All Elite Wrestling’s Darby Allin was a recent guest on Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk is Jericho. During their conversation, Allin opened up about how he signed with AEW, as well as why he decided to choose AEW over WWE.

Allin was quick to credit one person in particular for his signing: Cody Rhodes. Turns out that Rhodes was in attendance for a match between Allin and another AEW star, Pentagon Jr. That match impressed Rhodes and helped to get the ball rolling until, eventually, Allin debuted for the company. 

“Yeah, Cody was the man who kind of made it happen. Yeah, I think he saw this match I had at Northeast against Penta,” Allin explained. “And, like, it that rate, before that, I think he thought I was just this stunt dummy guy. Do you know what I mean? Like, just do all these crazy stunts. But then, I think he saw that match and he’s like, ‘yo, this guy can actually, like, work.’ Do you know what I mean? And then, the ball started rolling, so it was very nice that I got to wrestle him in my first debut in this company. So yeah, it was good.”

Jericho, who has previously compared Darby Allin to Jeff Hardy, noted how Cody’s experience on the indies helped in scouting potential talent for AEW. Alongside Allin, he pointed at names such as Sammy Guevara, Joey Janela and Maxwell Jacob Friedman as top indie talent that could be assets to the promotion. 

Darby Allin’s Decision

Reflecting on his decision to side with AEW, Allin recalled being offered an opportunity with WWE—one he ultimately turned down.

“Yeah, they had Canyon [Ceman], they wanted to do something where, like, I go to the Performance Center,” Allin recalled. “Not for a tryout, but I get signed and I go to the Performance Center for like a year. And then, debut a year from [then] or some crazy s—t.”

He continued, “I was just like, that’s the beauty of AEW. They’re just going making people instead of like… if I was there, God, it’s crazy to think about. A lot of my friends that got the opportunity, AEW or WWE, they chose WWE because it’s like I don’t know, ‘I just want to say I was in WWE’. I’m like, ‘come on, guys.’ Like, you can’t. That goes back to being the fanboy. Do you want to be the 100th guy who never sees the light of day, or do you want to be on the forefront of what we have? And a lot of guys just want to go brag to their friends and family, ‘oh, I’m in WWE.'”

Darby Allin competed on last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite in a losing effort to Pac.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription. 

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray recently heaped a huge amount of praise on AEW star Darby Allin. During the latest episode of the Busted Open Radio Podcast the former Dudley Boy claimed that Allin is a star for the future.

“They start off with Cody and Darby and I think that was a really great first match,” Bully began. This whilst discussing the AEW Homecoming event that took place on New Year’s Day. “That kicked that night off really hot and that crowd was super into that show. They were a perfect example of how a hot crowd can help to make or break an event.”

“Twice I saw him at my friend’s house he has on a Darby Allin shirt”

Bully then claimed that Allin is going to be a major player for AEW going forward. “Darby Allin is going to be a major star for AEW. This guy is super over already. I loved his vignette before his entrance.”

Ray also discussed how Allin is appealing to younger fans, even below the mythical 18-34 demographic that AEW is attempting to hook. “It resonates with younger viewers. I have a good friend who has a nine or ten year old son and I’ve seen the kid now probably three different times. Twice I saw him at my friend’s house he has on a Darby Allin shirt. And once I saw him at a local indie show and he was painted up like Darby Allin. So if I’m seeing a ten year old on three different occasions and all three different occasions he’s wearing Darby Allin stuff it’s a pretty good indicator that not only is Darby connecting with the eighteen to thirty four year olds; but it’s clear that is connected with the younger audience.”

“…the sky is the limit for guys like Darby Allin”

Ray finished by saying that the sky is the limit for the young star. “I think between his unique look, his style, and the vignettes that they’ve been doing with him; man the sky is the limit for guys like Darby Allin. I look at Darby and I look at MJF. They’re so young. They’re so talented. When they get true polish on them week after week after week they are going to be unstoppable.”

Bully also went on to say that he believed that Darby Allin was this generation’s Jeff Hardy.

Chris Jericho has made an interesting comparison between AEW’s Darby Allin and WWE’s Jeff Hardy. 

The AEW World Heavyweight Champion did so during a recent appearance on the Keepin’ It 100 podcast where he spoke about a wide range of topics. 

Chris Jericho Compares Stars

Jericho, who is seen as a locker room leader for All Elite Wrestling due to his experience in the business, has picked up on the fan following that Allin has received. 

Jericho sees Allin like a younger version of Hardy due to him taking high-risk moves and also wearing facepaint during his matches. Jericho pointed out how people are starting to dress like Allin. 

“At first, you’re like, ‘who is this guy?’ Then I had him come down and attack me off the skateboard. Then we had the match where he had his hands tied behind his back and all that stuff. He did the crazy promo where he’s in a bodybag, getting crowd surfed at a punk rock show.”

Chris Jericho continued, “Then he has an amazing match with Moxley. He’s made. He went from nothing to a legit made star in less than two months. He wants it. He reminds me a lot of Jeff Hardy. He’s got an x-factor to him.”

• 5 Takeaways From AEW Dynamite (12/18)

Darby Allin’s History

Since the launch of AEW, Allin has put together some good matches with Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley, and even Chris Jericho. 

Over the past few weeks, AEW has paired Allin with Rhodes on television. After this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite that saw them be tag team partners, they will now square off in a singles match. 

Allin will battle Rhodes on AEW Dynamite on January 1st from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL on TNT. This will mark the first episode of AEW’s weekly television show of the new year.

H/t Fightful for transcript

Darby Allin came out to help Cody Rhodes this week on Dynamite. Cody and Allin wrestled each other to a time-limit draw at Fyter Fest this summer and according to Allin, he wants to team with Cody to take on the Butcher and the Blade. Should they be victorious, Allin wants Cody to give him a rematch.

“On June 29th 2019 I made my debut for @AEWrestling. Me and Cody had a time limit draw. I never forgot that. You need a partner for butcher and blade? I’ll join you and if we win you give me that REMATCH,” Allin Tweeted.

Cody & Darby Allin vs the Butcher and the Blade?

QT Marshall teamed with Cody this week on Dynamite in losing fashion to the Butcher and the Blade. Cody had allowed the newly debuting tag team to pick his partner for him but does he stand a better chance with Darby Allin as his partner?

22-year-old Darby Allin challenged for the AEW World title on the 3rd episode of Dynamite, losing to Chris Jericho. He holds a 4-3-1 single’s record and is 0-1 in trios matches.

Cody also unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the title at Full Gear. He holds a 4-1-1 record in single’s matches and is 0-2 in tag matches.

Darby Allin has transformed into a fan favorite wrestler under the AEW banner. 

That might not have happened if he signed the contract offered by WWE. He discussed his decision to not sign with the company while doing a recent interview with Uproxx.

Allin started out by stating that there are a million guys there who are never going to see the light of day and that it’s not worth it. 

“I was like, ‘I’m not even interested.’ I’m not the type of guy who wants to sit on the sidelines and say, ‘Gee, I’m just happy to be in WWE.’ I don’t give a f*ck. My whole thing is I want to get out of wrestling sooner than later and go into film full time and direct my films.”

Allin continued by stating that he always wanted to direct and now that he has more of a following, he thinks fans will check out his films even if they don’t know what it’s about. 

Instead of signing with WWE, Allin took his talents to AEW (All Elite Wrestling). 

Allin has the biggest match thus far in his pro wrestling career booked as he’ll be challenging Chris Jericho for the AEW World Title on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT in Philadelphia, PA at the Liacouras Center.

Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT from Philadelphia, PA features a stacked card headlined by AEW World Champion Chris Jericho’s first title defense.

Last week, Darby Allin defeated Jimmy Havoc in a #1 contender’s match. The show concluded with a wild brawl that saw Darby Allin roll to ringside on a skateboard and attack Le Champion.

• 6 Takeaways From AEW Dynamite (10/9)

Jericho was enraged by Allin’s tactics, calling him a street thug. In the process, he announced the match will be a Philadelphia Street Fight. He also promised to show up as The Painmaker, the dark alter ego we first saw during his run in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“You want to treat me like a street thug?,” Jericho asked. “I’m going to treat you like the little b***h that you are Darby Allin because next week for the AEW Championship Darby Allin vs Chris Jericho in a Philadelphia Street Fight.”

Since then, Darby Allin has issued a response of his own. As seen below, the 26-year-old grappler cuts a brooding promo on his opponent. Allin explains his personal mission in the pro wrestling business, which is to leave as the same man he was when he entered. He also tells Chris Jericho needs to be humbled and it will be a sweet moment when he’s humbled by a man whom he looks down upon.

