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Sting Should Not Be This Good In AEW At 62 Years Old

Posted: Jun 4th 2021 By: Alex Hoegler - TheSportster.com

The 62-year-old Sting added more to his legacy at AEW Double or Nothing.

What Sting did at Sunday's AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view was nothing short of mesmerizing, and admirable.

The beloved wrestling legend had nothing more to accomplish when he signed with AEW late last year. But here he is in 2021, at the age of 62, finding more and more ways to build on an already near-perfect legacy.

Sting teamed up with Darby Allin in a tag team match against Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. This marked Sting's first in-ring bout in nearly six years; the last one was a showdown with Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions 2015 on Sept. 20, 2015.

But Sting looked nothing like a 62-year-old who was competing in his non-cinematic match since 2015. Rather, he looked 20 years younger throughout the match, especially during this sequence:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1399190450150457346

It's simply inspiring to see Sting put it all out on the line at this stage of his career. Simply put, he's showing us that age is, in fact, just a number.

An Unforgettable Return To The Ring

Naturally, there were some concerns about Sting's health and heading into this match. The Icon suffered a neck injury during the match with Rollins, prompting him to retire at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Fortunately, he received clearance to get physical again after joining AEW, and the rest is history.

His first AEW match was a cinematic bout at Revolution, where he and Allin defeated Ricky Starks and Brian Cage in a Street Fight. The match took hours to film, and Sting admitted that he was "in shambles" afterwards.

And yet, none of this stopped Sting from wanting to continue his in-ring career. He, Allin, Sky and Page put together a clinical match on an unforgettable night for AEW; one can argue that this was the promotion's best show to date.

Missed Opportunities In WWE

For countless wrestling fans, it's hard to understand why WWE never bothered to fully maximize Sting's popularity star power. Even though he retired in 2016, The Vigilante remained keen on wrestling again. Like many of us, Sting also held out tremendous hope for a dream match with The Undertaker.

It's not just about the dream match that never was. It was also disappointing to watch Sting lose his WWE debut match to Triple H at WrestleMania 31. Many interpreted that as Vince McMahon simply trying to remind the world who won the Monday Night Wars.

In May of last year, it was reported that Sting was no longer under contract with the WWE. Although this was a disappointment to many, it at least opened the door for Sting to get a well-deserved final journey.

Sure enough, Tony Khan and company wisely made a move to bring in the WWE Hall of Famer and WCW legend.

The Final Chapter

It's anybody's guess how many more matches Sting will wrestle, and how much longer he wants to go for. But judging by his first two AEW bouts, it's safe to say that he has several more matches left in him.

It's simply extraordinary to see Sting put it all out there in the ring at this age, again, especially with a near-flawless wrestling legacy. Fortunately for wrestling fans, AEW believed in his ability to put on several more quality bouts, and they were more than happy to give him the opportunities.

Hopefully, Sting's remarkable performances at Revolution and Double or Nothing will inspire other wrestling legends to keep going as long as they want. WWE seemingly didn't believe that Sting had anything else to offer at this phase, but AEW thought otherwise. And so far, it has paid off in just about every aspect.