Every WWE To AEW Defection Ranked From Worst To Best
5. Sting
Sting made the wrestling world gasp when he stunningly debuted for AEW in December 2020, returning to TNT for the first time since WCW, leading to nostalgic feelings from fans.
Prior to coming to AEW, ‘The Icon’ hadn’t wrestled since 2015 when he had to suddenly retire due to a bad neck injury he sustained after landing wrong on a turnbuckle powerbomb from Seth Rollins. WWE humbled him as a Legend after that, inducting him into the 2016 Hall of Fame class.
But Sting believed he had more to offer wrestling, making a last ditch effort to WWE to make the dream match against The Undertaker happen after watching Undertaker’s cinematic classic with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 that hid Undertaker’s shortcomings due to age and wear and tear. WWE didn’t go for it, so Sting made other plans, signing a multi-year contract with AEW.
So far, Sting in AEW has put over his kindred dark soulmate Darby Allin huge just by association. At Revolution, Sting teamed with Darby to take on Team Taz’s Brian Cage and Ricky Starks (with Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs in tow) in a cinematic street fight that was highly entertaining. Sting has shown he has a lot left to give, with scenarios of him working with younger talent like The Dark Order and Kenny Omega to working dream matches with Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes (considering his past with his father Dusty) holding promise