Tag: sting

Sting says he has signed multi-year licensing deal with AEW

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Sting has signed a new deal with AEW.

The recently retired star revealed to Kayfabe Friends that he has signed a new licensing deal with the company, continuing their relationship after retiring from in-ring action earlier this year.

“I signed a multi-year deal with AEW. Obviously, not to wrestle anymore, it’s like a licensing deal, a legends deal if you want to call it that,” he said. “I’ll do appearances with them on and off depending on what they want and all.”

Sting wrestled his final match in the main event of AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view back in March, teaming with Darby Allin to defeat The Young Bucks and retaining the AEW Tag Team titles. Following their victory, the titles were declared vacant.

Since stepping away from the ring, Sting has largely stayed out of the spotlight. However, he did make an appearance at All In back in August, helping Darby Allin ward off The Young Bucks and Jack Perry. After next year’s All In was announced for Texas, Sting wrote on social media that would be watching from “somewhere.”

Adam Copeland: Sting’s son Steven ‘looks the part’ of a pro wrestler

Posted on by Joseph Currier

If Sting’s son Steven Borden wants to become a pro wrestler, Adam Copeland thinks he’d be successful at it.

Borden has been training with Darby Allin and recently took part in a training session with Allin, Copeland, and FTR. After that experience, Copeland spoke with The Takedown and gave his thoughts on Borden potentially following in his legendary father’s footsteps.

“I think at Revolution there in Greensboro, he got a bit of the itch,” Copeland said. “He felt what it is. And once you feel that, man, it’s hard to walk away from that. It’s hard to go, ‘Wait, that wasn’t cool.’ You’re going to go, ‘That was really cool and really fun.’

“It’s a great gig. So I think he felt that. Also in terms of his physicality, I mean, he’s 6-3. He’s about 230 pounds. He’s probably sitting about eight percent body fat. He looks the part. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, very similar to his dad in how he conducts himself, which is a great thing.”

Steven and his brother Garrett both appeared for AEW during Sting’s retirement run and were part of his final match at AEW Revolution, where Sting & Allin defeated The Young Bucks. Copeland admits that there will be a lot of pressure on Steven if he decides to enter the business, but Copeland thinks he could handle it.

“I think now it’s really up to him,” Copeland said. “What does he want to put into it? Does he want to put in the work that it will take? Because you got to figure it. You might look at it and say, ‘Ok, an easier pathway into the business.’

“But once he’s in the business, there’s going to be a big spotlight on him, and with that comes extra pressures. You’re Sting’s son and trying to break out of that. But, he’s smart. He’s smart, and I think if he wants to do it, he absolutely could do it.”

Borden is a former college football player for the University of Kentucky. His final season was in 2014-2015.

The 50-year-old Copeland is recovering from a fractured leg that he suffered at AEW Double or Nothing this May. Copeland feels “really good” but doesn’t know what the timeframe for his return to the ring is.

Tony Khan AEW media call: Latest on WBD negotiations, injuries, Sting, ‘insane stat’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

AEW head Tony Khan spoke to the media for an hour Thursday ahead of Saturday’s All Out, giving updates about his impending TV rights renewal with likely partner WBD, injury updates on Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis, and Sting’s status with the company.

He also shared what he considered an “insane stat.”

The full audio from the call can be heard below.

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On the TV rights end, Khan continued to heavily suggest that they will be renewing with WBD and are continuing to have “great conversations” with them. No timetable was given, but he said recent media reports about the deal are accurate without specifically saying which ones.

When the deal happens, Khan said it’s reasonable that AEW will become the second-most profitable wrestling company of all-time during the immediate stretch after the deal kicks in. No financial terms or increase in rights fees were hinted at.

He again said the deal is in the red zone and will be a “huge touchdown” for AEW. It’s just waiting to be pushed in.

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Khan said he’s been learning a lot about AEW fans during the TV rights negotiations, including some information he didn’t even know about his company.

He then talked about how much wrestling fans have changed in terms of knowing the news and the business. He said it’s a golden age now and AEW is a huge part of the wrestling conversation now. Historically, the avidity has never been higher: a word he used several times during this portion of the call.

One stat he made a point to call “insane:” Of all the world’s sports leagues, the league whose fans spend the most per month on streaming video is AEW. He did not cite his source or other details on where that stat came from.

