AEW's Jim Ross Opens Up About The Occasion Of Sting's Last Match At Revolution
Earlier this month at AEW Revolution, Sting performed in the final match of his career at the Greensboro Coliseum, successfully retaining the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Darby Allin against The Young Bucks in a tornado tag team bout. On "Grilling JR," WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, who returned to the AEW commentary desk at that pay-per-view following some time away from the promotion due to his health, said Sting's final match was significant.
"That made it different, and unique, and irreplaceable," Ross explained. "Just one of those experiences that you don't soon forget or ever. I don't think I'll ever forget. I remember the first time when I walked into the Coliseum, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, the first person I saw was Sting, and he was carrying his granddaughter. I thought, 'Boy, what an ironic scenario this is. Here's the guy we're honoring, and he's walking around carrying his little granddaughter — granddaughter number one, he told me. So he had a good day."
The WCW legend's sons, Garrett and Steve Borden Jr., also attended and accompanied "The Icon" to the ring for his retirement match, wearing some of his classic ring attire. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair also joined Sting's sons at ringside for the match; Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat served as the special timekeeper, while Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, Scotty Riggs, Magnum T.A., and Nikita Koloff watched Sting's final bow amongst the audience.
Sting was honored by the Greensboro Coliseum
Ahead of the event going live on pay-per-view, the Greensboro Coliseum gifted Sting, Allin, Ross, Flair, AEW boss Tony Khan, and AEW commentator Tony Schiavone with custom-made baseball bats to mark the special occasion. According to Ross, Sting was "pleasantly surprised" by the gesture, and the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion told him that he'd never received anything like that in the past.
"It was a special moment for all of us," Ross said. "And none of us expected it. It was awful nice of the management of the Coliseum to come through and present these awards and, I guess, in memories of our service to the arena, because all of us that are there, we all had great experiences in Greensboro. Because, at one time, it was the MSG [Madison Square Garden] of the south. Greensboro was the hub. Not only for Michael Jordan and the ACC Basketball Tournament and all of those things, but it was the wrestling hub. All the big shows were in Greensboro, so it was cool to be a part of that, to say the least."
Furthermore, Ross stated there was no better person to honor than Sting, describing him as a "class act." The 72-year-old said that element of Sting's persona made the Revolution pay-per-view and his retirement match as special as they were. Some people didn't love everything about the event, however, as Eric Bischoff detailed the one issue he had with Sting's final match.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.