On the latest episode of Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff weighed in on Sting’s announcement of his retirement from wrestling at next year’s AEW Revolution pay-per-view event. He discussed the potential impact on AEW’s ratings, his happiness for Sting’s opportunity to retire on his own terms, and his thoughts on who could be Sting’s final opponent. Here are the highlights:
On the possibility of Sting’s retirement increasing AEW’s ratings, Bischoff stated,
“Hard to say. Depends on what they do. What does the buildup look like? Is there a story leading into it? How much promotion does it get? How much attention does it get? Remains to be seen. Do I think it can increase the numbers? Absolutely. I think it can. Do I think it will? Who knows? We’ll find out.”
Expressing his happiness for Sting’s retirement at AEW Revolution, Bischoff said,
“I’m happy for him. You know, I think anytime somebody that’s been in the public eye in a career like professional wrestling, in particular, has an opportunity to kind of end their career the way they want to under their own terms. That’s always a great thing. So I’m happy. I’m happy for Steve Borden. I’m happy for the fans who’ve been a fan of the character Sting. It’s been a long, long time.”
Regarding who should be Sting’s final opponent, Bischoff mentioned,
“I was thinking about that this morning, actually. Well, there is, but it’ll never happen. Nor do I think it should happen, but it would be cool if it would or could. I’d love to see him and Ric [Flair]. That’s a full-circle scenario right there. Ric Flair is the guy that actually put Sting on the map. And I think it would be just awesome.”
As for potential opponents from the active AEW roster, Bischoff noted,
“It’s not to say that Darby Allin couldn’t be a good choice, or there could be other good choices. Again, depending on the story. But it’s not that there isn’t anybody there that would be, you know, a great candidate. It’s just that the best candidate, I think would be Ric Flair. But I’m sure there are others. You know, there’s a potential in Darby Allin. There could be a great story there.”
(h/t 411MANIA)