Mick Foley believes Darby Allin has taken inspiration from Cactus Jack and turned it into a style uniquely his own.
Allin has become known for his willingness to put his body on the line, frequently taking significant risks in and out of the ring. Those death-defying tendencies have drawn comparisons to Foley, whose career was defined in part by the punishment he was willing to endure.
During a recent interview with The Sportster’s Adam Barnard, Foley discussed the similarities while pointing out that Allin brings an athletic element to the formula that he never possessed.
“I see Darby as someone who took the inspiration from Cactus Jack and added a whole lot of athleticism to it,” Foley said. “He did things that I could have never done.”
Foley compared Allin’s evolution to how he developed the Cactus Jack character by taking influences from Bruiser Brody and Tommy Billington and putting his own spin on them.
“And he’s created a hybrid style that borrows from me a little bit and from others who are far more athletic than me,” Foley continued. “And he’s made it his own in the same way that I basically took one part Bruiser Brody, one part Tommy Billington, and made it my own. He’s created a hybrid style that works for him and has made him one of the biggest stars of this new generation.”
