It was Darby’s idea to fill in for Eddie.
As a result of Eddie Kingston suffering a leg fracture in addition to tears in his ACL and meniscus, he had to be pulled from Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing and filling in for him is Darby Allin.
Darby made his AEW return in his home state of Washington. It was in March that he broke his foot at AEW Big Business and in late April, Allin was struck by a bus in New York City and broke his nose.
He talked to Tim and Eli of the Battleground Podcast and shared that it was his idea to fill in for Eddie. Allin was driving across the country to move his parents from Seattle to Georgia. He received word about Eddie and then decided to drive back to Washington where Dynamite would be. On the way, he was trying to get clearance from his doctors. He got the official confirmation that he’d be in the match on the Tuesday before.
It’s been a rough few months. Everybody said, ‘You know, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that you broke your foot in Jay White’s match’ so I couldn’t climb Mount Everest and then they said, oh, he’s safe now. He’s at home, he’s safe now and then, get hit by a bus (he laughed). Yeah, it’s been a rough few months but, I was in the middle of doing a cross-country roadtrip with my dad and my mom, last week, from Seattle. Moved them down to Georgia where I live. We’re on this cross-country road trip and we’re halfway across the country. At this point, we were in like Montana and I get the news that Eddie Kingston broke his leg. So, right then and there I was like, ‘F*ck…’ Well, it was my idea (to return for Anarchy in the Arena). I was like, someone needs to step up and I was already in Montana and then I flipped the b*tch and started driving back to Seattle, 12 hours where I just came from. So literally, as I was on that show, that was me pulling up to Seattle. I didn’t sleep for like a day and it was just like the whole time I was driving, I was like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Dude, just enjoy your time off. You don’t have to do this.’ But I felt compelled to just keep driving, and as I’m driving, I’m trying to get clearance from my foot doctor, my nose doctor, everybody. I’m just like, ‘Hey! Yo, I feel like I have to do this. Is there a possibility?’ And I got the clearance, but I do not feel 100 percent. I don’t know. Just the timing of being in Seattle last week and everything and making my return and people were surprised because, f*ck, I was surprised. About a day earlier, I got the confirmation that I was gonna be in that match pretty much Tuesday night before that Dynamite. So, I was surprised because Monday morning, I didn’t think I was gonna be in that match.
The two-time AEW TNT Champion said he cannot argue against anyone who says he came back too early. The first time he took his walking boot off to put a shoe on was right before his return.
I can’t argue against them, in the way that maybe it’s too soon (for me to come back). Maybe it is too soon. But there’s only one way to find out and that’s Sunday. I literally can’t argue against them because I can’t say, no! I’m 100 percent because honestly, last week, I was in a boot. In a boot walking around… Right as Dynamite was starting, for the first time since I broke my foot, I put my foot in a shoe. That’s the very first time I put my foot in a shoe right before I went out there because I was rolling up to the building in a boot, and so it’s like, maybe it is too soon. But I got the doctor’s clearance, but, we’ll see how physically everything is so I can’t argue against anybody that says it’s too soon but the only thing I can argue about is my love for this place and if you love something so much and you’re willing to step up and you know, Eddie, I was excited when Eddie Kingston was announced in the match. I remember watching it with the broken face and and the broken foot, just being like, ‘Oh yeah, Eddie’s in this match’ because Eddie in the Anarchy in the Arena matches, that’s iconic. Him walking down the ramp with the gas tank, that’s iconic and I was super excited to watch this match. But then all of a sudden, it’s changed to me. Feeling the need to be in this match because I feel like someone needed to step up and we’ll see man. We’ll see if it’s too soon. But, I’m looking forward to the challenge because, literally the mental pain of sitting down and watching the show for however long I was gone, I would say it was worse than any of the physical pain that I’ve been through. So if I could just even have one percent of getting in there, I’ll take it.
Allin is going to be teaming with Bryan Danielson, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler in Anarchy in the Arena to take on The Elite (Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, Jack Perry & Kazuchika Okada).
The N.W.A. Podcast made Double or Nothing predictions and that can be watched here.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the Battleground Podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
