⠀i want to preface this by iterating that i'm not a fan of hulk hogan nor ric flair. i can acknowlege their immeasurable impact on the business that is professional wrestling, but personally, i do not like either of them. i find hulk hogan in almost every one of his incarnations corny; nwo hulk hogan was sorta cooler, but all in all he just isn't my thing. as far as ric flair goes, he's a comfirmed sex pest and generally gross person. ick. that being said, i find his gimmick annoying in theory, but the way he pulls it off (in promos and interactions) can be captivating at times, especially in his late career. the whole 'old man off his shit' thing gets a laugh out of me—whether this is the intended effect is up for debate.
⠀sting is one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. he's definitely always going to be in my top 3, at any given time. out of all of his incarnations, joker sting (affectionately nicknamed by fans) is a shorter-lived sting gimmick. contained in the year of 2011, he responded to the usurping of impact wrestling from dixie carter by hulk hogan and eric bischoff by simply going crazy. unhinged. nuts, even. every single one of his promos from this time are just unmatched. we will never have another joker sting.
⠀this segment in particular is so delightfully terrible.
AND I'M NUTS, TOO! HA HA HA HA HA!
⠀like... all of it. hogan's terrible acting, his mustache's jiggle physics, the way he straight up prays to god behind ric flair while he just rips sting in the most "old man yells at cloud" way, the way impact sensors the word "tit", the way ric flair taunts sting with "laugh. laugh. laugh. laugh." the way sting forgets about past alliances with either man, straight up does the whole gay affect thing, tells ric flair he'll bite his finger off... there's just nothing like it. something that i admire in sting across his entire career is his ability to adapt. his gimmick turn to crow sting in 1996 is proof enough, but joker sting really proves that point. and it's just so damn entertaining to watch—and that's what professional wrestling is about.
