Who is Darby Allin: An All Elite Wrestling primer

Darby Allin is one of the young rising stars of All Elite Wrestling looking to break out and create a shift in the wrestling industry.

The news of Darby Allin joining All Elite Wrestling showed just how much the promotion is looking to invest in the future along with the now. Allin has been the unofficial face of the EVOLVE promotion over the past few years. EVOLVE’s working relationship with WWE changed the presentation of the product from having some of the top world-renowned wrestlers battle it out to new talents attempting to showcase their potential with an opportunity to move up to a bigger platform.

The loss of talents like Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Hero, Drew Galloway, Johnny Gargano and many others led to a huge void, with fans looking for new talents to enjoy. Darby stood out as the top choice due to his wild wrestling style of never shying away from taking terrifying risks. A combination of beautiful, horrifying and downright ugly spots involving lots of pain for Allin in EVOLVE led to the fanbase falling in love with his work.

Major independent promotion PWG starting to book Allin regularly led to his name rising in the wrestling world. Any indie star to steal the show at PWG will be on the rise before too long. One of the overlooked stories to come out of WrestleMania 35 weekend was the end of Allin’s and his wife, fellow rising star Priscilla Kelly’s, time with EVOLVE Wrestling.

It did not take too long for Darby to get scooped off the independent circuit after Cody Rhodes revealed Allin was signing with AEW in an episode of The Road to Double or Nothing.

The unique message of spray painting his car is Allin’s way of introducing himself to the AEW world. Darby is a performer that marches to the beat of his own drum, which is one of the reasons fans connect with his performances. AEW has a few established top names like Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega and Cody. The next step is putting together a roster of rising stars with huge potential.

Allin joins the likes of MJF, Jungle Boy and Adam Page as the rising stars that have yet to hit their ceilings. And Allin being an early addition to the roster before the company even starts running shows regularly will create a connection with the early stages of the fan base. Darby has the chance to make a mark in the main event picture if he can work his way up the mountain.

The scheduled match for Allin against Cody at FyterFest this summer already shows just how much Cody and the rest of AEW believes in him. Many fans are speculating if Kelly will join Allin in AEW, as the couple have worked together in EVOLVE and many other promotions. Regardless, Allin has the chance of a lifetime to make an impact early and quickly for AEW rather than waiting on a WWE spot that may never lead to main roster success.

Darby represents what AEW is hoping to become by taking a rising star on the independent circuit and giving him the platform to become a superstar. Time will tell if AEW can find mainstream success or if Allin can prove to be a top star for them.

Until then, he represents the opportunity that every wrestler can now dream of when making a name on the free agent market. Darby and the other young talents in AEW have the first chance to sink or swim, and we’ll get to watch the outcome with the fallout of Double or Nothing on May 25.