Sting wanted to put over The Bucks

[Dub H]

Considering Sting won, the finish was unique. The person retiring traditionally ends their career in defeat. But for those involved in the construction of the match, including CEO/GM/Head of Creative Tony Khan, it was imperative that Sting win.

One of the only dissenting voices about the finish was Sting. He preferred to give the moment and momentum to the Bucks, who he holds in extremely high esteem. But that simply was not going to happen as Khan and the Bucks, who are Executive Vice Presidents in the company, all firmly believed that Sting should end his career with a victory.

After Sting’s remarkable run in AEW, all parties ultimately agreed that the circumstances called for a beautiful ending. If anyone in wrestling deserved to go out in celebratory fashion, with parallels to the finale of a great sports film, it was Sting. This was the match that Bret Hart never had–and the same can be said for Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Andre The Giant, Kurt Angle, and countless other legends. The only retirements that were equal or better to this were the retirements of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, but both of those ultimately became preludes to their return.

Khan, the Bucks, and Sting ultimately agreed that a fun, happy ending would be best for AEW. After a tumultuous 18-month stretch, this was not the time for a swerve, and it certainly feels like the right call.

www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/news/inside-stings-last-match

[Soultastic]

He looked happy as hell after the match and in the scrum, so I hope he turned around on following tradition for tradition's sake.

[ASYLUMHAUSEN]

This was absolutely the right call - and good on Tony (and the Bucks) for making that point and ultimately selling Stinger on it.

…but…ya know…destroying the business and such.

🙄

[jm]

Sting is seriously too good and pure for this planet. He had to be convinced to WIN his retirement match because he wanted to put the Bucks over. Sting is such a great and kind man.

[jm]

Mar 6, 2024 12:33:44 GMT -5 ASYLUMHAUSEN said:

This was absolutely the right call - and good on Tony (and the Bucks) for making that point and ultimately selling Stinger on it.

…but…ya know…destroying the business and such.

🙄

I'm sure that the Bucks Derangement Syndrome sufferers around the world will give the Bucks props for convincing Sting to win the match. Yup, I'm sure they will any minute now.

[Doo Doo is Worse Than WCW 2000]

Everyone figured this would be the case, but I think having Sting and Darby win is the right call. I know they do tournaments a lot, but I can handle another one under these circumstances.

[eJm]

Yeah, like, I can absolutely believe Sting would want to lose his last match because he's traditional in that way and it's what you'd expect but as I said before, as I watched that crowd and that entrance, there was zero way that wasn't going down like a lead balloon. Basically what happened at Worlds End with MJF and Buffalo x 100.

Also, from a business standpoint, you can go back to Greensboro with people more likely to go because they gave Sting the finale they wanted. Win/Win.

[Dub H]

Mar 6, 2024 12:40:00 GMT -5 eJm said:

Yeah, like, I can absolutely believe Sting would want to lose his last match because he's traditional in that way and it's what you'd expect but as I said before, as I watched that crowd and that entrance, there was zero way that wasn't going down like a lead balloon. Basically what happened at Worlds End with MJF and Buffalo x 100.

Also, from a business standpoint, you can go back to Greensboro with people more likely to go because they gave Sting the finale they wanted. Win/Win.

Even if Sting is worried about "not giving it back". This is where the genius of having his run in the company being a tag team with Darby comes in,because at the same time he is putting Darby over big time and The Bucks admittedly dont need the win.

[eJm]

Mar 6, 2024 12:45:26 GMT -5 Dub H said:

Even if Sting is worried about "not giving it back". This is where the genius of having his run in the company being a tag team with Darby comes in,because at the same time he is putting Darby over big time and The Bucks admittedly dont need the win.

Like, I'm not saying Darby is next world champion after this (he has to survive Everest first for one) but if there's a guy whose earned a tonne of believability for a title run in the next year from all of this, it's Darby Allin.

