AEW putting its world title on Darby Allin makes me think of Busta Rhymes, a one-trick pony from 1980s and 1990s hip hop.
Being honest here, I can actually allow myself to enjoy Busta Rhymes, oozing raw energy, spitting a flurry of raw energy, became a go-to guy on ensemble tracks in the ’90s.
But, solo?
I’ve seen Busta Rhymes in concert; he can’t go it alone.
You can’t sustain staccato by yourself for two hours.
Busta uses his hype man to help him get through his sets, which is a little disappointing to see live.
The lesson learned here: Busta Rhymes is better in small doses.
Darby Allin is better in small doses, as a 5’8”, 170-pound sack of nothing who works underneath, takes the requisite beating from whoever the bigger man physically is that night, before seizing upon the slightest of openings, hitting the opponent with a staccato flurry, then emerging victorious.
Can that style work with him as the world champ?
What bothers me about the idea of Darby Allin as the champ of a TV wrestling company is the 5’8”, 170 part.
Rey Mysterio Jr. had a couple of brief runs with each of the WWE world belts more than a decade ago, but there’s a reason his runs were brief.
A world champ needs to look like a world champ – in the ring, and in the airport.
He needs to look like a guy who can handle himself in a bar fight; not like a guy who would be the first cut from your JV football team.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman, billed at 5’11”, 226, is on the cut line of guys who can fit the bill as looks like a world champ, right there with the likes of former WWE champs Shawn Michaels (6’1”, 225) and Bret Hart (6’0”, 235).
MJF, like Michaels and Hart, and Ric Flair (6’1”, 243) before them, has a commanding presence as a pro wrestler.
That’s the next issue I have with Darby Allin in the context of this debate.
He doesn’t present as a ring general, like a Friedman, like a Michaels, Hart and Flair.
Even if he did, at 5’8”, 170, he’d be a hard sell as a world champ, just because of the lack of size.
Darby Allin is an attraction; in an earlier era, he might have been a top tag wrestler, like a Ricky Morton or Dynamite Kid, smaller guys able to take the brunt of the lashing from the bigger heel tag team, then rallying his side with his grit and dazzling moveset to the win.
As a singles wrestler, Darby Allin is a guy who can carry a secondary title and be entertaining as hell down the card; if AEW didn’t have so many damn singles titles, I’d give him a secondary title and send a line of bigger midcard guys at him to vanquish, then, every once in a while, give him a match with the heel champ, like was done Wednesday night.
Which gets me to a problem I have with Tony Khan doing this match this soon, and TK does this all the time: why not build it for a few weeks?
Have MJF and Allin trade insults on the mic, MJF could injure Allin backstage and make him even more the underdog going in – then we get the match, and MJF dominates, beating an already battered and bruised Allin within an inch of his life, before Allin rallies, gets thisclose to taking the title, ahead of the rug being pulled out from under him.
Rinse, repeat, a few times, until, maybe a year or two, we give Allin a brief, unexpected run with the belt, to reward him and the fans for investing themselves in him – like what was done with Rey Mysterio Jr., like what was done with Kofi Kingston back in 2019.
But, making this guy your world champ?
Like, ever?
And in a squash, after you asked folks to pay $49.99 three days ago to watch MJF take on another legit, adult-sized ring general, Kenny Omega?
Last $49.99 you’re getting from me.
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Chris Graham
