Sting only retired in 2016 because Vince McMahon wanted to.
“The Icon” said as much during a recent appearance on The David Difference of Kayfabe Friends for an interview.
“I’m never gonna come back to wrestle again,” he said of his current retirement. “I know that. I did retire with WWE, but I also said the only thing that’s for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure. This is just ‘see you later,’ basically.”
He continued, “I did leave it open-ended pretty much, I didn’t really want to retire at that time. It was kind of like a mutual deal that I did with WWE at the time. Vince [McMahon] wanted me to retire under his umbrella, and at the time, I was okay with that. It was five-plus years that I was retired, but I came back because like I said in my little speech there, I got that phone call from Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes, ‘Want to come back and play one more time?’ So I did, and the rest is history.”
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
