AEW Superstar and wrestling legend Sting recently caught up with Paste Magazine to talk about a variety of topics ranging from why he never wrestled The Undertaker to him making his in-ring return for AEW at Double or Nothing. Check out the highlights below.
On making his return to in-ring wrestling:
It’s exciting. Especially exciting because we’ll have a full crowd. I know those NBA players and everyone had to have felt it the same way. To have all the people is going to be fantastic. I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t forgotten all those matches in the past in front of big crowds and how exciting that all is, and I know it’s going to be just the same. It’s going to be incredible on Sunday. I’m trying to work a lot on mobility, that’s for sure. I don’t recover as quick as I used to, either, so I have to really watch how I train, so I don’t overtrain because, I’m telling you, you just don’t recover the same. I’m trying to get the heart rate up as much as I possibly can, so the stamina’s there to go with these young guys.
His thoughts on performing in cinematic matches:
It was filmed in Rome, Georgia. Apparently a ton of Hollywood stuff is filmed out there. I’ve always loved filming movies, TV, commercials—I love the Hollywood aspect of things. It was overall a good experience, but it was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. I’ve got to tell you. It was tough filming that. Physically, just so demanding—it’s almost easier to go out and have a 20-minute match than it is to film what we did. Still, it was a great experience, lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to just going back to the basics, nothing cinematic.
On never getting a match against The Undertaker:
Maybe Taker just never really wanted to work with me. Maybe they brought it up and he kind of snubbed his nose and said he didn’t really want to do that. For whatever reason, even though Taker and I have always gotten along great. I don’t think he has issues with me, I certainly don’t have any issues with him. I just have a great amount of respect for him. But I have no idea why that match never happened. I think it was not right that it didn’t happen. It’s something that I believe should have happened. I said it for 20 years, I made it clear, you know, “I’d love to have that match, I’d love to have one with that guy.” With the two characters, I had so many ideas of how we could’ve done that, and made it definitely a night that nobody would ever forget. But you know what, I’m here, I’m with AEW, I love what’s going on here, and I love what’s getting ready to happen. And I’m glad I made that move and came here.
How the AEW atmosphere is different from any other company he has worked with:
It is a place where you’ve got a bunch of male and female soldiers all sort of marching in the same direction, and pretty much everybody’s marching to the same beat. There isn’t really any factions or cliques or groups of people. Everybody is looking out for everybody and everybody wants AEW to succeed. I think there’s a great unity, really, to be honest with you, with most everybody there in AEW. It starts at the top, and filters its way down. Tony Khan is a very personable guy, a very approachable guy. I’ve noticed he’s like that with just about everybody, it doesn’t matter who you are. It’s a good atmosphere.
You can read the entire interview here. Let us know what you think in the comments below.