Throughout his AEW tenure, Darby Allin has developed a reputation for being a fearless, or crazy, performer, depending on one’s point of view. That’s because Allin has pulled off some of the wildest moments in AEW’s history, perhaps none wilder, or more controversial, than his swan dive off a ladder through a pane of glass at AEW Revolution 2024. But for all the crazy things he’s done, Allin has seemingly been immune to fear, or at times even pain.
As it turns out though, there’s at least been one moment that’s left Allin worse for wear. Appearing on “Insight with Chris Van Vliet,” Allin revealed his Continental Classic match with Kevin Knight had been the most painful match of his career. Given Allin was out for several weeks after the match, that makes sense, though as Allin describes it, the moment he was injured was far tamer than some of his more death defying stunts.
“It was a nothing in the grand scheme of things,” Allin said. “It was a backflip off the guardrail. As soon as I Coffin Dropped the guard rail and he jumped up, the guardrail kind of shifted, so I couldn’t be in place right where I needed to be for the backflip. It just kind of moved when I Coffin Dropped into it, and then the knees barely caught me.
“And I remember, I felt my legs were giving out in the match, and I couldn’t stand. And that happened also in the first, like, three minutes of the match, so the rest of the match, I’m like wrestling with these spaghetti legs. And I feel like I couldn’t walk. And it was such a crazy feeling. And then I collapsed in the back and just puked everywhere.”
Allin Explains Why His Match With Kevin Knight Left Him Scared
Allin further admitted that he was in such a bad state during the Knight match that he actually allowed fear to creep into his mind.
“That was like, the first time, in an actual match, that I was like ‘Dude, this is scary,'” Allin said. “Cause it’s like live TV, and you can’t even walk. There’s a spot where I’m hitting the ropes in that match, to do a double clothesline as a double down, and I can’t even hit the rope. I can barely stand. And I’m just thinking ‘Oh my god. How did this happen? Like, this ain’t nothing compared to what I’ve been through…Not one time in those crazy moments I was scared.
“And in this moment, I was like ‘Oh my god.’ It just hit me. And it was terrifying, to the point I was like ‘Dude.’ Cause you hear all these stories about the head, and you then think it’s just a snowball effect, you know what I mean? And I don’t want to constantly be like, I don’t know what you call it, concussion prone, like once you have one, it’s easy to get another. So after that one, I was like ‘I need to just screw off.'”
Allin revealed that he spent his recovery time in Iceland, hanging out there for several weeks “in the dark,” which he believes ultimately was a big benefit for him. Nevertheless, the injury has done little to slow Allin down, and he’s continued his high risk style since returning in matches against Gabe Kidd, PAC, and Clark Connors.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription