As Sting prepares for his final professional wrestling match at Revolution, “The Icon” has become increasingly retrospective about his career, his legacy, and his protege, Darby Allin, who has participated in all 27 of his matches in AEW, if you can believe that.

Now at the time, pairing Sting up with Allin made a lot of sense, as they both exude a spooky, dark energy reminiscent of The Crow, new and classic, but few expected that the duo would still be sharing the ring three years into the future, with the latter earning two TNT Championship reigns and a World Tag Team Championship run while helping to keep “The Icon” looking like a viable in-ring performer despite his advancing age.

Discussing what it's been like to share the ring with Allin for three years heading into Revolition 2024, Sting put over his tag team partner in an interview with Bleacher Report for being an inovating mind willing to always put on a show no matter how big or small the audience may be.

“It depends on what his choices and decisions are. He is still young. He's definitely not going to be another Sting at age 64, pushing 65, who is still going to be taking bumps and being a wrestler,” Sting told Bleacher Report. “He has no interest in doing that at all. This I do know. Whatever he sets out to do at all, he will be successful because he has a work ethic that is beyond what mine was in so many ways. If there's a small crowd or large crowd, it doesn't matter. He's going to go balls to the wall. No matter who he's wrestling, a big name, a no-name guy, it doesn't matter. Darby is just going to go for it.”

Turning his attention to what Allin brings to the table outside of the ring, Sting celebrated his ability to contribute to the locker room and the production staff too, with his creative mind having the potential to open all sorts of doors outside of the business.

“He's always thinking, not just about himself but about others and how to make AEW as a whole better. How to get a better rating. How to get the roar of the crowd to happen. To put butts in seats. He's a leader, a guy who was bullied as a kid and has figured it out, and he now leads by example. And I believe his creativity and his innovative mindset in the ring and out of the ring is going to open so many doors for him outside of wrestling,” Sting explained.

“A lot of the vignettes you have seen of Darby and me, that's Darby's brainchild most of the time. He's got his own film crew, and he produces a lot of this stuff.”

Could Allin become AEW's next breakout star, transcending wrestling to appear on Jacka**-style reality shows designed to showcase all things extreme? Well, considering he's already become a fixture of the Nitro Circus and has made appearances in multiple viral videos for his wacky antics, it's safe to say Sting's assessment of Allin might be right on the money.

Tony Khan wants Sting to embrace his moment at Revolution.

Sitting down for an interview with Fanatics View‘s Mike Peticca in the lead-up to Revolution, Tony Khan reflected on Sting's final match in AEW, noting that he has to repeatedly tell the sexagenarian that he needs to embrace the moment, as it really is all about him.

“I love having Sting come in and brainstorm with us. Also, working with Sting, he's one of the most selfless people, and I find that I have to push him sometimes and have to remind him, ‘You're Sting, it's all about you!' So, I do feel that this run of Sting being undefeated and what he's done here in AEW is very special. I'm sad that it's coming to an end. I'm very sad that Sting will be retiring, but it's remarkable that Sting is out there over 60 years old,” Tony Khan told Fanatics View via Fightful.

“Sting is doing more crazy things in his 60s than he's ever done before. Sting in AEW is this extreme version of Sting. He has gone from being ‘The Franchise,' ‘The Icon,' to a Hardcore icon, and some of my favorite Sting matches of his entire career, and I say this just as a wrestling fan, not only is the owner of AEW, I honestly mean this from the bottom of my heart, I think some of the best Sting matches he's ever had have been in AEW and that's one of the greatest careers of all time. When you see Sting today, he's so happy, the locker room has so much respect for him, and we're so happy to be able to give him this great send-off.”

While Sting may be rapidly approaching the end of his career in AEW, his legacy will, in no small part, be defined by this final match at Revolution, as his big farewell will be cemented as a crucial match in his career whether it goes over like gangbusters or ultimately falls flat of expectations. Fortunately, with Khan, Allin, and the Young Bucks contributing to the creative direction of the match, it's safe to say he's in some of the best hands in the entire promotion.