Darby Allin feeling ‘surprisingly great’ after Mount Everest climb

AEW star Darby Allin is feeling great following his successful climb of Mount Everest.

Allin reached the summit of Everest in May, finally completing a climb that was originally supposed to happen in 2024 but was delayed by a year due to a foot injury he suffered wrestling. He reflected on the experience while appearing on a new episode of WTF with Marc Maron, noting that he is doing well both physically and mentally.

“I’m surprisingly feeling great,” Allin said. “I thought, you know, coming back, I was going to be all mangled and sh*t and it was going to be like snap back — because outside of just wrestling, I skateboard all the time and I do all [this] other crazy stuff. So pretty much as soon as I got back, I was off to a plane to Bahamas to film Shark Week. So it was like a whole thing, but my body feels great. I feel mentally great. And that’s the coolest thing is I’ve learned so much inside within myself on that mountain.”

Climbing Everest was an emotional and spiritual journey for Allin, who was crying when he got to the top of the mountain because of the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment he had.

Allin loves pro wrestling and thinks it’s the most amazing job in the world, but it’s a place where your fate is determined by someone else who chooses whether you win or lose. This experience was an opportunity for Allin to prove to himself that he’s capable of something so difficult. Allin appreciates that Tony Khan allowed him to do this while he is still actively competing and in his physical prime.

“A lot of people in the world of wrestling, man, they just chew you up and spit you out and leave you with nothing,” Allin said. “And the fact that he allowed me to do this — I’m so grateful for it.”

We haven’t seen Allin return to AEW programming yet following his climb up Everest, but that could change with him rumored to appear at All In: Texas this Saturday. Allin last competed in December 2024 before taking time off from AEW for this journey.

Allin noted that, before he left for Everest, he spoke with Khan and told him that he doesn’t even need the World Championship belt to feel like a champion. Allin just wants to be involved in good storylines.

“I already feel like I’m the champion of the world,” Allin said. “I don’t need the championship belt per se to feel validated because I’m already winning in life. I feel so free and I feel so happy. I was like, dude, I’m just grateful for everything.”

Allin will make an appearance on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week programming on Thursday, July 24 as part of the show “Caught! Sharks Strike Back.”