AEW star Darby Allin recently explained why he mentioned former AEW VP and current WWE star Cody Rhodes during his recent promo on AEW Dynamite.
Darby Allin and ‘The Icon’ Sting are set to team up for latter’s retirement match against The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution pay-per-view next month. Ahead of the highly- anticipated battle, Darby Allin grabbed the attention as he namedropped Cody Rhodes on the February 14 February edition of AEW Dynamite. The reference took fans by surprise and the former TNT Champion has explained his decision to mention WWE Superstar in hyping the upcoming bout.
Darby Allin gives credit to Cody Rhodes
During a recent interview with Digital Spy, Allin addressed his decision to mention ‘The American Nightmare’ though the latter is not signed with AEW anymore.
“That’s easy because he’s the reason I’m in AEW. You think back to my debut, I wrestled him at Fyter Fest and we went a 20-minute Broadway draw. For him to take a chance on me that early… I was relatively super unknown still, I was never really the guy on the independent scene. He did that. You’ve got to give respect where respect is due. I feel very strongly on paying homage to how I got here because I never thought I was going to get here.”
Allin also addressed online criticism after his he cut the promo but he highlighted the importance of his history with the company and mentioned Rhodes’ contribution in his career and in the company overall. He said:
“I only pay attention to what I think, I really don’t care about what anyone else thinks. You’ve just got to listen to yourself about things. I really felt it was important for me to tell my part of the story leading into that match and not just be this second-rate character going into the match. I have a lot of things I wanted to say to the Young Bucks and I said it and so be it. I just want to go out there and speak my mind on things.”
Allin will team with Sting to defend the AEW Tag Team Championship against The Young Bucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson) at AEW Revolution pay-per-view on March 3 at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.