63-year-old legend's untimely retirement helped AEW star Sting carve an iconic career, WWE veteran speculates

Sting's career as a whole has seemingly been quite impressive. In hindsight, WWE veteran Jim Cornette speculated that The Icon might not have gone far at all if it were not for one legend's untimely career-ending injury.

Back in the mid-80s Sting was still slowly climbing up the ranks of the NWA. But his eventual feud with Ric Flair would shoot him to main-event stardom that he'd carry into WCW. However, before The Icon, Magnum T.A. was one of the biggest rising babyfaces in the promotion, until a gruesome car accident forced his retirement.

During Jim Cornette's Drive Thru, the former wrestling manager speculated on whether The Vigilante would have made it big in NWA with Magnum still present:

"Sting did not even arrive in the company until six months after Magnum (T.A.)’s accident," said Cornette. "If he had arrived in the company and [Ric] Flair still had Magnum to work with, maybe Barry Windham would’ve been in probably if Magnum hadn’t had his accident. But Sting – Flair would’ve always liked him but I don’t know if Flair would have seen the need to make a new babyface as quickly as he did." (01:40 onward).

Jim Cornette also recently speculated why The Icon never went toe-to-toe with The Undertaker during his short run with WWE, despite fans having clamored for the clash.

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Jim Cornette believes that Sting would still have become a fan favorite even with Magnum T.A.'s presence in NWA

While Magnum's career-ending injury resulted in a gap for The Icon to fill, the star was still very much over with the audience. However, Jim Cornette believes that he might not have had the same success with his Clash of Champions I if the roster remained unchanged.

During the same Jim Cornette's Drive Thru, the wrestling veteran speculated that the 63-year-old AEW star's rise to the top wouldn't have been as quick:

"If Magnum was still around or Barry Windham came back, maybe Sting would’ve been a little overshadowed? [He] would’ve still gotten over with people, but it probably would’ve delayed him or blunted the star-making performance at [Clash of Champions I]," Cornette continued. (02:43 onward).

Today, The Icon is a name recognized by most hardcore fans or those who followed wrestling in the 90s. But could he still have made his way into AEW if he never had his massive feud with Ric Flair?

If you use one of the transcriptions above, please credit Jim Cornette's Drive Thru and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.