Mick Foley Praises Darby Allin’s Hybrid Style, Says He Didn’t Know He Was An Influence
Mick Foley was surprised when Darby Allin said he was an inspiration for his wrestling career.
During his first official appearance for All Elite Wrestling, Mick Foley came face to face with Darby Allin. Many AEW fans have pointed out the similarities between Darby and Foley, including how they share a reckless abandon that makes their matches even more spectacular. Mick famously was thrown off the top of a cage to help emphasize the danger of the cell match he was in, and Darby repeatedly does the most insane moves inside and outside the ring to highlight how he’s giving everything to the match. Now, Foley has discussed finding out about his influence on Allin.
In his chat with The Sportster, he noted that when it came to Darby Allin, Mick had no clue that one influenced the other:
“It’s funny because I saw Darby mention that I was one of the biggest influences on his career. When I saw him, I said, ‘Darby, I never knew that.’ He looked at me and said, ‘How could you not know?’ I mentioned on my first night in AEW that I remember him being the quiet kid who didn’t speak up much. Then it was only Jon Moxley saying, ‘You have to see this kid. He can do anything’, that I began to see an image of Darby Allin as a younger fan, maybe not quite fitting in and seeing someone, A, who made it cool to not fit in. And B, who took chances. So I see Darby as someone who took the inspiration from Cactus Jack and added a whole lot of athleticism to it, did things that I could have never done, and he’s created a hybrid style that borrows from me a little bit and from others who were far more athletic than me, and he’s made it his own. In the same way that I basically took one part Bruiser Brody, one part Tommy Billington and made it my own. He’s created a hybrid style that works for him and has made him one of the biggest stars of this new generation.”
While they haven’t had a true interaction since Double Or Nothing, many fans are hoping for more of them together on-screen, especially since they share similar characteristics. However, their initial segment took place on the night Allin lost the AEW World Championship back to MJF, and the 33-year-old is yet to return to the main event scene after losing the gold.
Since joining the company, the legend hasn’t been shy about sharing praise and love for his new workplace and co-workers. He’s already noted that he loves the “enthusiasm” that All Elite Wrestling has, including through its boss, Tony Khan. You can read more about that here.
As always, aim to provide any further updates on both Mick Foley and Darby Allin as soon as we hear more.
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