According to the AEW CEO, Tony Khan, one of Darby Allin’s high-risk maneuvers was beyond what he had expected. Speaking on the Ariel Helwani Show, Tony Khan discussed Darby Allin’s career as a daredevil in AEW, noting that the former AEW World Tag Team Champion is usually calculated in his high-risk approach.
“I think he’s really a brilliant wrestler, and also, he takes these chances, and I think normally they’re very calculated chances,” Khan explained.
However, when recalling the main event of AEW Revolution 2024, which marked the end of Sting’s nearly 40-year career, Khan singled out Allin’s infamous dive off a ladder. In that spot, Allin leaped from the ladder in the ring to the floor, crashing through tables covered in glass panels, causing immediate concern for viewers.
“The one that I thought was too far, and I would say this to him, and have said this to him 100 times, is in Sting’s last match with the glass in Greensboro off the ladder through the glass,” Khan admitted. “That was so much. That was the one where I thought maybe it was too much, and it wasn’t exactly the way it was described – it was pretty brutal.”
Despite his personal feelings about the brutality of the stunt, Khan acknowledged that the high-risk gamble paid off for the company. Allin and Sting went on to defeat The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson), allowing Sting to retire as a champion with an undefeated tag team record alongside Allin.
“That was the one after where I said, ‘I think you’re so brilliant about these chances, but this is the first time ever where I thought probably it was too much,'” Khan noted. “But it was also the greatest night in the history of the promotion, and he took a huge risk, and it worked out.”
Allin and Sting’s final match took place at AEW Revolution on March 3, 2024, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The successful partnership saw Sting serve as a mentor to Darby Allin since 2020, eventually leading them to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit the Ariel Helwani Show with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the full interview on Ariel Helwani’s YouTube channel.
