Swerve Strickland Criticizes One Aspect Of Darby Allin's AEW World Title Win

Thus far in 2026, Darby Allin's AEW Men's World Championship victory over MJF at "AEW Dynamite: Spring Breakthru" continues to rank among the most shocking moments in wrestling this year. While many anticipated Allin could defeat MJF for the title in the days leading up to his win, his victory still caught several off guard both by how quickly Allin defeated MJF, and AEW's decision to take the title off MJF during a successful title run and put it on Allin, who had not been in World Title contention in some time.

According to fellow AEW star Swerve Strickland, that last part was a mistake. In an interview with "Bootleg Kev," Strickland admitted that he was among the many that was stunned by Allin's sudden title win. And though he feels Allin's run as champion has turned into a massive success thanks to several acclaimed title defenses, he does think that Allin could've gone into the victory with a bit more momentum, especially compared to how MJF had been presented.

"I feel like there could've been more done for Darby in that moment, me personally," Strickland said. "Here's the thing; I feel like it anchored Darby a little bit too much, because we're also watching MJF go 46 minutes in a Texas Death Match. We're also watching him go 38 minutes with Kenny Omega. 

"And you know, I'm not saying Darby's not qualified to compete for that, but you've got to make Darby qualify to compete like that. And I felt like they didn't do him a favor with that. But Darby is so talented that now this run is making up for it. He's so talented and undeniable."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Bootleg Kev" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription