Darby Allin was reportedly slated to become AEW World Champion before plans changed to Jon Moxley.
Last Saturday, at AEW WrestleDream, fans watched on as Jon Moxley defeated Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship. However, due to his win in the 2024 Royal Rampage, Darby Allin was originally scheduled to compete for the company’s top title at AEW Grand Slam before losing his championship opportunity to the Blackpool Combat Club member, and more has now come out regarding the initial plans for Allin before Moxley entered the title scene.
Per Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s believed that the original plan was for Darby Allin to win the AEW World Champion from Bryan Danielson before Moxley turned on ‘The American Dragon’.
“The original plan when he won the title at Wembley Stadium was to lose it to Allin on the 10/12 WrestleDream show in Tacoma, WA, since Allin grew up in Seattle (35 miles away) and Danielson in Aberdeen, WA (about 80 miles away). But the Moxley turn on Danielson after his title defense over Jack Perry at All Out in Chicago, changed the direction with the idea of putting as much heat as possible on Moxley and the BCC in an attempt to jump-start interest in the promotion.”
-Dave Meltzer
Moxley’s reign began in emphatic fashion, defeating and then laying out Danielson to end his full-time career. As it played out, Allin was a key part of the end of WrestleDream, and he remains a strong candidate to win the championship from Moxley when the time comes.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the original plans for AEW WrestleDream as soon as we hear more.
