8 months ago
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AEW
Earlier this month on "WWE Raw," broadcasters Michael Cole and Pat McAfee took a few moments to acknowledge the retirement of WWE Hall of Famer Sting. This was significant because Sting's last match took place in AEW, with many expecting WWE not to reference the event. Retired wrestler Kevin Sullivan, speaking on "Tuesday with the Taskmaster," speculated on who made the decision to shout out Sting on "Raw."
"I don't think McAfee did that on his own," Sullivan said. "I think that was Hunter telling him to do that."
Sullivan was referring here to Paul "Triple H" Levesque, who many in the industry often refer to by his ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. With Levesque now serving as the Chief Content Officer and booker of WWE, Sullivan doesn't believe the commentators would give Sting that shout-out without his approval.
"[Levesque is] a brilliant, brilliant guy," Sullivan continued. "And, besides that, he's a huge wrestling fan. ... And Sting did the job for him. So I thought it showed a lot of class. That would never have been done with Vince [McMahon]."
Sting's retirement took place on March 3, 2024, at AEW Revolution, with "The Icon" and Darby Allin retaining the AEW World Tag Team Championship against the Young Bucks. Following his retirement, Sting and Allin vacated the tag titles, with an upcoming tournament set to decide the new champions.
Though he spent much of his career in WCW and then TNA, Sting did sign with WWE for a limited run from 2014 to 2015. During that time, Sting wrestled four matches for the company, including a WWE WrestleMania 31 loss to Triple H.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Tuesday with the Taskmaster" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