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Khan was asked if Sting remained under any kind of AEW contract given his recent appearance at All In. Khan didn’t answer directly, saying Sting was in the “AEW family” and was also recently backstage in Dallas, Texas, during their residency in Arlington.

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He also gave updates on two injured talents in Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis. He confirmed Hobbs had been backstage recently to visit doctors, and that Davis had surgery on his arm. He didn’t provide any timeline for when either could be back, nor if Davis would be paired up with Aussie Open partner Mark Davis upon his return.

Other notes:

  • Asked about a potential women’s Casino gauntlet match perhaps at All Out, Khan said he thinks it would good to build one up and advertise it in the future. He wouldn’t commit to doing one this weekend.
  • Asked about their relationship with GCW and Josh Barnett, Khan said he likes and respects Barnett a lot but doesn’t really know the GCW team that well.

Click here to listen (no sub needed)

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Sid Vicious, Sting, Antonio Inoki

Posted on by Karl Stern

This week on my podcast I mention the passing of one of my favorites, Sid Vicious. Plus we look at more history from Madison Square Garden as Ed Strangler Lewis returns, the finals of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament are set as Sting takes on Antonio Inoki, plus we dive into a 1984 pro wrestling magazine for a look at the Von Erichs, Ted DiBiase, and many more. Join me for a deep dive into pro wrestling history.

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Sting makes surprise appearance at AEW All In

Posted on by Ian Carey

Sting appeared at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Jack Perry successfully defended his TNT Championship against Sting’s former tag partner Darby Allin in a coffin match on today’s show. Perry and The Young Bucks continued to attack Allin after the match. They poured gasoline on him and appeared ready to light him on fire. That’s when the lights went out and Sting’s music hit.

Sting hit the EVPs with a baseball bat and no-sold a chair shot from Perry. He then gave both Matthew and Nicholas Jackson Scorpion Death Drops to end the segment.

It was Sting’s first appearance on AEW programming since his retirement match along with Allin against The Young Bucks at Revolution in February.

Last week when AEW announced All In will take place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Sting, who lives in the area, wrote on X that he would be watching the event “from somewhere.”

“Hmmm… just down the road. I’ll be watching from ‘somewhere,’” he wrote. 

Sting on AEW All In 2025 in Texas: I’ll be watching from ‘somewhere’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Sting says he’ll be watching AEW All In from Texas next year.

AEW announced on Friday that All In will be held in Arlington’s Globe Life Field on July 12, 2025. Sting, who lives nearby, responded to the news, writing on X that he will be watching the show from “somewhere.”

“Hmmm… just down the road. I’ll be watching from ‘somewhere,'” he wrote.

Sting has not appeared on AEW programming since his retirement match AEW Revolution. However, Darby Allin recently noted in an interview with WFAA that Sting had been backstage at recent episodes of AEW Collision at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas as he lives close by.

“He’s been backstage at some of the Collisions. I keep telling him you’ve gotta come out and have a mini-golf battle,” Allin said on the show. He continued to say that he is still training Sting’s son, Steven Borden.

“He’s doing really good,” Allin said of Steven’s training. “It’s funny because he’s never had, when it comes to wrestling, he’s never had that itch, like I want to be a pro wrestler. So, he did that spot in Sting’s last match at Revolution where he splashed one of The Young Bucks in the corner and then he just said, ‘Dad, I want to do this.'”

Ric Flair details rejected pitch he had for Sting’s AEW retirement match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ric Flair wanted to betray Sting one final time before Sting ended his in-ring career.

During a Monday appearance on Busted Open Radio, Flair detailed an idea he had for Sting’s retirement match at AEW Revolution. He wanted the match to go exactly as it did except he would have turned heel and gotten laid out by Sting at the end. Flair believes the crowd would have loved it, and he thinks it would have given him a direction to go in as a heel in AEW after Revolution.

“I wanted those guys to have the same match, but at the end, you know, instead of leaving me laying there like that, just keep me on the outside the whole time. At the end, as Sting is standing there and those guys are gone, I jump on Sting — boom, boom, boom, one big move to me, puts the Scorpion on me, and we go off the way we started 31 years ago,” Flair said. “You know what I mean? It would have blown the roof off the joint. And it would have made me a heel so I had somewhere to go, because it’s just hard to get the people to get mad at me now.”

Revolution took place from Greensboro, North Carolina this March and ended with Sting capping off his career with a victory. Sting & Darby Allin defeated The Young Bucks to retain the AEW Tag Team titles and then vacated the belts after their win.

