After seemingly wiping AEW off the map last year, ESPN has suddenly brought the company back to its website — and Darby Allin is front and center.
Back in August 2025, wrestling fans noticed that ESPN’s dedicated AEW section had quietly disappeared. Anyone trying to access the page was hit with an error message, and coverage around the company had slowed to almost nothing around the same time WWE started moving major pay-per-view business toward ESPN platforms in the United States.
Now, in a major shift, ESPN has restored its AEW section and relaunched coverage with a featured article focused entirely on AEW World Champion Darby Allin ahead of Double or Nothing. The article, written by Andreas Hale and titled “AEW’s Darby Allin keeps tempting fate and coming back for more,” dives deep into Allin’s obsession with danger both inside and outside wrestling.
The feature covers everything from Allin performing a skateboard kickflip during his Mount Everest summit to crazy stunts involving motocross jumps and childhood injuries. ESPN also revisited the moment Allin successfully reached the summit of Everest on May 18, 2025, where he planted an AEW flag and proposed to his girlfriend Sarah. Allin also gave ESPN a brutally honest look into the mindset that has made him one of wrestling’s biggest risk-takers.
“If the worst that is going to happen to me is dying, so be it. It’s fine, but it’s not worth sitting by and watching this life go by and doing nothing interesting with it.”
Tony Khan was also featured in the article and spoke about Allin becoming someone AEW fans genuinely believe in after being part of the company since the very beginning of Dynamite.
The timing is especially interesting because Allin heads into Double or Nothing this weekend as AEW World Champion after defeating MJF for the title in April. Their rematch on Sunday is now a title versus hair match, meaning MJF must shave his head if he loses.
AEW fans immediately noticed ESPN’s renewed focus because the company had basically vanished from the network’s wrestling coverage for months. Now, with Double or Nothing approaching, Darby Allin has become the face of ESPN’s restored AEW presence.
Whether this means a larger long-term shift remains to be seen, but after months of silence, ESPN suddenly putting AEW back in the spotlight definitely caught attention across the wrestling world.
What do you think about ESPN restoring its AEW section, and do you think Darby Allin is the right choice to lead the company’s return to the platform? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.