AEW Dynamite Preview (10/16)

Here is an updated look at the card for Wednesday night’s show from Philadelphia’s Liacouras Center.

• “The Painmaker” Chris Jericho Darby Allin – Philadelphia Street Fight for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship
• Jon Moxley and PAC vs. Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page
• SoCal Uncensored vs. Best Friends (AEW Tag Title Tournament, First Round)
• Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express (AEW Tag Title Tournament, First Round)
• AEW Women’s Champion Riho vs. Britt Baker

Chris Jericho will defend his AEW World Championship next week against Darby Allin on AEW Dynamite. This week on Dynamite, Allin rode his skateboard down the ramp during the closing segment in order to attack Jericho. In response, Jericho cut the following promo announcing his match against Allin next week will now be a “Philadelphia Street Fight”:

Chris Jericho Sends Message To Darby Allin

“You all saw what happened tonight. In 29 years in the wrestling business, I’ve seen and done it all,” Jericho began the video. “But what I’ve never seen is a self-righteous son of a bitch skateboard down a ram-way and attack me.”

Allin qualified for a title match next week by defeating Jimmy Havoc this week on Dynamite.

“It’s the biggest match of his career but he had to take it too far, he had to come and attack me from behind like some kind of a dog, like some kind of a street thug.”

“You want to treat me like some kind of street thug? Sounds good to me,” Jericho continued. “Because next week we’re in Philadelphia, that’s the place where my father Ted Irvine used to beat the crap out of the Philadelphia Flyers each and every night when he played with the New York Rangers. So, you want to come to Philly? You want to treat me like a street thug? I’m going to treat you like the little b***h that you are Darby Allin because next week for the AEW Championship Darby Allin vs Chris Jericho in a Philadelphia Street Fight.”

Jericho would then end the video by saying he would come as “the Painmaker” for the match.

Dustin Rhodes recently signed a new multi-year contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). This new contract will see him assume more responsibilities with the promotion. Alongside being an in-ring competitor, he will now act as match producer and promo coach for AEW talent. 

In a recent interview with Sports Guys Talking Wrestling of The Horn in Austin, Texas, Rhodes made a favorable comparison between AEW wrestler Darby Allin and WWE’s Jeff Hardy. Reflecting on Allin’s recent matchup at All Out, Dustin highlighted one particular moment in the match that saw Darby leap off the top rope with only a barrel to cushion his fall into steel steps:

“He [Darby Allin] reminds me a lot of Jeff Hardy. If I could compare him to anybody, he’s not scared.” Dustin said. “He’s fearless, and I know adrenaline plays a big part into all this, but he didn’t even look back. It’s like he put the barrel there and he’s ready and he goes when he wants to go, and it’s like ‘I gotta look back.’”

Darby Allin competed in the Cracker Barrel Clash at All Out against Jimmy Havoc and ‘The Bad Boy’ Joey Janela. Jimmy Havoc would walk away the winner of their hardcore matchup.

H/T to Wrestlezone for the transcription.

AEW’s Darby Allin has had two matches in the promotion thus far. He wrestled Cody to a time-limit draw at Fyter Fest and then took the pin to Shawn Spears in a 6-man tag at Fight for the Fallen. He sat down with journalist Chris Van Vliet recently to discuss being homeless before AEW, his angle with Cody, and skateboarding.

“Skateboarding is so much worse, god it destroyed me,” Allin said when asked about his transition from skateboarding to pro-wrestling. “The difference between skateboarding and wrestling is a skateboard slam, sometimes you’re there by yourself and you fall and you’re like ‘ah, that hurt’ but in wrestling there’s a thousand people like ‘yeah, good!'”

Allin continued to say the falls he took from skateboarding made it easier for him when he began taking bumps for wrestling.

“Skateboarding definitely prepared me more than anything for pro-wrestling,” Allin said. “Like my first day at practice I was bumping, you know learning bumps and then my trainer was like ‘how you feel, man? Hurts doesn’t it?’ and I’m like “no, I feel good'”

Darby Allin On The Coffin Drop

Allin was also asked about the Coffin Drop move he attempted on Cody at Fyter Fest.

