Ahead of the event going live on pay-per-view, the Greensboro Coliseum gifted Sting, Allin, Ross, Flair, AEW boss Tony Khan, and AEW commentator Tony Schiavone with custom-made baseball bats to mark the special occasion. According to Ross, Sting was “pleasantly surprised” by the gesture, and the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion told him that he’d never received anything like that in the past.

“It was a special moment for all of us,” Ross said. “And none of us expected it. It was awful nice of the management of the Coliseum to come through and present these awards and, I guess, in memories of our service to the arena, because all of us that are there, we all had great experiences in Greensboro. Because, at one time, it was the MSG [Madison Square Garden] of the south. Greensboro was the hub. Not only for Michael Jordan and the ACC Basketball Tournament and all of those things, but it was the wrestling hub. All the big shows were in Greensboro, so it was cool to be a part of that, to say the least.”

Furthermore, Ross stated there was no better person to honor than Sting, describing him as a “class act.” The 72-year-old said that element of Sting’s persona made the Revolution pay-per-view and his retirement match as special as they were. Some people didn’t love everything about the event, however, as Eric Bischoff detailed the one issue he had with Sting’s final match.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Grilling JR” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.