The Strange Feud Between Sting And Vampiro

From the moment that World Championship Wrestling signed and debuted Vampiro, it was inevitable that the face-painted Canadian would come toe-to-toe with the icon Sting. The similarities between the two may have been limited to the fact that they both used black and white face paint, but wrestling bookers have never been exactly known for their subtlety. If anything, it was incredible that the two were not slotted together immediately. While Vampiro was signed and made his WCW television debut in 1998, it turned out to be a one-off and he would not return until early 1999. From there he would work steadily in the mid-card, being given a lot of help from outside the wrestling world by being paired first with the Insane Clown Posse, followed by the Michale Graves led version of The Misfits. It was clear that he had a lot of potential but just needed that big push.

In early 2000, Vampiro was clearly being primed for a much higher spot on the card, having competed against legendary talent like Ric Flair and Lex Luger (at the time going only by the name of The Total Package) while also being engaged in a feud with Fit Finlay, who was aiming to teach Vampiro respect. One could look to the March 1st, 2000 episode of Thunder as the initial moment where their paths would begin to cross. 

Sting had been missing in action for several months but was set to return at Uncensored for a match against The Total Package, who had been on a crusade breaking the arms of his opponents following the matches, by ‘Pillmanizing’ their arms in a steel chair. Following their match on Thunder, Luger would break Vampiro’s arm. Immediately after Finlay would attack Vampiro, continuing their feud as they were also set to face off at Uncensored. Keep in mind this is 2000 WCW, so it was hard to even then to keep track of everything.

At Uncensored 2000, Vampiro would defeat Finlay in a brutal match that went all over the arena, with Finlay even cutting a promo afterward stating that the face-painted Canadian had earned his respect. Later in the show, Sting and Luger faced off in one of the more awkward Lumberjack matches to ever be seen. Sting’s lumberjacks would consist of a group of men who had their arms broken by The Total Package, including everyone from WCW Head of Security Doug Dillinger to Vampiro. Luger’s lumberjacks would consist of many lower card heels, all wearing casts with the story being they had all allowed Luger to “break” their arms in solidarity. Following an overbooked match that also saw Tank Abbott come to ringside to knock out Dillinger, the end of the match would see all of the lumberjacks battle to the back, with the exception of Vampiro. Luger’s running mate Ric Flair would come down to interfere but would prove ineffective. As Luger would attempt to end the match with the Torture Rack, Vampiro would use a baseball bat to hit him in the ribs, allowing Sting to win the match with the Scorpion Death Drop. After the match, Sting and Vampiro would embrace and celebrate together, giving birth to “The Brothers In Paint.”

Sting and Vampiro (The Brothers In Paint) leaving the ring. Credit WWE.com

The Brothers In Paint

The following night on Nitro, Vampiro would find himself once again facing off with Luger, while Sting was set to face his eternal rival Ric Flair. As Vampiro and Luger battled, the commentary team would really push the idea that this was Vampiro’s true shot at the major leagues, fully indicating that he could be the man in paint to take over for Sting going forward. Just as Vampiro seemed to have the win in hand, interference from Flair would allow Luger to hit Vampiro with the bat and lock in the Torture Rack for the victory. A further beating would be prevented from Sting. Later in the night, Sting and Flair would have their typical great match before Luger made his presence felt. Sting would initially fight Luger off, even locking Flair in the Scorpion Death Lock before Luger would pull the referee out for the disqualification. In a mirror image from earlier in the night, Vampiro would make the save for Sting.

The following week at Spring Breakout 2000, Vampiro & Sting face off against Flair & Luger in an odd match that sees Sting & Luger battling all around the area, including a bump into the pool for Luger before he gets hit in the face with a bowl of salsa. While Luger and Sting battle to the beach and into the ocean (perhaps a throwback to Sting’s travels with Davey Boy Smith in 1993?) we see Flair and Vampiro battle in the ring. Sting eventually piledrives Luger into the ocean and gets the pin. A disjointed but fun match. It should also be noted that this is when it is announced that Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo will be returning to take control of WCW. The following episode of Thunder consists mostly of interviews discussing how the talent feels about the change in management, with the following week both Nitro and Thunder are clip shows before the much-maligned “reboot” of WCW on April 10, 2000.

The Reboot Changes Everything

When Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff took back control of the company, the reboot essentially put a kibosh on the Brothers In Paint. Vampiro would find himself aligned with the New Blood, while Sting was one of the main faces of the Millionaire’s Club. Much has been written about these two stables and why this didn’t work, so we won’t go into that here beyond the fact that they were both placed on the wrong side of the face and heel spectrums. Later in the night, during a match between DDP and Sting to determine who would face Jeff Jarrett for the World Championship on Sunday, Vampiro would attack Sting with the Nail In The Coffin, putting an end to the Brothers In Paint.

