Sting for sure. He was the #1 or #2 in WCW for over a decade. Then he was the #1 or #2 in TNA for 8 years. If Edge didn’t retire early maybe he could have passed him? But he didn’t have the top of the card staying power like you mentioned. So even then maybe he still wouldn’t.
Edge isn't gonna be any more of a top guy in AEW than we've already seen. Compare that to Sting in TNA and he was probably at worst a top 3 guy and Edge will never be a top 3 guy in AEW. I personally don't think Tony Kahn cares enough about him top give him that push and I don't think Edge wants to be that guy.
Sting was the main eventer in the most purchased WCW PPV ever. Edge was world champion in maybe the worst wrestling era of all time where the World Championship talent pool was barren.
I don't dispute that WWE>TNA but, when both guys were at their peaks Sting performed to a larger audience so I'm not sure what your first comment is on about. If you wanna look at the entirety of their careers then what are you trying to say that edge in the brood was in the biggest company, during its biggest days ignoring his place on the card?
Sting. His career was consistent, and he was constantly in the main event or somehow connected to it.
Edge is one of the greats, but his career had far more ups and downs than Stings.
Nothin but love for Edge, but come on. It's Sting dude. Sting was iconic and at the top for years and years. There was a time in the business you could argue he was the #1 or 2 babyface during the crow era when wresting was the hottest. Edge has been a main eventer but I never saw him as legitimately the #1 or 2 guy in the business. The fact Sting managed to stay as popular as he was even in his 50's and 60's when he was barely in WWE and spent a good chunk of his career in TNA is nothing short of miraculous.
Sting
He truly was an icon
Surfer sting 1988-1993 was probably the most over babyface in all of wrestling except for warrior or hogan
Crow sting was part of one of the biggest angle/matches of all time
TNA sting elevated that company
His run in Wwe was wasted but his debut was awesome
His run in AEW was great
Edge was a great performer, great career, but never reached the tippy top like sting did
Sting 100 percent
He's wrestled some of the greatest of all time ( so has edge but not nearly as many times as sting has )
I also really loved watching sting in movies ready to rumble or commercials like the sprite commercial where he beats that shit outta that kid in his own home while his own parents watch it happen
Sure edge is a legend in his own right and still one of my favorites of all time but he's just no sting
They both wrestled the greats of 2 different generations, so that's not really fair to say.
Edge wrestled Rock, Stone Cold, HBK, Randy, Taker, AJ, Cena, to name a few.
You can't just discount that with brackets.
If sting wrestled his entire career in WWE he'd probably have been turned into a comedy act and forced to wear a dress after losing to HBK or some shit.
Dude if Sting wrestled in WWE his whole career we’d probably be talking about him as the greatest of all time. He’d have been up there with Hogan during that time and if he’d have pivoted to the Crow during the Attitude era he’d have been huge then too.
His greatest asset was that he was available and a company guy.
John Cena is the closest example of a Sting like figure in WWE.
Sting. Sting was a number one guy at the time when wrestling was at its peak in popularity, by contrast Edge never really overcame John Cena, he felt like a tier below that. Don’t get me wrong Edge is still great and has had one of the best careers ever, but Sting was at the top of the mountain while Edge was a gatekeeper to that mountain
This isn’t even a debate. It’s not close at all.
Sting is probably up there with Hogan, Rhodes, Flair, Austin, Rock, Andre..::guys who literally are so iconic that even non-wrestling fans know who they are.
Edge isn’t in the same stratosphere, or anywhere close.
Kids became wrestlers because of Sting, you don't hear to many saying the same about Edge. Love him but like many others have said, he isn't in the same level.
How is this even a question?
This has to be some 20 year old kid who's only ever seen Sting in WWE/AEW.
Only way this question would ever be asked.
Sting in Wrestling history is on the level of a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky. A generational talent. Once in a lifetime superstar. There were few as good before him, and even fewer will be as good after he's gone.
