Sting Claims He Only Retired In 2016 Because Vince McMahon Wanted Him To Do So Under WWE Umbrella

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.)