AEW's Darby Allin Looks Toward His First Grand Slam Without Sting

For the past several years, Darby Allin was almost always accompanied by Sting, and the two would often enter into feuds alongside one another, most notably ending "The Icon's" career together at AEW Revolution 2024. Now, Allin is set to face Jon Moxley on "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam," and recently appeared on "Busted Open Radio," where he expressed what he thinks will happen now that he won't have Sting at ringside during a major match.

Allin admitted that he's always been attached to Sting, and that this phase of his career is his "life after Sting," but pointed out that he had a run as a singles star with the TNT Championship before Sting was even signed to AEW. "I feel like this is a friendly reminder to everybody [of] what I'm capable of, and I belong in these spots," he noted.

AEW is reportedly close to securing a new TV deal with WBD, which Allin notes is something that has motivated him to work harder, and that his upcoming match should lay the foundation for what fans can expect in AEW going forward. "I want to be the backbone, I want to be the face of this place, and to be the face of this place I need to be champion," Allin boldly declared.

Darby Allin infamously pushes himself to extreme limits, both inside wrestling and outside the industry, but the star says that many aren't aware he's always on a strict recovery regimen. "I'm good friends with DDP, and every new crazy contraption there is for physical recovery? I go over to his house and we like test it out and I buy it," he explained. Allin then claimed both his body and mind feel incredible right now. "A lot of those guys are just living day-to-day; I see a bigger picture."

Allin then praised AEW and what the company has done for younger wrestlers, which he believes they don't fully appreciate. He then praised Moxley, and claimed that he still looks up to the three-time AEW World Champion. "He came into AEW and his first ever promo is 'this is a paradigm shift,' and I want people to treat it as such," he asserted. 

The former TNT Champion then pointed out that AEW stars have to perform to their absolute limits every single week, and he wants to show how the promotion was designed to turn the industry on its head. "I feel like I'm the poster child to what that embodies," Allin noted.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.