Sting has had quite the long and storied career. From his days in WCW, to his stint in WWE, to his final bow in AEW. What a ride it was. In 2023, the icon announced that he would be retiring at the following year’s Revolution PPV in March. Greensboro, the place that means so much to Sting, would see his final match. And what a match it was! The Bucks get a ton of shit, but they are brilliant in the ring and they know how to work. Let’s dig to it!
Sting & Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks @Revolution 2024 – AEW Tag Team Titles
Greensboro, North Carolina – March 3, 2024
There’s something beautifully absurd about a 64-year-old man getting suplexed off an entrance ramp through a table, and somehow that being the most heartwarming moment of the night. But that’s exactly what happened when Sting decided to go out not with a whimper, but with the kind of chaotic violence that would make his 25-year-old self proud.
Sting ended his wrestling career with a victory, completing his AEW run at a perfect 29-0 record, which is the kind of statistical perfection that wrestling rarely allows its legends. Think about that for a second—in an industry built on putting people over and doing business, Sting managed to retire undefeated as champion. That doesn’t happen by accident.
The backstage story of this match is fascinating because everything we saw was Sting’s design—whatever happened in that ring against The Young Bucks was there because The Icon wanted it to be. This wasn’t Tony Khan booking Sting’s farewell; this was Sting booking his own send-off, and the result was exactly as unhinged as you’d expect from someone who spent decades throwing himself off balconies.
Darby
Darby Allin deserves credit for understanding the assignment completely. The kid was willing to put himself through anything to ensure Sting’s final match was memorable, and boy did he deliver. Watching Allin shred his back falling through glass while a senior citizen climbed ladders nearby perfectly encapsulated everything beautiful and terrifying about professional wrestling.
The Young Bucks played their role as the perfect heel foils, even if some fans expected them to walk out as new champions. Pre-match predictions suggested Sting’s old-school mentality would prevail with him wanting to put over the Bucks on his way out, but instead we got something much more satisfying—a legend who earned the right to go out on his back, choosing instead to go out on top.
The match itself was pure tornado tag chaos, featuring everything from glass tables to entrance ramp bumps that had no business being taken by a man eligible for Medicare. Sting was suplexed off the entrance stage through a table and kicked out of numerous Young Bucks finish attempts, including two EVP Triggers. At one point you wondered if anyone had explained to him what “retirement match” actually meant.
The Curtain Falls
The finish was poetry—Sting delivered a Scorpion Death Lock that made Matthew Jackson tap out, with Sting and Allin retaining the titles. Thirty-five years after perfecting that hold in dingy wrestling rings across the country, Sting’s final act was making someone submit to the move that defined his career. You couldn’t script it better if you tried.
But the real magic happened after the bell. Both Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat got involved in the match but were taken out by the Bucks, which led to one of the most surreal moments in wrestling history—legends from three different decades sharing the same ring for what everyone knew would be the last time.
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat served as special guest timekeeper, because apparently AEW decided that if you’re going to do a retirement match, you might as well turn it into a legends convention. The visual of Steamboat at ringside watching Sting’s final match felt like wrestling history folding in on itself.
The Young Bucks rose from under the stage for their entrance, mimicking Cody Rhodes’ old Codyvator entrance. The move directly honored Cody Rhodes’ legacy and subtly reminded fans that AEW preserves wrestling history instead of letting it fade away.
Legacy
AEW gave Sting a special entrance, featuring a video of him sitting in a theater watching clips and photos from his career—a thoughtful touch that set this apart from a typical retirement send-off. This wasn’t just about ending a career—it was about celebrating a legacy.
The most revealing backstage detail came from Darby himself, who noted that “Outside of the ring, he’s the most humble, chill dude ever. Everybody asked me, like, what’s the one thing you’ve taken away from your time with Sting and I was like, to stay grounded and humble.” That’s the real story here—a legend who could have demanded anything using his final match to teach one last lesson about professionalism.
What made this special wasn’t just the spectacle or the violence or even the perfect record. It was watching someone who understood that retirement matches are really about giving fans permission to say goodbye. As Darby put it before the match: “After the match, I’m going to tell him the only thing there’s left to say: Thank you.”
The Story Ends
Sting has been backstage at recent AEW Collision tapings since retiring, because once wrestling gets in your blood, it never really leaves. But for one night in Greensboro, he gave us the gift of a proper ending—something wrestling rarely provides its legends.
In a business that usually ends careers with injury or irrelevance, Sting managed something remarkable: he left on his own terms, undefeated, as champion, in front of people who genuinely loved him. That’s not just a retirement match—that’s a masterpiece of timing and self-awareness.
The 64-year-old retired as champion with the future of the titles up in the air, which feels appropriate. After all, when you’ve had the perfect ending, why worry about what comes next? Sometimes the best stories are the ones that know when to stop.
REWATCH VALUE: 20/25 You’ll come back for the emotional moments and the insane bumps a 64-year-old took, but it’s more about the spectacle than pure wrestling. The retirement context makes every spot more meaningful, though the match itself won’t convert workrate purists.
STORYLINE: 25/25 Absolutely perfect. A legend getting to write his own ending, going out undefeated as champion, with his protégé by his side. The multi-generational element with Flair and Steamboat added layers. This is how you book a retirement match.
MATCH QUALITY: 17/25 Surprisingly great for what it was. Sting took bumps he had no business taking, the Young Bucks were excellent heels, and Darby sacrificed his body completely. The tornado rules made the chaos work, even if it wasn’t technically pristine.
FAN REACTION: 23/25 Greensboro was electric and genuinely emotional. The crowd understood they were witnessing history and reacted accordingly. Post-match standing ovation went on forever. Social media was universally positive, which is rare for any wrestling event these days.
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