Sting Reveals Original AEW Retirement Plans

Sting wanted to call it a career in December.

By Liam Crowley

Sting is ready to call it a career. Earlier this fall, The Icon announced his retirement plans on AEW Dynamite, revealing that he will have his last match next spring at AEW Revolution. Until then, Sting will remain involved in AEW storylines on essentially a weekly basis, as he is currently entangled in a multi-man feud alongside Darby Allin and Adam Copeland against AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne. As evident by his tag partners Allin and Copeland, Sting has no shortage of allies on his retirement tour, and last week he gained another one. 

Ric Flair made his AEW debut on the October 25th edition of AEW Dynamite, hitting the ring to show love to Sting. Flair revealed that he will be on Sting's retirement tour with him, specifically mentioning AEW Revolution as an event that he wants to be at.

Sting's Original Retirement Plans

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(Photo: AEW)

If circumstances were different, 2023 would be the last year of showtime.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Sting revealed that he originally looked at December as where he would retire, but Ric Flair's involvement shifted plans.

"I wanted to finish earlier, maybe in December," Sting said. "But now that Ric is here with me, I want to go longer, all the way to Revolution."

Sting and Flair's careers will always be intertwined. While The Nature Boy was dominating the territory scene in the 1980s, a young Sting was on his way up the ranks. Sting would battle Flair for the NWA World Championship in 1988, going to a time-limit draw. Over the next several decades, Sting and Flair would find each other in the ring on many more occasions including in both WCW and TNA.

"When Ric came out and I heard his music play, it hit me, had this flashback, and it made me emotional. Ric is the guy who put me on the map," Sting continued. "We've traveled around the world together, and Ric helped make me. Now he's going to finish with me. After all the travel, all the matches, all the press slams, all the chops, I experienced the same feeling on Dynamite this past week with Ric that I did on that final [WCW] Nitro. Except this time, it was so much more positive.

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"All I can say for now is I want people to walk away and say, 'Wow, what an ending,' I'll be three weeks away from turning 65 at that point. I want to leave people with a memory that will mean something."

AEW Dynamite returns tonight at 8 PM ET on TBS.

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