[Bo Rida]

If he wanted to put them or anyone else over he should have lost at some stage last year, then he could go out with a win guilt free.

Although the tag division was at such a low there probably wasn't a time it would have made sense. None of The Gunns, ftr and Ricky/Billy would would have worked. It would be different if there was an upcoming long-term heel team that needed cementing at that top level. Aussie Open would have been perfect if things had worked out differently.

This was the best option, it prompted the reinvention of The Bucks schtick which has helped them anyway.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Mar 6, 2024 12:48:30 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

If he wanted to put them or anyone else over he should have lost at some stage last year, then he could go out with a win guilt free.

Although the tag division was at such a low there probably wasn't a time it would have made sense. None of The Gunns, ftr and Ricky/Billy would would have worked. It would be different if there was an upcoming long-term heel team that needed cementing at that top level. Aussie Open would have been perfect if things had worked out differently.

This was the best option, it prompted the reinvention of The Bucks schtick which has helped them anyway.

Yeah, The Bucks may not have gone over, but they got a lot out of this feud to sell their reinvention and generate some massive heat. Overnight reinvention can be really tricky when it comes from an act so entrenched in being one thing, but having Sting to bounce off of and being as heelish as they were gave the new characters instant credibility and focus. It would have been borderline trivial for this to be Sting and Darby versus Normal Dickhead Bucks mugging for the camera, but in being able to have his last opponents be a team who adamantly did not need the win, it let them get away with ratcheting up the heel heat to outrageous heights and then giving Sting his feelgood moment off of it. It came out better for everyone.

[Chiral]

I get the tradition, but there's been enough Old Yeller retirements in wrestling the last decade plus. And not even just in retirements but that sentiment of seeking out the shocked/depressed fan reactions and treating that like the most important thing to get in wrestling (I know I've talked about my misgivings with that booker mindset a bajillion times).

I just finished watching the match again, and it's emotional and bittersweet and makes me cry, but it's such a happy cry. AEW COULD have had Sting lose and retire in the middle of the show, everyone's depressed and shocked and they get shots of fans making funny faces, and it'd probably be pretty memorable. But it's so much more thrilling and fun and memorable to subvert the usual tropes there and deliver a rousing, triumphant victory for the heroes (which works even better with Sting, who has years and years of being booked like a complete dipshit loser in other companies). "The good guys beat the evil villains" is a tale as old as time, but when it's done like this in a medium that a large chunk has fallen away from, it feels all the more refreshing. AEW has consistently made the big triumphant happy win the end route of many of their storylines, and I love that that's part of the company's identity even with their angles shades of gray characters. Sometimes you just wanna see the old hero not go down like Old Yeller, but instead says "Let's do this," and conquers the villains who wanna put them down.

[GOTHIC CHARISMA 🧊 🥶❄️FURY]

The amount of good that result did for every retirement match until the end of time is going to last way longer than any brief jolt to the Bucks careers. They’re already made men, I’m psyched they did this and not only cause Sting deserved to go undefeated. This opens so many possibilities.

[Bang Bang Bart]

Mar 6, 2024 14:30:43 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I get the tradition, but there's been enough Old Yeller retirements in wrestling the last decade plus. And not even just in retirements but that sentiment of seeking out the shocked/depressed fan reactions and treating that like the most important thing to get in wrestling (I know I've talked about my misgivings with that booker mindset a bajillion times).

I just finished watching the match again, and it's emotional and bittersweet and makes me cry, but it's such a happy cry. AEW COULD have had Sting lose and retire in the middle of the show, everyone's depressed and shocked and they get shots of fans making funny faces, and it'd probably be pretty memorable. But it's so much more thrilling and fun and memorable to subvert the usual tropes there and deliver a rousing, triumphant victory for the heroes (which works even better with Sting, who has years and years of being booked like a complete dipshit loser in other companies). "The good guys beat the evil villains" is a tale as old as time, but when it's done like this in a medium that a large chunk has fallen away from, it feels all the more refreshing. AEW has consistently made the big triumphant happy win the end route of many of their storylines, and I love that that's part of the company's identity even with their angles shades of gray characters. Sometimes you just wanna see the old hero not go down like Old Yeller, but instead says "Let's do this," and conquers the villains who wanna put them down.

