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Sting remembers Hulk Hogan: He brought me up to ‘new levels’

Posted: Jul 30th 2025 By: Joseph Currier

Over the weekend, Sting remembered his late friend Hulk Hogan while making an appearance for Big Time Wrestling in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sting signed autographs and took photos with fans at Truist Field in Charlotte on Friday night. He also took a moment to pay tribute to Hogan, who passed away of cardiac arrest the day prior after experiencing weeks of complications from neck surgery.

“I loved Hulk Hogan. I still love him. I’m going to miss him,” Sting said at the Big Time Wrestling event. “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 were rivals following Hogan’s 1996 heel turn, and they headlined Starrcade 1997 against each other in a match that both exemplified the highs of WCW and why the promotion ultimately lost the Monday Night War. Sting recalled that, when Hogan was first brought into WCW, there were people who asked him if he felt like management was having him step aside so Hogan could take the spotlight.

“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,” Sting said. “No one else ever did. He was the first.”

Hogan has left behind a legacy of extreme highs and lows, including a racism scandal that saw him removed from the WWE Hall of Fame from 2015-2018. Sting did not address that but — from their personal interactions — remembered Hogan as a person who cared about people.

“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, who remains under a licensing contract with AEW, retired from the ring in March 2024 and is currently on a “2025 or Never” tour of convention appearances that will last through the end of the year. He will still make appearances after 2025 but will no longer be doing so in the full Sting costume.