The legendary Sting ended his professional wrestling career in AEWand while he slowly revealed to fans that he could still compete well into his 60s, “The Icon” had nothing to prove to the industry. With that in mind, Sting just wrestled the matches he wanted, took his time and, according to Darby Allin and his son Stephen Borden, had a lot of fun doing it.
during the interviewQ101:“Borden remembers coming to AEW shows when his dad was still in the promotion. “I think he had more fun in AEW than anywhere else,” Borden said of his father’s time there, attributing that happiness in part to the talent backstage and AEW president Tony Khan. His relationship was so good, and yes, of course, I think he felt extremely respected.”
Aline then chimed in, describing AEW as a place where he feels happy as well, calling it the “greatest thing” that ever happened in his life. “Definitely, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Tony really allows wrestlers to live their best lives outside of the ring and inside the ring,” he explained.
He then added that wrestlers often see the industry chew people up and spit them out, leaving them with nothing while they have to juggle wrestling and staying relevant in their personal lives. Unlike other promoters, Khan seems to understand those pressures, according to Allyn, and urges wrestlers to focus on their personal lives.
Darby Allin claims it was ‘not very convincing’ to get Sting to compete in front of a live crowd
Sting’s final match in WWE was at Night of Champions 2015, where he Injured after Seth Rollins’ Buckle Bomb, forcing him to retire. Based on this, Darby Allin felt that Sting should retreat to the ring and end his terms. “It was not very convincing. I felt like he was, by the time we were rolling and he took a few shots, he was like, ‘I feel pretty good,’” she recalled.
Aline also recalled being told one night to sit on rafts, admitting she didn’t think much of it at first. He was then told about Sting coming in, but didn’t think The Icon had anything to do in AEW. Eventually, the two struck up a true friendship, and he became close enough to talk about getting her back.
“They originally brought him in for the cinematic games, but then I convinced him to come back and do it live in front of a crowd because I was like, ‘dude, there’s so much left in the tank here,'” Allyn recalled. Looking back at his pairing with Sting, Aline noted that they first spoke during the pandemic, and that he was surprised by how humble “Icon” was.
“The fact that he joined the company during the epidemicbecause many people with their egos, he said, they would say. “Well, if I debut, I have to go in when it’s a sold-out, packed house.”
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