The 11 faces of Sting

#5 His first World Title

Sting's chest looked like raw hamburger after his match with Flair at Great American Bash 1990

Sting was poised to take the belt from Flair in 1989, when injury struck at Clash of the Champions. Sting tried to climb into a cage, but landed awkwardly and tore his knee badly.

After being kept out of action due to the surgery -- and a much ballyhooed, much-ridiculed team up with Robocop -- Sting finally got his chance at Flair for the NWA World Championship. In order to keep the Horsemen from interfering, as they had countless times in the past, Sting's friends were spread around ringside, and Ole Anderson was handcuffed to seven foot El Gigante/Giant Gonzales.

Sting finally captured the title in a brutal contest that left both men battered and bruised -- just look at the Stinger's chest! Those are Ric's hand prints emblazoned upon his scarlet skin.

Sting cemented his status as an icon, and one of the greatest of all time with his championship win.

Then a little phenomenon called the nWo appeared, and Sting radically altered his look once more...