darby's appearance, and he also names his finisher the 'Coffin Drop,' which further plays on the theme of death.
Regardless of his tragic past, Allin has managed to rise above it and become a star in AEW thanks to his charisma and daredevil attitude.
