TV pioneer Ted Turner has been remembered by the wrestling world after his impact on the sports entertainment landscape.
Wrestling legend Sting says Ted Turner was “devoted” to sports entertainment “in every conceivable way”.
Everyone in professional wrestling is mourning the loss of the CNN founder and media pioneer, who also brought World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to TNT in the late 1980s, providing direct competition to WWE’s Vince McMahon and helping kickstart the so-called Monday Night Wars and Attitude Era.
Sting, who is retired and under contract with All Elite Wrestling, stepped out during Wednesday’s (06.05.26) double episode of Dynamite and Collision to pay tribute to Turner, who died earlier that day aged 87.
Speaking in the ring, he said: “”I can’t believe what he did for us. He was completely committed to us, devoted to us in every conceivable way.
“So much so that when some of the top brass up there in CNN Towers would have their meetings with Ted, they’d say, ‘Ted, we don’t know about this whole pro wrestling thing. I think it’s time to cut ‘em off because we’re always in the red.’
“Ted would tell us that story and say, ‘I’d look at all of them and say, you wrestlers just keep on doing what you’re doing because I got some deep pockets’.
“There wouldn’t be a TNT title, there wouldn’t be a Sting. There wouldn’t be a Darby Allin. There wouldn’t be a Tony Schiavone here tonight. You wouldn’t be here tonight. So, thank you, once again, Ted.”
The broadcast started with a 10-bell salute as tribute to Turner, on what AEW boss Tony Khan described as a “very sad day in the world of television and certainly in the world of professional wrestling”.
He added in a livestream on X: “The man who gave us this platform, the man who created TBS and TNT and so many great television channels and so many great concepts in the field of television, the late great Mr. Ted Turner, has passed.”
During the broadcast, commentator Tony Schiavone – who, like Sting, worked under Turner at WCW – told the crowd how the media mogul “believed in you, the fans, and he believed that pro wrestling belonged on national television”. He continued: “And because of his passion, because of his vision, it found a home on TBS and then later in the ’90s, on TNT. And, therefore, generations of fans around the world knew that we were destination viewing.
“And I knew that firsthand. I began in the studio in TBS in 1985. Decades later, because of the foundation that was laid by Ted Turner, we still survive today through the leadership of Tony Khan in AEW, through the leadership of Warner Discovery, wrestling still survives.”
Eric Bischoff, who was hired to run WCW’s creative, insisted he owes everything to Turner.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, he said: “He changed my life, he changed the lives of my children. None of us would be where we are today.
“I would not be involved with Real American Freestyle were it not for the opportunities Ted Turner provided to me. And I’m just one guy.
“Think about all of the people that worked at Turner Broadcasting — the thousands of people who, just like me, got opportunities, got to grow, and got to pursue their careers because of the entrepreneurial, groundbreaking vision that Ted Turner had when it came to the media landscape.”
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair also honoured the late legend, highlighting his various achievements.
He wrote on X: “He created CNN and look at it now! He rolled the dice and wasn’t afraid of taking risks.
“He won the America’s Cup for sailing! His office looked like the Hall Of Fame which included a picture of him and Khrushchev.
“On top of all of that, he created so many opportunities for so many wrestlers because of his love for wrestling.
“Rest in peace my friend! Thank you for the memorable personal times that we spent together.”
Wrestling world remembers pioneer Ted Turner after WCW founder’s death aged 87
