JD Drake looks back on one of his breakout matches in AEW.
The company star appeared on the AEW Unrestricted podcast to discuss his showdown with Darby Allin for the TNT Championship, a match that took place back in the spring of 2021. Drake reveals that Allin was the one who pitched for their bout to get a good amount of time.
Yeah, my match with Darby. I don’t think anybody expected me and Darby to work that well together. Again, another one of those where I showed up and we knew each other from elsewhere. He said ‘Hey, I’m going to Tony soon and I’m gonna tell him I want at least ten minutes with you.’ Apparently, he hadn’t worked anybody big for the belt by then. He said ‘I wanna go in and show that I can hang with somebody big, and I don’t trust anybody more than I do you, so why not?’
Despite the loss, Drake feels like the matchup legitimized him for the AEW fanbase.
Then we went out and had… it was so much fun. So much fun. I feel like that match legitimized me for some of the fans of AEW. Now they know I’m not just a big guy that’s there to… I can go in there and go. I can still go now. I’m a three hundred pound guy that doesn’t look like a Greek god, who gives a shit. That match, for me, meant a lot.
Elsewhere in the interview, Drake spoke about his decision to join AEW after WWE told him he was unfit to compete. You can read about that here.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)