Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Sting said that he hoped to finish maybe in December but that all changed when Ric Flair arrived.

The Stinger mentioned that he got emotional and actually cried only twice in his career.

“The first was Panama City when Ric and I had the last WCW match on Nitro,” Sting said. “The second was last week on Dynamite.”

Flair was introduced to the AEW audience as Sting’s gift from AEW President Tony Khan.

“When Ric came out and I heard his music play, it hit me,” continued Sting. “I had this flashback, and it made me emotional. Ric is the guy who put me on the map. We’ve traveled around the world together, and Ric helped make me. Now he’s going to finish with me.”

Sting said that AEW reminded him a lot of the WCW brand and thanked AEW President Tony Khan for allowing him to come back and have some fun.

“I liked that idea. I couldn’t say no,” Sting recounted when Khan called him to “go out in style.”