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Closing Time for Sting

Posted: Mar 1st 2024 By: Justin Barrasso

Sting came to AEW to rewrite his final chapter in wrestling.

Even Odysseus would blush at what Sting has endured throughout his career.

A journey that has spanned five decades–including stops in the Continental Wrestling Association, Universal Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, TNA, and WWE before arriving just over three years ago in AEW–concludes this Sunday. One half of the AEW tag team champions, Sting will team with Darby Allin against the Young Bucks at the Greensboro Coliseum–the site of his 1988 Clash of the Champions bout against Ric Flair–in Greensboro, North Carolina.

No longer will Sting’s last match be remembered as the night in 2015 when he was nearly paralyzed in the WWE’s Night of Champions main event against Seth Rollins. That was an emotional rollercoaster, one where an audible should have been called and Sting should have won. The same should be said for his WrestleMania 31 encounter against Triple H, which marked Sting’s first-ever match in WWE. In case you forgot, that also ended in defeat.

“Losing is good,” said Steve Borden, who will forever be known as Sting. “You’ve got to lose. If you lose right, it gets you over even more.”

Despite the losses, or perhaps because of them, Sting found a way to persevere.

This Sunday at Revolution, a remarkable 39-year odyssey is complete. As Sting approaches this unfamiliar territory of a retirement match, he enters while doing so in a time of grief and sorrow.

Sting is mourning the loss of his father. His suffering was caught on camera, as he needed to deliver a promo for the upcoming Revolution pay-per-view. In what now stands as the final promo of his storied career, Sting looked deep into the camera and told a captivating story with his eyes, lamenting the loss of the man who raised him.

In the midst of the mourning, Sting turned to his home away from home–pro wrestling–and his second family–wrestling fans–in his moment of need.

“My lip quivers thinking about it,” said Borden. “Wrestling fans, they’re in my heart. The Little Stingers aren’t little anymore. They’re adults now. We’ve all grown together. We’ve been through all of this together.

“The relationship with the fans, that’s what brings this to a whole other level. I can’t tell you the amount of conversations I’ve had where someone would tell me that the only relationship they had with their father was watching Sting in WCW, or the ones where people told me they were bullied in school but they watched Sting and he made them feel strong. Can you believe that? I still can’t. The feeling that wrestling fans give me is as great as anything I give them. It blows me away. Hearing that I touched a person’s life, it’s very humbling.”

Only weeks away from turning 65, Borden made the long overdue decision to retire. A seasoned veteran of pro wrestling, he vowed to himself decades ago in TNA that he would do whatever it took to remain relevant in the industry. Whether that meant evolving the character–Joker Sting is a very underrated iteration of the character–or taking unnecessary and unsafe risks in AEW, even jumping off a balcony–he has stayed true to his promise.

This Sunday, take a deep breath and sit down before the main event. Borden has one last memorable ride in mind for Sting that will not be for the faint of heart.

“I want people to walk away saying, ‘How was that even possible?’” said Borden. “I want people to be entertained. I want to elevate AEW.

“I never wanted wrestling to pass me by. That’s why I wrestled the way I did. This Sunday, I’m going to wrestle a way that will make people want to save the tape.”

Sting’s greatest hits includes a new album from his run in AEW, this time as a duet beside Darby Allin. The two have fit together seamlessly, and it is hard to picture one without the other.

“I’m in good hands next to Darby,” said Borden. “It’s been an honor to see him turn into this polished star. I’m grateful my last hurrah was with him. I didn’t teach him much about wrestling other than psychology here or there. Less is more, I taught him that. I taught him that it’s good to lose if you can lose the right way. Overall, he’s got the wrestling down. But I’ve learned so much from him. I couldn’t have been this successful without him.”

During the promo where Sting shared that his father had passed away, he stated, “Family is all that matters.” This is relevant to the storyline, as the Bucks also attacked his grown sons during the tag title victory celebration.

“Bottom line, that promo, it was very difficult,” said Borden. “The heaviness was on me. Of my gosh, the heaviness. It was all real, all sincere, and I’m grateful for the reaction. Tony Khan sent me some high praise. A lot of others did, too. That meant a lot. On behalf of my dad, I’ll accept all those kind words.”

Sting’s family, wrestling fans included, will be filling the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday, as well as around the globe watching intently as he wrestles his final match. The man who became WCW’s flagbearer, stood up to Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen and later fought off the NWO and Hollywood Hogan, and even fought in enemy territory against Triple H, now takes a swing at the Bucks’ Matt and Nick Jackson.

Carrying wrestling fans in his heart, thankful for the rarified heights they climbed together, Sting fights–for his family–one last time this Sunday.

“The grace of God is upon me,” said Borden. “He used me to touch people, and I’m so grateful for it. And I am fighting for what I believe in. That interview where I said ‘Family is the most important thing’, it’s the most important thing I’ve ever said. I’m fighting for all of my family at Revolution.”