Is Sting the most iconic face paint look of all-time?

[The Rick Jericho]

Crow Sting has got a pretty good run since it started in 1997 with the more well rounded look.

So when you think of face paint wrestlers, is he the most iconic look and wrestler of all-time?

[ChitownKnight]

I’d say warrior too

[DiBiase is Good]

I hardly watched WCW as a kid, so when I think of face paint, I think of The Ultimate Warrior first.
But in terms of most iconic face painted wrestlers, I gotta go with The Road Warriors.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

Sting is one of the few who has had two iconic looks (surfer Sting and Crow Sting)

[tirtefaa]

Outside of the bounds of the popularity of the wrestler himself , I'd say it's Warrior for the sole reason that it was marketable and recognizable outside of the person wearing it.

You don't see that in the same way with either Sting or the Road Warriors, even if you argue that they're bigger stars.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Depends on what your criteria are.

In terms of memorable look for a specific wrestler that's lasted the test of time, I think Crow Sting wins. It's telling to me that he never went back to Surfer Sting, and the only other major face paint look he did was a variant on the Crow look. It's still a very distinctive look decades later.

The Road Warriors, conversely, created a lasting definition of what wrestling face paint looks like. They're a widely imitated template that's become ingrained in the very broadest sense of what wrestling looks like.

And Ultimate Warrior is probably the most successful iteration on the style of the Road Warriors, and the most well known single face paint pattern in wrestling.

Which one I'd call the most iconic face paint is a matter of which of those criteria is chosen.

[tafkaga]

I'd go with Warrior being the most iconic face paint as well. Perhaps if Crow Sting weren't so derivative.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I’ll say Warrior.

The spiked shoulder pads are more LOD’s iconic thing.

For Sting, I’d say a baseball bat is more his thing.

Warrior’s paint IS his face and you can colour that design anyway and people know it’s Warrior.

[Instant Classic]

I’d say Brian Cage.

[Urn Anderson]

I’d say Warrior easily tops the list, followed by the Road Warriors.

I agree with the other poster who said Crow Sting would be higher if it wasn’t so derivative.

Surfer Sting is, honestly, probably the second wrestler that pops into my head when you say “wrestler with face paint,” but he kind of has the same deal as Jeff Hardy where his designs varied so widely that you’d be hard-pressed to choose a definitive look.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

So what we have learned here is if Sting was called the Sting Warrior he would be winning this discussion handily

[Mozenrath]

I think of Sting's as more iconic than Warrior's, but I kind of put the Road Warriors at the highest.

Still, Sting doing the mask trick works BECAUSE his facepaint is as iconic as it is. Well, that and it covers his whole face.

[Jindrak Mark]

I’d say Warrior. In my experience with older people who don’t really follow wrestling Warrior is on that level with Macho Man and Andre below Hogan as one of the most recognizable wrestlers ever.

To the average person if you say Sting they’ll probably think of the singer and if you show them the facepaint they’ll think of The Crow.

['Foretold' Joker]

My 5 most iconic for me would be:

1. Ultimate Warrior - What I think of when I think face paint and wrestling.
2. Sting - What I think of when I think wcw and facepaint.
3. Demolition - Why Demolition above the Road Warriors? Because My viewing was wwf in the 80s and the Road Warriors didn't show up as LOD until the 90s
4. Road Warriors/Legion of Doom - Here they are.
5. Goldust - Slightly more Modern facepaint icon

Honorable Mentions
The Boogeyman - All gimmic, all facepaint

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

For me, it’s hands down the Road Warriors and it isn’t close.

[Allie Kitsune]

For me, it's Hawk (I typically can't remember Animal's design quite as much).

[thecrusherwi]

I can picture Ultimate Warrior's and the Road Warriors' exact paint designs in my head. I can with Crow Sting, but not quite Surfer Sting. So he's up there, but I'd go with Warrior and the LOD over him slightly.

[chazraps]

I'd say Hawk and Animal. The Road Warriors / Legion of Doom were marketed so hard in so many places through so many eras for so long. Both the 80s and 90s boom periods had them, as well as their being essentially the most visible antagonist of the Wrestlefest arcade game.

I love Sting, but if you see someone with Sting facepaint at a party you have a substantial amount who will think it's The Crow. The question of who is the proverbial icon representing makes it less iconic. For Hawk and Animal, there's no question.

[Aceorton]

SO WE'RE ALL JUST GONNA FORGET ABOUT THIS MAN?!



But seriously, it has to be the Warrior. His face paint design was literally the background of his green-screen promos. Sometimes it was on his trunks. He painted his chest with it at WrestleMania.

[sfvega]

I think so. Warrior was very iconic, but you have to remember his peak was SO short and was at a point where wrestling was on a bit of a downturn from the popularity of the 80's, but not quite as down as it was a couple years later. So in the bigger picture, a lot more people got eyes on Sting for 30+ years. Even LOD had a good sized prime, but a lot of it was in territory days or less popular NWA days vs the exposure of the last 30 years. I think in totality it's Sting, but in wrestling circles it may be Warrior. Then again, this board is almost entirely 30+ so it skews toward a timeframe.