The biggest return to professional wrestling, since Edge returned at the Royal Rumble is Sting’s AEW debut. The Icon appeared on TNT for the first time in nearly twenty years. On AEW Dynamite, Tony Schiavone interviewed Sting.

Tony Schiavone interviews Sting

“I know I have come full circle, I’m back in the jungle, I’m back on TNT. And regarding the jungle, Tony, I was an integral part of building the original jungle and I’m glad to see that the jungle is still intact. It’s still thriving, its alive, and I’m glad to be a part of it!”

Schiavone asked Sting about his interaction with Cody and Darby Allin. “I can’t answer that in a few words. That’s a pretty deep question. See, when I think about an answer to that question, I go back in time. I go back in time and I remember when I was looking for the break, and I was watching the matches with one of the greatest of all time as we were peeking through the curtains and watching.”

The man Sting was talking about was none other than the ‘American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes. Dusty had a big impact on Sting’s career in WCW and is partly responsible for his rise to the main event. They even teamed up in 1988 to take on the Road Warriors at Starrcade.

The Icon pays tribute to Dusty Rhodes

“Because of Dusty and the conversation that we had when we were watching that match, he looked at me and said, ‘Stinger baby, we’re gonna put some color on your face, we’re gonna put some color on your tights, color on your boots. I want you to glow in the dark baby, and then I’m gonna put you with the Nature Boy Ric Flair, and we’re gonna get funky like a monkey if you will.”

Sting said he won’t ever forget those words. It was those words that took him to his classic matches with Ric Flair. He and Flair put on some of the greatest matches in WCW history. Once Sting saw Cody in the ring, he figured that he had to be a part of All Elite Wrestling. He wants to be a part of what Cody is doing- leading the charge.