Vince McMahon Pushed For Sting’s Retirement In WWE
Sting believes that Vince McMahon wanted him to retire as part of WWE even though The Stinger knew that he had more left to do.
It was in November 2014 at Survivor Series when Sting finally made his WWE debut to help Dolph Ziggler of Team Cena beat Team Authority led by Triple H.
The WWE debut of Sting is something that many fans likely would have wanted to see earlier, but The Stinger was an NWA/WCW guy until the company closed and then he spent nearly a decade working for TNA Wrestling.
After finally joining WWE, Sting went on to lose to Triple H at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, which is a decision that confused a lot of people at the time and perhaps still does. Meanwhile, Sting never got to wrestle The Undertaker, even though it was a dream match for a lot of fans.
That WWE run didn’t end for Sting since he suffered a serious neck injury that led to spinal stenosis and it was believed that he couldn’t wrestle again. After his 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction, it appeared as though Sting was retired although he certainly left the door open for a longer run in pro wrestling.
Five years after retiring from WWE, Sting was back in pro wrestling with AEW. At AEW Revolution in March 2024, Sting officially retired as a pro wrestler after an incredible three-year run that saw him never lose a match while teaming with Darby Allin in every one of those matches.
Vince McMahon Wanted Something Different For Sting’s Career
Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has always been about control. According to the WWE & TNA Hall of Famer Sting in an interview with The David Difference of Kayfabe Friends, the Stinger was asked about missing the fans and he would go on to talk about what Vince wanted.
“Anyone who would say that they would not miss that is a liar, so of course I’ll miss that. But I’m never gonna come back to wrestle again. I know that.”
“I did retire with WWE, but I also said the only thing that’s for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure. This is just ‘see you later,’ basically. I did leave it open-ended pretty much, I didn’t really want to retire at that time. It was kind of like a mutual deal that I did with WWE at the time. Vince [McMahon] wanted me to retire under his umbrella, and at the time, I was okay with that.”
“It was five-plus years that I was retired, but I came back because like I said in my little speech there, I got that phone call from Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes, ‘Want to come back and play one more time?’ So I did, and the rest is history.”
In the same interview, The Stinger confirmed that he is with AEW long-term because he signed a licensing deal with the company similar to the WWE Legends deal that some wrestlers sign.