AEW CEO Tony Khan Explains Why Sting's Retirement Is His Company's Greatest Achievement

Tony Khan ranks Sting's retirement from wrestling as the greatest thing AEW has done. It's been almost four months since "The Icon" called time on his career at Revolution, retaining the World Tag Team Championship alongside Darby Allin against The Young Bucks to finish his career of almost four decades on an undefeated run of 29 matches. Speaking to Bleacher Report, AEW CEO Khan explained why he felt it was the greatest thing they've produced so far. 

"The greatest thing we've ever done in AEW, in my opinion, is the retirement of Sting and the way we handled Sting's final years as a pro wrestler," he said. "He had one of the greatest careers ever in wrestling and when he arrived in AEW, he did not feel that his prior run had been what he was looking for." The prior run that Khan speaks of would be Sting's ill-fated WWE tenure from 2014 until his forced retirement in 2016. Sting wrestled just three times after making a surprise debut at Survivor Series, losing to Triple H at WrestleMania 31 before challenging Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship later that year. He picked up a win over Rollins and Big Show alongside John Cena in the lead up to that bout, but sustained a severe spinal injury during the title challenge which led to his retirement. 

"I don't think he had a great experience with WWE," Khan continued. "He was looking to do something very different. When I first talked to Sting, he was interested in having a comeback, but I don't think [he] ever imagined it would lead to a three-year run in wrestling that would become legendary."

Khan went further to describe Sting's final run as an "immortal series" of matches, including wins over the likes of Chris Jericho, FTR, and House of Black. Sting debuted at "AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming" in 2020, making his much-awaited return to wrestling at Revolution 2021. "Sting was undefeated [since] his arrival, teaming with Darby Allin in every match," he said. "The two of them came together to be the most successful team in the history of AEW. They had some of our best matches ever, some of our biggest moments, and it built to them becoming the AEW World Tag Team Champions." 

In the penultimate match of his career, Sting captured the titles with Allin from Ricky Starks and Big Bill. It was his first title reign since his 2011 run with the TNA World Championship, and securing the pinfall over the Bucks ensured that he retired as a champion in what Khan says is the greatest final bow in wrestling. "Sting and Darby vs. The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution was, in my opinion, the greatest send-off ever in pro wrestling," he said. "And Sting deserves that because he's one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and we were very lucky to have him in AEW."

Part of the festivities during Sting's farewell match saw his sons, Steven and Garrett, get physically involved on behalf of their father. In May, it emerged that Steven was continuing to train as a wrestler with Allin, offering some hope that Sting's legacy might be carried forward.