WWE actually acknowledged Sting’s AEW retirement match on ‘WWE Raw’

In its more than five years of existence, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has rarely been acknowledged by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

And when it has, it typically hasn’t been in pleasant terms.

That, however, changed on Monday’s episode of WWE Raw. While calling a match between Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Dominik Mysterio, play-by-play announcer Michael Cole called attention to the retirement of wrestling legend Sting, who had his final match at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday night.

“I want to send our congratulations out to another great champion. After nearly 40 years, the great Sting has retired from professional wrestling,” Cole said. “Thanks for the memories. Congratulations to Sting.”

“An absolutely epic match last night,” McAfee said, referring to Sting and Darby Allin’s victory over The Young Bucks in the Revolution main event.

Michael Cole sends a congrats to Sting.

Pat McAfee says he had an absolutely epic match last night.pic.twitter.com/x1HWtnsGMx

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 5, 2024

While minor, WWE’s acknowledgement of Sting came as a surprise to many viewers. Even before AEW’s existence, WWE’s approach to the rest of the wrestling world had largely been to ignore it, save for few minor exceptions.

That approach, however, was largely built under Vince McMahon, who is no longer with the company following allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking, which have resulted in a lawsuit and an ongoing federal investigation. It also helps that ex-ESPN executive Lee Fitting taking over production duties has resulted in a more sports-like presentation of WWE programming.

While Sting’s run in WWE was brief — two matches to be exact — he is a member of the company’s Hall of Fame. WWE acknowledging his retirement would be akin to the Cleveland Cavaliers recognizing an an accomplishment of LeBron James, which the Cavs have done on multiple occasions since he left for Los Angeles in 2018.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of WWE’s acknowledgment of Sting was McAfee’s reference to the actual match (which, to his point, was insane).

Even with its newfound sensibilities, it’s hard to imagine WWE saying something that, in theory, could entice a viewer to check out the competition. If he was ad-libbing, it wouldn’t be the only time that McAfee went off-script on Monday night.

[WWE Raw]