Sting finally hung up his wrestling boots at AEW Revolution 2024 in one of the most emotional matches ever. Eric Bischoff recently shared his thoughts on the former WCW star's swan song and admitted he loved several aspects of the main event match.
AEW initially received much criticism for booking Sting's retirement match as a tag team contest against The Young Bucks. When all was said and done, the headliner of Revolution 2024 was a memorable showdown and the perfect way to send off The Icon.
While reacting to AEW Revolution on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff revealed he loved Sting's last match as it had drama, psychology, and moments that fans will cherish for a long time.
Bischoff also liked seeing Sting's sons being involved in their father's farewell bout, as the former WCW executive said:
"It was a great choice. The match had drama. Great psychology. I love the fact that Sting brought his two sons dressed as previous incarnations of the Sting character. That was a cool little touch. You know, [a] couple of nice video packages setting it all up. Setting the mood, but the crowd was so ready for this." [1:17 - 1:37]
Heading into the highly anticipated AEW World Tag Team Title match, Eric Bischoff had hoped Sting would, most importantly, enjoy being in the ring for the final time.
After watching the latest AEW pay-per-view, Bischoff was convinced that the WWE Hall of Famer indeed had fun on what was a massive night for him, AEW, and pro wrestling as a whole.
"I'm seeing what I hope to see; what I hoped to see was Steve Borden enjoying the moment, s**king up every bit of emotion, so he remembers every second of this night, and I'm sure that he will. What has he been in the business for? 37 [39] years, whatever it has been? His career really started off in the same building in many respects. What a big night! You had Tony [Schiavone] there and JR!" [3:01 - 3:46]
Eric Bischoff praises Sting's dedication to pro wrestling after retirement at AEW Revolution
For many fans, Sting was a childhood hero who rose to fame in WCW and, for years, never set foot inside a WWE ring.
Despite being one of the all-time greats, Sting seemingly also liked staying away from the spotlight as you'd not find him giving interviews and in the public domain all too often.
Eric Bischoff noted that he was surprised to see Sting wrestle until 2024, as The Icon was never in the business for the money. He commended The Icon's passion for wrestling and was glad that the 64-year-old experienced an ideal farewell:
"The fact that Steve is not the kind of guy that just needs the limelight [him wrestling till 2024] surprised me more than anything that he stayed in the industry as long as he did because he made a lot of money. He didn't do [it] because he needed to because he loved it. Good for him." [From 5:40 onwards]
Sting ended his in-ring career with a 29-0 undefeated streak in AEW, but is he entirely done with the company? Only time will tell, but fans should undoubtedly expect him to show up on TV for a special angle or two in the future.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use the quotes above.