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In what was one of the most shocking moments of the year, Sting made his AEW debut at their Dynamite special event "Winter Is Coming" this past Wednesday. The commentary team later revealed that he had signed a multi-year deal with the promotion.
WrestleTalk's Louis Dangoor has revealed that Sting was unhappy with his treatment in WWE, during his time with the company. It was also revealed that Sting signed with AEW to do "something good" for the fans for his final full-time gig in the wrestling business.
This news follows the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, where it was reported that Sting had a strong desire to do a cinematic match with The Undertaker in WWE. This was speculated to not come to fruition because Vince McMahon did not want to do the encounter.
Sting was released from his WWE contract this past May, with his merchandise being removed from their website at the end of October. This led to speculation that he would be joining All Elite Wrestling back at the Full Gear event.
Despite the fact that Sting has now joined AEW in a full-time capacity, it has also been reported that he will not be taking any bumps due to his previous neck issues.
Reason for Sting's debut this week on AEW Dynamite
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed that the reason for Sting's debut coming on this week's AEW Dynamite was because it was three weeks before Christmas. The strategy for the promotion was to release his merchandise now to capitalize on the Christmas sales.
Meltzer has talked about the decision working out well for AEW already.
"Sting’s debut was very much designed to be there for Christmas season merchandising. Good signs on 12/3 was that the Impact web site crashed and Sting set a Pro Wrestling Tees all-time record for one day sales of any T-shirt in its history."
There was plenty of buzz created by Sting's debut, as well as the potential AEW and IMPACT Wrestling crossover coming out of AEW's "Winter Is Coming" event. It remains to be seen how AEW will use the WWE Hall of Famer in the upcoming weeks.
