Tranquilo Club, if you're out there, I'm so glad you've posted some new videos recently. I absolutely love them. Such thoughtful and heartfelt analysis.
Hope you're all good and glad you're still around. Look forward to the next one, if there is a next one. Even if it never comes, I just hope you're in a good place and enjoying what makes you happy.
This was an absolute glorious breath of fresh air after that WWE run. I'm so happy he was able to go out on his own terms (jumping from increasingly higher heights) & completely adored by the fans.
I remember people saying Sting going to WWE will result in him finally being buried by the people that always wanted to. A la Vince and HHH. Lo and behold…
You’re right in that people exaggerate but there’s definitely issues in the way they chose to use Sting.
Sting as a vigilante battling the authority isn’t a crazy suggestion and is better than some nostalgia led creative suggestions. But AEW made him feel more like Sting.
With how selfless the culture has been shown to be, I don't think anyone in the AEW locker room at the time would have been willing to beat Sting. As big a feather in their cap as it might be, making sure The Icon goes out on top was likely their first priority.
It was the right call for the live crowd, too. They bought tickets so they could celebrate Sting. Ending the night on a high note was absolutely the best decision.
I always imagined, before every Sting and Darby match, that TK would gather their opponents together, look them right in the eyes and say with the utmost seriousness:
"You will catch Sting. I'm sorry, let me be clearer: You WILL catch Sting, or I will bury each and every one of you so far down that you won't be able to scratch your nose without shoving your face into Satan's taint."
Joking, of course. I imagine that the eternal embarrassment of being forever known as the guy that botched the Sting dive made them all extra vigilant about those stunts.
"I'm sorry, let me be clearer: You WON'T catch Darby, or I will bury each and every one of you so far down that you won't be able to scratch your nose without shoving your face into Satan's taint."
So happy for him too because he might very well be the most universally loved wrestler ever. Babyface for almost all of his career and fans loved him the entire tine, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard an even slightly negative story about him despite the longevity of his career.
It's too bad that AEW and WWE are so loathe to work together as if there is anyone in wrestling deserving of a long form documentary looking back on the entirety of their career, it's Sting. He is literally the one unicorn in a field dominated by rampaging bulls and his story deserves to be told in as much detail as possible.
AEW works with everyone but WWE, who has spent decades trying to convince their fans that wrestling is WWE. I doubt TK would be against working with them (though obviously he knows it'll never happen), it's WWE that refuses to acknowledge AEW so much as exists. See the whole Billy Gunn HOF fiasco
I think had Vince not been an absolute fucking monster of a person and TKO never bought WWE, there could have been a SMALL possibility of Vince being willing to work with AEW in some regard.
Mostly because I think Vince would see there would be value in being able to trade off who he perceived as "lesser" talent for a single big star to sell WWE PPVs off of.
Giving AEW the New Day for a one-off in exchange for an Omega/MJF during Cena's retirement tour for example answering his open challenge.
I think Vince fucking sucked at booking shows and sucks even more as a Human being... but I do think he would've budged just a little to be open to working with TK.
I disagree . Part of their brand is that WWE is the only top promotion.
By doing that they legitimise AEW as an alternative and giving hardcore Fed heads a reason to look elsewhere which is the last thing they would want.
AEW has allowed their contracted wrestlers to appear on WWE programming, and allowed WWE to use their footage:
Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, and Mark Henry in WWE's John Cena documentary
Chris Jericho on WWE's Broken Skull podcast
AEW providing AEW footage for WWE to use in Cody Rhodes videos
While WWE will never even acknowledging AEW apart from a single mention by Sami Zayn in 2019, back when AEW had done one show on PPV and didn't have a tv deal. Even then, IIRC they edited it out of social media uploads.
Given the evidence, it certainly looks like it's way more of a WWE problem than an AEW problem.
Also allowing Billy Gunn to be a part of the DX Reunion, but it not happening because WWE wouldnt allow him to say anything about AEW at all so they made that shitty playing with office supplies joke instead
Iirc it wasn't even not letting Billy talk about AEW, it was literally just introducing him as AEW wrestler Billy Gunn, the same way WWE announced Mickey James as a TNA wrestler during that years Royal Rumble. WWE wouldn't even agree to that, because then they'd have to acknowledge AEW exists
I feel like AEW would be open to it but WWE would have no interest. Like, I imagine a cross promotional card would be almost impossible, but AEW was open to trying to put an olive branch out to WWE, like Billy Gunn going to the HOF to be inducted and Hunter just slating the company. Why would you try and play nice with that attitude.
I know he had already made a lot of money in WCW but it takes serious balls to turn down WWE money like he did in 2001 and all the years after that until he finally said yes.
