Darby Allin

[Grimmas]

Nintendo Logic said:

"The best underdog of this generation. Amazing seller and lunatic bumper. One of the few guys working today who can make high-flying offense look dangerous, like he's flinging his body at opponents like a missile. Excels at spots that are creative without feeling contrived. Also excels at making it look like he's genuinely catching his opponents off-guard with his dives. Spectacular, violent, and logical-he's the total package."

[Quentin]

No for right now but with the trajectory his AEW run has shown so far, someone to keep an eye on as 2026 looms closer. Barring a freak injury or a sudden lack of push, he’ll have a strong case as a lower half guy.

[Ed.]

I’ve really dug his work the last 3 years, and he has the chance to be the defining babyface of his generation, but he’s a wait and see for now.  Could definitely make my list with 5 more years of good performances. 

[Marksman]

Allin always seems like he's read JR's criticism of people standing around to catch anyone jumping out of the ring, and is responding to it by trying his best to make sure they DON'T catch him. It's both incredible to watch and fairly terrifying. I don't think he'd make my list currently but if he carries on as he is for 5 years then he could end up really high for me.

[Phil Schneider]

Folks need to check out Darby's EVOLVE stuff if they haven't before, he had some absolute classics there before going to AEW.

The Zach Sabre Jr. , Hero, WALTER and Riddle matches are especially worth checking out

 

[strobogo]

I actually don't like watching Darby because I always feel like I'm going to see a broken bone on live TV. My first impression of him seeing him in EVOLVE was man this kid is dumb and then I saw him on TNT doing the same shit and now Sting is his dad and I guess that's pretty cool.

[AstroBoy]

Darby's matches against WALTER and Sabre, and to some extent, Thatcher in EVOLVE are really great stuff.  Also the one brawl with Ethan Page where he won and it should have blown off their feud.  Probably outside my list but he's a special talent.

[Cap]

I think he has a slew of good matches on the indies before he signed with AEW, many of which at the time felt like he was overachieving.  In hindsight, not so much.  His trajectory has taken a pretty stark upward turn since becoming an AEW wrestler, particularly in 2021. He is absolutely running away with my WOTY (so far).  Now, don't worry... I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here. But there is reason to be optimistic that he could have a very solid case in 5 years. I don't even think he has to continue on this path. Honestly, if he wound up with 5 years that looked like his last 5 months, he probably be a lock top 50 at least for me, but that isn't reasonable for a variety of reasons and shouldn't be the standard. He just needs to maintain form somewhere in this vicinity of... lets say his average for the past year. 
 

If I were making a list today he would probably miss it. However, I can't think of anyone higher on my list of people who could make massive jumps into the last in the next 5 years.

[Tetsujin]

He's a better, darker, Jeff Hardy, and I say that in the best way possible. He should look like a vanilla, "look at how edgy I am" version of Jeff, but his ringwork makes you take him seriously. His consistency have been pretty admirable since 2018, and I'm sure he's not at his peak yet. These next five years will be very important for him, and AEW should put the trigger on him for the main title sooner than later. The potential for a high position in a 2036 GWE is there, iykwim.

[The Nicks]

High flying wrestling is not my favorite style of wrestling but Darbs is one of those exceptions that prove the rule. Everthing the man does makes sense to me, he can project character and make it all in a logical way.

He may get a  top bottom spot in 2026 once i watch his Evolve run.

[EnviousStupid]

I don't see him making my list come 2026, but that's more a case of it being too soon for me to judge someone while they're still fairly early in their career. Last year, he was a top 10 WOTY off a highly consistent TNT title reign and being part of the best tag team in the world with Sting. 

[Thrifty]

On 5/13/2021 at 10:26 AM, Tetsujin said:

He's a better, darker, Jeff Hardy, and I say that in the best way possible. He should look like a vanilla, "look at how edgy I am" version of Jeff, but his ringwork makes you take him seriously. His consistency have been pretty admirable since 2018, and I'm sure he's not at his peak yet. These next five years will be very important for him, and AEW should put the trigger on him for the main title sooner than later. The potential for a high position in a 2036 GWE is there, iykwim.

I think the counter to the Jeff Hardy comparison is, at least more consistently, Jeff has been a wrestler that compels rooting for him in his matches and feuds while Darby usually feels like someone who you wonder if his controlled recklessness will eek him out a rare victory this time. Not necessarily a bad thing for Darby to not quite have Jeff's uniquely sympathetic aura but I do think that aura is a big reason why I wouldn't say Darby = Jeff upgraded.