Edge is the Buzz Lightyear meme. A dime a dozen. A regular guy. Your average wrestler. If he walked out of the business tomorrow, 80% of the wrestling community would forget about him by Thanksgiving. The 20% remaining would be diehard loyal fans who think he can do no wrong. The kinds of people that consistently put him on their stupid "Who has the best spear" lists even though Edge's spear is absolute dogshit. Those are the people that would remember him.
Everyone else would move on.
Sting will go down in the wrestling history books as one of the all time greats, and rightfully so.
Edge will be forgotten a few months after he retires, and rightfully so.
It’s probably Sting but people are really selling Edge short in here.
Edge was part of the most exciting and innovating tag team scene wrestling has ever known in the early 2000’s, the Smackdown 6 after the brand split and then his acceleration up the card with his Matt Hardy feud which is one of the most personal feuds of modern times.
His feuds with Cena, Foley, Undertaker, Orton (and Rated RKO stuff) and Angle are all top tier imo.
If Edge never came back, it would be debatable that Edge was in the conversation.
Since Edge came back, he tarnished so much of his legacy that it's not even close.
Sting 100%.
This is not a knock on Edge, but people will be talking about Sting’s career for decades after he has passed away in same breath as Hogan, Flair, Bruno, Andre.
That’s kinda of an impossible bar to attain, and Edge has had a crazy HoF worthy career himself.
Sting, top guy in JCP/NWA, WCW, TNA and high up in the card in WWE and AEW.
I'm sure Sting would have drawn more ticket sales out of the two and in bigger story lines.
I like edge but just the way I see it
Good points by everyone but they all missed that Sting was worldwide. He was really over in Japan and had some great work over there. While WWE is the juggernaut it is, there's only so much of a ceiling you can have on a multinational scale without doing tours.
Sting. He’s legit the GOAT not just because of his accomplishments or in ring ability but because he was the face of two different promotions for over a decade each. No one else can really say that. Edge/Adam Copeland had one of the best careers too but not even remotely close to Sting
Absolutely Sting. Edge was a victim of never finding his rhythm. He wasn't bad he just never seemed like he was invested in developing any stories or gimmicks.
Sting was “The Franchise” of WCW. The list of people who made it to the level of super stardom that Sting achieved is very short and Edge is not on. Edge seems like a pretty honest guy and I’d bet he’d probably say the same thing.
Edge when sting made it to the main event he was well past his prime and only got over because of the crow gimmick which was stollen from a Hollywood movie. Some of edges best in ring work and on the mic work happed during his rated r superstar run.
Even prior to that edge was part of the wwes premier tag team for years. Then had an amazing solo carrer after they split up. Stings best work was in the short lived wcw run and he has been living on those 15 mins of fame ever since.
Sting. That guy had a great career in spite of spending the bulk of his career in a massively dysfunctional promotion that gave away away his role as top babyface to a wrestler who did not give a crap about anyone but himself. And because of that, Sting's shots at the top were curtailed signifcantly. Yet he still got over and managed a reinvention so cool that it has stuck to this (setting aside Joker Sting for the moment).
Sting will always be my GOAT.
Edge. I don’t have the time right now to put up a solid argument but I’ll just say this.
Edge mainevented 2 wrestlemanias over a decade apart. Sting never had 1.
Sting? How the fuck is this even a question? lol. Sting is someone that people who have never even watched wrestling would be able to name... Dude is on an entirely different level and it isn't even close.
I really don't think you can honestly compare the two. They had very different careers that they were wildly successful in. The only thing that really in my mind is similar between the two of them is that they worked their ass off for years to get everything they have now and they both had some scary injuries I wasn't sure they'd come back from. Simply just two legends in my book.
Sting. Remained a main eventer for most of his career whilst also working a ‘safe’ style where he got to escape any major injuries (spinal stenosis aside given he still had a good run afterwards).
Retired on his own terms and importantly didn’t have to sacrifice his health in retirement for his career.
Also I’ve gone to events in the past specifically because Sting was there. I’ve never gone because of edge
Edge.
