Swerve Strickland Cites Key Darby Allin Match As Time AEW Went Too Far
Swerve Strickland has named the time he thought AEW went too far.
Anyone who has paid attention to AEW over the past six years knows what to expect from Darby Allin. The 33-year-old has a reputation for pushing the limits, both when it comes to his own body and fans’ expectations of pro wrestling as a whole, though there can be times many are left uncomfortable with what they see him do. Now, Swerve Strickland has discussed a time he felt a Darby Allin match was too much.
Specifically, during an interview with Sportskeeda, Strickland was asked about the match he felt All Elite Wrestling went a bit too far with its content, and he cited the 2025 WrestleDream “I Quit” match between Darby Allin and Jon Moxley. During it, Jon Moxley pulled out a fish tank, filled it with water, and tried to drown his opponent.
“Darby getting drowned. I was like oh we’re here. Okay.”
-Swerve Strickland
It’s not hard to see why he might say that, as that’s not typically something that AEW or any major promotion would do to try and “sell a moment” in a match. However, there was a key reason why the company did that move. WrestleDream was held in St. Louis in 2025, and the state had restrictions on blood, which AEW is typically more than willing to show in force, as Blood and Guts recently proved.As such, they had to convey the severity of the match without getting bloody, and attempting to drown Darby Allin was their answer.
Elsewhere in the interview, Swerve doubled down on the Darby talk by noting Allin was the craziest wrestler he’s ever been in a locker room with:
“Darby. Darby. Darby. He runs the board completely. Because I’ve been to Darby’s house, you know. And it’s literally the same thing.”
-Swerve Strickland
Darby indeed is someone who goes 100% at everything, even if it means throwing himself into dangerous situations in a wrestling match, climbing Mount Everest, or, most recently, running the New York Marathon. In fact, the former AEW World Champion completed the feat without any form of training beforehand. You can read more about that here.
As of writing, Allin is 71 days into his latest run as TNT Champion, having defeated Kevin Knight for the title at All In on August 30. Although his next title defence isn’t currently scheduled, the star has had a very hectic schedule of late, including facing Hechicero in CMLL and competing inside Blood & Guts either side of his effort in the New York Marathon.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on both Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland as soon as we hear more.
