As we count down the days until Sting hangs up his boots this Sunday (Mar. 2) at AEW Revolution, a lot of people are reflecting on what The Icon has meant to the business and to them personally.
The man who will team with Sting on Sunday just like he has for the past three-plus years, Darby Allin, offered his reflections in an article for The Players’ Tribune simply titled “Sting”.
Fitting for a man of few words, Allin’s piece isn’t long — one of a few reasons why it’s worth reading the whole thing. Darby answers questions a lot of people on all sides of the business ask when when they think about Sting: Is he as good a person as he seems to be, and if so, how did he succeed for almost 40 years in a business as notoriously nasty as professional wrestling?
Or as Allin puts in while describing his first meeting with the Stinger back in December of 2020:
He was asking me how it’s gonna happen, and if I was OK with this, this and this, and if everything was cool. We’re talking about a guy who’s headlined some of the biggest shows ever, made shitloads of money, been on top longer than I’ve been alive. He’s showing up for this massive return. And his main concern is that I’m feeling comfortable. A 27-year-old nobody who he’s probably thinking jacked half his look. I was just like, WHAT IS HAPPENING. THIS IS INSANE. HOW IS STING SO NICE.
Like many of us, Darby explains how he marveled at a man who’s headlined some of the biggest shows in the history of the business came into AEW and just became part of the ensemble, willing to dive off ladders or trade shin kicks with Orange Cassidy, for the sake of his co-workers, the business, and following Allin’s advice from throughout their run, what Darby says he’ll tell the 64 year old again this weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina before they defend the AEW Tag titles against The Young Bucks: “HAVE FUN.”
From Allin’s perspective, the answer to all questions about his mentor is…
But what’s special about Sting I think is how he hasn’t let that hugeness define him. Moment to moment, person to person — he’s just lived his life, decided what’s important to him, and cared.
He’s cared about what it’s meant to be a man of faith. And his father’s son. And his kids’ father. And a co-worker to each wrestler he’s worked with. And “The Icon” to each fan who’s bought a ticket to a show. And for the last three years? He’s cared about what it’s meant to be my mentor, my partner, my friend. He’s cared about what it’s meant to be all of that — deeply. And with some fucking integrity.
Darby says that on Sunday, in addition to “HAVE FUN” he’ll also tell Sting “Thank you”.
He won’t be the only one. Thanks, Sting — for the memories, but even more than that for the example that even in an often cutthroat environment, a good person can survive, thrive and make things better for those around them.
Read Darby Allin’s “Sting” at The Players’ Tribune here.
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