Darby Allin discusses connecting with an audience outside of wrestling.
In recent years, there have been many people from the world of hip-hop, sports, and social media that have crossed over into the world of wrestling, even it if was just for a small cameo. People like Bad Bunny, Rick Ross, Logan Paul, and Action Bronson have allowed the two separate fan bases to find out more about each other's world.
Darby Allin has a big presence on social media, mostly due to the fact that he'll often post videos of him hanging out with pop culture figures like Tony Hawk or Travis Pastrana.
In a new interview with Fightful, Allin was asked about some of the kids that dress up as him during various AEW events. In response, Allin talked about how that is an important part of the job, noting that he wants to connect to people.
"Dude, to me, that’s the biggest thing that’s important. Because when I was growing up, there wasn’t a lot of wrestlers I felt like I could relate to outside the ring. I was like, ‘Man, who could I see myself hanging out with?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I see myself hanging out with skateboarders or punk rockers,’ stuff like that. Then to be given the opportunity to just let me be me inside the ring and outside the ring, I felt like I could connect to a lot more people. There’ s a lot of action sports fans like skateboarders or motocross kids that haven’t given wrestling a chance, then they see me hanging out with a Tony Hawk or a Travis Pastrana and then go, ‘Alright. What is this wrestling guy all about?’ Then they see me jumping off a huge ass ladder onto Jeff Hardy and they go, ‘Oh, alright, this is pretty awesome.’ So that’s my whole thing. I’ve talked to guys like Travis Pastrana about that. He’s like, ‘I’ve never watched wrestling, but when you started coming over to my house, I started watching what you do. Man, that’s insane.’"
Allin went on to talk about how no other company would let him skate with Tony Hawk or climb Mount Everest.
"That’s my thing, to attract as much outside wrestling fans who haven’t given it the opportunity yet to even watch it. If they give AEW an opportunity, I think they’re gonna see something they’ll like. That’s what’s cool about what AEW gives me. Inside the ring and outside the ring. No other company is gonna let me be me. Period. Nobody’s gonna let me skate with Tony Hawk or jump my house with Travis Pastrana or even climb Mount Everest. Nobody’s letting me do that."
Elsewhere in the interview, Allin discussed his partnership with Sting. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
Fans can find results from previous AEW shows by visiting Fightful's results section.