7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Revolution 2024 (Results & Review)

Sting's last AEW PPV was even better than Iconic.

By Michael Sidgwick /

AEW

Across the retirement tour, a lot of millennial-aged wrestling fans started to really feel bittersweet and almost aware of their own mortality because to them, Sting was professional wrestling.

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He caught your eye with his look. He took your breath away with that vertical leap on the Stinger splash. He made you believe as a child and as a teenager, you were drawn to him because you wanted to be mysterious, too.

Explosive athletic ability; face paint; the "Whooo!" noise; cool factor; the best kind of corny and earnest; the ability to shake off an ultra-violent ass-kicking; the ability to kick ass: Sting was the composite pro wrestling experience packaged, somehow, by a man who was too good for the industry. About the only thing about Sting that didn't scream pro wrestling was his reputation. There was no underbelly. He was beloved. Sting wasn't just among the last of a dying breed.

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Gauging by his AEW run, the impossible brilliance of it, he was the one true magical performer in the history of the medium.

Even if AEW somehow contrived to botch the Last Match, the promotion deserves immense credit for one of the all-time promotional achievements. They made you feel like a child and a teenager, all at once, as the invincible face-painted hero of your childhood performed balcony dives like a madman from your ECW sojourn.

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But they didn't, did they...?