Darby Allin: Current AEW shows ‘are just so much better’ than early years

Darby Allin believes the current-day AEW product is a huge improvement over the promotion’s early years.

Considered a pillar of the AEW roster, Allin has been with the company since its introduction. He told Uproxx that the shows AEW offers now “are just so much better” than they used to be. Allin feels the beginning stages of AEW were about figuring things out. Now, the wrestlers who weren’t good enough are gone from the promotion.

“The shows are just so much better. I feel like you kind of have to throw crap at the wall and see what sticks for the first few years,” Allin said.

“To get on Dynamite, you really have to be good. It’s no longer, ‘Oh, you know, I’m friends with this guy, so I’m gonna give him a hand out and just put him on the show,’ it’s not about that anymore. You gotta put up, you gotta perform and you gotta actually bust your ass or you’re not gonna get on the show and a lot of the people that were not good were weeded out the first couple of years.”

After launching in October 2019, Dynamite celebrated its 250th episode last week. Will Ospreay, one of the biggest recent additions to the AEW roster, wrestled on the show in a match that went nearly 60 minutes. MJF defeated Ospreay to become the new AEW International Champion.

“It lasted like an hour and it was insane,” Allin said about the Ospreay vs. MJF match. “This isn’t a friggin’ spring break for your buddies to hang out. We’re putting our souls in that ring. If you don’t have that chip on your shoulder, I do not want you in the locker room for sure.”

Allin is set to compete in Blood & Guts on Dynamite this Wednesday. It will be Team AEW (Allin, Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe & The Acclaimed) vs. Team Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry & Hangman Page).