Sting Signs Multi-Year Contract With AEW After AEW Dynamite Debut

12/03/2020 12:24 am EST

Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting made his surprise arrival in All Elite Wrestling during Wednesday night's AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming special event. The WWE Hall of Famer interrupted Team Taz's beatdown of Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes and Darby Allin wielding his trademark black bat as snow began to fall in the arena. The heels quickly fled, leaving "The Icon" to have face-offs with Arn Anderson, Cody and Allin.

More than a decade after WCW folded, Sting finally arrived in WWE at the main event of the 2014 Survivor Series pay-per-view. He wound up wrestling only four matches for the promotion, the last of which saw him suffer a career-ending neck injury while wrestling Seth Rollins at the Night of Champions pay-per-view. His last WWE appearance took place in February 2019, and in May of this year news broke that he was officially no longer under contract with the promotion. News broke in late October that WWE had officially stopped selling "The Icon's" merchandise on WWE Shop, leading to speculation that he was moving on.

Shortly after the segment aired, AEW announced Sting had officially joined the company on a multi-year contract.

"Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever, Sting's jaw-dropping appearance sent electricity through the crowd at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Fla., and throughout the wrestling world, when he stepped in the ring," AEW's official press release on the signing read.

"The surprise introduction of Sting was a great way to celebrate our biggest episode of Dynamite yet," Tony Khan said in the release. "When AEW launched, I was ecstatic to bring wrestling back to TNT after a very long absence. Sting defeated the legendary Ric Flair in the final wrestling match to be shown on TNT for more than 18 years until the debut of Dynamite in 2019. Now, almost two decades later, it's such a thrill to welcome Sting to AEW and bring him back home to TNT!"

The release made no indication of whether or not Sting will compete as an active wrestler. He's indicated in the past that he could prepare for one last match. AEW-themed Sting merchandise is already available for purchase.

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