Flair was laid out by a double superkick from The Young Bucks during the Revolution match. He told Busted Open Radio that he thinks a lot of fans were disappointed that he didn’t turn against Sting.

“They looked at me like I had seven different things,” Flair said about pitching the idea. “I don’t think Tony [Khan] knew that I was on blood thinners. I’ve been doing all that sh*t for all these years. I’ve had that blood clot since 2012. Tony, if he asked me once, he asked me 10 times, he said, ‘Do not cut yourself, please.'”

While laughing, Flair indicated that he hasn’t heard back from AEW since Revolution.

Flair was in AEW as part of Sting’s retirement tour. Dave Meltzer confirmed last week that Flair’s time in AEW appears to be over with the promotion having no future creative plans for him.

On Busted Open Radio, Flair praised Revolution as a great show and said Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita was one of the best matches he’s seen in a long time. He also had kind words for MJF, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega.

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Sting vs. Kurt Angle, MSG in 1931, more Southeastern

Posted on by Karl Stern

Image: TNA Wrestling

I have a great DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show for you this week starting off with a fun entry into the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament where you, the listener, voted between Sting and Kurt Angle.

Then, we go back to 1931 at Madison Square Garden where Dick Shikat upset the order of things by shooting on people.

The show rounds out with a look at December 1984 in Southeastern Championship Wrestling where a small crew are doing memorable things. Lord Humongous is in town, Arn Anderson is on his way out, Jerry Stubbs is Mr. Olympia again, and Pat & Randy Rose are the top tag team.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

December 21, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Eddie Guerrero’s official cause of death

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Note: This issue is incomplete.

The death of Eduardo (Eddy) Guerrero was officially labeled as a heart attack due to heart disease caused by a lengthy history of anabolic steroid usage and recent usage of narcotics medication according to the death certificate released by the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) Medical Examiners Office.

The official cause of death was due to arteriosclerotic heart disease, which is a hardening and narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. That, combined with Guerrero’s both enlarged and damaged heart, and his suffering from organomegaly (several enlarged internal organs, likely due to usage of Growth Hormone), created an imbalance. The heart and larger organs needed more blood and oxygen than normal to remain functioning, while the narrowing arteries provided less blood and oxygen to the heart and those organs.

The linking of steroids and painkillers directly with Guerrero’s death did not receive hardly any media attention, largely due to nature of the current media. The original AP story didn’t list the cause of death to anything other than heart disease, and listed it as from natural causes (which is used to mean no foul play was involved). A later update did note what was listed as significant contributing causes, but almost no outlets picked up on the second story.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

Tony Khan: Sting’s final match was ‘greatest sendoff ever in pro wrestling’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

If you ask AEW head Tony Khan, the greatest thing they have done in their first five years was how they handled both the final in-ring years and retirement of Sting.

Talking to Bleacher Report, Khan said that the icon “did not feel that his prior run had been what he was looking for.”

“When he had previously competed in WWE, I don’t think he had a great experience with WWE. He was looking to do something very different. When I first talked to Sting, he was interested in having a comeback, but I don’t think Steve (Borden) ever imagined it would lead to a three-year run in wrestling that would become legendary,” Khan said.

Sting’s final match took place at this past March’s Revolution as he & Darby Allin successfully defended the AEW Tag Team titles against the Young Bucks in the main event. The 65-year-old remained undefeated in 28 tag team matches in his three-year run. The night was also a massive financial success for AEW, both in live attendance and pay-per-view buys.

Khan also said that to him, the match was “the greatest sendoff ever in pro wrestling.”

“And Sting deserves that because he’s one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and we were very lucky to have him in AEW,” Khan said.

Sting’s son Steven Borden training to be a wrestler

Posted on by Ian Carey

Steven Borden might be following in his father’s footsteps after all.

Darby Allin told Fightful in a yet-to-be-released interview that Sting’s son has been staying with him and training to be a wrestler. He’s reportedly been sleeping in a tent set up in Allin’s yard and training in a ring Allin has at his house.

Steven Borden was “Wolfpac Sting” during his father’s final match at AEW Revolution earlier this year.

In February, Allin told Digital Spy that he’d asked Sting about his sons possibly training to wrestle and Sting responded that they weren’t interested.

They’re not interested at all. I’ve asked [Sting] I was like, ‘I’m just curious, I really want to know have your sons ever tried this?’ And he said, ‘No, they’re not interested.’

