Darby Allin Reveals Stipulation Written Into Sting's Initial AEW Contract

The duo of Allin and Sting has become a hot act in AEW, but at first, they were limited to cinematic matches. It wasn't until Sting showed he could move around well and take bumps consistently that AEW allowed him to compete in matches in front of a live crowd, as Allin revealed on "DDP Snake Pit."

"That's when we got the green light to do me and Sting versus Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky at Double or Nothing," Allin said. "That was his first match back live since the neck injury in [2015]."

Allin mentioned that after the tag team match against Page and Sky at Double or Nothing 2021, Sting approached him and thanked him. Allin says Sting told him that his return to in-ring action wouldn't have been possible without him. The previous cinematic match limitation had actually been written into Sting's contract, but Allin explained that Sting eventually warmed up to the idea of truly coming out of retirement.

"When he first got to AEW he originally signed on for just cinematic matches," Allin said. "We were training at his house down in Texas because he had a ring down there. I just straight up said to him, 'Man, we don't need to do no cinematic matches. Let's do this live.' I kind of convinced him to think about it."

Allin joked about fans placing blame on him for Sting's willingness to jump off balconies and go through tables for big matches, but the former TNT Champion insisted that he has nothing to do with Sting's newfound daredevil approach.