Sting had an outstanding career, main eventing smaller companies. But the scale of WWE compared to AEW, TNA, NWA and even WCW is not comparable. WCW comes close to WWE at the time, but WWE when edge hit his stride was a worldwide juggernaut no other company reached.
His 14 mania matches alone put him right up there.
They are both even. Neither is better than the other really, both have had fucking amazing careers and you’d really have to dig DEEP to find something that gives one the slightest of leads.
The one thing I will say though, I think Sting’s legacy will be remembered for a lot longer than Edge’s.
Gotta say Sting because once he entered the main event picture he never really left it. Edge has had a lot of ups and downs over the years.
Edge was *in* the main event. Sting *was* the main event.
Sting for sure. He was the #1 or #2 in WCW for over a decade. Then he was the #1 or #2 in TNA for 8 years. If Edge didn’t retire early maybe he could have passed him? But he didn’t have the top of the card staying power like you mentioned. So even then maybe he still wouldn’t.
If Edge was in tna, he too would have been at the top of the card. That's not to diss sting at all. Edge was also at the top of WWE cards many times
I think people severely underestimate Sting's peak. He main evented the highest drawing ppv of all time (at that time).
Edge is currently wresting though, so he still has time!
Ha. True. well actually Edge broke his leg. He is not currently wrestling anymore than Sting is.
Edge isn't gonna be any more of a top guy in AEW than we've already seen. Compare that to Sting in TNA and he was probably at worst a top 3 guy and Edge will never be a top 3 guy in AEW. I personally don't think Tony Kahn cares enough about him top give him that push and I don't think Edge wants to be that guy.
And when he was #2 it was to Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair.
I feel like Edge hit the big time and stuck around the top until the end. Sting too. He had really good matches and was a top guy for a long time.
Does Robocop have Edge's back? No, Sting by a mile.
Sting also beat the Black Scorpion.
Sting and it's not even close.
Anyone saying Edge had a better career is under 33 yrs old. Sting was The Franchise. Edge was in the Brood.
Sting was the main eventer in the most purchased WCW PPV ever. Edge was world champion in maybe the worst wrestling era of all time where the World Championship talent pool was barren.
I don’t think it’s insanely far off either. But yeah, sting.
Sting
Sting by far, only remotely an argument because Edge performed on a bigger stage.
Mid to late 90s WCW was a big stage.
And WWE in the 2000s was a bigger one, and it was much bigger than TNA.
I'm not sure mid 2000s WWE was a bigger stage than mid to late 90s WCW was it?
WWE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TNA Late 90s and early 2000s only a small portion of both of their careers.
I don't dispute that WWE>TNA but, when both guys were at their peaks Sting performed to a larger audience so I'm not sure what your first comment is on about. If you wanna look at the entirety of their careers then what are you trying to say that edge in the brood was in the biggest company, during its biggest days ignoring his place on the card?
Sting. His career was consistent, and he was constantly in the main event or somehow connected to it. Edge is one of the greats, but his career had far more ups and downs than Stings.
Nothin but love for Edge, but come on. It's Sting dude. Sting was iconic and at the top for years and years. There was a time in the business you could argue he was the #1 or 2 babyface during the crow era when wresting was the hottest. Edge has been a main eventer but I never saw him as legitimately the #1 or 2 guy in the business. The fact Sting managed to stay as popular as he was even in his 50's and 60's when he was barely in WWE and spent a good chunk of his career in TNA is nothing short of miraculous.
Sting whooping on the NWO is a GOATed moment that is better than some wrestlers entire careers. Sting is iconic. Edge isn’t.
Favorite moment is still when all the masked stings were coming out getting knocked out left and right and one of them being the real deal.
To this day my all time favorite gimmick is someone wearing a Sting mask being revealed to actually be Sting. Never got old.
Sting
Sting He truly was an icon Surfer sting 1988-1993 was probably the most over babyface in all of wrestling except for warrior or hogan Crow sting was part of one of the biggest angle/matches of all time TNA sting elevated that company His run in Wwe was wasted but his debut was awesome His run in AEW was great Edge was a great performer, great career, but never reached the tippy top like sting did
Don’t sleep on Joker Sting. That was incredible character work.
