Teddy Long Blames Poor Communication For Sting's Dangerous AEW Dynamite Table Spot

Despite putting his body on the line for the entertainment of fans, Sting received a lot of flak for leaping off a ladder and flattening Sami Guevera through a table on "AEW Dynamite" last month. While the 64-year-old wrestler's daredevilry was nothing short of astonishing, the execution left a lot to be desired, seeing as he crashed chin-first against the table and required stitches on his lip to stop the bleeding.

In the aftermath of the spot, former wrestlers such as Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer argued that the table was placed too far from Sting, but others such as Booker T put the blame solely on Sting, questioning the sanity of his former WCW colleague. Booker also felt that Sting avoided "disaster" and "wasn't smart at all" to perform such a high-risk move at his age.

Now, Teddy Long has chimed in on the controversial subject, and he's evidently in the "AEW is to blame for poor communication" camp. 

"I've never been to an AEW show, but I'm sure the referee has an earpiece," Long told "Sportskeeda Wrestlebinge" in a recent interview. "Taz [on commetary] kept talking about how the table was too far away, and when Taz is talking about this, people in the production truck can hear that. If Taz is telling you that, why are you not telling the referees, so he can go to Sting and tell him, 'That table ain't right. Don't do it.'

"Otherwise, let him do something to kill some time, so you can move [the table]. I don't know what kind of situation they were in. It was a lack of communication."

Long — who worked with Sting for years in JCP and WCW — noted that "The Icon" was not the type of wrestler to go against orders, and therefore, put the blame on AEW officials for not recognizing the danger of the table spot. "He's a mild-mannered and nice guy," Long said of Sting. "I just don't see him being the guy to tell them, 'I don't care, I'm gonna do it anyway.'"