Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Since making his professional wrestling debut over a decade ago, Darby Allin, a Seattle-native, has been part of some of the most death-defying moments in the sport and has pushed his body to its limits each time he’s stepped into the ring.
His daredevil-style of wrestling has led to Allin emerging as one of the world’s most popular professional wrestlers, as he competes week-in and week-out for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Live, in front of an audience of his home state, Allin destroyed the former champion ,Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), to become AEW World Champion on Wednesday, April 15, at Everett’s Angel of the Winds Arena.
He celebrated his historical first world championship reign with the legendary Sting — Allin’s former mentor — and current wrestlers like The Young Bucks, Kevin Knight, the current TNT Champion, and former DEFY star Brody King.
Just three days prior to winning the AEW World Championship on Dynamite against MJF, Allin defeated Andrade El Idolo at the promotion’s “Dynasty” pay-per-view on Sunday, April 12, to earn a shot at the AEW’s top prize.
His victory over Andrade El Idolo didn’t come scot-free, as Allin told the Nisqually Valley News on Tuesday, April 14, that he would not enter his match against MJF at 100%, physically.
“I’ll be real with you. Both of my ear drums are blown out. My whole body is bruised,” Allin said. “I’m not 100%, but to be honest, when am I ever 100%?”
Allin added that his recovery after competing in such physically demanding matches, such as his contest last weekend against Andrade El Idolo, includes a lot of meditating, ice baths, yoga and acupuncture.
“Once the mind goes, the body follows,” Allin said. “I’m also straight edge. I don’t take any pain pills whatsoever.”
Just over 24 hours before competing for the AEW World Championship against MJF in Everett, Allin said a victory over the champion in front of his home state would “mean everything” to him.
“It would mean everything,” Allin said. “This company has given me everything. To be the face of a company, you need to be world champion. This time last year I was putting the AEW flag on top of Mount Everest. This year, hopefully I can hold that championship on the top rope at the end of the night.”
Allin said he’d love to end his night in Everett as AEW World Champion, and that he feels a different type of pressure to compete at the highest standard when he walks down the stage and into the ring in front of his home state of Washington.
“It’s strange. It’s really strange because there’s this certain amount of pressure. I always have pressure for any match because I go out there and risk everything, every single match — so there’s always that pressure,” Allin said. “When I come up (to Washington), I feel like I have a lot more to prove.”
His match against MJF on Wednesday, April 15, won’t mark the first time that Allin has competed under the AEW banner in Washington.
In 2023, when AEW’s weekly-aired show, Dynamite, had its first taping in Seattle on Jan. 4, 2023, Allin defeated Samoa Joe to win the TNT Championship — the second time he’s held that specific championship in his career.
Additionally, Allin main evented the first ever “AEW WrestleDream” pay-per-view on Oct. 1, 2023, in Seattle, when he was defeated by Christian Cage in a two-out-of-three falls match for the TNT Championship.
WrestleDream returned to Washington state a year later on Oct. 12, 2024, this time in Tacoma — where Allin defeated Brody King. What has been his favorite moment, so far, in front of his home state?
“As of right now, I’d say it was the TNT championship (match) with Samoa Joe,” Allin said. “It was an incredible feeling because that was AEW’s first ever time in Seattle.”
Of course, that list very well could’ve changed following Allin’s victory in Seattle over MJF.
Wrestling in the Pacific Northwest isn’t something new to Allin, as prior to breaking out on the national scene in AEW, he competed in the Seattle-based independent promotion, DEFY. He wrestled alongside future pro wrestling stars like Swerve Strickland, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors and Nick Wayne — before each of the wrestlers received their “big break” on the national stage.
“When I first started wrestling, there was no local wrestling. At all. Except on the Indian reservations because in Washington, there was no wrestling allowed at the time,” Allin said. “Once (DEFY) started, they gave everybody a platform to go wrestle and not have to go to Canada or Oregon to do it. It was cool.”
Allin isn’t the only wrestler from the PNW to break out as a star on the national level, as legends like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Playboy” Buddy Rose, Bryan Danielson and Swerve Strickland each found success wrestling at independent shows around the region before appearing on televised a televised professional wrestling promotion. Allin attested to the rich history of pro wrestling in this region of the country.
“I think back to Portland Wrestling, and (Roddy) Piper and all that stuff. It goes way back, but it’s created so many legendary guys,” Allin said. “You have so many incredible wrestlers like (Bryan) Danielson and everybody coming from here. It’s cool to be part of it.”
