Darby Allin has revealed that he was suffering from a ruptured eardrum on the day he captured the AEW World Championship.
On the April 15th edition of Dynamite, Darby Allin defeated MJF for the AEW World Championship. The star overwhelmed MJF with a low blow followed by four consecutive Coffin Drops and a side headlock takeover to reach the top of AEW for the first time in his career.
While the night marked the highlight of Allin’s career so far, he has now revealed that he was completely depleted by the time the bout took place. Speaking to Case Low of Q101, Allin explained that he woke up that day coughing blood and discovered he had a ruptured eardrum.
“That was the most depleted I’ve ever felt. I woke up that day, it was weird, I was coughing up blood. I was bleeding from the nose. I had a ruptured eardrum, so there’s blood coming out of my ear. All day long, it was going to take everything. I sent so much emotion in that promo that started the show that by the time it was ready for the match, I was so wiped.”
“I Felt Nothing” – Darby Allin On AEW World Title Win
After Darby Allin captured the gold, Sting and the AEW locker room emptied out to celebrate the victory with him. When people asked how he felt, Allin says that, due to his condition that day, he felt nothing.
“I remember at the end when I was holding the championship, Sting is there, the roster files out, and people are like, ‘What do you feel?’ I felt nothing, I felt so depleted, I was like, ‘This took everything.’
“It was such an emotional ride. Just so much that I felt like I put into AEW since its inception and trying to be the guy who, no pun intended, holds the flag for the company, be like, ‘Yo, this is what this place can give you if you treat it with the respect it deserves.”
Allin says his rise wouldn’t have been possible in another company, but AEW allowed him to remain himself and reach the world title.
“Let’s get real, Darby Allin does not exist in the world of wrestling outside of an AEW, I was never meant to make it as me, 100% as me. The fact that I did that in Everett [Washington] as me without changing a single thing is the biggest badge of honor I could have in my career, hands down.
“When I went to bed that night, it was just a lot of gratitude, just grateful for everything.”
In a previous interview, Darby Allin explained the importance of AEW, saying the company has set the bar incredibly high and wrestlers need to “step up” to get onto TV.
