AEW superstar and former TNT champion Darby Allin recently joined the DDP Snakepit podcast for an in-depth conversation about all things pro-wrestling, including his thought on his 2019 Fyter Fest matchup with Cody Rhodes, a bout that ended in a 20-minute draw, but exposed a lot of new fans to his daredevil lifestyle in the ring. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Says he knew a lot was riding on that match:
“That match, I knew everything was riding on that match and I needed to go all out for that match and get as wild as possible. That’s why you see me doing these crazy coffin drops on the apron. I knew this was the first impression for a lot of people. I remember, he texted me, ’20-minute broadway?’ I honestly, I didn’t know what a broadway was. I was like, ‘what the fuck is he talking about?’”
How it ended up being a 20-minute draw:
“The 20-minute broadway with Cody, it was a no-brainer to book at that rate. I wasn’t under the impression that we would go to a draw. I thought it was going to be a loss. That was real cool of Cody to do that. I don’t take any of that shit for granted. People can say whatever about Cody now that he’s gone, but I have nothing negative to say. People’s lives and decisions and paths are all different. I love that dude. After that I had three other matches with Cody. He beat me the second time, he beat me the third time, but the fourth time, which was our final match, I beat him for the TNT Championship. I personally don’t give a shit about wins and losses, I really don’t. That’s the thing I hear from Sting. People think, ‘How do Darby and Sting get along?’ What they don’t see is our camaraderie behind the scenes. What Sting taught me more than anything is, ‘if you’re as good as you think you are, you can win in losing.’ I love putting other people over if I know…if the person is somewhat new to the company and they’re going to take that ball and run with it, it helps the whole place out. I have no ego when it comes to this stuff.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)