Darby Allin says he’s got some surprises in store for his in-ring return.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with Darby Allin ahead of AEW Double Or Nothing, where he will compete in the Anarchy In The Arena match. Allin has been sidelined with a broken foot and got hit by a bus and broke his nose last month.
Allin made his surprise return on the May 15 episode of AEW Dynamite. He explained to WrestleZone how he got himself cleared on the way back from a (paused) road trip, and how he’s still not 100% despite being cleared for the match.
During a post-show promo, Allin made a remark about getting knocked out while sitting under the ring. He expanded on those comments, explaining that his initial thoughts of being concussed were likely due to the lack of sleep during his drive back to Seattle.
‘Oh my God, there goes my return’
“It was crazy because I’m under the ring sitting down, I forgot to lay down. I’m sitting down, criss-cross applesauce. Then Dax [Harwood] gives Okada the superplex from the top rope. And I’m like watching it because there’s a little monitor in the ring now. All of a sudden, boom! The beam smashed my head,” Darby Allin explained. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, there goes my return.’ [I’m] just knocked out under the ring. But no, I felt fine.
“I was just tired from driving because there was no flights out of Bozeman, Montana that would get me there in time. So I was like, well, you gotta drive, hit the road and start driving,” he said. “Earlier that day, before I started driving, I was at Yellowstone National Park for 12 hours, so I didn’t get any sleep. I was like [groans]. I’m a zombie. So I’m trying to take naps at the building before I have to do the return. It’s just impossible. So I was like, ‘Man, this is going to be wild.’”
“I got some sh*t planned”
Darby hasn’t actually had time to train since his appearance on Dynamite last week. He said he went back out the next day and completed the road trip with his parents, and doesn’t really have a plan for Sunday night… aside from teasing “a few tricks” up his sleeve.
“I don’t know the plan because I haven’t been actually in a ring to train since any of these injuries. So it’s going to see how my body adapts on the fly,” Allin explained. “But I definitely have some tricks up my sleeve. I got some sh*t planned. It’s going to be fun. Anarchy in the Arena, the last two were insane. And you can’t have Darby Allin enter a match and not live up to the hype. So I got some stuff planned. It’s just a matter of literally how my body feels when the bell rings.”
AEW Double Or Nothing takes place on Sunday, May 26 in Las Vegas. The event will air on TrillerTV and other streaming/PPV services.
Watch our full interview with Darby Allin below:
