He left once, and came back as an avenging demon from hell. He beat Hollywood Hogan for the world title. For a time, he was WCW's salvation. What will Sting be when he comes back this time? Will he even come back at all? WCW has a lot of complicated individuals under contract, but none more complicated than Sting, the man no one has seen for months.

Then the original nWo reunited, as the baddest of bad guys, under the Wolfpac banner. Sting hasn't been seen since. What's going to happen? The fans want to find out. They’ve been chanting 'We want Sting' at times, most often when the NWO holds the advantage in a situation. But Sting is still MIA. The fans ought to be careful what they wish for. Who's to say what Sting will be like when he comes back? If he comes back.

Let's look at the possibilities:

* Sting could stay with the Wolfpac. Hey, he was a member before he disappeared. Godfather Hollywood would obviously want such a formidable fighter on his side. Even though Sting never really got the better of Hogan -- Randy Savage hit Hollywood in the head with a can of spray paint to help Sting beat Hogan for the world title last year -- Hogan never really got the better of Sting, either. Despite his seclusion, I'm sure Sting has cable wherever he is. I'm sure he knows what the Wolfpac has become. You know, though, I don't think Sting will return to the red-and-black. Being crazy is Sting's style. Being a jerk isn't.

* Sting could join the Four Horsemen. This isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. Sting was in the Four Horsemen a long time ago until he made the mistake of wanting to challenge head horsey Ric Flair for the world title and got his hide tanned. But the Horsemen do protect their own as long as they do the Nature Boy's bidding, and they seem as potent a group as any at this point. WCW is like the streets of Southcentral L.A. -- everybody wants to be in a gang for protection, and the Horsemen are the good-guy gang of choice right now.

* Sting could reform the tag team he was in during the salad days of his wrestling career and partner with the Warrior. I will go to my grave to prevent this if need be.

* Sting could come back as the bleach-blond surfer boy who screams a lot. I don't see it. When Sting left WCW the first time, something snapped in his cranium. The surfer dude was kind of normal, all things considered. I don't think Sting will ever be truly normal again. Sting could still be a good guy. I don't believe he could ever again be a nice guy.

* Sting could once again be the killer mime, brandishing his baseball bat with renewed fervor. This is a strong possibility. That was undoubtedly the most effective version of Sting. The mime won the world title. The mime scared the bejesus out of everyone. The mime may have had a mind of cottage cheese, but he had a heart of gold. As I said before, the mime was clearly WCW's salvation for quite some time. Seeing the mime return and use the Wolfpac's heads for batting practice is a fairly plausible scenario.

* Sting could come back and make amends with Lex Luger. The two are partners in an Atlanta fitness center and have been behind-the-scenes friends for almost a decade. Maybe Sting would be willing to put an emotional investment in one ally, especially if it was someone who had established himself as a friend. That said, you don't hear Luger bemoaning Sting's absence on WCW TV. Luger doesn't care about Sting right now.

There's one other possibility.

* None of the above.

All of the options listed above entail Sting having some loyalty to another entity. To WCW. To the Four Horsemen. To the Wolfpac. To Luger. At this point, why would Sting have any loyalty to anyone? WCW burned him. The Horsemen burned him. The Wolfpac burned him. Luger burned him. Like Scott Hall before him, I expect Sting to be a lone wolf. I think he'll come back in the mime makeup. But I think he’ll have a serial killer's soul. Sting is probably borderline psychotic at this point. He's been used and cast aside by every friend he's ever had in the wrestling business.

He won't be selective about who he kills. He'll want to off everybody. No one is more dangerous than the man with no friends. No one is more dangerous than Sting. If he comes back, that is. Frankly, I feel safer with him gone.

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