For many years, many would say there was only one destination for upcoming wrestlers looking to be signed to a major company. Now, though, there’s certainly a choice with AEW coming on strong in their first year of business. AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin, though, said there was no choice on his end – it had to be AEW!
The ‘Face of TNT’ told Inside The Ropes‘ Kenny McIntosh how he told Cody Rhodes he “needed” to be signed and there was nowhere else he wanted to go when the company started out.
“Yeah, I just heard that he was interested in hiring me. And the moment I heard that, I just blew his phone up and I was like, ‘Dude, I need this, I need this. Like, there’s nowhere else I want to go. I want to have my creative freedom there. This is it, get me involved.’ So I just called him off the hook.”
Allin also said AEW was his “calling card” as he feels like he needs creative freedom to thrive.
“When I heard the words ‘creative freedom’, you know, if I’m going to make it in this world, I’m going to do it as Darby Allin – no-one else. I’m not going to have anybody change who I am. So AEW is my calling card.”
And the Face of TNT would go on to elaborate on that freedom, and just how far it extends.
“We flew out to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area to go film at a church my friend bought, he painted the whole thing black and we flew out there and I set myself on fire in the church and nobody even had any questions. They were just like ‘Yeah, you do you, dude.'”
Thanks to Darby Allin for taking the time. You can check out the full interview here.
You can follow Darby on Twitter here, and catch AEW Dynamite every Wednesday Night at 8e/7c on TNT or sign up for AEW Plus on FITE TV if you’re outside the US.