When Tony Schiavone broke the news that none other than Ric Flair was his special gift to Sting following the announcement of his impending retirement at Revolution 2024, it drew incredible reactions from around the professional wrestling world.
From fans celebrating the “Nature Boy” being afforded a spot shotgun for his protege's final half-year in professional wrestling to others pointing out the irony in TK employing Flair when he's been frequently and regularly chastizing Vince McMahon for his “alleged misdeeds,” the wrestling world appeared downright mixed on the latest addition to Team Stinger, especially considering that Adam Copeland, Darby Allin, and the Christian Cage family are also involved in the storyline.
And yet, if there's one opinion that should and does matter more than most, it's Sting, who took to social media to celebrate the addition of one of his greatest and oldest friends.
Flair, to his credit, commented on his addition to the storyline too, announcing his excitement to fans in his signature all-caps writing style.
“I'm Ready For This Journey In AEW With My Dear Friend, The Icon Sting! WOOOOO!” Flair wrote.
Did AEW need to add Flair to this storyline? No, Sting retiring instantly became one of the top storylines in the promotion when he announced it on Dynamite and will continue to be until he officially hangs up his boots for good. Still, after having some of the most important matches of his career alongside the “Nature Boy” allowing Sting to go out with his long-time friend in his corner is a pretty generous move by Khan, especially considering the backlash that it brought along for the ride.
Jim Ross is excited to see Sting's final run in AEW.
Speaking of Sting's retirement, one of the men who will be calling some of his final matches, Jim Ross, weighed in on his in-ring finale and how excited he, too, is to be along for the ride, as he noted to fans on his Grillin' JR podcast.
“On a pay-per-view of some sort. I think a pay-per-view is apropos to celebrate his career,” Jim Ross said via Fightful. “It'll be fun to see how that works out and how the promotion evolves. It'll be interesting to see going forward what's up for everybody. Sting has had an amazing career, and the fact that they're planning his exit this far out is good planning in my view. So we'll see how it evolves, and we're still a little ways away from that, but I'm anxious to go along on that ride.”
So who, you may ask, does good ole JR want to see retire “The Icon?” Well, he kept the exact name close to his vest, but did note that the performer in question will have a pretty incredible accomplishment on his resume.
“There's a lot of guys who would love to have that match with Sting. There would be a lot of guys that would stand in that line to celebrate his career and his last match. So it's hard to say who it would be. Somebody is gonna be very blessed to have that opportunity to appear on that show against Sting,” Ross said.
“So I'd say it's quite an honor to be selected for that position, and I can't wait to see how it all pans out and how we end up this amazing career. I was very shocked that he signed with AEW, happily shocked, a great deal. So we'll see how it all works out. The nice thing is that we have plenty of time to plan for it. I think that's really important. For a guy like Sting, he needs all the celebration that you can muster. So we'll see how it ends up. I'm happy and excited that he's finally decided that this is gonna be enough. He's [been] there much longer than I anticipated him being there with this last run. So he'll be missed, but he's gonna be so appreciated as we move forward. I'm a big Sting fan. Hopefully, he'll have a celebration fitting his career. I'm sure that he will.”
Whether it's Darby Allin, Christian Cage, Chris Jericho, or even Adam Copeland, it's clear someone is going to have a pretty incredible moment when they pin Sting for the final time. Who and how that happens, however, will be the journey that really defines this final chapter of Sting's career.
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