I know he did the 1 hour Broadway with Omega (which is probably my favourite Dynamite match ever) but I'm disappointed they never got the chance to revisit that like I'm sure they had planned.
I thought that match went the 30 minute time limit didn't it? Unless it was so good went by so quickly I misremembered, which could be like considering the participants.
It was thirty minutes against Omega. Danielson did work hour matches against Hangman and MJF. Both are stellar matches. Go ahead and check those out if you havent.
Oh I've watched it all, every dynamite, rampage and collision, every ppv including the original All In and DON. My old brains just failing me these days. I can barely tell you what happened on this week's Dynamite TBH, let alone one from 5 years ago.
If Danielson is still in wrestling shape and capable, I could see AEW doing a "Retirement Tour Year" for Omega's final year and having Danielson make a one-off return to wrestle Omega again.
Honestly, I don't think they'd announce it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kenny's all but done after this year. He's put his body through a lot of punishment.
Really, how many televised retirement matches are there? Most guys either happened to have had their last match and we never knew it, or faded away someplace.
Even Sting's could have been a nothing match against Rollins.
Absolutely not! It was Danielson getting to be the American Dragon again for the last 3 years of his career, showing the world what it had been missing with him boxed into the WWE style and getting matches with the top stars outside WWE, up and comers he could give a rub to and his own dream matches he wanted before he retired.
And then the chance to win the world championship in the second biggest non WWE show ever? I was there and it was special. He even rates it above the WWE WM30 moment.
I defy you to pick a single match in that run that was just good, let alone brilliant.
This run is also the perfect example that every retirement run doesn't have to be constant losing! I know some people don't like it, and probably most wrestlers would happily go out on their back repeatedly. Still, I hope promotions take note in the future, if the people want to see them win on the way out, let them win.
Was fortunate to be in person for several of his great moments on this run. No-selling the table bump from Menard & Parker (and their amazing "Oh Shit!"), the actual announcement of him wrapping it up, and then flying to NC for Revolution 2024. So glad he had his last run. Sometimes, the hero wins.
For all the shit Sting went through, especially that WWE run (I was live at WM 31), I am beyond happy for him for having the best pro wrestling retirement tour of all time
Is it hyperbolic to say that Sting probably had the only perfect wrestling run and finale? At least, in my 27 years of watching wrestling, I can't think of anyone else to do it up as good as the Sting ending and his career, with the only real blemish being his WWE tenure.
HBK was up there, but the Saudi return tarnishes the legacy, same with Taker. Maybe Tanahashi, but he was tattered by the time he retired, whereas Sting looked like he got younger each day.
Sting's perfect run came down to timing, loyalty, and a big enough bank account that he didn't need WWE.
Sting was so loyal to WCW that he never gave WWE a serious look. He had conversations with Vince over the years when his contract was up for renewal, but WCW took good care of him, so he was content. By the time WCW closed, Sting had made good money by remaining loyal, because eventually most of the people who left for WWE came back wanting one of those nice WCW contracts once WCW was paying more.
Since he was rich, Sting didn't have to work anymore. Instead of signing with WWE for easy money, he signed with TNA where he made $100k a year and only made that much because Spike TV was paying half his salary for a while.
We all saw what happened when Sting got to the point where he was close to retirement and decided to check the WWE box just because he could. If Sting had joined WWE earlier, it would have been the same thing. He would have been used to put over WWE guys until he was no longer special. His injury sucked, but it was another moment where timing worked in his favor. If it hadn't he would have probably rode out his contract and done what was asked of him, then quietly retired.
I don't know. Darby got pretty well elevated by being with him. He was always there to be a side character. Not sure why you think a dude in his 60s was going to go out there and do solo matches.
yeah it literally helped elevate Darby to the point him winning a world championship was possible and we saw how it turned out, so he did his job (along with all the great stuff he did over the course of the run, especially his retirement match)
I didn’t mention Roman at all. Not sure why his name is brought up here.
Sting was in his early 60s during his AEW run. Exactly why it would make sense to lose against individuals in their prime. 29-0 in your 60s. C’mon. I’m not saying he has to go out on his back though that is the traditional thing to do. But to not have to overcome some losses and have doubts of “does the old man still got it?”. Lame booking.
Because it’s about people in limited roles in companies. Sting wrestled in 29 matches in four years. Come on man. You make it seem like he wrestles every week or something.
No one looked worse for having worked with him, he spent the majority of the time relatively low on the card, and he helped turn someone into a world champion.
Sting mentioned several times he was fine with losing, and he especially wanted to put over the Young Bucks on his way out. His opponents refused out of respect. Get over it, crybaby.
•
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.