AEW's Darby Allin On When He Knew He Made It In Professional Wrestling

"Making it" may be a rather subjective term, but Darby Allin has a clear image of the moment he felt his career take off to the next level.

During a recent appearance on "Lost Signals," Allin recalled his AEW debut, which saw him battle Cody Rhodes to a time-limit draw at Fyter Fest in June 2019. While the match wasn't nationally televised, Allin greatly cherishes the opportunity. "Honestly, I felt like I 'made it' when I made my [AEW] debut against Cody because even though that wasn't national television yet, just being on that stage and that platform, making the entrance, I looked through all the people and I'm like, 'Whoa.' I felt like, in my mind, I made it."

A few months later, Allin defeated Jimmy Havoc to become the number-one contender for the AEW World Championship. The next week, Allin challenged Chris Jericho for the title in a Philadelphia Street Fight on the company's third-ever episode of "AEW Dynamite." 

"For [AEW] to take a chance and for Jericho to take a chance week three, that's not a lot of weeks, was very like special to me. So, that was another feeling of, 'Oh, the company has like faith in me,' so it's cool," Allin said.

With the stakes of this match raised even higher, Allin felt obligated to "hit a home run" with his performance. "... I pulled out all the tricks that I had in this brain and left nothing on the table because I don't want someone to see that and be like, 'Oh, Darby wasn't quite ready.' I want them to be like, 'Yo, he's ready.'"

Despite his eventual loss to Jericho, Allin continued to carve out his legacy as one of AEW's "four pillars." And while he has yet to capture the AEW World Championship, he is a two-time TNT Champion.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Lost Signals" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.