Sting. Photo from WWE.com
The Icon finally joins the ranks of the immortals.
Sting has been announced as the first inductee to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on Monday.
“We are truly honored to have Sting take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame,” said WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul Levesque.
“His contributions to our industry are unprecedented, and we look forward to celebrating his incredible career with fans all over the world.”
Sting, whose real name is Steve Borden, banners this year’s batch which will be enshrined on April 2 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, a day before WrestleMania 32.
A staple of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) throughout his run, he was dubbed as “The Franchise,” winning the World Heavyweight Championship six times, the United States Championship twice, and the Tag Team Championship thrice. He did all of that while having epic rivalries against the Four Horsemen towards the end of the 1980s, Vader, Rick Rude, Lex Luger, and later on, against the New World Order.
After the promotion closed, Sting went on and off from the industry, joining World Wrestling All-Stars in Europe before a lengthy run with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling.
Sting made his long awaited WWE debut on Survivor Series 2014, shocking the world and helping Dolph Ziggler defy the odds to beat Team Authority in the traditional 5-on-5 elimination match.
He then fought Triple H at WrestleMania 31 in a losing effort, in a match where the New World Order and D-Generation X went toe-to-toe with each other.
Sting last saw action back in September last year, where he unsuccessfully challenged Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions. He then went under the knife for a neck injury, suffered from an errant landing on the turnbuckle after Rollins hit him with a powerbomb.