Sting: Darby Allin ‘taught me how to live life to the fullest’
Teaming with Darby Allin in AEW had a big impact on who Sting is as a human being.
Before retiring in March 2024, Sting spent the last few years of his career paired with Allin. They became AEW Tag Team Champions and still held the belts when Sting went out victorious in his final match. Allin, now in the midst of the biggest singles run of his career, is AEW World Champion and has a title defense against MJF set for Double or Nothing this Sunday.
ESPN published a feature story on Allin ahead of the pay-per-view and interviewed Sting about their partnership. With Sting in his 60s, he initially tried to talk Allin out of some of his riskier ideas, but it was Allin who won out, with Sting even joining in and doing the stunts with him.
“At first, I was trying to talk some sense into him by saying he didn’t have to do these risky moves every match. But, man, he rubbed off on me, and I ended up taking way more risks than I anticipated myself taking,” Sting said. “By the end, you didn’t know whether the young guy was going to jump off the balcony or the old guy was going to jump off the balcony. And sometimes we both did together.”
The bond that Sting and Allin formed is one that Sting believes will be lifelong.
“We haven’t had a chance to go play miniature golf together. I still owe him that,” Sting told ESPN. “We’ll be friends until one of us leaves the earth. He taught me how to live life to the fullest.”
Sting was there when Allin won the AEW World Championship from MJF last month. The Allin vs. MJF rematch on Sunday is a hair vs. title match where MJF is putting his hair on the line for a shot to reclaim the belt.
Sting’s continuing legacy —
Allin is helping to continue Sting’s legacy with his AEW success, and now Sting’s two sons — Steven and Garrett — have entered the business. Neither had any interest in becoming wrestlers until taking part in their father’s retirement tour. Now, Steven has already worked dark matches for AEW and is competing on the indies. Allin helped train him for his debut and participated in Steven’s first-ever match in October 2025.
Not quite as far along as his brother, Garrett had his debut last weekend for Dustin Rhodes’ Rhodes Wrestling Association.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.