It just wasn’t a thing that they wanted to do, but I was curious because they’re pretty big dudes. They should get together, become a tag team – that would be cool.

That changed for Steven after he performed with his father and brother Garrett at Revolution. He told Comicbook.com in March that his future in wrestling had become “murky.”

“I just always liked leaving it as my dad’s thing. I never really had much interest in stepping into his world. I thought that was his thing. I would say it’s mostly still similar, but that said, maybe in the last six months to a year that answer has gotten a little bit more murky,” he said.

Borden played tight end for the University of Kentucky in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He’s been the general manager of SAGA Fitness since July 2021 and regularly posts fitness tips to his 12k followers on Instagram.

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Sting vs. The Rock, Bruno Sammartino obituary

Posted on by Karl Stern

On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, we hit on several different topics and listener favorites.

  • We take a look at the next match in the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Sting vs. The Rock.
  • We begin a massive biography on the life and times of Bruno Sammartino from the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that not only took up one issue but two.
  • We start an article from an early 1970s wrestling magazine on Ed “Strangler” Lewis.

It’s a fun and history packed edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, so check it out. Let’s talk some wrestling history.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Undertaker on WWE acknowledging Sting’s retirement: ‘He deserved that’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Undertaker was happy to see WWE acknowledge Sting’s retirement.

On Raw the night after Sting’s retirement match at AEW Revolution, WWE congratulated him on his legendary career. Michael Cole thanked Sting for all the memories that he provided during his nearly 40 years in the ring. While not mentioning AEW by name, Pat McAfee said Sting had an “absolutely epic match” the previous night.

Undertaker and Sting helped define their respective promotions during the WWF vs. WCW Monday Night War. On his Six Feet Under podcast, Undertaker praised the run that Sting had in pro wrestling.

“What a run, man,” Undertaker said. “Like, I understand runs. What a run.”

Undertaker said that, though WWE and AEW are in competition with each other, it’s only right that WWE acknowledged Sting’s legacy:

Well, there are certain people in the industry. I mean, yeah, we’re in competition with a different company. I get it. But Sting’s legacy is so much bigger than AEW or any of that. I mean, he deserved that. I’m happy that as a company that they acknowledged it, because it’s only right.

Undertaker vs. Sting was a dream match that fans wanted for decades. It could have happened when they were in WWE together in 2015, but Undertaker said that, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon didn’t want it. Sting instead lost to Triple H at that year’s WrestleMania.

Undertaker said he thinks the match against Sting would have been good in 2015, but he doesn’t believe it would have lived up to the expectations people had because of how late they were into their careers.

Sting thanks Tony Khan following AEW Revolution retirement match

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Sting took to social media to reflect on his retirement last weekend.

On Sunday, the AEW star thanked Khan on X for the last three years of his career.

“Still on cloud nine from last Sunday. But it would not have been possible without @TonyKhan. Thank you for the last three-plus years, for your friendship… for everything. Thank you Tony!,” he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Sting also thanked Allin, calling him the “best tag-team partner I ever had.”

Sting had the final match of his career at AEW Revolution teaming with Darby Allin to successfully retain the AEW Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks. Following their win, Sting and Allin vacated the titles. During the Revolution press scrum, Tony Khan announced a tournament to crown new champions that will start next Saturday on Collision.

When asked about what he would do in his retirement, Sting said during the Revolution media scrum that he will eventually have that talk with Khan, but said he had no interest in being a manager or producer.

Update on AEW Revolution PPV buys

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW Revolution is trending toward finishing as one of the company’s most-purchased pay-per-views in their young history.

On Saturday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer provided some updates to his reporting earlier in the week, stating he believes that the final number for last Sunday’s PPV will end up in the 170,000-176,000 range.

Saying he will know more by this Thursday, Meltzer said that compared to December’s Worlds End that ended up at 141,000 buys, linear TV buys were up 26% and streaming buys were up 25%.

He went on to say that while international buys weren’t up as much, 170,000 would be a good bet today but that, as always, the late buys will make the difference.

AEW’s top PPVs of all-time are 2021’s All Out (205,000 buys) and 2023’s All In (200,000 buys) followed by 2022’s Revolution (175,000).

The show from North Carolina’s Greensboro Coliseum was headlined and marketed around Sting’s final match — a show that drew a sellout crowd of 16,118 and a $1+ million gate.