WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW star Sting has spent nearly four decades in the professional wrestling business and there’s little he hasn’t accomplished. Though his career is winding down, the star is still going strong at the age of 63, wrestling sporadic tag team matches alongside his ally Darby Allin and delighting crowds with his ability to continue performing at such a high level.
Sting, real name Steve Borden, was recently profiled by D Magazine and said that his longevity in wrestling wasn’t planned; in fact, he made a promise to himself not to stay in the business as long as many of his contemporaries, a promise he says he’s broken ten times over.
“I swore to myself, ‘I’m never going to be one of those guys, and I’m one of those guys 10 times over.”
Later in the article, Sting was quoted as saying:
“So many of the guys retire and then they come back, and I thought, ‘I’m not going to be like all the rest of the guys. Just like I said in the beginning, ‘I’m not going to be in this in 45 years.’
“And here I am.”
Sting’s AEW Contract Expires In 2023
The D Magazine article also reveals that The Icon’s contract with All Elite Wrestling is set to expire sometime in 2023, though Borden won’t divulge exactly when that will happen. Author Mike Piellucci writes:
“His deal with AEW expires sometime this year; he won’t say exactly when. When it ends, so will his time behind the face paint.”
When it comes to the perfect ending to his story in professional wrestling, Steve Borden wants to leave fans with a positive memory of his last outing before saying goodbye to in-ring competition for the last time.
“Whatever I do, I want wrestling fans to say, ‘That was incredible.’ I don’t want them to walk away going, ‘That was embarrassing.’ I just want it to be a great memory and then to just finally, once and for all, say, ‘Adios.’”
Sting last wrestled at AEW Full Gear, teaming with Darby Allin to secure a victory over Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. He appeared on the January 4th episode of Dynamite to celebrate with Allin following his TNT Championship victory over Samoa Joe, but the veteran is biding his time before another in-ring return as he revealed in December that he’s recovering from a knee operation.