By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW issued the following press release on Monday to promote Sting’s tag team match that will air live on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
August 16, 2021 – Twenty years and five months after defeating Ric Flair in the final “Night of Champions” episode of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT, “The Icon” Sting will once again wrestle on TNT this Wednesday in an all-new episode of “AEW: Dynamite,” live from the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever, Sting, along with his protégé Darby Allin, will take on the surging team of Matt Lee and Jeff Parker, better known as 2point0. This marks Sting’s first official match on TNT after a two-decade absence. Sting and Allin boast a perfect 2-0 record from their PPV victories over Brian Cage and Ricky Starks at “Revolution,” and Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky at “Double or Nothing.”
“My relationship with TNT goes back more than 25 years, so having the opportunity to wrestle on the network that housed some of my most important moments is pretty surreal,” said Sting. “The return of crowds has already been electric enough over the past month and a half, but there’s going to be an extra surge of adrenaline in Houston knowing that we’re live on TNT on Wednesday night.”
“When we first launched AEW, I was ecstatic to bring professional wrestling back to TNT after such a long absence,” said Tony Khan, AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative. “So many wrestling fans, myself included, watched Sting defeat the legendary Ric Flair 20 years ago in that last match on TNT, and now it’s such a thrill that Sting will finally return to the ring on Wednesday Night Dynamite to team with Darby Allin against 2point0 in a Texas Tornado Tag Team Match. This historic match on Wednesday in Houston is just another example of AEW’s commitment to bring wrestling fans the great moments that they deserve.”
“I was much younger when Sting last wrestled on TNT, and now that I’m grown man, I’m excited to be a part of bringing the icon back to the network that made him famous. That young fan inside of me of Sting from twenty years ago, has only grown in admiration…kick those young whippersnappers’ asses,” said Sam Linsky, Associate General Manager, SVP, Programming and Operations, TBS, TNT and truTV.
Coming off a red-hot debut episode of “AEW: Rampage” last Friday that featured Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. retaining her AEW Women’s World Championship against Red Velvet in the main event match, this week’s “AEW: Dynamite” promises another stacked card. AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks will defend their titles against Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus of Jurassic Express, MJF and Chris Jericho will finally face off after Jericho conquered all four of MJF’s “Labors of Jericho,” and Sammy Guevara takes on Shawn Spears in a continuation of the boiling feud between The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle.
Tickets for “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” are available at aewtix.com. Fans can also watch “AEW: Rampage” every Friday on TNT at 10 p.m. ET and catch “AEW: Dynamite” every Wednesday on TNT at 8 p.m. ET., and on-demand on the TNT app.
Powell’s POV: I felt AEW failed to Sting’s first AEW Dynamite match feel special when it was announced on last week’s show, so it’s good to see them making an effort to play it up now. Join Jake Barnett for his weekly live review of AEW Dynamite as the show airs Wednesdays on TNT at 7CT/8ET.
Against 2.0? Sheesh, I don’t know if this team can survive against a deadly force as 2.0. This might actually be Sting’s retirement match. Maybe Alister err, Malachi Black will ruin his moment as well.
So they decide to have Sting’s first TNT match in 20 years be against a team they have done nothing to establish, who we know nothing about, and who have appeared on Dynamite a grand total of 2 times, one of which was them losing a 6 man squash match, and the other was getting beaten down by the very team they’re about to face, in a post match attack THEY initiated? Wonderful choice there.
How dare you insinuate there’s something wrong with the logic used by the “Booker of the Year.”
I still laugh at that award. Sure, I watch the show, but Khan’s booking is so all over the map I feel like if he was booking my flight plan from Texas to Florida somehow I’d wind up seeing Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Rome. I watch AEW because there’s some guys on there I genuinely like, and others I see real potential in. They’re rarely booked well, and half the time they may vanish for weeks at a time, but I keep watching for the occasional moments where I get to see them have a good match. Sure, it will probably have the overused post match attack you hate so much, but I’m more capable of overlooking it if the match itself appealed to me.
If they’re 2-0, shouldn’t they be in the Top 10 of the AEW tag team rankings? It’s about time someone gets the belts off the Young Bucks.