Photos courtesy: Fetch, Fremantle Media
After the previous “best of” match compilation from WWE, Sting finally gets the documentary treatment in new release Into The Light.
And whilst, at 75 minutes long and not entirely career encompassing, it may not be the definitive look at his three decades or so in wrestling it is an entertaining look at the man.
After seeing him visit the WWE offices for the first ever time we get straight to business and see Sting watching his famous match with Ric Flair from the inaugural Clash of the Champions special. As the man says, it was the match that put him in the map and he admits that he learned more about what it took to be a wrestler in those 45 minutes than he had in all his matches up to that point.
The documentary the goes back to the beginning as we meet his parents, and Sting tells the story of getting into the business. An amusing aside comes from his father who says that his reaction to his son telling him he wanted to be a wrestler was “get a haircut and a job”.
His early days with the Ultimate Warrior are covered, as they wound up in the Memphis territory, mainly because Jerry Jarrett (who admits on here that the team were hugely limited) was the only promoter who returned their calls. Jarrett even admits he told the pair of them, after only three months, that they’d never make a dollar in the business. At least he can laugh about that now!
Their short run in Bill Watts Mid South territory is covered before the Bladerunners go their separate ways. Sting forms a successful, if still green, team with Rick Steiner (whose eloquent contributions here are a far cry from his on screen persona) before the now UWF finally runs out of money and is bought out by Jim Crockett Promotions.
Sting, who admits that his early promos were poor and that the howling and the beating of his chest that he became famous for were off the cuff additions when he lost his train of thought during interviews, rises to the pinnacle of the promotion in just a few short years, defeating Ric Flair at the 1990 Great American Bash.
Sting admits that whilst some guys really wanted to be champion, he was always more about entertaining the fans and putting on great matches. Without naming any names, he says some guys REALLY wanted to have the title. He also admits that him and Flair had the same match “thousands” of times. He wanted to shake things up but Flair always resisted, saying fans paid to see his “greatest hits”.
As Sting shows us around his ” bat cave” of memorabilia he admits that WCW was always “second class” to WWE in terms of merchandise and promotion. He admits to talking to Vince a number of times but that due to a combination of feeling Vince only wanted him for the damage it would do to WCW and the lighter schedule he could secure with WCW (spending more time at home) meant he never felt he had to make the move.
His metamorphosis into the “Crow” Sting is obviously covered in some detail. He says he didn’t know if it would work but that he felt times were changing and he had to change with them. This feud with Hogan is covered along with the admission that the fantastic story that had been over a year in the making didn’t have a “finish” less than an hour before bell time at Starrcade. Eric Bischoff sums it up succinctly, saying Hogan didn’t want to do the favour…
Sting finds God, and WWE buys out WCW, with Sting admitting it was an emotional night. Then in perhaps the biggest shock of the year Sting mentions the initials TNA and there is even a picture of him in a TNA ring. Wonders never cease.
There is some footage of him meeting Triple H in the WWE offices and the tale of his debut at Survivor Series, with some candid backstage footage of the day. From there he finally signs an official WWE contract for his match with HHH at Mania, and its clear that he thought at the time it was going to be his last match.
Two weeks after Mania, Sting gets married and that’s where this particular story ends.
As stated at the onset, this is not an in depth look at Sting’s career but it it a very good look at the man himself. WWE may be saving the complete career retrospective for next time.
There are a number of extra stories/outtakes from the main feature that are good fun. There’s also a wealth of matches, span his entire career from Memphis in 1985 right up to WrestleMania 31.
Some have been seen on earlier releases, but this set wouldn’t be complete without the likes of the Clash of the Champions match with Ric Flair. The early pre NWA matches show how much he had to learn but the improvement comes fast.
Matches with the likes of The Great Muta, Cactus Jack and Rick Rude are great and it’s always good to see a bit of Sting vs Vader. TV clashes with the likes of Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan (two years before Starrcade) are more historical curiosities than Five Star matches and there’s a sense that matches with the likes of The Giant, Goldberg and Bret Hart are chosen for the opponents rather than the match quality. Still it shows just how many of the big names Sting has been in the ring with.
We finish with Sting’s WWE debut and his match with HHH at Mania.
Blu-Ray exclusives stretch to 4 extra matches, including him teaming with Dusty Rhodes to take on Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard and a 1992 singles clash with Brian Pillman, and two WWE packages.
Some fans will be disappointed that this isn’t the full career documentary they might have been hoping for but even allowing for that, Into The Light is a very good package. Sting is an engaging host and there is a wealth of extras that all Sting fans should enjoy.
All in all, another highly recommended set from WWE Home Video.
Format reviewed: Blu-Ray
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch for providing our review copy of Sting: Into The Light, which is available on DVD & Blu-Ray in the UK now. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.