This is gonna get me a lot of disagreements, but the prevalence of "misery booking" (i.e. doing finishes for the sake of shocked/sad crowd reactions) in wrestling to end big PPVs in recent years is something I kinda don't like. Don't get me wrong, not every PPV or show has to end with the face triumphing over the heel, but for when moments call for the face to get the big win, promotions should capitalize on it.

[Chiral]

Mar 6, 2024 14:44:08 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

Mar 6, 2024 14:30:43 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I get the tradition, but there's been enough Old Yeller retirements in wrestling the last decade plus. And not even just in retirements but that sentiment of seeking out the shocked/depressed fan reactions and treating that like the most important thing to get in wrestling (I know I've talked about my misgivings with that booker mindset a bajillion times).

I just finished watching the match again, and it's emotional and bittersweet and makes me cry, but it's such a happy cry. AEW COULD have had Sting lose and retire in the middle of the show, everyone's depressed and shocked and they get shots of fans making funny faces, and it'd probably be pretty memorable. But it's so much more thrilling and fun and memorable to subvert the usual tropes there and deliver a rousing, triumphant victory for the heroes (which works even better with Sting, who has years and years of being booked like a complete dipshit loser in other companies). "The good guys beat the evil villains" is a tale as old as time, but when it's done like this in a medium that a large chunk has fallen away from, it feels all the more refreshing. AEW has consistently made the big triumphant happy win the end route of many of their storylines, and I love that that's part of the company's identity even with their angles shades of gray characters. Sometimes you just wanna see the old hero not go down like Old Yeller, but instead says "Let's do this," and conquers the villains who wanna put them down.

This is gonna get me a lot of disagreements, but the prevalence of "misery booking" (i.e. doing finishes for the sake of shocked/sad crowd reactions) in wrestling to end big PPVs in recent years is something I kinda don't like. Don't get me wrong, not every PPV or show has to end with the face triumphing over the heel, but for when moments call for the face to get the big win, promotions should capitalize on it.

I agree completely! It's one of the reasons I had to stop watching WWE because it felt like all they wanted from me was to get my hopes up then pull the rug out so I would be like


AEW has done the trope of getting those reactions, and like you said not every storyline should end with the heroes winning, but they generally make their big major story finishes happy occasions, which one would think would be a given for wrestling, but WWE gradually got more and more lost in the shocked/sad sauce after the streak ended.

[Bang Bang Bart]

Mar 6, 2024 14:52:46 GMT -5 Chiral said:

Mar 6, 2024 14:44:08 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

This is gonna get me a lot of disagreements, but the prevalence of "misery booking" (i.e. doing finishes for the sake of shocked/sad crowd reactions) in wrestling to end big PPVs in recent years is something I kinda don't like. Don't get me wrong, not every PPV or show has to end with the face triumphing over the heel, but for when moments call for the face to get the big win, promotions should capitalize on it.

I agree completely! It's one of the reasons I had to stop watching WWE because it felt like all they wanted from me was to get my hopes up then pull the rug out so I would be like


AEW has done the trope of getting those reactions, and like you said not every storyline should end with the heroes winning, but they generally make their big major story finishes happy occasions, which one would think would be a given for wrestling, but WWE gradually got more and more lost in the shocked/sad sauce after the streak ended.

Like, for instance, I was okay with Worlds End ending on MJF losing the belt and Adam Cole betraying him, largely because the next story point (when MJF returns, natch) will be MJF getting revenge for the betrayal, building to a big rematch at some point.

[Ryushinku]

I'm not surprised, but the way it all went down, Sting going out with a win was the right call.