The Sunday immediately following the reboot would see Spring Stampede 2000, featuring two concurrent tournaments for the United States Championship and the Tag Team Championships, as well as the finals for the World Heavyweight Championship.  Both Sting and Vampiro would find themselves in the United States Championship tournament. Sting would face off with Booker (this was the time period where he had lost the T) in the first round in a decent match which saw Sting win with the Scorpion Death Drop, leading to Booker offering a fist bump in a show of respect between the two warring factions. Immediately after, Vampiro would face off with Billy Kidman, who was amid his ill-fated feud with Hulk Hogan. As expected, Hogan made his appearance known, costing Kidman the match. While theoretically, Kidman should have been the winner by DQ, we all know Russo booking doesn’t take something like that into account. 

So, in the semi-finals, the two men would face off in their first match against one another, which would see Sting defeat the man also known as the Dark Angel with the Scorpion Death Lock. This wouldn’t be the end of the two’s interactions for the night, however, as Vampiro would rip through the canvas from beneath the ring just as Sting appeared to have Scott Steiner defeated in the finals, pulling him beneath the ring. Vampiro would bring Sting back up, face covered in blood and leave him for dead as Steiner locked in the Steiner Recliner for the win. 

The next night on Nitro, Vampiro would come to the ring, and call out Sting for a match at the next PPV, Slamboree.

Vampiro: “Hey. I have come to send a message to my brother in pain. Sting, you know nothing about pain. And even what happened last night between us, and only you truly know what happened when I dragged your tired, bored old ass underneath the ring, you still know absolutely nothing about pain. But you think you do. Sting, I heard your screams, I drew and tasted and felt your blood, and I smelled all your fear. But that was last night. And tonight is just the beginning. I allowed myself just a little taste Sting, a sip because I wanted to save the rest. In three weeks at Slamboree, I am going to devour you. I am going to show you what it’s like to walk around with your humanity stripped, just like I have Sting. I am gonna drag you to the depths of hell Sting.”

Sting’s music hits and the lights go out.

Vampiro: “Welcome to my nightmare.”

Sting would then drop from the arena ceiling into the ring and attack Vampiro with his baseball bat into the corner, holding him by the throat as he demands a microphone.

Sting: “Vampiro, you look like somebody just walked over your grave, boy! Right now I feel like rompin’ stompin’ graveyard destruction”

Sting then proceeded to smash the bat into Vampiro’s back and leg, holding onto Vampiro’s dreadlocks as he continued, while hitting him with the bat in between every sentence.

Sting: “I’m gonna teach you a little lesson here boy. You think I don’t know anything about pain? I learned from guys like Nature Boy Ric Flair. I learned from guys like The Total Package. One thing for sure is that you’re gonna grow up real quick around here, boy. Come here”

Sting would then nail a Scorpion Death Drop, before grabbing the mic again.

Sting: “WCW runs through my veins. This is my turf.”

The following week Nitro would kick off with Sting and Vampiro battling backstage, with Sting throwing the Dark Angel around into a group of pipes before walking away, allowing Vampiro to attack from behind with a pipe, leaving Sting lying. Later in the night, Sting would come to the ring following a mixed tag match between Chris Candido & Tammy Sytch against The Artist & Paisley, dropping Candido with a Scorpion Death Drop and challenging Vampiro to a First Blood match later in the night, which Vampiro would accept in a brief interview with Mean Gene. In the main event, the two would battle briefly in the ring, before Vampiro would go stand on the announce table, signalling for a drop as Sting stood in the middle of the ring. A blood bath from the top of the arena would douse Sting as fellow members of the New Blood would come to join Vampiro in the attack. Following a Nail in the Coffin, the group would put Sting back in the holster that dropped him from the top of the arena and had it lift him back hovering above the fans, unconscious and covered in blood.

Later in the week on Thunder, Sting would face The Wall in a Tables Match, still covered in the blood from Monday. Sting would emerge victorious, seemingly still in a trance, almost zombie-like. As an aside, this is also the episode of Thunder that would see David Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

The next week on Nitro, Vampiro would appear in a graveyard, challenging Sting to come confront him. This would continue throughout the night in several vignettes, with the first seeing Sting enter the graveyard continuing his hunt for the Dark Angel. Shot entirely in black and white, Sting continued to look for Vampiro who began tailing him. Vampiro would end up with the upper hand, attacking Sting viciously with a shovel. As Vampiro picked up a small tombstone, Sting would look directly at his rival.

