Darby Allin saw more for himself.
On Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite, Darby Allin will compete in the biggest match of his career when he challenges Chris Jericho for the AEW World Title. Allin spent years on the Independent scene, building his name with his unique look and crazy style. He even wrestled in EVOLVE for three years, which almost led to a WWE contract.
“For a long time, I had this stereotype of I just do crazy bumps. I just do crazy bumps. That’s all I do. Then they actually, like, saw that match – because I don’t think anybody had been paying attention to what I was doing at Evolve because no one watches Evolve – so then after they saw that match, they said, ‘Oh yeah, this guy can actually do shit. Let’s hit him up," Darby told Uproxx. “But at the same it, it wasn’t building your career. Because, the thing is, I wrestled Adam Cole there and then I checked my Twitter expecting a lot of people to be talking about the match. Only two people were talking about that match on Twitter and at that time I saw the writing on the wall that being here isn’t going to help your name value at all. You’re not going to get more followers. You’re not going to get more buzz.”
Allin was offered a WWE NXT contract but didn't want to sit on the sidelines at the Performance Center.
"There’s a million guys there who are never going to see the light of day. It’s not worth it. So 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," he said.
While Allin has earned many fans for his wreckless style and bumps, it's that same style that has earned him detractors as well, with many worried that his career will be cut short due to the insane bumps he takes.
“They don’t know shit. Because I’ve been doing this shit to my body from skateboarding," Allin said when asked about criticisms of his style. "And that’s the thing is people are so small-minded in f*ckin’ wrestling. The fans. Everyone’s so small-minded. They forget that we’ve had a life outside of wrestling. God forbid, you know what I mean? I’ve been falling on concrete my whole life and I’m still standing perfectly fine, so with or without wrestling, I’d still do stunts, so just, you know, mind your own business and get the f*ck out of my face.”
Allin has already showed off his willingness to take crazy bumps when he competed in the Cracker Barrel Clash at AEW All Out. During the match, Allin missed a Coffin Drop using the Cracker Barrel on a set of steps. Jimmy Havoc would go on to win the match. Allin earned an AEW World Title shot by defeating Havoc on the Oct. 9 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