“A do or die moment in the match. Am I just going to roll Cody in and try and pin him? Or am I going to try and annihilate him or decapitate him? And I wanted to decapitate him because then I knew for sure that was going to get the win. It’s pretty much risking it all,” he said. “Yeah, that f***ed my ribs pretty bad.”

Allin also spoke about being homeless for a period of 3 months before signing with AEW.

“I lived in my car for about like 3 months,” Allin said. “Once i started dating Priscilla (Kelly) I just remember being more at her place. Eventually, we got married and got our own place. I feel like she’s a good luck charm because once we started dating, I felt like my career started picking up.”

• 8 Takeaways From AEW Fight For The Fallen

Darby Allin put on a great performance in his debut match for AEW at the recent Fyter Fest event. He wrestled Cody Rhodes in a singles match and while Darby wasn’t able to beat Cody, he took him to the absolute limit and the match ended in a time limit draw. However, his phenomenal performance was overshadowed by Shawn Spears’ attack on Rhodes.

Allin, who will be facing Shawn among others at this Saturday’s Fight For The Fallen event recently posted a video and hyped his upcoming bout. He mentioned how his debut was overlooked by Spears’ chair shot and claimed that the former WWE Star stole his moment and now he has a problem with Allin:

“Derby Allin’s debut in AEW became an afterthought. Shawn, I don’t think you understand what you did when you climbed in the ring at the end of my match, you stole my moment. You may have a problem with Cody but now you have a problem with me. Just because you don’t have what it takes, doesn’t mean you gotta steal from others”

Darby Allin will now be teaming up with Joey Janela, and Jimmy Havoc to face the trio of Shawn Spears, MJF, and Sammy Guevara at the Fight For The Fallen event at Daily’s Place Amphitheater in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s worth mentioning that the Allin-Spears rivalry is not the only dynamic in the match and it would be interesting to see how MJF is able to co-exist with Spears in a tag team after the attack on his mentor.

Jon Moxley made his return to independent wrestling last night. He wrestled and defeated Darby Allin in Waterbury, CT for NorthEast Wrestling. It was Moxley’s first match back on the independent wrestling scene since 2011.

After the match, Moxley cut a promo about independent wrestling and his oppenent, Darby Allin.

“That was one crazy match,” Moxley started. “Because Darby Allin is one crazy bastard. You guys are fortunate enough to be able to be in a high school gym like this tonight seeing wrestling, independent wrestling up close and personal with the most passionate type of wrestlers you’ll find anywhere in the world.”

Jon Moxley on Darby Allin

“I didn’t know who this guy was before this week,” Moxley continued. “But I’m going to tell you right now, you better be damn grateful that you got to be here tonight and witness Darby Allin.”

“For better or worse in this business sometimes, crazy equals money, and Darby Allin is going to be a big star real soon,” Moxley said before raising Allin’s hand.

Darby Allin was featured on this week’s “Road to Fyter Fest” and explained why he paints half his face and the impact a childhood car accident had on him. He’ll face Cody later this month at Fyter Fest.

Jon Moxley On Independent Wrestling Return: “I Feel Like I’m 18 Again”

Moxley spoke with TMZ Sports ahead of his match for Northeast wrestling. He spoke about what it means to him to be back on the independent wrestling scene.

Standout independent wrestler Darby Allin has joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

The former pro skateboarder has made a name for himself on the independent scene in recent years. He’s thrilled audiences across the world with his high-flying daredevil style. He’s been a mainstay in EVOLVE while also competing for Major League Wrestling (MLW), Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Bar Wrestling, DEFY Wrestling and more.

Darby Allin appeared at the conclusion of the latest episode of AEW’s The Road To Double or Nothing Youtube series, which you can view below. He will most likely be part of the Double or Nothing card, but his first advertised match for AEW takes place a month later.

Darby Allin vs. Cody Rhodes has been confirmed for FYTER FEST, AEW’s live wrestling event that is part of the CEO gaming event in Daytona Beach, FL on June 29th.

AEW also revealed that former WCW star Glacier will be a participant in the Double or Nothing Over Budget Battle Royal. Glacier admits that he is not the wrestler he once was and there will be wrestlers in the match who are probably half his age. That said, he can still muster what it takes to compete at a high level and plans to show fans what he’s got at Double or Nothing.

Watch: The Road to Double or Nothing (Episode 11)