[Bo Rida]

Mar 6, 2024 14:44:08 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

Mar 6, 2024 14:30:43 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I get the tradition, but there's been enough Old Yeller retirements in wrestling the last decade plus. And not even just in retirements but that sentiment of seeking out the shocked/depressed fan reactions and treating that like the most important thing to get in wrestling (I know I've talked about my misgivings with that booker mindset a bajillion times).

I just finished watching the match again, and it's emotional and bittersweet and makes me cry, but it's such a happy cry. AEW COULD have had Sting lose and retire in the middle of the show, everyone's depressed and shocked and they get shots of fans making funny faces, and it'd probably be pretty memorable. But it's so much more thrilling and fun and memorable to subvert the usual tropes there and deliver a rousing, triumphant victory for the heroes (which works even better with Sting, who has years and years of being booked like a complete dipshit loser in other companies). "The good guys beat the evil villains" is a tale as old as time, but when it's done like this in a medium that a large chunk has fallen away from, it feels all the more refreshing. AEW has consistently made the big triumphant happy win the end route of many of their storylines, and I love that that's part of the company's identity even with their angles shades of gray characters. Sometimes you just wanna see the old hero not go down like Old Yeller, but instead says "Let's do this," and conquers the villains who wanna put them down.

This is gonna get me a lot of disagreements, but the prevalence of "misery booking" (i.e. doing finishes for the sake of shocked/sad crowd reactions) in wrestling to end big PPVs in recent years is something I kinda don't like. Don't get me wrong, not every PPV or show has to end with the face triumphing over the heel, but for when moments call for the face to get the big win, promotions should capitalize on it.

It's the main onscreen reason I stopped watching wwe. To a lesser degree it's why I landed with ddt and tjpw as my favourite Japanese promotions over the one EVIL stinks up or has Jake Lee beat everyone.

I'm not a fan of that booking even when it's done well but too often it's just trying to get isolated moments rather than tell coherent stories.
The payoff rarely seems worth the pain to get there. I tied mlw but couldnt see any value in listening to Sryker berate faces that always lost. I can't imagine anything justifying a title reign longer than the attitude era.

Aew typically has more of a balance which is good but still can be a bit heel heavy at times.

It's something aew should stay mindful of. The more points of differentiation to wwe the better.

[MrElijah]

Mar 6, 2024 14:30:43 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I get the tradition, but there's been enough Old Yeller retirements in wrestling the last decade plus. And not even just in retirements but that sentiment of seeking out the shocked/depressed fan reactions and treating that like the most important thing to get in wrestling (I know I've talked about my misgivings with that booker mindset a bajillion times).

I just finished watching the match again, and it's emotional and bittersweet and makes me cry, but it's such a happy cry. AEW COULD have had Sting lose and retire in the middle of the show, everyone's depressed and shocked and they get shots of fans making funny faces, and it'd probably be pretty memorable. But it's so much more thrilling and fun and memorable to subvert the usual tropes there and deliver a rousing, triumphant victory for the heroes (which works even better with Sting, who has years and years of being booked like a complete dipshit loser in other companies). "The good guys beat the evil villains" is a tale as old as time, but when it's done like this in a medium that a large chunk has fallen away from, it feels all the more refreshing. AEW has consistently made the big triumphant happy win the end route of many of their storylines, and I love that that's part of the company's identity even with their angles shades of gray characters. Sometimes you just wanna see the old hero not go down like Old Yeller, but instead says "Let's do this," and conquers the villains who wanna put them down.

You know when you look at Sting's journey, he's always getting f***ed over. Be it a title getting ripped off, his foes getting one over on him, getting betrayed like nobodies' business, this happy ending, as a champion no less, feels earned & deserving.

Score One for The Good Guys.

[Rolent Tex]

This is the exact damn thing that should have happened in WWE unless it specifically stated in Sting’s contract that his Mania opponent went over. That man should have gotten a Mania win.