Sting On Wrestling At AEW Double Or Nothing, Not Facing The Undertaker

Sting spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated before his tag match at tonight's AEW Double or Nothing. Teaming with Darby Allin, Sting will face Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, which will be his first live match in front of a crowd in six years. The last being against Seth Rollins at WWE Night of Champions in 2015.

"Even though I was retired, I didn't want to disappear," Sting said. "And it was the way in which I departed WWE. I'd rather go out making some sort of statement. I just love to entertain and I love to learn, and I'm learning a lot from these young guys. I wish I could have ran up and down the road with some of these guys 20 years ago, especially Darby Allin. He is just so talented.

"35 years of being in the wrestling industry, there hasn't been a time when I walked through the curtain and I wasn't nervous, so I'm happy this time isn't any different. Once that first lockup happens, all the nerves will go away. I'm really looking forward to being in front of a big, live crowd again, and I won't forget where I came from."

Before coming to AEW in December, Sting said he made it clear to WWE he still had more to give, and truly wanted a match against The Undertaker.

"I wanted that to happen," Sting stated. "I was very clear publicly, and I was very clear with WWE, as well. I wanted my last hurrah against Taker.

"For whatever reason, it just never materialized. To this day, I don't know why. Maybe Taker never wanted to work with me. I have no idea. I mean, I've had good conversations with Taker and we've always got along. I don't know why the match never happened, but it should have happened. Because it wasn't going to happen, and I knew it, and that wasn't the only reason why I left WWE, but it's one of the reasons why I left. I wanted that one last match."

AEW Double or Nothing kicks off with The Buy In at 7:30 pm ET, and the main card at 8 pm ET. Wrestling Inc. will have complete live coverage of tonight's PPV!