Sting wrestled the final match of his career this past Sunday at AEW Revolution 2024.
The Icon retained the AEW Tag Team Titles with Darby Allin against The Young Bucks in the main event of the show.
On a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, AEW wrestler Matt Hardy weighed in on Sting’s retirement match this past weekend.
The veteran wrestler also discussed how kayfabe in its original form is dead, and how modern wrestlers can use social media to their advantage.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Sting’s retirement: “I loved every bit of it. More than anything, I’m happy for Sting. I’m happy that Sting got the chance to tell a story in the correct fashion. He was treated with respect, he was treated with honor, and he was able to go out on his own note, which was fantastic. It was emotional. They told a good ride, they told a good story. Sting looked as great as Sting could possibly look in that match, in those moments. And Darby did a hell of a job carrying his end of the deal too. Kudos, big round of applause to everybody involved. They killed it. Once again, I will applaud [AEW President] Tony Khan for getting Sting there, and sending him out the right way.”
On how kayfabe in its previous form is dead: “Kayfabe to 1997 and earlier, that kayfabe is pretty much dead. Kayfabe from 1997 going forward is just more or less situational things that we can possibly manipulate, possibly manufacture, and do things to keep the crowd guessing. And it’s one of the unique tools that you can utilize in pro wrestling where they’re just not really sure where the lines between reality and fiction lie.”
On tools wrestlers still have with social media: “That’s one of the tools we have to our advantage. I feel like in pro wrestling, and there’s many ways you can utilize that depending on how you promote yourself online, depending how you promote your show on a TV screen, whatever it may be. But there are definitely things there that you can utilize that can be positive for the industry.”
