Sting did a lot of talking to try and dial back reports he was retiring from pro wrestling. The Icon sidestepped questions about his health and promoted a match he knew wasn't ever going to happen just to have a chance to break the news to his friends, family and fans at Saturday, April 2's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
On Sunday, Sting sat down with Jonathan Coachman while ESPN was at WrestleMania to talk about his announcement. In their conversation, which you can see above, the new Hall of Famer reveals more about the story behind, and severity of, his neck injury:
It was Night of Champions against Seth Rollins, last year, September 20th 2015 in Houston, TX it was a weird deal I don't know what happened. There was like a whiplash that happened two times during the match. The first one was shock and numbness down the fingers, and I've had that before, but this was pretty severe. The second time it happened I lost control of my legs.
Long story short, I have spinal cervical stenosis in two areas of my neck mad there's two spots where there are issues... the neurologist said that I was lucky I walked out of there.
He also discussed the difficulty of making the announcement in Dallas on Saturday night, discussing how his hype for a match with Undertaker wasn't just a smokescreen:
It was a difficult moment for me, because you have the crowd chanting "one more match" and I wanted that one more match. But it's time for several different reasons, but it was hard to do after 30 years.
Get some rest, Stinger, and we'll see you later.