AEW star Darby Allin is a risk-taker in and out of the ring, but thought he wasn’t going to make it through a match with Jeff Hardy.
During the May 11, 2022, edition of AEW Dynamite, the two popular wrestlers faced off in what was billed as an ‘Anything Goes’ Match.
The match, which Hardy would eventually win, saw both men use weapons in one of the most extreme matches AEW has ever produced.
Meet my Doom
Arguably the biggest spot of the match (at least from a literal sense) came when Allin dove off a ladder in the ring, onto Jeff outside the ring.
The pair landed on ten steel chairs, earning ‘Holy Sh*t’ chants from the crowd in attendance.
Speaking on the latest episode of ‘The Sessions’ Allin told new AEW signing Renee Paquette about the trepidation going into the match.
“Earlier in the day, I climbed that ladder and I looked down and I was like ‘yeah, I’m for sure going to the hospital tonight.’ There’s no way around it.”
Despite how dangerous the spot seemed and looked to fans, Allin said he found it a mostly pleasant experience.
“Everybody asks me ‘dude how’d that feel?’ And honestly, it didn’t feel like anything, it was so safe. You can see me if you watch the video back, I kinda go to Jeff’s ear ‘that sh*t was so fun!”
“AEW-wise, that was the craziest thing. I thought for sure I was going to meet my doom.”
Darby Allin on Anything Goes match with Jeff Hardy.
The match would be one of Jeff’s most recent matches with AEW, as he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence the following month.
Wrestling Myself
With his face paint, daredevil attitude, and unique personality, Darby Allin has often been compared to Jeff Hardy.
Speaking about working with the former WWE World Champion, Allin said it was like working with himself.
“It felt like I was putting a match together with myself…It was like I was talking to myself. It was fun. A week before, it was just supposed to be a normal match. Just a straight-up match. And I went up to Tony [Khan] and I said ‘hey, nobody wants to see us exchange wrist locks.'”
Allin’s only regret is that the match was under the watchful eye of New York’s State Athletic Commission, which kept some of his most extreme ideas off of the show.
“It was in New York where there’s a state commission, and I was like ‘why couldn’t we wait a week when we’re in Texas when no-one gives a sh*t?”
Darby Allin
Out of the Ring
Allin considers the Jeff Hardy match a personal highlight of his risk-taking life, which isn’t just for the cameras.
In the interview, Allin explained how even when he’s got time to ‘relax’ his version of chilling out includes more risk-taking.
“Every time I’m off for the week, it’s like ‘alright, Darby is going to take the week off and chill out and whatever.’ [But really,] I go harder outside of work than I do in the realm of AEW. I’m never really stopping. It’s fun though because I never know when I’m going to get hit by a bus or something.”
Allin has taken to social media to show off some of his stunts, including driving a jeep over his own home.
For use of these quotes please give a h/t to SEScoops.
