Ringside With Ryan Rider: Sting, Redemption And Remembrance

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Ryan Rider can be heard every Sunday morning from 10:30am-12:00pm on www.MainEventRadio.com. Make sure to tune in this week to hear an in-depth preview on TNA's Bound for Glory PPV as well as a special interview about the new women's division with none other than Ms. Traci Brooks.

Life and death. Existence and Demise. Those are words that personify any living creature big or small in the past, present, or future. We live, and then we die. What legacy will be left behind? How will future generations look back upon us? For many of us, we will simply be forgotten. After a few generations have passed, our names will be erased and simply become part of the departed history of the world. My great-grandfather used to say: "We are here for just seconds on this earth, our lives simply a spec of dust in the history of the world." That quote personifies human existence.

Being a very spiritual individual both inside and outside of the ring, Steve Borden is currently at that crossroad in his career, in his life. As Sting, he became a multi-time world champion and a household name in World Championship Wrestling. He had legendary battles with the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Big Van Vader just to name a few. But that all came to an end in 2001, when WCW went out of business and Sting was forced to give it up in one last match against Flair on the final Nitro. Despite his fame, his glory, his successes, he was out of the game unwillfully and had to lose what meant the most to him. At that time, he thought it was the end of the road. World Wrestling Entertainment absorbed the remnants of WCW. Seeing the disrespect that the WWE showed to his former peers, Sting decided to hang up his boots and put away the baseball bat for good-or so he thought at the time.

Sometimes a person's legacy is exaggerated in their absence, an aura builds and blows up and becomes larger-than-life. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case when it should have been for one of the sport's all-time greats. Whatever the reasoning may have been, Sting was forgotten about. His legacy tampered, his fame diminished, and his reputation at hand. People stopped talking about him. He needed closure as well as exposure with a new generation of fans.

Several years came and went like the wind for Sting. When Total Nonstop Action wrestling made the call in late-2005, he didn't miss up on the opportunity to put the icing on the cake, cement his legacy, and help out with the new era of professional wrestlers; the era of TNA.

Today, at 48-years old, Sting is far from the man he was when he first started his career 22 years ago. He's become more experienced, he has learned, he has suffered, and he has won. He found religion and became born-again. And he found TNA and began what is now the final chapter in his illustrious career. He's still one of the best in the business. He can wrestle, he can talk, he's hardcore, and he's got charisma like no other.

Last year, Sting put his career on the line to get rid of the "cancer" that was Jeff Jarrett. He won the World title but lost it after only 3 weeks due to be sidelined with trying to free Abyss from the devil, the sinister Jim Mitchell. Fierce battles raged on against Abyss for nearly a year. Now Sting is ready to finally have one more serious run on top, as the World Heavyweight champion as he faces Kurt Angle this Sunday at Bound for Glory. This time, Sting can put the lid on his career and be remembered as a legend, an icon, and somebody who truly cared about the icons of tomorrow and the future that is to be left after he is gone. He is truly one of a kind. IT'S SHOWTIME!!!


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