Pro Wrestling's greatest silent killers

A look at the stars whose actions spoke louder than words.

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By JGeorge Estrella

Success in pro wrestling is dependent on many things.

Most notably, success depends on the way you look, work, and connect with the audience.

When you’re able to connect with an audience, you’re able to make to money. In order to connect with the audience, you have to be able to talk to them. Just look at some of the biggest success stories to come out of professional wrestling in The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Roddy Piper, and countless others.

All those guys became household names by tantalizing the audience with their linguistic abilities. Sure, you can have a decent career without relying too much on mic skills, but if you want to be at top--you gotta talk the talk. 

It’s what separates a wrestler from a superstar. You can have all the muscles and wrestling ability in the world. However, if you can’t cut a decent promo, then you’re in trouble. You need to be able to get those people riled and pumped up.

Yet there's very rare cases that are exceptions to the rule.

A select few have been able to achieve wrestling greatness without even cutting a single promo. In fact, some even made a career out of it. 

Sting (WCW): 1996-98

In the early '90s, Sting was able to rouse the audience with his high octane energy both in and out of the ring. He headlined pay-per-views throughout that decade, with the likes of Ric Flair, Vader, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. There was no doubt that Sting could talk people into seats.

Which begs the question....

Why is he on the list?

In the middle of 1996, Hulk Hogan sent shock waves throughout the wrestling world when he joined forces with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the New World Order. Sting would later be accused of affiliating with the NWO. Sting took this personally and eventually disappeared from television.

A month later, he reappeared on television, but he was no longer the colorful surfer Sting. He was now sporting the infamous “Crow” look. After a failed scouting attempt by the NWO and false accusations from WCW questioning his allegiance, Sting entered a vow of silence that would last over a year.

For months, Sting would be seen sitting ominously sitting up on the rafters. Sting silently stalked the NWO for a whole year, which led to the Hogan/Sting match at Starrcade 1997.

What made his vow of silence so special?

It could be the mystique it gave his character. Or the bad-assery (That’s a JGeorge original) of him showing up at the end of Nitro and cleaning house on the NWO. Or it could be the fact that WCW drew its biggest numbers during this time, and all because people wanted to see what Sting would do next.