In a special, untelevised segment for the live crowd, the legendary "Icon" Sting made his surprise debut at the 2300 Arena following the AEW Collision taping in Philadelphia on Thursday. His appearance was part of a post-show tribute to the late, great "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, an influential wrestler and booker who was a key figure in the early days of the promotion that would become ECW.
The tribute, which was put on by AEW President Tony Khan, also featured Jeff Jarrett, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, and Eddie's younger brother, Doug Gilbert. After Khan brought the men to the ring to share their stories about Eddie Gilbert and his legacy in Philadelphia, he introduced the surprise final guest of the evening: the recently retired Sting.
Sting then spoke about the important role that Eddie Gilbert played in his own career. As noted by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, “Eddie Gilbert was the guy who saw the potential in Sting before anyone else and was the architect of Sting’s babyface turn in the UWF just as the promotion was being sold to Jim Crockett.”
Gilbert was also the original booker for Eastern Championship Wrestling, the promotion that would later be rebranded as Extreme Championship Wrestling by his friend and protege, Paul Heyman. The segment concluded with Sting asking the fans to join him in a "Hot Stuff" chant for his late friend, which then led to the Donna Summer song of the same name being played over the arena's sound system to send the fans home happy.
It is not yet known if AEW will release the footage of this special post-show segment on their social media channels.
