Darby Allin Inspired By WWE Legend
Darby Allin had two very different wrestling role models.
Inside the ring, Darby Allin has never met a risk he wouldn’t take. His wild wrestling style has endeared him to fans across the world, while also managing to scare them to death in the process.
To date in AEW, Allin has been launched onto an upturned set of steel steps, thrown down a flight of stairs, fell off a ladder through a pane of glass, and more. In short, Allin has taken more risks in his relatively short career than most people take in a lifetime.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that the first wrestler to catch a young Allin’s eye was the Hardcore Legend.
Darby Allin Took Inspiration From Very Different Sources
During an appearance on the Flickering Myth podcast, Allin recalled being taken in by Mick Foley’s performance inside (and out) of Hell in a Cell while also tipping his hat to Dean Malenko.
“As a kid watching it, I’d probably say I think like Mick Foley in the Hell in a Cell match, just because as a kid — it’s funny because as a kid I used to think like ‘oh my god like crazy stunts, it’s so awesome,’ but then when I actually got into wrestling, that’s when I started respecting more of the Dean Malenko’s and the technical wrestlers you know?
But as a kid, that’s kind of my goal with my wrestling is someone that’s a non-wrestling fan can be watching me and like ‘holy s**t that guy’s insane,’ but the fans who are actually wrestling fans can be like ‘well he knows actually how to like technically wrestle and he knows how to actually wrestle.’ So it’s kind of fun to catch attention.”
During an interview in 2022, Mick Foley named Darby Allin as a dream opponent if he was ever to get back in the ring. While Dean Malenko currently works backstage in AEW as a producer.
Darby Allin is currently taking part in the Continental Classic but lost out in his most recent match on Collision at the Hammerstein Ballroom to Claudio Castagnoli. The star now sits fourth in the Gold League standings with six points, although he can still qualify for the semi-finals. To date, only Komander and The Beast Mortos have been ruled out of the next round.
H/t to Wrestling Inc