Sting: “Who are you?”

Vampiro: “I’m the monster, you should have been”

Vampiro then smashed the tombstone into Sting’s head, knocking him into an open grave. Dumping a wheelbarrow full of dirt over him, Vampiro then left the graveyard, as the camera lingered to see them recreate the iconic ending of Carrie, which the WWF had already done at the end of the original Buried Alive match, with Sting’s hand emerging out of the grave. Vampiro would then appear in the arena later in the evening to discuss how he put an end to Sting, only to be interrupted by Sting’s music. A crow would appear by the Tron as Sting once again dropped from the rafters and once again beat Vampiro down with his trusty bat. 

Two nights later on Thunder, both men would be in action. First, Vampiro would face DDP in a New York Rules match that would see Sting attack and douse Vampiro in blood, leading to a Diamond Cutter and a DDP win. Sting would then compete in his own NY Rules match, defeating Mike Awesome with the Scorpion Death Lock.

Finally, at Slamboree, Vampiro and Sting faced off in the middle of the ring. While Vampiro would introduce a steel pipe into the match, it would come back to bite him as Sting would deliver a Stinger Splash with the pipe smashing into Vampiro’s head, followed by two Scorpion Death Drops for the victory. Following the match, Sting would return to the ring and smash the steel pipe once more into Vampiro’s head, leaving him lying in the center of the ring. 

While this seemed to be the end of the feud, the next night would show it may have been only the beginning. Sting would receive a main event match against the WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett. In the closing moments of the match, Sting would lock Jarrett into the Scorpion Death Lock, only for Vampiro to once again rip through the canvas and pull Sting under the ring. Once again emerging covered in blood, Jarrett would get the pinfall to retain and Vampiro would again go on the attack.

Thunder would see an interview between Mike Tenay and Vampiro, where Vampiro indicated that he was going to recreate the iconic Ozzy Osbourne moment of biting the head off of a dove with Sting’s crow before Sting attacked and beat him down. The main event later in the night would feature an Ambulance match between Sting and Mike Awesome, which culminated with Sting dropping Awesome on top of the ambulance with the Scorpion Death Drop. Once he opened the back of the ambulance, he was met by Vampiro, who sprayed blood into his face, dragging him into the ambulance, giving the win to Awesome, who was still unconscious on top of the ambulance.

The next Nitro opened with a House of Pain Steel Cage match between the two men, where the only way to win would be to shackle your opponent to the side of the cage and batter them with the baseball bat. Vampiro entered first, locking the cage and preventing Sting from entering as the cage had a top. Sting would climb up top and use his bat to break a hole in the cage. The two go back and forth before Sting wins by locking both of Vampiro’s wrists to the shackles. After he leaves the ring, the lights go out and when they come back on, the cage has risen a few feet and Vampiro has vanished.

Things Heat Up

Thunder would see Vampiro light a Sting mask on fire and state he was ready to take Sting right to hell. Following a break, Sting would be in the ring.

Sting: “Cut the music. Vampiro, thank you for pointing that I have talked the talk for 10 years, but don’t forget that I’ve walked the walk for 10 years. I’ve been real nice, real kind and real patient way beyond what I’m capable of I’m doing, I’m real close Vampiro, to snapping. Perhaps I should even blow a gasket, I’m that far away. So tonight Vampiro, I’m gonna knock you right out, I’m gonna take you out, right here in Louisiana.”

At this point, Vampiro walks out onto the ramp.

Vampiro: “Hey Steve, Stinger. I got a question. Last night, in the cage, you had me handcuffed, you left me hanging. You walked out of the cage and I was laughing at ya. What happened? You just ain’t got the balls to cross the line and finish the job? Cause ya know something Steve, if that was me you miserable bastard, they’d still be picking fragments of your face off the front row! Or maybe, maybe, you just don’t get it. Maybe there’s a little bit of you that likes me. Maybe there’s a little bit of you inside that wants to be like me, because since maybe you’re enjoying all the time that we’re spending together lately. But I promise you something Steve, I told you I was gonna take you to Hell and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna tell you something right now, at the American Bash, and this is how it’s gonna be, it’s an Inferno match, me and you. And what that means, to win that match, you’re gonna have to light your opponent on fire Steve.”

Sting: “You’re psycho, definitely psycho bonehead. We’re not having any Inferno match, what are we gonna do, torch each other, that ain’t gonna happen.”

