Sting will have his final match in 2024.
As announced on the October 18th episode of AEW Dynamite, The Icon has made the decision to close the book on his in-ring career that has spanned more than 3 decades.
It was announced ahead of time that the Hall of Famer would be appearing live on Dynamite to address the fans, with many suspecting that this would be the retirement promo.
Introduced by Tony Schiavone, The Icon received a huge ovation from the Texas crowd. Repeatedly teasing “the word,” the former World Champion reflected on his legendary career, referencing fellow legends Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and especially Ric Flair. The legend went on to reference that his body is not the same as it used to be and jokingly questioned whether or not he should still be jumping off of balconies.
Finally mentioning the word, The Hall of Famer referenced his speech at the 2016 ceremony where he first announced that he had retired, but nothing was certain. It was then that The Icon referenced that his first match with All Elite Wrestling took place at Revolution 2021 and his last match will be at Revolution 2024. However, unlike in WWE, this retirement will be for definite.
Recently it was revealed that Ric Flair’s AEW contract will last for two years.
When Did Sting Debut In AEW?
With fans believing that THe Icon’s final match would be against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions, the unthinkable happened at Winter Is Coming 2020. As Team Taz attacked Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes and Darby Allin, the lights went out and snow started falling inside the arena. Much to the excitement of Tony Schiavone and the live crowd, The legend made his way down to the ring with trademark bat in hand to save The Rhodes brothers and Allin.
The Icon has seen a career resurgence in All Elite Wrestling, with Tony Khan claiming that Sting’s AEW run has been the best of his career.
The episode itself was a successful one as AEW Dynamite saw a significant boost in the ratings.
The Icon recently wrestled at Full Gear alongside Adam Copeland and Darby Allin. Following the match, Copeland addressed that his recent AEW match was part of the final act of his career.