While Allin is known for his high risks inside of the ring, his daredevil persona doesn’t end once his matches conclude. Last May, Allin completed his personal challenge of climbing and summiting Mount Everest — the tallest mountain above sea level in the world.
“It’s a lot harder than people think, I’ll tell you that much,” Allin said. “Everyone thinks if you have money you can go up there. No, it doesn’t work like that. I dare anybody that has that philosophy to actually go and do that. See how far you make it. It gets real fast and the death is there — right in front of you. It’s no joke. To go and do something like that is an incredible feeling that I don’t take for granted.”
Allin added that he felt a total sense of victory once he summited Mount Everest and flew an AEW flag. He’s forever grateful towards the promotion for allowing him to complete such a physically demanding challenge while being one of the most popular professional wrestlers in the world.
“AEW let me do that in the middle of my career. They’re like, ‘hey, if you’re going to do this, go live your life to the fullest inside and outside of the ring.’ That definitely meant a lot,” Allin said. “I cried at the summit. It meant everything to me.”
With summiting Mount Everest in the rearview mirror, Allin said he’s had discussions with a mentor about climbing Washington state’s Mount Rainier. He believes summiting the local mountain would be a fun, new challenge.
While preparing for his climb of Mount Everest, Allin said the training he went through was some of the most intense preparation that a human can go through. He said it differs from his training style for professional wrestling, which he described as quick and explosive.
“(Training for) Mount Everest is slow, plotting and tedious. It’s a lot different,” Allin said. “I think, with the Everest training, it’s more patience than anything.”
During his voyage atop the world’s tallest mountain, Allin encountered numerous surreal moments that put into perspective just how dangerous the activity is. While the danger was always present throughout his trek, the beauty at the top of the summit was worth any obstacle that he had to overcome.
“You hear so much of what the summit’s going to be like and then you’re kind of not in the moment as much,” Allin said. “I remember the day of the summit, we left at 10 p.m. at night to start climbing to reach the summit. The sun started coming up at 4 in the morning and I’m on the side of this mountain going for the summit, and all the sudden, the sun lights up everything around you. It was incredible. It felt like you were on a different plant. I looked around like ‘oh, my God.”
One of the biggest highlights of Allin’s career was pairing up with one of professional wrestling’s most iconic legends: Sting. The former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA) star officially debuted in AEW on Dec. 2, 2020, and interacted with Allin right off the bat.
The duo would go on to be paired on television together for three years, and provided some of AEW’s most memorable moments throughout the process. Allin told the Nisqually Valley News that “it meant everything” to him to be part of Sting’s final run and retirement. The two, who were AEW World Tag Team Champions at the time, defeated The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution on March 3, 2024, in Sting’s final match.
“It meant everything, because to me, the most important part of someone’s career is the end,” Allin said. “To be there at the very tail end and be there in the final match, it was incredible because he was such a humbling person that had no ego whatsoever. That’s exactly what I inspire to be when this ride is all said and done.”
He added that the biggest lesson he took away from teaming with the iconic Sting was how to be humble and how to be ego-less.
“That’s as good as it’s ever going to get.”
In Allin and Sting’s match against the Young Bucks two years ago, the Seattle-native went viral by flipping off of a ladder, which was set up inside of the ring, to the outside of the ring and through a panel of glass — which was stacked on eight chairs. His dive was intended to strike Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks) but the two moved out the way — leaving Allin to crash through the glass to conclude his fall.
“There wasn’t a whole lot going on before (the dive) because I was so laser focused. You get so caught up in the moment and don’t really have time to think about anything,” Allin said. “Afterwards, I had a lot of time to think when I was having glass pulled out of my back for weeks.”
According to Allin, the dive on to the glass left an “insane scar” that looks like “the scar on Harry Potter’s forehead.”
Allin, 33 years old, is currently in the prime of his career. He’s held the TNT Championship and AEW World Tag Team Championships in his career, and has the goal of becoming AEW World Heavyweight Champion before he hangs up the boots.
Aside from winning AEW’s top prize, Allin said he has the personal goal of being remembered as the wrestler who gave every match his all — despite any circumstance.
“I want to be known as the guy who was remembered for putting his soul on the line every single match and not having an off night,” Allin said. “At the end of the day, this is such a blessing that we have in life that we’re part of professional wrestling and that we can do this for a living. Not taking anything for granted is what I’d want to be known as.”
You can watch the Allin wrestle each week on the national stage in AEW. The promotion has two live shows on a weekly basis, including Dynamite, which is live every Wednesday at 5 p.m. PST on TBS and streaming on HBO Max, and AEW Collision, every Saturday at 5 p.m. PST on TNT.
