Legendary pro wrestler’s final week includes stop in Alabama

Legendary pro wrestler’s final week includes stop in Alabama

All Elite Wrestling returns to Alabama tonight, helping to mark the end of an illustrious career in the squared-circle.

AEW “Revolution” is the company’s pay-per-view event happening Sunday, March 3 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The event will set the stage for the final match in pro wrestling icon Sting’s 40-year career — a tornado tag match where sting and AEW tag champ partner Darby Allin will take on The Young Bucks. The Greensboro Coliseum is the same venue in which he squared off against Ric Flair at Clash of Champions I in March 1998, a pivotal moment enhancing his status as a main event performer.

But first, AEW’s weekly televised show “Dynamite” will take place tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Propst Arena at Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Tickets are still available and start at $20 via Ticketmaster.

In October 2023, Sting announced his plans to retire sometime in 2024, a moment die-hard fans have no doubt been dreading the last few months.

AEW returns to Huntsville for the first time since the House Rules tour rolled through town last June, but the VBC’s Propst Arena also hosted the company’s flagship show in February 2020. Now, it will house Sting’s final “Dynamite” with the company, which will be headlined by the Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Jon Moxley) meeting FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) and Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston in Trios action, along with “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay making his first appearance on “Dynamite” debut as an official member of the AEW roster.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m., but the show will air live on TBS (and AEWPlus.com for international fans) at 7 p.m.

Wednesday marks 1,183 days since Sting’s first AEW appearance at “Winter is Coming 2020,” plus a decade since he appeared in the VBC venue. “Huntsville is a city that has witnessed Sting fight for championships, both singles and tag team, as well as go to battle against men like the late Bam Bam Bigelow and Kurt Angle,” the AEW website says.

Now wearing the AEW World Tag Team Championship with partner Darby Allin, Sting returns in what should be a special moment for the champions, unless adversarial EVPs (the Young Bucks) Matthew and Nicholas Jackson ruin the occasion.

“Dynamite” will also feature Chris Jericho taking on Atlantis Jr., Kris Statlander and Skye Blue’s grudge match, and an appearance from Hangman Adam Page as he discusses his status for “Revolution.”

“Revolution” will also feature Orange Cassidy vs. Roderick Strong for the AEW International Championship, Samoa Joe vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland in a three-way match for the AEW World Championship, Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Danielson for the Continental Crown Championship and Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1959, Sting (whose real name is Steve Borden) is one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time. He debuted with National Wrestling Alliance in 1987 and was a huge hit with fans because of his bleach blond buzz cut hair, colorful face paint and brightly colored neon ring gear.

He would became NWA world champ before adding six World Championship Wrestling world titles, three WCW tag titles, two WCW international world titles and two United States championships.

Sting earned widespread respect when, in 1996, with the rise of the New World Order (NWO), he changed his in-ring persona to a darker gimmick using black and white face paint, black leather trench coat (similar to the lead character from the popular 1994 film “The Crow”) and a silent demeanor, as he lurked in the rafters of arenas wherever WCW would perform.

Sting joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003, where he was a four-time champ. He made his World Wrestling Entertainment debut at “Survivor Series” in 2014 and would later perform at “WrestleMania 31.” He headliend the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016, where he announced his first retirement. In 2020, he signed with AEW, making his first appearance at “Dynamite: Winter is Coming.”