Why Darby Allin Wanted To Defend AEW World Title More Often Than Most Champions

Darby Allin has taken his daredevil lifestyle with him as he defends the AEW World Title like nobody else ever has.

When Darby Allin won the AEW World Title from Maxwell Jacob Friedman on the April 15th edition of Dynamite in his home state of Washington, it was an incredible feel-good moment for AEW fans.

Darby Allin has been All Elite since the company launched in 2019 (so has MJF), and many people have wanted Allin to be World Champion, but it wasn’t a sure thing, given that he’s a 170-pound man who takes more risks than anyone in the ring.

Since becoming AEW World Champion, Allin has defended the title on Dynamite five weeks in a row with victories over Tommaso Ciampa, Brody King, TNT Champion Kevin Knight, Konosuke Takeshita, and Mike Bailey. Allin also has defended the AEW World Title on Collision twice, with wins over Sammy Guevara and Pac.

While speaking to The Sportster, the daredevil Darby Allin made the point that he wants to do things differently than other World Champions in wrestling.

“I feel it’s always been my goal. defend that and actually do the exact opposite of what a champion on paper would do. You know, he wins it and then maybe defends it, you know, once every month at a pay-per-view, but now I’m at the exact opposite.

It’s so fun just giving something because like I come from skateboarding background and all this stuff where it’s like a lot of my traditions are that opposite of what a pro wrestler, you know, so it’s like, why not just do something completely opposite?” (H/T Fightful)

Darby Allin Wants To Humiliate MJF At AEW Double Or Nothing

At AEW Double or Nothing on May 24th, Darby Allin will defend the World Title again, but this time it’s against the former 2-time AEW World Champion, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF). If MJF loses this match, then he has agreed to have his head shaved. It was part of the stipulation that MJF agreed to in order to get a shot at the AEW World Title.

In the same interview, Allin explained why he wanted to shave MJF’s head.

“That’s what’s so beautiful about the match on Sunday, is he’s gonna say what he’s gonna say, and I’m gonna tell him right now, I’m shaving his head, because people are like, well, why the hair? Why the hair? I’m like, we’re talking about a man who flew all the way to Turkey to save what’s left of that hair.

You know, so that’s like the one thing he holds dearest because he’s willing to go so much lengths to keep it. So if you just take it from him, that’s going to chip away at everything that he represents, you know, and the ego that he’s got.”

The next AEW PPV is Double or Nothing on Sunday, May 24th in Queens, New York. Here’s the lineup so far:

* AEW World Championship – Title vs. Hair: Darby Allin (c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

* AEW International Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita

* AEW World Tag Team Championship I Quit Match: FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (If Cope and Cage lose, they must retire as a tag team)

* 14-man Stadium Stampede Match: Chris Jericho, The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin), and The Elite (Kenny Omega, “Jungle” Jack Perry, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) vs. The Demand (Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona), The Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) and The Don Callis Family (Mark Davis and Andrade El Idolo)

* AEW Women’s World Championship: Thekla (c) vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Kris Statlander

* AEW Continental Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

* Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarterfinals: Samoa Joe vs. Will Ospreay

* Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarterfinals: Swerve Strickland vs. Bandido

* Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarterfinals: Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa

* Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia) vs. The Opps (Hook, Katsuyori Shibata, and Anthony Bowens) – PRE-SHOW

* Boom & Doom (“Big Boom!” A.J. and Q. T. Marshall) and The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong) (with Big Justice) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Carlie Bravo, Capt. Shawn Dean, and Anthony Ogogo) – PRE-SHOW

* Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) vs. Zayda Steel and Viva Van – PRE-SHOW

Also Read: Darby Allin Is Getting Married Just A Day Before Forbidden Door 2026: “No Honeymoon Here”