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| The Blade Runners | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Blade Runner Rock/Freedom Fighter Justice Blade Runner Sting/Freedom Fighter Flash |
| Name(s) | Powerteam USA The Freedom Fighters The Blade Runners |
| Billed heights | Rock: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sting: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Combined billed weight | 530 lb (240 kg; 38 st) |
| Debut | 1985 |
| Disbanded | 1986 |
| Years active | 1985–1986, 1998 |
| Trained by | Rick Bassman Red Bastien |
The Blade Runners were aprofessional wrestlingtag team consisting of future superstarsSteve Borden andJim Hellwig which existed in 1985 and 1986. Their look was from thenew wave music scene with black eye paint and spiked hair with arattail (Borden's bleached blonde and Hellwig's dyed black). The two men would go on to individual success under thering names of Sting and the Ultimate Warrior, respectively.
Steve Borden and Jim Hellwig originally teamed as part ofPowerteam USA, a group of four wrestlers who debuted in 1985 after being trained byRed Bastien andRick Bassman. In addition to Borden and Hellwig, the group consisted of Garland Donoho and Mark Miller.[1] The team was managed by Bassman as they tried to break into the wrestling business. After only a short time in the business both Donoho and Miller quit due to lack of success and business savvy.[1]
Initially, Hellwig and Borden wrestled asThe Freedom Fighters (Justice andFlash, respectively)[2] inJerry Jarrett'sContinental Wrestling Association[3] initially asfan favorites then later asvillains, first led by "coach" Buddy Wayne,[4] then later undermanagerDutch Mantel.[5] Because they were essentiallybodybuilders and lacked thorough training, the team was raw and brutal, easily hurting opponents with theirstiff maneuvers which led to their stay inMemphis being a short one.[6]
On December 28 1985, the duo gave a TV interview withLance Russell in which they wore black makeup and announced that they would henceforth be known asThe Blade Runners (Hellwig was called Rock and Borden became Sting).[7] Shortly afterwards the team began working forBill Watts'Mid-South Wrestling (renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation soon after) in early 1986.[8] The Blade Runners were managed by"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and as part of "Hot Stuff International, Inc." the team feuded withTed DiBiase andSteve Williams.[9]
Less than six months after arriving in Mid-South, Hellwig and Borden split up with Hellwig moving on toWorld Class Championship Wrestling, where he became known as The Dingo Warrior,[10] later turning face and laying the foundation for his famous Ultimate Warrior gimmick in theWWF. Borden remained in the UWF and under the tutelage of Eddie Gilbert for a while before also turning face. As Sting, Borden was among the wrestlers whose contracts were acquired byJim Crockett Promotions when it bought the UWF in 1987.
In 1990, the Warrior and Sting respectively won theWWF Championship fromHulk Hogan and theNWA World Heavyweight Championship fromRic Flair. For several months, the two former tag team partners sat atop the wrestling business as World champions of each of the two major league promotions before losing their titles eight days apart in January 1991. Warrior would never regain his title although Sting would enjoy multiple further World championships inWCW,World Wrestling All-Stars, andTNA.
The two men reunited for one match onWCW Monday Nitro on October 12, 1998, againstHollywood Hogan andBret Hart ofnWo Hollywood. However, the Blade Runners name was not used for this appearance. Sting and Warrior won the match via disqualification due to interference from the nWo.[11]
When Powerteam members Garland Donoho and Mark Miller...
Known as The Freedom Fighters, Flash (Borden) and Justice (Hellwig)
Borden formed a tandem with the remaining member - Jim "Warrior" Helwig - and headed to Memphis
the two greenhorns were completely clueless in the ring, and were soon sent on their way
as The Blade Runners, Sting (Borden) and Rock (Hellwig)
Arriving in the Mid-South in 1986
When Rock moved on to World Class...
Sting and The Warrior b Hollywood Hogan and Bret Hart by Disqualification