Darby Allin has been with AEW since April 2019 which means that he has been part of Dynamite and AEW television since it began.
During this period Allin has become a firm fan favourite due to his daredevil style and partnership with The Icon Sting. The face-painted warrior burst onto the scene with a match against Cody Rhodes and eventually went on to win the TNT Championship.
Allin earned plaudits from far and wide for his run with the title and etched his name into wrestling history by being CM Punk’s first AEW opponent after he returned to professional wrestling.
“Sometimes In Wrestling You Have To Go Away” – Darby Allin
Speaking during an appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Allin discussed his long run on AEW television and how that can lead to people taking them for granted. The star admitted that there have been times where he has felt that he needed to step away.
“Sometimes in wrestling, you have to go away for people…I think people take a lot of wrestlers for granted with the sh*t they do in the ring. There have been times, I haven’t been off AEW since I started. I’ve had a two or three week break, but I haven’t been gone for more than a month since AEW started. There was a time in the spring where I felt like I needed to disappear.
I remember a moment last year, it was the Casino Ladder Match. The people on the ladder were Jon (Moxley) and Hangman (Page). Hangman just came back from having a kid and the crowd in Philly was turning on Jon. It was weird. The fans were like, ‘Come on Hangman!’ I was like, ‘These fans don’t give a shit.’
I never thought the fans were going to boo Jon, ever. Then Jon went off, came back, and he’s been on this crazy run,”
Allin said that he thought he would be taking time off after his bruising encounter with Jeff Hardy on Dynamite which saw him jump from a ladder onto a pile of chairs, yet somehow he was fine.
“It’s weird, I feel like people take a lot of granted and I feel like I have to disappear. Maybe, I’m hoping I blow up in a Jeep one day [laughs]. I just have to disappear and be gone, really fu*ck off and be gone.
In the spring, I feel like I was just floating around. It was weird. People would say, ‘Oh, you wrestled CM Punk in his first match back. You have all these pivotal moments.’ Then they’re like, ‘Darby kind of fell off. Darby is not being used right. Darby’s not this, Darby’s not that.’
I was just trying to manoeuvre around and stay relevant without disappearing, it’s the ultimate challenge. I’ve been there since the beginning of TV and I’ve never had that consistent time off. Sometimes, you just have to remind a motherf*cker who you are and jump off something huge.
I’m extremely happy, in the ring and outside the ring. I think everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m going to go to outer space and purposefully not come back,”
In recent weeks Darby Allin has been wrapped up in a feud with Jay Lethal. The rivalry reached new heights on the October 18th episode of Dynamite where the pair brawled backstage as Allin was crushed under a garage door.
H/t to Fightful