This past Wednesday night’s AEW Dynamite: Homecoming special went off the air with The Young Bucks returning and confronting Sting and Darby Allin. Sting will compete in his retirement match at AEW Revolution in March, and it felt like his and Allin’s final opponents would be The Bucks as the show went off the air. Shortly after Dynamite went off the air, it was reported that Sting had a significant say in who his final opponents would be. Furthermore, it was said that AEW President Tony Khan would go out of his way to make whatever The Icon wanted in the match or in the build-up to it happen.
In the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was noted that Khan explicitly gave Sting the option to wrestle anyone he wanted in his final match. At least, as long as he had access to them, WWE talent would seem to be decidedly off the table. Sting chose The Bucks because he really enjoyed his Forbidden 2022 match that saw him tag with Allin and Shingo Takagi against The Bucks and El Phantasmo.
The Young Bucks lost their AEW World Tag Team Championships shot to Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega at AEW Full Gear. Following the match, The Bucks began a hiatus and have not been seen on AEW TV since. The Observer report also states that The Bucks were originally slated to take even more time off, but when Sting made the request for them to work his final match, they “weren’t about to turn that down.”
Elsewhere on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday night, new AEW World Champion Samoa Joe addressed the fans for the first time with his title. Joe explained that he was changing up the challenger application process and wanted wrestlers to bring their case for wanting a shot straight to him for review. This led to Swerve Strickland, “Hangman” Adam Page, and FTW Champion HOOK all making their way to the ring to confront Joe. This coming Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite, HOOK will get the honor of being the first challenger of Joe’s reign.