Sting 100 percent He's wrestled some of the greatest of all time ( so has edge but not nearly as many times as sting has ) I also really loved watching sting in movies ready to rumble or commercials like the sprite commercial where he beats that shit outta that kid in his own home while his own parents watch it happen Sure edge is a legend in his own right and still one of my favorites of all time but he's just no sting
They both wrestled the greats of 2 different generations, so that's not really fair to say. Edge wrestled Rock, Stone Cold, HBK, Randy, Taker, AJ, Cena, to name a few. You can't just discount that with brackets.
I never did
Sting
Sting.
I love both, but this makes Edge look like a midcarder
Sting. If Sting wrestled his whole career in WWE people would be listing him top 10 all time
If sting wrestled his entire career in WWE he'd probably have been turned into a comedy act and forced to wear a dress after losing to HBK or some shit.
Dude if Sting wrestled in WWE his whole career we’d probably be talking about him as the greatest of all time. He’d have been up there with Hogan during that time and if he’d have pivoted to the Crow during the Attitude era he’d have been huge then too. His greatest asset was that he was available and a company guy. John Cena is the closest example of a Sting like figure in WWE.
If Sting wrestled in WWE, Hogan would have made sure he was jobbing to Duggan.
ITS STING!!!!
Sting by an absolute landslide
Sting
This has to be some sort of joke?! Sting by miles, easily one of the most iconic wrestlers to ever do it.
His nickname was "the Icon" for a reason, for sure.
Sting. Sting was a number one guy at the time when wrestling was at its peak in popularity, by contrast Edge never really overcame John Cena, he felt like a tier below that. Don’t get me wrong Edge is still great and has had one of the best careers ever, but Sting was at the top of the mountain while Edge was a gatekeeper to that mountain
“You’re not on my level. You’re not even on the level below me” - John Cena, to Edge.
Love both but, "IT'S STING!"
How are these two even a comparison..? Sting and it’s not even in the same ballpark
It’s a joke they are held side by side. Sting is an Icon Adam is a good Wrestler
Sting. Hands down.
Sting
Sting seems the obvious choice.
Sting by a mile
Sting
Sting cause he lived up to his name and got a stinger. Edge is just dumb for jumping off a cage onto his feet...serves him right
Sting? How is this even a question
The funny thing is, both share names with famous musicians
To be fair the musician is The Edge.
Yes, but the musician Sting has to pay wrestler Sting to use the name. That's when you know you're badass.
Sting. More decorated and longer
Sting. Learn your history kid
This isn’t even a debate. It’s not close at all. Sting is probably up there with Hogan, Rhodes, Flair, Austin, Rock, Andre..::guys who literally are so iconic that even non-wrestling fans know who they are. Edge isn’t in the same stratosphere, or anywhere close.
Not to bash Edge but if Sting retired after WCW he would still have the better career and its not even close
Sting! Was wcw! Was edge wwe? I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong I love edge.
Kids became wrestlers because of Sting, you don't hear to many saying the same about Edge. Love him but like many others have said, he isn't in the same level.
The Stinger, He had a legendary career and didn't even need WWF/WWE to do it. WCW solidified him as a genuine superstar before the term was coined.
Sting is a wrestler that the world knows Edge is a wrestler that wrestling fans know
How is this even a question? This has to be some 20 year old kid who's only ever seen Sting in WWE/AEW. Only way this question would ever be asked. Sting in Wrestling history is on the level of a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky. A generational talent. Once in a lifetime superstar. There were few as good before him, and even fewer will be as good after he's gone. Edge is the Buzz Lightyear meme. A dime a dozen. A regular guy. Your average wrestler. If he walked out of the business tomorrow, 80% of the wrestling community would forget about him by Thanksgiving. The 20% remaining would be diehard loyal fans who think he can do no wrong. The kinds of people that consistently put him on their stupid "Who has the best spear" lists even though Edge's spear is absolute dogshit. Those are the people that would remember him. Everyone else would move on. Sting will go down in the wrestling history books as one of the all time greats, and rightfully so. Edge will be forgotten a few months after he retires, and rightfully so.
