If you’ve been keeping up with AEW, you can’t have missed Darby Allin. The 21 year old from Seattle, Washington made his debut at AEW Fyter Fest, where he took Cody to a time limit draw, which immediately let you know he was someone to watch. He might look like a rejected member of The Misfits, but he’s very much the real deal.
Hard To Catch, Harder To Kill
Darby Allin is absolutely not the biggest dog in any fight, unless he targets Marko Stunt. At 5’7 & 180 pounds, he gives up size to anyone on the roster, but he makes up for this by being insanely quick and resilient. As shown by his AEW debut against Cody, he is very hard to put away in a match, with him almost enjoying being hurt and it driving him forward. This can be attributed to his love of Skateboarding, which is a hobby which leads to a lot of bumps, bruises and breaks. He’s also used that skateboarding background in his performances, using a thumbtack embedded skateboard in the ‘Cracker Barrel Clash’ at All Out, and skateboarding down the ramp to deliver a beating to Chris Jericho.
Prior to competeting for AEW, he made his name known in the Evolve Promotion, where he faced names like WALTER, Adam Cole, Kassius Ohno, Velveteen Dream, Zack Sabre Jr. and Roderick Strong.
Small Size, Huge Personality
What Allin lacks in size he makes up for by having an intangible link with the audience. It’s hard to not root for an underdog, and that’s exactly what Allin is. Just a few years ago, he was living out of his car, he scrapped and clawed his way to the role he’s in, and that’s a backstory that many viewers will connect with. His closest and most common comparison is Jeff Hardy, who also wrestled a high risk style and maintains a strong connection with his fans. Thankfully unlike Jeff Hardy he lives a straight edge lifestyle, so we won’t be seeing him get DUI’s anytime soon.
World Championship Potential
Darby Allin has already gotten a shot at Le Champion, Chris Jericho in a Philly Street Fight Match for the before AEW Championship. While it was a losing endeavor, Jericho needed to handcuff Allins hands behind his back and have Jake Hager interfere to beat the plucky underdog. The belt is still young, but I would put money on Darby Allin being part of it’s linage in due time.
Darby Allin is young and just oozes potential. He stands for the misunderstood, the overlooked, and the outcasts, which is a strong audience to link yourself to in the wrestling fandom. Who knows what his future holds, all I know is he holds my attention every time he’s on my TV with AEW, which airs Wednesday evenings on TNT.
