Darby Allin Reflects On Climbing Mount Everest, Says He Doesn’t Need AEW Title To Feel Validated

Darby Allin has been off AEW television since December, taking time away from wrestling to climb Mount Everest. Darby made it to the summit in May and is now back in the United States.

Speaking to Marc Maron on WTF, Darby reflected on his journey.

“I’m surprisingly feeling great. I thought coming back I was going to be all mangled and shit. Outside of wrestling and skateboarding, I do all these other crazy things. Pretty much, as soon as I got back, I was on a plane to the Bahamas to film Shark Week. It was a whole thing, but my body feels great. I feel mentally great. I learned so much inside of myself on that mountain. A lot of people say it’s not about summiting Mount Everest, it’s about conquering yourself and your inside and pulling stuff out,” he said.

Darby revealed that he did pass a handful of dead bodies on his trek and that mountain fever was a real thing, especially as there was a “traffic jam” where he thought he wasn’t going to make it to the top. He also revealed that he proposed to his girlfriend via video message at the top of the mountain.

“It’s a beautiful journey and pulling stuff out of you. When I got to the top of the mountain, I was crying. It was such an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. It’s pulling something out of yourself,” he said.

He continued, “It’s proving to yourself that you’re capable of anything. I know that sounds generic, but honestly, in the pro wrestling world, the guy who runs the show controls how far you’re going to make it or how well you’re going to make it. Someone is in control of your destiny. It’s not like boxing or MMA where, ‘I’m going to prove I’m the fucking best by knocking you out.’ It doesn’t work like that in wrestling. It is so much politicking and random shit that goes into it. I wanted to prove to myself that I’m fucking capable of it. You can’t politic your way up that mountain. There is no helicopter that goes up that high where you can jump out and take a photo on the summit, ‘I climbed Everest,’ and lie to people. You have to track and crawl your way up that shit.

“That’s where it was so humbling to remind myself what I’m capable of because you get into the world wrestling…there is nothing else like the world of wrestling to me. It’s the most amazing job in the world for someone like myself because it’s stunts, acting, and it checks all the boxes I’m very passionate about, but on the flip side, someone else controls your destiny. Someone else controls how far and how well you’re going to make it. You can have this passion, ‘I’m the fucking man.’ ‘No, you’re not, you’re going to be losing every week.’ I see the world of wrestling and I love wrestling, but it’s crazy how people get into this small bubble and it allows them to be chewed up and spit out when all it is is a 15-minute ride. If you don’t focus on your real life, it’s going to chew you up and spit you out and you’re going to believe your own hype and the next thing you know, you’re being this character that you are on TV in real life. Dude, detach.

“Coming into the world of wrestling, I always wanted to leave the same person coming out. I didn’t want to all of a sudden get this ego and believe my own hype. ‘I’m Darby Allin!’ Shut the fuck up, dude. To be able to do this mountain in the middle of what I feel is my physical peak where I feel amazing and Tony Khan, the owner of AEW, being like, ‘Yo, do this shit.’ Cool. A lot of people in the world of wrestling, they chew you up, spit you out, and leave you with nothing. The fact that he allowed me to do this, I’m so grateful for it.”

Allin was scheduled to climb Everest in 2024, but a foot injury delayed his journey a year.

“It started from an early age of trying to push myself out of my comfort zone. The moment I started doing crazy shit is when I started breaking down these mental barriers in my head that were holding me back. That was my ammo to keep moving forward. No one is willing to go to place that I’m willing to go in wrestling physically, and I mean that. The more I do crazy shit, the more I feel anything is possible.

“I told Tony before I went to Everest, ‘I already feel like I’m the champion of the world. I don’t need the championship belt to feel validated because I’m already winning in life. I feel so free and happy. I’m grateful for everything.'”

Maron noted that the belt would nice.

Allin replied, “It depends. I don’t know. I really don’t give a shit. Some people are so concerned with winning this thing. I just want to have good storylines. I’m not trying to be like, ‘I need to be the top guy.’ I want to have good shit.”

It is unknown when Allin will return to AEW TV.

He is set to be part of Shark Week on July 24th.

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