Sting sees a little of himself in Darby Allin.
At the age of 61, “The Icon” signed a multi-year contract with All Elite Wrestling. Soon after, Sting returned to the ring for the first time in six years, aligning himself with one of the company’s “pillars,” Darby Allin. The duo would first compete, and emerge victorious, in a pre-taped tag team street fight against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks of Team Taz. Airing as a part of AEW Revolution in March 2021, Sting recently recalled the process of preparing for the off-site bout.
“They came out here to my house,” Sting told Cameron Hawkins for The Ringer. “We had a ring set up. I’ve got a climate-controlled facility here. It’s a barn, basically, and there’s a gym inside here, but we had a ring set up inside here. Tony [Khan] sent one here, and these guys were good enough to come and work with me and just kind of see where I’m at. I didn’t even know for sure, and it was a little rough to be quite honest in the beginning, but they found out where I was and then I was able to improve and shake off even more of the rust and it got better over time. But Allin, in the aspect of knowing my limitations and knowing some of the guys that we’ve wrestled … has just been worth his weight in gold to me.”
Sting and Allin have drawn many comparisons to one another, especially in their physical presentation. The two’s respective journey into the sport face some parallels as well, though. “He’s like the young guy who didn’t know anyone in the wrestling industry. He didn’t have an uncle, a father, a cousin, a brother, a friend, nobody that helped him to get into the pro wrestling industry … He slept in his car,” Sting said. “His address was his car. Same with me. He didn’t have a lot of food to eat. At times it just stayed with me.”
Despite Allin’s hardships breaking into the industry, “He came in and busted his butt,” Sting said. “And he thinks outside the box. He is willing to risk. He never dogs it in the ring. I talk about ‘balls to the wall.’ Well, that’s Darby. He’s got a work ethic that is really good. He loves to think of innovative and creative ways to entertain, whether it be the physical aspect of the match or even just a video promoting a match. Even with his attire and his gimmick and what he does, he puts so much effort into these things and doesn’t want to do what everybody else does, just the same way I was when I first started.”
The former WCW World Champion continued, praising Allin’s capabilities beyond wrestling. “He’s a very creative guy and he’s got ties with some pretty influential people all over the country. I believe that if he stays in the wrestling industry, if he stays here with the AEW, that eventually he’ll have some sort of creative control and some sort of leadership role where he’s coordinating.”
“I believe that he has the ability to do something in film. Anything that has to do with art, anything that has to do with risking your life, he’s going to do. This guy is jumping off bridges 100 feet high. He’s jumping over houses with cars. He has [an] interest in skateboarding. He loves to just be out and about and rubbing shoulders with people that love to experience life to its fullest.”
Sting also spoke about his own career winding down, noting that he knows Darby will be part of it and he won’t have a singles match. Sting said he has a few people in mind as far as opponents are concerned, but didn’t hint at who they might be.
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