Before Darby Allin gets a chance to fight Jon Moxley on Saturday, the former TNT Champion sat down on The Ariel Helwani Show and talked about the amazing atmosphere surrounding AEW these days.
“It’s amazing,” Allin said about the vibe in AEW. “I’m not just saying that. Say like a few years ago, you definitely felt, like, this tension. But now it’s like — everybody’s on the same page. Let’s make this place as good as possible. And I feel like a lot of people have to truly understand how good they have it. Because Tony doesn’t — he wants everybody in the ring and in their personal life to be happy. That’s a really good energy. Where it’s like, ‘Hey, everybody, be the best versions of yourself.’ And I feel like right now more than ever, everybody’s on the same wavelength. Everybody has the same goals.”
Helwani put focus on the tension that AEW was feeling a few years ago and asked what changed throughout the years. Darby didn’t hold back on his answer.
“The cancer got cut out,” he said. “Just egotistical wrestlers that don’t want to lose.”
But Allin made it clear that he wasn’t talking about one name - CM Punk. He noted that there were a couple of names who had such an ego that they should get out of the f*cking sport.
“It’s the greatest thing in the world, but it’s staged,” Allin said about pro wrestling. “So if you’re going to have an ego about that, get out of the f*cking sport. Go be in the UFC. Go try, you know what I mean, don’t be bringing that sh*t here. This is about having fun. This is about, like, just putting on a good energy. It’s like, ‘Come on, man. Just stop.’ And that was like the biggest thing with me — once all that got cleared up, I really felt, ‘Okay, cool. Let’s rock.’ But I just don’t like egos. I can’t stand them. Can’t stand them.”
There have been rumors about Malakai Black and Miro (aka Aleister Black and Rusev) refusing to lose to AEW stars in the past. It’s quite possible that Allin’s talking about those names, though we don’t know for sure. Whatever the case may be, it’s great that AEW’s environment isn’t as toxic as it used to be. WrestleDream seems like another great pay-per-view on paper and it would be shocking if it was anything less.