Darby Allin

[Microstatistics]

Had him at #77. Definitely one of the top wrestlers from the new crop. A lunatic bumper of course but also psychologically sound, allowing him to put on great matches against fundamentally strong heels (Christian, Cody, MJF).

[Quentin]

I had Darby Allin at #68 and almost wish I voted him higher. 
 

He’s been great longer than people realize, almost 10 years at this point of being one of the most watchable wrestlers on the planet. At this point outside of Rey Jr, Benoit and maybe AJ Styles, I don’t think there’s better TV workers that have existed. From day one of Dynamite with the early stuff against PAC and Moxley he’s been a highlight. He’s given guys like Brody King and Clark Connors career high points, and when he’s in there with some of the other best guys it’s special every time. 
 

His bumping and selling was a gigantic part in making that Sting run as magical as it was. 
 

I genuinely don’t think I’ve watched a single Darby Allin match and at the very least didn’t think it was good. And at his best, he’s produced some of the very best stuff you’ll find in wrestling these days. 
 

He’s likened a lot to Jeff Hardy and Spike Dudley, and there’s a ton of truth to those. He’s a tiny, endlessly entertaining bump freak in the vein of Spike obviously. But the Jeff part mostly applies to his selling and ability to garner sympathy. A lot of people will watch Darby and focus on the “stunts”. What makes him special is when you watch him vs Jay White, Timothy Thatcher, WALTER, ZSJ, Samoa Joe and selling those beatdowns and getting back up every single time and a stellar grasp of timing in those moments of hope. There’s a lot of Mick Foley in there too I think in the sense of being such a force that he elevates others whether they like it or not. Add that all together and you get a dude who’s probably one of the most talented wrestlers I’ve ever watched. 

[gungan]

7 hours ago, Quentin said:

I had Darby Allin at #68 and almost wish I voted him higher. 

I might end up being the high vote on him (I had him at 39) and I actually feel the same way. He hit a high level early in his career and he's never had any prolonged downswings in form, so he's basically had 10 years of longevity in an 11 year career. Just a ridiculous hit to miss ratio throughout his entire career. And I find that longevity to be extra impressive because he feels like the sort of wrestler whose novelty should've fizzled out early in his career, but he's still surprising me and keeping me on the edge of my seat. He's one of the most creative and self-evidently great wrestlers that I've seen. I ended up downgrading his rank a little because it felt weird putting him so high when his legacy isn't even properly crystalised yet, but in retrospect I kinda wish I'd just let it rip and pushed him a bit higher, maybe into the low 30s.

[Stephen-]

I had Darby Allin just in my top 100 at #99 and I already feel like that was too low after watching another great performance against Kevin Knight on Dynamite. He's on a tear this year and my runaway WOTY as it stands. Career best match out of Clark Connors, extremely fun arena brawl with Gabe Kidd, MOTY contenders with Rush and Ciampa, great MJF squash, and then the Knight and Brody King title defenses. His case will only get stronger in 2036, if he remains in one piece. He is one of the 5 best TV wrestlers I have seen. His offense is innovative and unique, which is almost foreign in an era where so many guys are doing high spots and huge bumps for pops. The TNT title reign was great and his tag with Sting was great largely because of Darby's efforts. The aforementioned Walter match is one of the best performances I've seen. Darby is a very easy wrestler to get behind because his existence and his efforts is the most fundamental wrestling storytelling, and he excels at telling that story so well. And you want him to get up, and get back up again, and damn it get up again. Darby rocks.