AEW Star Darby Allin's Favorite Indie Match Was Against Current WWE Wrestler

Most wrestling fans nowadays know Darby Allin for taking some of the most horrendous bumps not just in AEW, but in wrestling as a whole. However, the former AEW TNT Champion got signed to All Elite Wrestling off the back of making a name for himself on the independent circuit in the 2010s, wrestling for promotions like DEFY, PWG, and the original incarnation of EVOLVE. It was in the latter of those promotions where Allin had what he calls his favorite match on the independent scene against WALTER, now more commonly known by WWE fans as "The Ring General" Gunther.

"I end up having the singles match with and it was incredible, it was so fun," Allin said on Chris Van Vliet's "Insight" podcast, before stating he loves it when he's booked to face guys who are much bigger than him. "Like when I'm in there, I love being in the ring with guys where you can actually be lost in the moment. Guys like Gunther, Brody King you know? Like all these people where you feeling like 'I'm in a real fight.' It's gnarly, so yeah that was incredible."

Despite the obvious size and strength difference, Gunther couldn't find a way to keep Allin down long enough and it was the current AEW star who got away with the sneaky victory. When asked how he managed to get the win, Allin simply responded with "All I need is three." Given how committed both men are to their respective companies, it's very possible that the 2018 meeting between Allin and Gunther will be the only time they share a ring together. Gunther put pen-to-paper on a new WWE contract at the end of 2024, while Allin has publicly stated many times that he would be happy to spend his entire career in AEW. 

One thing that always amazes people about Darby Allin is the amount of punishment he can withstand without ever picking up a serious injury. With that said, Allin revealed that he actually suffered a life-threatening injury on the day he was originally meant to be facing Gunther, causing the match to be rescheduled.

"I was supposed to originally wrestle him a month prior, but I had this crazy, crazy injury where I was bleeding from the brain, and it was like a double shot where I wrestled in the morning and I was supposed to wrestle Gunther at night, WALTER at the time, wrestle him at night. It was like two shows in one day." 

As for what that injury was, a head injury that, had it not been checked out, Allin believes he could have legitimately died had he gone through with the match against Gunther. "The morning show, I hit the concrete on my head so hard that like I just started feeling everything started to get quiet, and I felt like something was like swelling and I could barely hear people. I was like 'Oh, this ain't normal,' Went to the hospital and they're like 'You're bleeding from the brain, we have to put you under' and stuff like that. It's pretty crazy. But just imagine if I didn't go to the hospital, I probably would have died that night against WALTER."

For all of the nasty bumps Allin has taken since he joined AEW in 2019, the longest amount of time he's been away from the ring was the first half of 2025 while he was climbing Mount Everest. In terms of injuries, he broke his foot during a straight singles match with Jay White in March 2024, causing him to miss two months of action, and it was during his time recovering where he ended up breaking his nose after being hit by a bus in New York City.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.