Darby Allin reflects on meeting Sting: How is Sting so nice?

Before it comes to an end, Darby Allin took some time to reflect on his AEW tag team run with Sting.

Sting will have the final match of his career when he retires at AEW Revolution this Sunday (March 3). Sting & Allin are defending their AEW Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks in a tornado tag match at the pay-per-view.

The Players’ Tribune published an article on Tuesday where Allin wrote about how much working with Sting has meant to him. Allin wrote that “don’t meet your heroes” is a saying that’s often true in the wrestling business. Allin believes there’s a cycle where the industry brings out the worst in some people, especially when they’re on their way out. But that hasn’t been true for Sting.

Allin didn’t know what to expect when he and Sting were paired together, but — from the first interaction they had — Sting was so nice. Allin described meeting Sting before Winter is Coming 2020:

An hour before the show, Cody pulled me aside. He was like, ‘Alright. Sting’s here. I want you to meet him before you go out there.’ Then he walked me over to Sting’s trailer. It happened so fast, I barely had time to remember how nervous I was. But there was nothing to be nervous about. We started talking through the segment, and it was actually wild: there was no ego from him, no big-timing, no This is how it’s gonna happen, kid. None of that. If anything, it was the other way around. He was asking me how it’s gonna happen, and if I was OK with this, this and this, and if everything was cool. We’re talking about a guy who’s headlined some of the biggest shows ever, made sh*tloads of money, been on top longer than I’ve been alive. He’s showing up for this massive return. And his main concern is that I’m feeling comfortable. A 27-year-old nobody who he’s probably thinking jacked half his look. I was just like, WHAT IS HAPPENING. THIS IS INSANE. HOW IS STING SO NICE.

Allin called that interaction the start of an amazing ride. “And now that the ride’s almost over, I can tell you for sure: Sting really is that dude,” he wrote.

Allin said he’s so glad this retirement match is happening. Before the match, Allin is going to remind Sting to have fun. After it’s over, he’s going to tell Sting “thank you.”

Man, I know it’s such a small part of Sting’s career in the big picture, this one match, but I’m so glad it’s happening. So many guys end their careers on the worst possible note. Either the business embarrasses them, or they embarrass it, or both. It’s depressing. Like I said — wrestling can be a sh*tty cycle. And if there’s one last chapter of Sting’s legacy that gets written, I hope it’s this: Cycles can be broken. The wrestling business, it actually can treat older wrestlers with respect, and not spit on them on their way out. And older wrestlers, they actually can give instead of take. They can go out with grace and not like a bitch.

Before the match, I’m going to tell Sting the same thing I’ve been telling him this whole time — which is HAVE FUN. That’s it. That’s the one rule. Nothing else matters.

After the match, I’m going to tell him the only thing there’s left to say: Thank you.

I didn’t just get to meet a hero, I got to find out he’s a hero worth having.

It was an honor, truly. It’s been the time of my life.

Sting & Allin won the AEW Tag Team titles from Ricky Starks & Big Bill on the February 7 episode of Dynamite.

As part of the final build to Revolution, Sting & Allin will appear together on Dynamite this Wednesday. It’s Sting’s final Dynamite as an active wrestler.