The Darby Allin Spot Should Have Been an Injury Angle
I have been watching pro wrestling for over 40 years. In that time, I’ve seen wrestling go from cartoonish super heroes to barbed wire bloodbaths taking place in a bingo hall that smelled of beer and body odor. I’ve seen local territories present their own unique brand of pro wrestling and national companies race to conquer the globe. I see the beauty in all of it! All of it has something that appeals to my inner senses that I can get behind even if it isn’t exactly how I would present pro wrestling if I were the guy writing the checks. However, last night saw a spot that made me wonder about the logistics of the trajectory of the expectations of pro wrestling fans.
The spot in question was the belly to belly suplex performed by PAC on Darby Allin from the January 14th episode of AEW Dynamite. If you did not see it, I have embedded a video of the spot above. The spot sees PAC and Darby Allin on the floor, where they spent the majority of their match. PAC sets up the heavy diamond plated ring steps and delivers an overhead belly to belly suplex on Darby sending him kidney first into the steps. The move clearly hurt Darby as he screamed something that was censored on the TBS broadcast in pain.
In my intro, I mentioned that all wrestling has appealed to me. I legitimately could sit down right now and watch a full episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling from 1986 followed immediately by an episode of ECW Hardcore TV from 1997 followed immediately by TNA Wrestling from 2005 with an episode of WCW or NWA Saturday Night anywhere in that mix. In fact, that would be an ideal night for me even at the age of 44! All of it, every bit of it, has a wonderful unique charm that you can go back and watch and think, “Wow, this was good!” While there are examples to the contrary, most of what I listed was booked logically and while the ECW example might involve more sex, violence, and brutal angles such as “Pitbull” Gary Wolf’s legitimate broken neck than the classic WWF product I was raised on, it was special. Sure, Gary Wolf broke his neck taking a DDT from Shane Douglas in a freak accident. That freak accident was turned into an angle and was used to create perhaps the biggest pop in the history of the ECW Arena when Gary returned to the ring to knock the “Franchise” Shane Douglas down a peg. It was classic story telling with modern violence.
The Darby Allin spot should have been an injury angle.
I know my 3rd grade English teacher probably will read this, if still alive, and lecture me on using one sentence as a paragraph. I did so for emphasis. Darby took a flat back bump on a non-flat surface and the result was brutal to watch. Had Doc Sampson, AEW’s resident Doctor, run into the shot and called the match off, no one watching would have doubted that Darby was legitimately injured by the spot. But, that isn’t what happened.
What did happen is the show used that bump as a break spot and by the time the match returned from the picture on picture break which I can’t bring myself to watch, Darby was back to having the upper hand in the match! He had shrugged off, seemingly, a spot that looked like it should have caused internal bleeding as of it was a hip toss or hip lock as the great Bobby “The Brain” Heenan was prone to calling it. A move that could have been an angle starter or enhancer was forgotten after a few messages from AEW’s sponsors.
When you watch AEW now, you see a lot of the names and faces that created this “hybrid” style of pro wrestling that AEW, rightly or wrongly, is founded on. Names such as Okada, Kenny Omega, Tanahashi (who recently retired), and even the Young Bucks themselves work and you can noticeably see the wear and tear of the “strong style” that captivated the Internet somewhere in the early 2010’s via companies such as New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. It is a style that expects the wrestlers in the ring to perform like video game characters night in and night out having matches that would be “bangers” if they were the main event of Starcade or WrestleMania but they expect that level of effort and level of difficulty in the performances every single time you see the wrestlers work. This sometimes results in matches between name stars and lower card members that are far too competitive and almost shine the lower level star that loses as much as the star. Much like Elmo when he wished every day was Christmas, what do you get in a world where everyone is a star and is equal? You get a whole lot of non-stars.
Will Ospready was lectured to by Vader about a decade ago to calm his style down. Vader was called old, over the hill, and bitter for saying what he said. Well, Vader died from heart disease a few years back. But, he won the argument even though he isn’t around to say “I told you so.” Will Ospreay’s amazing performances, and they were amazing, landed him with a broken neck. He’s not the first wrestler to suffer a broken neck. He won’t be the last. But, his style was flirting with disaster for quite some time before disaster struck. Darby Allin has flirted with disaster his whole life. It is only a matter of time before disaster strikes him as well.
Many fans say “Darby wants to die in the ring.” Tell me, should any responsible promotion wish to broadcast that death? At Sting’s retirement match at AEW Revolution 2024, Darby took a bump through glass that resulted in him being a bloody mess and saw glass rain down upon fans in the crowd that could have been a lawsuit. I hoped that spot would have been the “Come to Jesus” moment for AEW and Darby to realize that he has a unique charisma that makes him entertaining to watch and he does not need to nearly kill himself to maintain that popularity. But, that wasn’t the case. From slams through burning tables to forks to the kidney, ironically on the same night (Blood and Guts 2025), Darby continues to take bumps and abuse that can’t possibly be good for his long term health.
I could quote Jim Ross when Mick Foley was thrown off the Cell and go, “Good God All Mighty, they killed him!” That moment in time might have set in motion and put in the mainstream this wild style of pro wrestling. But, I think we need to put the lid on this style of wrestling before it goes too far. How? By doing what wrestling was built upon. Working the fans!
The Darby Allin spot should have been an injury angle.
Once again, apologies to my 3rd grade English teacher. But, that sentence is the point of my article. If a spot like that is something that a talent like Darby feels must be done, it should be used as a means of doing an injury angle. The injury angle would put sympathy on him for enduring such trauma and would make him a bigger babyface for overcoming it. Simply put, Rocky had to lose to Clubber Lang in Rocky III so when he beats him and overcomes his fear, it means something. If Darby’s determined to take stupid bumps that could kill him, some of them have to have an immediate effect on him to where he endures the sick spot and eventually gets even. See Hulk Hogan taking the Earthquake’s finisher over and over again on the Brother Love show only to come back and conquer the Quake at Summerslam 1990. Or, Ricky Steamboat getting his throat crushed by Randy Savage and the ring bell in the lead in to WrestleMania III only for “The Dragon” to topple the “Macho Man” in one of the best matches ever in pro wrestling history.
I’m not suggesting that wrestling has to go back to the 1980’s nor am I just here to say the old guy “Back in my day” line, I’m simply saying that if the talent is determined to put their health on the line with spots that have never been done before for good reason, when the spots are done, they should mean something. They should spark an angle! They should not be throw away moves like ahip toss! Or else, and here’s a novel concept, why not just do a hip toss? Why take unnecessary damage to your body that will shorten your career and leave you slow, lumbering, and appearing far older than you actually are like Okada, Kenny Omega, Tanahashi, and even the Young Bucks?
Work smarter! Take your risks! But, make them mean something!