Legendary wrestler Sting has spoken highly of AEW and Tony Khan, stating that the promotion made him feel truly welcomed.
The six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion recently spoke to “Going Ringside,” where he was asked about his time in TNA Wrestling, WWE, and AEW, and how the three compared against each other. Sting highlighted that AEW gave him a genuine sense of home and that Khan showed him tremendous respect.
“They’re all different in some ways, but the thing that I liked about AEW is it always just felt like my brand. It felt like home to me,” he said. “[Tony Khan] He was the best. He was phenomenal. Treated me like gold the whole way through. And yeah, I mean, if it wasn’t for Tony, I wouldn’t have had the run that I had — and Darby, my partner.”
Sting’s AEW run began more than three decades after his debut, and wrestling in his 60s was never something he had envisioned early in his career. In fact, he always believed he would retire relatively early, unlike many wrestlers who continued performing well into the later stages of their careers.
“No [I didn’t think my career would be this long]. I was the guy who said, ‘I don’t understand all those old guys hanging out for so long. And I could not understand it. I said, ‘I will never do that.’ And I blew them all out of the water. Four decades later, here I am.”
When Sting appeared on AEW television in 2020, many assumed that it would be a one-off or that he would feature in a non-wrestling role. However, he laced up his boots once again and teamed with Darby Allin at Revolution 2021. During his AEW run, he competed in several tag team matches and even held the tag team titles with Allin. The duo remained champions until Sting retired three years after his first AEW match, doing so at the very same pay-per-view he debuted in — Revolution.