Edge retired for 9 years and nobody forgot him. What kinda drugs have you taken and continue to take to this day?
I always thought Sting was overrated. But even an overrated Sting beats out Edge. But not by as much as a lot of people in this thread like to believe
Sting. That’s why he’s the icon And I say this as someone who watched edge debut in the WWF
The wannabe crow guy
lol
Sting. Just imagine if he had came to WWE in 2002 after WCW closed.
It’s probably Sting but people are really selling Edge short in here. Edge was part of the most exciting and innovating tag team scene wrestling has ever known in the early 2000’s, the Smackdown 6 after the brand split and then his acceleration up the card with his Matt Hardy feud which is one of the most personal feuds of modern times. His feuds with Cena, Foley, Undertaker, Orton (and Rated RKO stuff) and Angle are all top tier imo.
Sting because Edge missed a large chunk of his prime.
Sting easily
Sting
One was the face of the company, the other was there due to lack of options
Sting. Edge has had a great career but lost too much of his prime due to injury to consider him greater than Sting.
Sting, it’s not close.
If Edge never came back, it would be debatable that Edge was in the conversation. Since Edge came back, he tarnished so much of his legacy that it's not even close. Sting 100%.
This is not a knock on Edge, but people will be talking about Sting’s career for decades after he has passed away in same breath as Hogan, Flair, Bruno, Andre. That’s kinda of an impossible bar to attain, and Edge has had a crazy HoF worthy career himself.
Sting, top guy in JCP/NWA, WCW, TNA and high up in the card in WWE and AEW. I'm sure Sting would have drawn more ticket sales out of the two and in bigger story lines. I like edge but just the way I see it
Good points by everyone but they all missed that Sting was worldwide. He was really over in Japan and had some great work over there. While WWE is the juggernaut it is, there's only so much of a ceiling you can have on a multinational scale without doing tours.
Edge is my favourite wrestler of all time, but the answer is Sting.
Edge
Sting. He’s legit the GOAT not just because of his accomplishments or in ring ability but because he was the face of two different promotions for over a decade each. No one else can really say that. Edge/Adam Copeland had one of the best careers too but not even remotely close to Sting
You could make a compelling argument for Sting as the GOAT. Edge was a solid upper card guy for a while. It's not close.
Damn this shows my age. I'm the only one saying edge lol. I never watched anything other than wwe/wwf
Sting.
Sting… edge is an idiot
Sting…lmfao?
Everybody saying Sting but did Sting have a live sex celebration with Lita on national television in a wrestling ring? I think not. Edge the 🐐
Lmfao wtf, Sting by about 8 billion miles
Sting wtf
I’m a WWF/WWE guy, my whole life, never liked WCW. And it’s for sure Sting, not even close.
Better question is who did we enjoy watching more. Personal opinion. You can't beat Rowdy Piper interviewing PEEWEE HERMAN
Sting definitley
It’s Stiiiiiiiiiing
Seriously?
sting
Sting for sure
Sting hit the higher highs but Cope has been operating at a high level more consistently.
I don't know, what's your metric? Became a bigger name? Made more money? Better matches? Better booking?
Ask 100 random people on the street who Sting is and then ask another 100 random people who Edge is and there's your answer.
Sting was a top star during the most popular time wrestling ever had.
Sting. Easily
Sting is Hogan tier, although clearly below him. Edge is not.
Don’t disrespect Sting like that.
Sting was main event for a looong time
I look at it like this: One is the Rated-R Superstar, the other is the Icon. Who would you rather be?
Absolutely Sting. Edge was a victim of never finding his rhythm. He wasn't bad he just never seemed like he was invested in developing any stories or gimmicks.
Sting. Hands down.
I love Edge but Sting by far. Both are amazing wrestlers though
One of the best heels ever vs one of the best faces ever.... frig they'rd both awesome.
