Darby Allin is one of the fastest rising stars in AEW and that's the way he planned it.
Before signing with AEW, Allin wrestled all over the Independent scene, including EVOLVE. Working with EVOLVE, Allin had an easy path to at least a WWE tryout, but he knew his value wouldn't be raised if he went through the Performance Center process.
"They asked me if I was interested in coming down. At the time, I'm not trying to sound like I'm too good for it, but I was already....you either want me or you don't. I'm not gonna tryout because you already know what I can do based off the company I was working for [EVOLVE], they work so close with WWE. I was already wrestling all their wrestlers like Chris Hero and Velveteen Dream. The people I see get tryouts is such a joke, it doesn't mean anything anymore. I'm not gonna sit here and be this clown. Then I thought about it and I didn't want to go there anymore. I started to talk with Cody more and more. I was like, 'I see the writing on the wall. I'm not gonna go there and play this game where I be a cruiserweight, 205 Live person. Then my body of work, my art, my promos would never see the light of day.' I'm not gonna play games. There are thousands of people there and you forget they even exist half the time. I'm not gonna be locked in a Performance Center. I made that very clear to Cody and the rest is history," said Allin on AEW Unrestricted.
Allin noted that Cody saw his match against Pentagon Jr at NEW and saw what he was all about. Allin said that was the first match he really trained and prepared for, revealing that he would work with his training partner, who would emulate Pentagon Jr for him.
"When [Cody] first met me, I was just the crash test dummy," said Allin. "All he would say is 'please don't die tonight.' That's like the only conversation I've ever had with him. It ended up working out with the Pentagon match, that was the game-changer. I chatted with Cody, told him my goals and what I want. I knew AEW was the place for me. If I fail, it's my own fault because I have so much creative freedom. I knew I would have a fair chance. I think he wanted to prove a point to people with me, which is why he was my first match."
Allin and Cody fought to a time limit draw at AEW Fyter Fest 2019. They have met two more times since that bout with Cody getting his hand raised in both matches.
Allin last wrestled at AEW Double or Nothing in the Casino Ladder match, which was won by Brian Cage.
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