Sting Announced For Former Rival's Retirement Tour

Sting will be crossing the Pacific in January to make a guest appearance for the farewell retirement tour of Japanese wrestling legend Keiji Muto.

Muto, as the Great Muta, made a surprise appearance on last week's "AEW Rampage," showing up to rescue Sting and tag team partner Darby Allin from the shellacking they were receiving from the House of Black's Brody King and Buddy Matthews. Sting and Muto hugged at the end of the match and Pro Wrestling Noah has since sent out a press release announcing Sting will partner with Muto at the Jan. 22, 2023, event in Yokohama. This will serve as the penultimate stop on Muto's retirement tour, which will conclude in Tokyo the following month. Opponents for Sting and Muto have not yet been announced.

The new camaraderie between Sting and Muto is a positive post-script to their longtime relationship, which began in 1989 as rivals at the NWA's The Great American Bash – Glory Days. Muto's victory in the match was tinged with controversy, and the pair would meet again in 13 matches against each other within a month. Later, they appeared at Starrcade '89: Future Shock as part of the round-robin Iron Man tournament.

Eventually, their rivalry gave way to an alliance with the duo infamously taking on Rick and Scott Steiner at the second WCW/New Japan Supershow in 1992.

VIP seats for the Yokohama event are going for 100,000 yen, or $694. Pro Wrestling Noah shows can be seen in the U.S. on the streaming services Fite, FORJOYTV, and Wrestle Universe, but there has been no announcement regarding if any of these platforms will present the Sting – Muto tag team match as an exclusive.