When Darby Allin and Sting officially linked up in early 2021, few could have predicted just how incredible the path the duo would travel together through the AEW Galaxy.

Initially debuted as an ominous figure capable of breaking down a would-be challenger with a simple stare, the dynamic duo of Allin and Stinger went on an absolute roll over the next few years, recording an impressive win streak that eventually resulted in a Tag Team Championship victory over Ricky Starks and Big Bill. Though Sting wasn't the same performer who terrorized the NWO back in WCW, he continued to dominate in his new role as a wrestling Frankenstein(‘s monster), eating incredible spots and getting up to tell the tale every single time.

… at least until the first Sunday in March, the date of Revolution 2024, which will almost certainly mark his final appearance in a wrestling ring outside of an occasional cameo for AEW down the line.

Discussing his initial feelings about linking up with Sting in AEW in an essay for The Player's Tribune, Allin initially noted that he was unsure how to feel about the pairing, as wrestling doesn't exactly have a strong track record of performers aging out of the business gracefully.

“I have no idea who came up with the saying, ‘Don't meet your heroes,' but they probably spent time in the wrestling business,” Darby Allin wrote for The Player's Tribune. “For whatever reason, this business has a way of bringing out the worst in certain people — especially on their way out. When some wrestlers get to the end, that's when you see a lot of bitterness and selfishness and just all-around piece-of-s**t behavior. And really, those guys are products of an environment. They saw the guys before them take instead of give, so they feel entitled to pass that down. It's a sh**ty cycle.”

Did Sting live up to Allin's very low expectations? Or did he clear that bar in a major way? Well, as he noted in his The Player's Tribune story, joining forces with Sting has proven to be an experience the likes of which Allin will remember forever, as “The Icon” changed his perspective on the industry forever.

Darby Allin is nothing but thankful for Sting's friendship.

After running through the timeline of his pairing with Sting, from Cody Rhodes initially partnering up the duo when he was still an EVP to the duo's current angle with the Young Bucks, which has involved both of Steve Borden's sons and, in a way, his late father, the 31-year-old Seattle, Washington, native explained what AEW is really celebrating this weekend, which is more the man than anything he did in the ring.

“He's cared about what it's meant to be a man of faith. And his father's son. And his kids' father. And a co-worker to each wrestler he's worked with. And ‘The Icon' to each fan who's bought a ticket to a show. And for the last three years? He's cared about what it's meant to be my mentor, my partner, my friend. He's cared about what it's meant to be all of that — deeply. And with some f**king integrity. That's Sting's legacy to me. And that's what we're celebrating on Sunday,” Darby Allin noted.

“But we're also celebrating Sunday on Sunday. Man, I know it's such a small part of Sting's career in the big picture, this one match, but I'm so glad it's happening. So many guys end their careers on the worst possible note. Either the business embarrasses them, or they embarrass it, or both. It's depressing. Like I said — wrestling can be a sh**ty cycle. And if there's one last chapter of Sting's legacy that gets written, I hope it's this: Cycles can be broken. The wrestling business, it actually can treat older wrestlers with respect, and not spit on them on their way out. And older wrestlers, they actually can give instead of take. They can go out with grace and not like a b**ch.

“Before the match, I'm going to tell Sting the same thing I've been telling him this whole time — which is HAVE FUN. That's it. That's the one rule. Nothing else matters. After the match, I'm going to tell him the only thing there's left to say: Thank you. I didn't just get to meet a hero, I got to find out he's a hero worth having. It was an honor, truly. It's been the time of my life.”

In professional wrestling, like in life, Father Time comes for everyone. Even the biggest, baddest, most dominant in-ring performer will eventually see their career come to an end, and how they choose to accept that mortality will largely define how the final act of their career will be remembered, maybe their entire career if things conclude on a really high, or a really low noted. After making a miraculous return to wrestling after his career appeared to be over at the hands of an ugly Seth Rollins Buckle Bomb, it's safe to say “The Icon” made the most of this second chance and now gets to heroically ride off into the sunset as a result.