Darby Allin Recalls Convincing Sting To Wrestle In AEW
Darby Allin says a training session with Sting led to the wrestling legend deciding that he could wrestle a lot more often in AEW.
The tag team of Darby Allin & Sting is perhaps the greatest in AEW history because they amassed an incredible record of 29-0 together. Every match that Sting had from his AEW debut at Revolution 2021 until his retirement match at Revolution 2024 was a tag team match with Allin as his tag team partner.
What made Sting’s AEW run even more special is that he suffered a serious injury in his last WWE match in 2015 and there were questions about Sting possibly wrestling again. It was nearly six years later when Sting wrestled again in his first AEW match.
At AEW Revolution 2021, Sting & Darby Allin faced Brian Cage & Ricky Starks in a cinematic match that took place in an empty warehouse. Sting looked good in that match, which led to him competing in the ring in front of the fans as the world opened up more after going through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sting’s second match was at AEW Double or Nothing 2021 when he teamed up with Allin to defeat Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page. That match was in front of fans in Jacksonville, so it was Sting’s first match in front of a crowd in about six years.
What Did Darby Allin Say To Sting Before The Stinger’s AEW Debut Match?
In an interview with Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes, Darby Allin says when he trained with Sting at The Stinger’s house, he realized Sting could definitely put on a great show in front of the fans again.
“I just flew down to his house in Texas where he had a ring and we were training, that’s when I told him. I was like ‘Dude, why are we doing this in front of nobody for a cinematic match? You still have it!’ So I was like ‘Dude, we gotta do this live.’ So I kind of put myself out there saying that. Then after our match at Double or Nothing, his first ever live match, he came up to me after the match and he’s like, ‘Thank you for convincing me to do this.’
It was pretty wild because you’re trying to be like oh, he’s coming to the company, he’s going to do cinematic matches. I’m going to respect that, I’m not going to rock the boat in the sense of [tell him] ‘Get in that ring!’ Especially with Sting, who [could have thought] Who the hell is this kid? The thing is, I just felt it training with him. [I thouhgt] Dude, you’re moving so good, you’re doing so much, we’re not having to stop. Let’s just do this. Let’s just do this live!”
Even though Sting has retired as a pro wrestler, his connection with Allin will continue forever since Allin is training Sting’s son Steven to be a wrestler after Steven took part in his father’s retirement match.