Sting Delivers Heartfelt Tribute to Hulk Hogan – WWE Hall of Famer Sting delivered an emotional tribute to his longtime rival and friend Hulk Hogan during an appearance at Big Time Wrestling’s event Friday night at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hogan passed away due to cardiac arrest, following complications from recent neck surgery.
Speaking to a live crowd between autograph sessions and fan meet-and-greets, Sting honored the man he once battled on-screen but deeply respected behind the scenes.
“I loved Hulk Hogan. I still love him. I’m going to miss him,” Sting said. “He was a contributor to the wrestling industry as a whole like no one else. He brought everyone else up to new levels, he brought Sting up to new levels. Sting-Hogan, we broke attendance records all over the United States, here in Charlotte. We had buyrate, pay-per-view rates, record-breaking there with pay-per-views. Nintendo games, remember those, right? Nintendo 64, unbelievable.”
Sting and Hogan famously headlined WCW Starrcade 1997 in one of the most highly anticipated matches in professional wrestling history. It was the climax of a long storyline following Hogan’s shocking heel turn in 1996 and helped define WCW’s peak era. Despite behind-the-scenes complications and long-standing debate over the match’s outcome, Sting viewed Hogan’s presence in WCW as invaluable.
“When he came into WCW, I had people saying, ‘Do you feel like they’re pushing you aside to make way for Hulk?’” Sting recalled. “I said, ‘No, I don’t feel like that at all. I feel like we have the king of kings here. I mean, Hulk Hogan, he is going to help put butts in seats, we’re all going to make more money, we’re all going to get better ratings. It’s going to be good all the way around.’ You look at what he did, he transcended wrestling. No one else ever did. He was the first.”
While Hogan’s legacy is not without controversy—including a racism scandal that saw him temporarily removed from the WWE Hall of Fame from 2015 to 2018—Sting focused entirely on their personal connection and the impact Hogan had on professional wrestling.
“He really did care for others. He cared for me,” Sting said. “He lifted me up, he lifted WCW up. I’m grateful to have known him. And I just couldn’t not acknowledge Hulk Hogan tonight in Charlotte, North Carolina.”
Sting Delivers Heartfelt Tribute to Hulk Hogan
