The legendary Sting end off his pro wrestling career in AEW, and while he slowly revealed to fans that he could still compete into his 60s, 'The Icon' had nothing left to prove to the industry. With that in mind, Sting simply wrestled matches he wanted, took his time, and according to DarbyAllin and his son,StevenBorden had a blast while doing it.During an interview with "Q101," Borden recalled coming to AEW shows while his father still competed in the promotion. "I think he had more fun in AEW than he had anywhere else," Borden said about his father's time there, attributing that happiness in part to his relationships with the talent backstage and AEW President Tony Khan. "That's the happiest that I've seen him with whoever it is that's managing a company. His relationship was so good, and yes, of course, I think he felt extremely respected."Allin then chimed in, describing AEW as a place where he also feels happy and calling it the "greatest thing" to ever happen in his life. "Without a doubt, and I think a lot of it has to deal with Tony actually letting the wrestlers outside of the ring and inside of the ring live their best lives," he explained.He then added that wrestlers often see the industry chew people up and spit them back out, leaving them with nothing while they have to juggle staying relevant in wrestling and their personal lives. Unlike other promoters, Khan seems to understand those pressures, according to Allin, and urges the wrestlers to focus on their personal lives.
Sting's final match in WWE was at Night of Champions 2015, where he suffered an injury after a Buckle Bomb by Seth Rollins, forcing him to retire. Based on this, Darby Allin felt like Sting needed to step back into the ring and end things on his terms. "It wasn't a lot of convincing; I felt like he, the moment we were rolling around and he took a couple of bumps, he's like, 'I feel pretty good,'" he recalled.Allin also recalled being told to sit in the rafters one night, admitting that he didn't initially think much of it. He was then told about Sting coming in, but didn't think there was anything for 'The Icon' to do in AEW. The two eventually developed a genuine friendship, and he got close enough to talk him into a return."Originally he was brought in for cinematic matches, but then I convinced him to go back live in front of a crowd and do it, because I was like, 'Dude, there's so much left in the tank here,'" Allin recalled. Looking back at his pairing with Sting, Allin noted that they first spoke during the Pandemic, and that he was taken aback by how humble 'The Icon' was."The fact that he came into the company during the Pandemic, because a lot of people, with their egos," he said, "they'd be like, 'Well, if I'm going to debut, I'm gonna have to come in when it's a sold-out, packed house.'"If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Q101" and provide a h/t toWrestling Inc. for the transcription.
