It’s been an ... interesting ... past few months for one of the most popular names on the All Elite Wrestling roster.
Darby Allin suffered a legitimate broken foot in a match which cost him an opportunity to climb Mount Everest in April. He returned just in time to take part in two of the company’s most grueling matches on the calendar in “Anarchy in the Arena” on May 26 and “Blood & Guts” on July 24. Now, he’s scheduled to face TNT champion Jack Perry in a “Coffin Match” at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
And despite it all, Allin is in good spirits about his health heading into his latest confrontation.
“Right now I feel incredible,” Allin told The Dallas Morning News last week. ”Like, right [when I was cleared] I told Tony [Khan] every single week I want to be there. It could be on Rampage. It could be on Dynamite, Collision, it doesn’t matter. I want to be there.”
And he was.
Allin was one of the mainstays of AEW’s recent month-long residency at Esports Stadium Arlington, competing week after week in matches for the weekly television program Collision on TNT.
“It was super awesome to have that the energy of the esports arena,” Allin said. “It’s kind of like that small, intimate feeling you get of being in the independents, but, you know, cranked up a little bit.”
Allin was also a part of the contingent of AEW stars at Globe Life Field on Thursday to announce next year’s All In pay-per-view event will head to the home of the Texas Rangers on July 12, 2025.
The next day, he stopped by the downtown DMN offices for a chat about the rise of AEW, his status climbing Everest and much more:
On being a part of the All In Texas announcement last week...
Allin: “The experience itself was amazing. Because I’ve been here since day one in AEW. Like, literally, day one. Just to watch this place grow, we didn’t have — there were no guarantees with anything when it started. We didn’t know if anybody was gonna care, or how it was gonna be. So to fast forward all these years later in such short time, actually setting an all-time attendance record in a wrestling event [at Wembley Stadium last year]. But then coming to do a stadium show in the U.S., this is like, heavy stuff, and I don’t think people truly understand how fast we’ve grown. And to see it from the very beginning, it’s amazing. It was cool to be on the ground level and know that our hard work and everything we put into it helped create this. All the sacrifices, the physical craziness I’ve been through in the last few years, it feels like it’s all added to a moment like announcing July 12, 2025. It’s just, it’s incredible.”
On AEW announcer Renee Paquette’s social media post saying you were already looking for things to jump off of at Globe Life Field...
Allin: “That’s the very first thing [I did] after the press conference, I was just walking around, looking around like, what can I fall off of? To me, going all these buildings, like, there’s such an aura and vibe to these stadiums. And every time I’m walking in, I’m like what can I do that will leave a lasting impression? And I put myself in the shoes of being like a fourth grade kid, you know what I mean? Like, if I saw something, what will I remember for my entire life? Because, with this wrestling stuff, it’s pretty wild how much of an impact you can have on people’s lives. I don’t take it for granted. It’s pretty crazy, you know, just how you can inspire somebody and change the whole trajectory of their life.
“Because I didn’t have the confidence to do wrestling until I was, like, 21. It’s definitely something I wanted to do. I’ve been a lifelong fan. I thought that would be the best thing ever if I could do wrestling. But then, you know, you start growing up, and around junior and high school, feel like the real world smacks you across the face. And then you start thinking, yeah, this is impossible, you know, you’re too small and all this stuff. You almost, like, start settling. I don’t think any kid grows up and is like, when I grow up, I want to be a tax attorney. Like, they don’t. You got to shoot for the stars when you’re a kid.
“I feel like, with me, I’ve been so against [listening to other people] from an early age. My dad’s like, you need a job. And I was like, no way. If I could help unlock whatever it is in a young kid’s mind to be like, I can do this, you know what I mean? And if my story helps them unlock that, and then it changes the whole trajectory of their life. All it takes is one person. So if I’m that one person to help someone change their life, like, let’s do it. And oddly enough, if it all starts with leaving some crazy memory, like jumping off a scaffold. Having that moment where, like, “I was in fourth grade and I saw Darby Allin jump off this and it stuck with me the rest of my life.” Like, you don’t forget things like that. And to me, it was guys like Jeff Hardy, you know, or Mick Foley. You don’t forget that. So if I need to sacrifice myself at Globe Life Field, OK.”
On his AEW All In opponent Jack Perry...
Allin: “Well, I cut a promo [last] Wednesday talking about Jack, and that’s just how I felt. I was literally homeless. And I didn’t know where my career was going. When I first entered pro wrestling, I was like, I’m either gonna make this as Darby, or I’m gonna fail at this as Darby, but I’m not gonna change a thing. … And I was begging to get into AEW, begging. I heard Cody [Rhodes] was interested, and I didn’t even know who Cody was [personally], and I heard he was interested and then I just kept calling him off the hook. I was bothering the hell out of this guy because I felt it in my soul this is where I need to be, and I’ll stop at nothing. Meanwhile, Jack Perry has done like three independents in California, and he’s got the Young Bucks on speed dial. It was so easy for him to get here, and I didn’t even know if I was gonna make it.
“When you see someone, you can see in their eyes if they have that killer instinct. He just seemed like this was spring break for him. It’s just fun. Like, you didn’t have to really fight for anything your whole entire life. Then I get [the call from Cody], you are in AEW. I remember crying. I just knew how big of an opportunity this is going to be. And then you see somebody just coasting by like Jack Perry, fast forward all these years later, everything that he takes for granted. He’s TNT champion, but he’s, like, never on TNT. You can show up to work when it’s convenient to you. With all the crap that happened last year with him, and then fast forward, it’s like, hey, I wouldn’t miss it if you were fired. I feel like I’m fighting for, you know, hard work, fighting against complacency.
“But now it’s a coffin match. So, you know, it’s funny, because people are like, whoa, why so extreme right away? I set the guy on fire [at Anarchy in the Arena]. What are we gonna lock up and chain wrestle, you know what I mean? Like, dude, let’s put this to an end at Wembley. Come on, man. Like, this is Wembley. I don’t want to have a year long program with Jack. I just want to put it to an end.”
Latest update on climbing Everest...
Allin: “Next April. Still the plan, yeah. You can only climb it two months out of the year. If you could climb it any month, I would have been there right now. But, you know, you gotta wait a year.
“Going into that, I had no experience whatsoever, and I was going to train nine months only to climb the biggest mountain in the world. And then everybody was like it takes years to learn this. Then I did every single thing that they had planned for me. I went to Aconcagua in Mendoza, I went to Kathmandu and climbed Lobuche — and these are huge mountains. Nobody knew how I was gonna react to it, and then I did so awesome they’re like, all right, you got what it takes. That’s why I was ready to rock, and then I broke my foot two weeks before I was supposed to leave.
“Everybody’s saying, like, maybe that’s a sign that you shouldn’t do it. And I said hell no that’s a sign I should do it next year. It’s been such a roller coaster of emotions going into it. But like, I wanted to do it before, but now I really want to do it, it’s just like the moment was taken away. I’m super excited for it. That’s just pushing the boundaries, dude. Because honestly, just like with wrestling, when people tell you can’t do something, and then you start listening to them, and the moment you start doing crazy stuff, it breaks down all the barriers in your mind.
“To me, that’s just the next evolution of Darby. Once I summit Everest and come back down, I’m going to be that much more mentally stronger and believe I can do something. If you asked me 10 years ago, when I first started wrestling, that I would be doing press conferences about, you know, stadium shows in the U.S., I wouldn’t have had the confidence. I’d be like, [stammers] — I don’t belong that in that scene. You know, I’m not worthy. But now I’m like, dude, I’m right where I need to be, and it’s just because you get mentally stronger with everything. That’s what Mount Everest is all about.”
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