The end of an era has officially arrived for one of professional wrestling’s most enduring icons. Sting, “The Icon,” has donned his signature face paint for the final time at an autograph signing.
Sting appeared at WrestleVerse Fest in Pittsburgh on Saturday, marking the conclusion of his “2025 or Never” tour. He had previously announced that 2025 would be the final year he would make public appearances wearing the black-and-white face paint that defined the latter half of his legendary career. Speaking in an emotional interview with Denise Salcedo at the event, Sting took the opportunity to thank the fanbase that has supported him for decades.
“I just want to say thank you, I love you, all of you, I do believe we’ve had a love affair going on for many decades now and I will miss all of you for sure,” Sting said. “But there will be little bits and pieces here with AEW, I’m sure, down the road. Love you all, thank you.”
While Sting admitted that the day felt like “just another gig” to him personally, he acknowledged the gravity of the moment through the eyes of his family and friends. He noted that his daughter had been texting him crying emojis, emphasizing the finality of the occasion.
“I feel completely normal, like this is just another gig for me,” he explained. “But you have people like my daughter, for example, who is sending me these emojis on the phone, the crying emojis going ‘Dad, this is your last one ever!’ Then you know, all of my buddies and all my friends coming here and being a part of this, it’s those kind of moments, because everyone’s feeding it where it’s like this strong undercurrent of ‘Wow, this is like, the end. This really is it.’ I don’t know how to sum it up into words. The undercurrent is definitely there. Bittersweet, for sure. I’ll be glad to get off the planes and trains and automobiles, But I will miss the people for sure, absolutely.”
Sting retired from in-ring competition earlier this year at AEW Revolution 2024, where he and Darby Allin defeated The Young Bucks in a chaotic Tornado Tag Team match to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships. He retired undefeated in AEW, a rare feat for a star of his magnitude. Since then, he has made sporadic appearances, most notably at WrestleDream to assist Darby Allin against Jon Moxley. With the face paint now retired from the convention circuit, any future appearances by “The Stinger” on AEW television become that much more special and rare.
