Paul Wight: I couldn’t have asked for a better influence than Sting

As Sting’s wrestling career enters its final days, Paul Wight has plenty of good things to say about his long-time friend and former in-ring rival.

Wight recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about Sting’s upcoming retirement. During the interview, Wight explained how important of an influence Sting was on him early in his career:

Somebody has to cook and somebody has to eat, and Sting taught me that core philosophy. I learned that my first job in a match is to get my opponent over, then get the match over. That’s Point A and Point B. If you do that right, you’ll automatically get yourself over. That’s not, ‘You do your stuff, I’ll do my stuff.’

It’s bigger than you. Some guys only take care of themselves, and good for them. But the guys I respect most are the ones who make people better in the ring. That’s someone like Ric Flair, he has to be mentioned. So does Sting. I couldn’t have asked for a better influence early in my career.

Wight said that, when he was inexperienced starting out in WCW, a lot of people didn’t know how to work with him. But Sting loved the story of being the underdog and trying to chop down a giant.

I used to think wrestling was so hard. It’s not when you know your character and know your opponent. Sting is a master at that.

My role was to be the monster that the knight needed to slay. Sting knew that the more he fought from underneath, the better the story would be. He had great timing and patience, which let the crowd really get behind him–then he fed off that energy. He had a way of showing that, the more you cheered for him, the stronger he would be.

Wight believes that the pro wrestling industry wouldn’t be where it is today without Sting’s contributions:

Sting made towns for WCW and became a household name. If you booked Sting in Tupelo, Mississippi on a Saturday night, Sting would show up and do it. He put in the work and became their franchise guy. He became a legend in Japan, too. He’s now an incredible asset for AEW. Sting is a guy who understood what it is like to work against guys who were really good, but the wrestling world didn’t know them yet. He did that for Crockett Promotions, WCW, TNA, and now again in AEW.

Sting’s the guy that always understood what this is about. Whether he was getting his shoulders pinned, or getting his arm raised, he made sure the crowd enjoyed the hell out of a match. He never got involved in the locker room drama. When there were problems, he worked through them. For him, this was never about ego.

I wouldn’t be where I am without him, and wrestling wouldn’t be where it is, either.

Sting’s retirement match headlines AEW Revolution in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday (March 3). At the pay-per-view, Sting & Darby Allin are defending their AEW Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks in a tornado tag bout.

Before Revolution, Sting is set to appear on Dynamite this Wednesday. It will be Sting’s final appearance on TBS as an active wrestler.

The 52-year-old Wight is signed to AEW and works as part of their community outreach program. He still occasionally competes in the ring, most recently wrestling for AEW in an eight-man tag team street fight last November.