Vampiro: “Yes Steve, I am psycho. And Sting, you don’t have a choice.”

At this point the ring ropes around Sting light on fire, leaving Sting to use his jacket to put out part of the ropes before leaving the ring.

Nitro the next week saw Vampiro facing off against Hulk Hogan and in a completely shocking turn of events, Vampiro gets the pinfall victory over the Hulkster after Kidman interferes and hits Hogan in the back of the head with a blowtorch. Before Vampiro can attempt to light Hogan on fire, Sting makes the save, taking out Vampiro. A few days later on Thunder, an interview between Mike Tenay and Sting is interrupted when the lights go out and Vampiro lights the set on fire.

Next week’s Nitro saw Vampiro bring a fuel tanker to the arena before his match with Terry Funk. The two battle out to the tanker, where Vampiro pulls out the hose and douses Funk with gasoline before Sting makes the save. Vampiro tries to pull a blowtorch from the cab of the truck but thankfully security is able to stop him before he lights the entire parking lot on fire.

The go-home Nitro for the Great American Bash saw Vampiro challenge Scott Steiner for the United States Championship, which ends with Vampiro trying to light Midajah on fire before Sting makes an attack with the baseball bat, leading to him getting caught up in the Steiner Recliner. Later in the night Sting defeats the World Champion Jeff Jarrett, only to be informed by Eric Bischoff that it was a non-title match. Finally, on the go-home Thunder, as Sting is entering the arena for a match with The Cat, Vampiro attacks Sting from behind with a fire extinguisher, beating him down before landing his own version of the Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Death Drop. Vampiro then sets the announce table on fire but before he can put Sting into the flames, Sting is able to put the flames out with the fire extinguisher. Vampiro then gets the upper hand and delivers a Urinage onto the table, before telling Sting that tonight the wood was burning, but Sunday it would be his flesh. 

The feud would finally culminate at The Great American Bash, in the over-the-top Human Torch match. Sting would begin the match above the Tron challenging Vampiro to come up top and challenge him before he would rappel down to begin the match. The two have a decent match before they head back above the Tron where the torch is lit and waiting. The match ends with the two battling above the screen in darkness as the lights fade in and out, before Vampiro lights what is clearly a stuntman dressed as Sting on fire, who falls from the top of the Tron through the stage below, where security and the production team use fire extinguishers and wrap him in a blanket before taking him away.

This would be the end of the main feud, though upon Sting’s return a few months later, the two would battle once again at Fall Brawl in a Triple Threat match also featuring The Great Muta, but this would not feature the same gravitas as their earlier feud.

Sting and Vampiro on top of the WCW Tron during their Human Torch Match. Credit: WWE Network

Final Thoughts

Looking back over 20 years later, it’s clear that the original intent of the feud was to help elevate Vampiro in a bid to possibly even have him replace Sting as WCW’s token ‘dark’ character. Unfortunately this as rife with issues, such as the fact that most of the feud always ended with Sting having the upper hand, and the one time that Vampiro was in the winning column, it was completely undercut by the obvious stuntman, followed by the horrible decision to have the commentary team handle it with what is commonly referred to as the “Owen” voices. Also intriguing is the fact that over the proceeding twenty years, Sting still somehow managed to always be a main event talent, while Vampiro, while still maintaining a good spot in the business, faded into the ether of the wrestling world.

In a 2020 interview on the Two Men Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to promote his documentary, Nail In The Coffin: The Rise And Fall Of Vampiro, Vampiro spoke about the rumours that Sting had heat with him, saying:

“I’ve been told that he didn’t like me and didn’t really want to work with me. I also saw an interview where he said that. It kind of bothered me because he didn’t say that to my face. I really respect him. I really learned a lot from him. I was so grateful that he took the time to teach me the things he did. For someone of his stature in the United States to give me that opportunity to get a lot of credibility because of his name, of course, I respect him and I’m very grateful for that. I personally don’t have anything bad to say about him. I did hear though that he wasn’t too thrilled with me and I am sorry for that. That’s life and that’s ok.”

There is a lot to wonder about how the feud between Vampiro and Sting could have been booked, and how it may have worked had it not been done during the height of Vince Russo’s crazed booking. In the end, it’s just a slight footnote in the career of Sting, yet arguably the biggest storyline in Vampiro’s career. As a fan of both men, I personally wish it had been handled better, but both men certainly did the best with what they were given. It was certainly fun to revisit, and had many more layers than I personally remembered. If anything I implore fans of either man to go back and revisit some of the earlier matches in the feud, as both men were at the top of their game.