Sting on Revolution retirement match: ‘I want to elevate AEW’

Sting wants to give the fans one last classic match at AEW Revolution.

At Revolution this Sunday, the 64-year-old Sting will wrestle for the last time ever. He’s teaming with Darby Allin against The Young Bucks in a tornado tag match for the AEW Tag Team titles.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated just days before retirement, Sting explained what his goals are for this match. Sting said he wants to entertain the fans — and he wants to elevate AEW:

I want people to walk away saying, ‘How was that even possible?’ I want people to be entertained. I want to elevate AEW.

I never wanted wrestling to pass me by. That’s why I wrestled the way I did. This Sunday, I’m going to wrestle a way that will make people want to save the tape.

Sting reflected on how much the support from pro wrestling fans has meant to him throughout his Hall of Fame career:

My lip quivers thinking about it. Wrestling fans, they’re in my heart. The Little Stingers aren’t little anymore. They’re adults now. We’ve all grown together. We’ve been through all of this together.

The relationship with the fans, that’s what brings this to a whole other level. I can’t tell you the amount of conversations I’ve had where someone would tell me that the only relationship they had with their father was watching Sting in WCW, or the ones where people told me they were bullied in school but they watched Sting and he made them feel strong. Can you believe that? I still can’t. The feeling that wrestling fans give me is as great as anything I give them. It blows me away. Hearing that I touched a person’s life, it’s very humbling.

Since Sting’s AEW debut in 2020, he and Allin have been paired together. Sting told Sports Illustrated that he’s learned so much from Allin during their friendship. Sting doesn’t believe he would have been this successful in AEW without Allin by his side:

I’m in good hands next to Darby. It’s been an honor to see him turn into this polished star. I’m grateful my last hurrah was with him. I didn’t teach him much about wrestling other than psychology here or there. Less is more, I taught him that. I taught him that it’s good to lose if you can lose the right way. Overall, he’s got the wrestling down. But I’ve learned so much from him. I couldn’t have been this successful without him.

Sting & Allin won the AEW Tag Team titles from Ricky Starks & Big Bill earlier this month. It’s the first title reign Sting has had since he was TNA World Champion in 2011.

Revolution is taking place from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sunday (March 3). The PPV main card begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.