Darby Allin is considered on of AEW’s four pillars alongside MJF, Jungle Boy, and Sammy Guevara, with the former TNT Champion having been a key player for the company since joining in 2019. One of the defining moments in Darby’s AEW career thus far was his 20-minute draw against Cody Rhodes at Fyter Fest in 2019, with the two going on to feud over the TNT Championship in rivalry that established Darby as a major player in the landscape of AEW.
Speaking to Diamond Dallas Page on DDP Snakepit, Darby reflected on his feud with Cody, stating that he knew how big that moment was to his career at the time.
“That match, I knew everything was riding on that match and I needed to go all out for that match and get as wild as possible. That’s why you see me doing these crazy coffin drops on the apron. I knew this was the first impression for a lot of people. I remember, he texted me, ’20-minute broadway?’ I honestly, I didn’t know what a broadway was. I was like, ‘what the fuck is he talking about?'”
-Darby Allin
Allin continued, highlighting his match with Jon Moxley at NEW Brass City Brawl in June 2019 as another defining moment of his AEW career, and one that helped sell Tony Khan on him.
“The 20-minute broadway with Cody, it was a no-brainer to book at that rate,” he said. “I wasn’t under the impression that we would go to a draw. I thought it was going to be a loss. That was real cool of Cody to do that. I don’t take any of that shit for granted. People can say whatever about Cody now that he’s gone, but I have nothing negative to say. People’s lives and decisions and paths are all different. I love that dude. After that I had three other matches with Cody. He beat me the second time, he beat me the third time, but the fourth time, which was our final match, I beat him for the TNT Championship. I personally don’t give a shit about wins and losses, I really don’t. That’s the thing I hear from Sting. People think, ‘How do Darby and Sting get along?’ What they don’t see is our camaraderie behind the scenes. What Sting taught me more than anything is, ‘if you’re as good as you think you are, you can win in losing.’ I love putting other people over if I know…if the person is somewhat new to the company and they’re going to take that ball and run with it, it helps the whole place out. I have no ego when it comes to this stuff.”
-Darby Allin
As of writing Darby Allin is not currently booked for this Sunday’s All Out PPV card, although he recently stated that both he and his mentor Sting would feature on the event, and thus tonight’s episode of Dynamite is likely to lead to the former TNT Champion’s involvement at All Out.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