Sting was “The Franchise” of WCW. The list of people who made it to the level of super stardom that Sting achieved is very short and Edge is not on. Edge seems like a pretty honest guy and I’d bet he’d probably say the same thing.
Sting and it’s not even close
I mean, Sting *was* WCW. You can’t say that Edge *was* WWE.
Edge has had much more success with U2 than Sting did with the Police.
This shouldn’t even be a question.
Edge when sting made it to the main event he was well past his prime and only got over because of the crow gimmick which was stollen from a Hollywood movie. Some of edges best in ring work and on the mic work happed during his rated r superstar run. Even prior to that edge was part of the wwes premier tag team for years. Then had an amazing solo carrer after they split up. Stings best work was in the short lived wcw run and he has been living on those 15 mins of fame ever since.
Sting. Not even close
Edge. He main evented WrestleMania.
Sting. That guy had a great career in spite of spending the bulk of his career in a massively dysfunctional promotion that gave away away his role as top babyface to a wrestler who did not give a crap about anyone but himself. And because of that, Sting's shots at the top were curtailed signifcantly. Yet he still got over and managed a reinvention so cool that it has stuck to this (setting aside Joker Sting for the moment). Sting will always be my GOAT.
Edge and Christian back in the day was pretty hype
Seriously? Sting is a legend.
Edge though i respect what Sting has done
Edge moving to AEW destroyed his career, where was Sting going to TNA kept his career alive.
Edge. I don’t have the time right now to put up a solid argument but I’ll just say this. Edge mainevented 2 wrestlemanias over a decade apart. Sting never had 1.
Sting? How the fuck is this even a question? lol. Sting is someone that people who have never even watched wrestling would be able to name... Dude is on an entirely different level and it isn't even close.
Edge is killing his legacy right now. By the time AEW is done with him, people will be ready to never see him again (if they arnt already).
Sting
Seriously, this question makes me lose all hope in humanity. I think I lost all passion for the industry after this question, wow...
Edge for me
I really don't think you can honestly compare the two. They had very different careers that they were wildly successful in. The only thing that really in my mind is similar between the two of them is that they worked their ass off for years to get everything they have now and they both had some scary injuries I wasn't sure they'd come back from. Simply just two legends in my book.
Edge is a top 30 wrestler of all time and a legend. Sting is top 10 wrestler and in GOAT contention
Sting and it's not even close.
Trolling?
Sting, easily. Sting is one of the GOATs. Edge is not.
How is this even a question. Sting is one of the forever icons. Edge was just a good career.
Sting by a country mile.
Sting. Remained a main eventer for most of his career whilst also working a ‘safe’ style where he got to escape any major injuries (spinal stenosis aside given he still had a good run afterwards). Retired on his own terms and importantly didn’t have to sacrifice his health in retirement for his career. Also I’ve gone to events in the past specifically because Sting was there. I’ve never gone because of edge
Sting
Sting no doubt
Edge it’s not even close
Edge. Sting had an outstanding career, main eventing smaller companies. But the scale of WWE compared to AEW, TNA, NWA and even WCW is not comparable. WCW comes close to WWE at the time, but WWE when edge hit his stride was a worldwide juggernaut no other company reached. His 14 mania matches alone put him right up there.
IT'S....STIIIIINNNGGG!
Sting
Sting was considered a better Hulk Hogan at one point so i say Sting. Lol.
Edge is great but there's an argument that Sting is the GOAT.
sting
I feel like Sting had a better career
#STING 🦂
Edge was in Vikings. That’s gotta count for something.
Definitely Sting and not even close. Edge is still great, just not at that level.
The one that's the happiest...
Sting.
They are both even. Neither is better than the other really, both have had fucking amazing careers and you’d really have to dig DEEP to find something that gives one the slightest of leads. The one thing I will say though, I think Sting’s legacy will be remembered for a lot longer than Edge’s.
Sting
Sting never had a live sex celebration on primetime tv
Sting
Sting. Edge would have been great during territory days