[MoS]

Might be the best TV worker in the world today, and certainly one of the top contenders for the same in the last 2-3 years. Along with PAC, he is one of the very very few high flyers who makes it look like his shit genuinely hurts his opponents. He feels like he is genuinely using his body as a weapon with his high flying, unlike a lot of other high flyers, who look like they are executing athletic feats and stunt moves. There is a feeling of violence that emanates from him, something that does not happen with others of his ilk, and also which cannot possibly be beneficial for his health. Also quite underrated as a mat worker, I believe he has some amateur wrestling credentials, which might have something to do with it 

[Tetsujin]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:46 AM, Thrifty said:

I think the counter to the Jeff Hardy comparison is, at least more consistently, Jeff has been a wrestler that compels rooting for him in his matches and feuds while Darby usually feels like someone who you wonder if his controlled recklessness will eek him out a rare victory this time. Not necessarily a bad thing for Darby to not quite have Jeff's uniquely sympathetic aura but I do think that aura is a big reason why I wouldn't say Darby = Jeff upgraded.

I can see that. I was trying to say that Darby is better than Jeff at the things they share, but overall Jeff had this more sympatethic underdog aura, while Darby is still treated by both the crowd and AEW as the guy you want to see almost dying in insane ways. Still, I don't think that affects the "Darby>Jeff" statement.

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

He's very good, but I really need to see him have a proper main event run before deciding where to really rank him. The tag team with Sting was a cute little attraction and probably beneficial for Darby's health in the long run, but it's time for him to show what he can do as a true singles performer. Knowing AEW, he'll continue to be booked in garbage 10 man slop matches for the next 6 months and wasted.

[Phil Schneider]

Three years later then most of the posts in this thread, and Darby has just moved higher and higher. I him wrestle Clark Conners tonight on Collision and it was incredible stuff, just a throw away TV match on a B show and he broke out some all timer bumps and some really cool storytelling around his back, he just does this kind of thing virtually week after week. I could honestly see him being the highest rated guy on my list who is getting there mostly on AEW work

[DMJ]

He'll make my list, for sure. 

In fact, he's someone who I'll actually have to purposefully under-value because he kinda blows up my criteria system.

The first thing I often go to for ranking is looking at my database and calculating "average match score." In order to make my list, I have to have seen and reviewed 20 matches of that wrestler. Darby meets that threshold with just AEW PPV matches, which have all been above average aside from some of the battle royales he was thrown in early, in which he was still often the most captivating guy in the match. So, points-wise, because his matches have been essentially "cherry-picked," his score is probably going to be higher than a John Cena, Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Randy Orton, or Ric Flair (all of whom I've reviewed 3 or 4 or 5 times more matches of across many more years and against a wider array of talent). 

So, I don't just go with "average match score" and also look at categories - influence/impact, tag work, carrying ability, reliability (can they be relied on to have good matches consistently), heel/face versatility, peak (were they ever an undeniable best or biggest star in their promotion/world), charisma (mic skills but also aura/presence), longevity, offense, bumping/selling, and the final question when comparing 2 wrestlers, Who Would You Rather Watch?.

Darby would "lose" points on influence/impact, longevity, heel/face versatility, and "peak" because he's still relatively new and we haven't seen him work as a heel or in the main event all that much. He's not great on the mic, but I think he's got a ton of charisma. Bumping/selling is off the charts, I enjoy him in tags, I think he can basically be relied upon to give you a good PPV or TV match every time, and I think his offense is believable. Compared to so many wrestlers, he'd probably win the "Who Would You Rather Watch?" contest too. 

So, does that make him better than Rick Rude? Barry Windham? Hogan? Dustin Rhodes? Again, by my own criteria, he's right up there with them or better, but I'm not sure I'm ready to say Darby Allin is a top 50 or top 75 wrestler of all time yet. 

[Tetsujin]

On 12/15/2022 at 3:23 PM, Tetsujin said:

I can see that. I was trying to say that Darby is better than Jeff at the things they share, but overall Jeff had this more sympatethic underdog aura, while Darby is still treated by both the crowd and AEW as the guy you want to see almost dying in insane ways. Still, I don't think that affects the "Darby>Jeff" statement.

Thinking about this, I believe the TNT title run, the Christian and Mox feuds or the Sting retirement match were clear proofs of Darby being an awesome underdog you wanna root for, not just a crazy guy you want to see get killed.