The Undertaker comments on WWE acknowledging Sting's retirement despite "competition" with AEW
Sting's retirement match at AEW: Revolution is now a landmark and yardstick to go by in wrestling. One of the more significant and significant aspects of the match took place somewhere else - that got wrestling veterans talking too.
Fans were surprised when WWE commentators Pat McAfee and Michael Cole decided to acknowledge The Icon's retirement and final match in AEW live. One of the people who have commented on that is The Undertaker.
The Deadman recently spoke about it on the podcast Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway:
"I mean, yeah, we're in competition with a different company. I get it, but Sting's legacy is so much bigger than AEW or any of that. I mean, he deserved that. I'm happy that as a company they acknowledged it because it's only right,” he said. [19:30 - 19:57]
Michael Cole has been in the news previously for talking about AEW stars on WWE commentary.
Jim Ross had earlier commented about WWE mentioning Sting's final match on commentary.
The Phenom wasn't the only person who spoke out about WWE's decision to acknowledge Sting's last match. AEW's commentator, Jim Ross, who also called Sting's final defense of the now-vacated AEW World Tag Team Championship, was also happy that the Stamford-based company spoke about the match on a Grillin' JR podcast episode:
"It was classy. Anyway you look at it, it was classy. I really appreciate the hospitality and professionalism that those guys at WWE showed our event. It meant a lot to me, personally, just as an old school guy, because WWE didn’t have to do that. I’m very happy that they did. It worked out really well. It felt good, felt right. Sting is so well loved and it was deserved. It needed to be said. Cole and Pat McAfee did a good job of signaling that out," he said.
There was speculation about how WWE would handle The Vigilante's retirement, given that The Hooligan has had a healthy relationship with some WWE icons, including Kevin Nash and Lex Luger, but the situation was handled well.
This could be a temporary thaw in the WWE-AEW relationship or a permanent one; all of that remains to be seen.
What do you think? Will AEW and WWE ever see eye-to-eye?
Please credit Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription of the first quote in the article.