Darby Allin: During Year One Of AEW, It Felt Like Some People Were Taking It For Granted

Candid response from Darby Allin.

There’s an extensive interview that Forbes conducted with Darby Allin. During the chat, Allin was asked about the growth of All Elite Wrestling from its launch year to present day.

Below is his response:

“I think the bar got set way higher now because you have to remember, it’s year one on TV. We were throwing a lot of stuff at the wall, seeing what stuck because we’re brand new, and a lot of guys like myself never had any TV experience. So we got to see what worked. But now the talent is so high, and everybody needs to step up. You aren’t going to be on TV unless you’re literally the best of the best. So, I feel it just shows everybody that no one can coast, no one can just chill, and that’s the beauty of it. Because I never wanted to be in a company that felt like me and all my friends have a TV company. I don’t care if I don’t know you. I don’t care if I don’t like you. As long as you care about AEW and you want to produce some of the best, then I want you on my team. I’m not going to say a lot of people—it felt like maybe some people were taking it for granted. Year one, they were treating it like spring break, like, “Oh, this is so fun. I got a job for life. I’m just hanging out with my boys.” They weren’t going there with a mission. But I’m like, “I have to show the wrestling world what AEW is capable of,” because this changed the whole landscape. When I first got in, I never thought it was possible to have another game in town like this. I thought at the time, “This kind of sucks,’ and then AEW started, and I thought, “I’ll do anything to be part of that company. Anything,’ and that’s where I knew I needed to finish. So, I saw the importance of AEW from the beginning, but I don’t think a lot of people did.”

Allin is scheduled to be in action at AEW All In 2026. He’ll be challenging Kevin Knight for the TNT Title in a Falls Count Anywhere match.