The Nature Boy will be with his old friend until he retires next year…or, if Christian Cage has his way, at Full Gear next month.
Even before Sting announced last Wednesday that he would begin his Hall of Fame career after next year’s Revolution PPV, the accolades were pouring in for The Icon.
After the announcement, his boss at AEW promised the greatest things. It was said that Tony Khan would give Sting a historic gift at Dynamite on October 24th, something that had never happened to “a wrestler in professional wrestling.”
Sting came out with his protégé Darby Allin (with his likely broken shoulder in a sling). The Stinger thanked the Philadelphia crowd and Allin – who he called the best tag partner he’s ever had.
The 64-year-old then thanked TK, which led to Tony Schiavone demanding the microphone back. The Voice of AEW spoke on behalf of his boss, thanking Sting for his contributions to AEW and the history of wrestling on TBS. And that was the transition to a gift that lived up to the hype…the man who wrestled Sting for 55 minutes at the Superstation in 1988’s Clash of Champions vs. WrestleMania IV, Ric Flair.
Flair spoke about his history with Sting, calling him the nicest man he’s ever met. He plans to stick around for the rest of the Stinger’s run, until March 2024, when he says his final goodbye.
It was a beautiful moment, it would be a shame if a certain father figure ruined it…
Christian Cage sent Philadelphia into a frenzy with his insults against Ric Flair (my favorite line was that Khan’s gift to Sting was “basically a suit, some gold chains and a black liver… a great gift”). But he was mostly here to criticize Sting & Allin for getting back into his business last week. The TNT Champion doesn’t want to wait until the Revolution to end Sting’s career. So at Full Gear, he challenged Stinger and Darby to find a partner for a trios match.
Since, as Christian points out, picking Flair wouldn’t really make a sensible strategic decision, we’re assuming this spot will go to Adam Copeland. But we’ll find out more about it soon. Like in the next segment, when Fka Edge tried to insist that he still wouldn’t fight his old partner and heard from The Icon.
We’ll see if this goes where we think it goes. For now, what do you think about The Nature Boy’s arrival in AEW?
Get complete results and coverage of everything on today’s Dynamite broadcast Here.
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