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Tony Khan said he first met Stephen Borden when he was a tight end playing football at Kentucky, which is also how he met Stephen’s father Sting.
“Well, I first met Steven when he was playing college football, said Khan in response to a question from Jim Varsallone during AEW’s All Out media call on Thursday. “I don’t know, did you know that? If you didn’t, Steven played football at the University of Kentucky. He was a tight end and a very, very gifted athlete even then, and he still is a very gifted athlete. Several years ago, I actually brought Steven to Jacksonville and he tried out for the Jaguars. He’s a great athlete and a great guy.
“That’s the first time I met Steve’s father, Sting. I really enjoyed connecting with the two of them, and as Steven’s football career ended, Sting got back into wrestling. What a final chapter Sting wrote for his career. The final three years of Sting’s wrestling career were in AEW, and from Revolution 2021 to Revolution 2024, Sting went undefeated and had this incredible run in AEW.”
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Khan said Allin has been a great mentor to Stephen in and out of the ring. “I was so excited that he wanted to train and get involved in wrestling and Darby is such an incredible person,” said Khan. “He is so authentic and he’s been a great mentor to Steven in and out of the ring. It was a great bond between Sting and Darby; they learned so much from each other. Two great wrestlers, two world champions from different eras coming together and forming what I thought was a perfect team for three years undefeated together. Now, it’s incredible to have Steven Borden come into AEW.”
Khan said Stephen will be in the ring at All Out with three wrestlers that have been at or near the top of AEW when Stephen teams with Allin to take on Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight in a #1 Contender match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. “This is a World Championship match in the sense that you get a shot at the winner of the ladder match,” said Khan. “So, certainly when you have World Championship contention at stake, there’s big stakes here. Knowing that Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher both have been at or near the very top of AEW at times and Darby Allin has certainly been at the top of AEW, you have these three very experienced yet young professional wrestlers entering or in the peak of their careers.”
