AEW Dynamite opened on an emotional note Wednesday night with a tribute to the late Ted Turner, and new details have surfaced regarding how the segment came together behind the scenes.
As noted, this week’s episode of Dynamite was dedicated to the legendary WCW owner and TBS founder, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 87.
The show began with a surprise appearance from Sting, who joined Tony Schiavone in the ring for a heartfelt tribute honoring Turner’s impact on professional wrestling and television.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio at F4WOnline.com, Sting was never originally supposed to appear on the broadcast itself.
Meltzer explained that Sting had already been brought to North Charleston for promotional duties tied to the event due to his deep connection to the Carolinas dating back to the early stages of his wrestling career.
“Sting was actually not brought in for this show,” Meltzer said. “The plan was for Sting to come in and do promotional work in Charleston because they felt that, you know, they’re in the Carolinas and Sting started early in his career working that territory. So they flew Sting in to do media and stuff, and Sting himself asked when he got there, or even before, he goes, ‘I don’t want to be on the show because it’s not my time anymore. I don’t want to take time away from anybody else. I do not want to be on the show.'”
That quickly changed once news broke about Turner’s passing.
According to Meltzer, AEW President Tony Khan reportedly made major changes to the show shortly before airtime in order to properly honor the man many credit with helping transform wrestling on cable television during the WCW era.
“Meltzer continued, “Then Ted Turner dies, he’s there, and Tony basically rewrites much of the show, because he felt they needed to open the show, and he had changed things around and everything,” Meltzer continued. “And he wanted Tony Schiavone and Sting to do the tribute to Ted Turner, which Sting was happy to do..It was completely unscripted in the sense, and you could tell watching it. Like, they just went out there, and they winged it. I thought it was very well done.”
For those interested, you can check out our complete AEW Dynamite Results 5/6/26 here at WrestlingHeadlines.com.
All Elite Wrestling honors a man who changed pro wrestling forever, Ted Turner, whose contributions to television, pro wrestling and more are impossible to measure.@TonySchiavone24 and @Sting pay tribute to the legend on behalf of us all. Rest in Peace – and thank you. pic.twitter.com/UI39qRx5QO
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 7, 2026
Our thoughts go out to Ted Turner's family, friends and everyone whose lives he touched. pic.twitter.com/YWWaMVaISw
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 7, 2026
