{"id":156725,"date":"2026-04-03T14:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=156725"},"modified":"2026-04-03T14:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:19:15","slug":"the-void-what-aews-darby-allin-is-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/04\/03\/the-void-what-aews-darby-allin-is-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Void: What AEW\u2019s Darby Allin is Missing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Currently, Darby Allin is chasing the AEW World Championship, and it feels half-alive like the daredevil\u2019s persona and make-up. For clarity, and for my sins, I\u2019m a Darby Allin fan. I wrote back in 2024 how <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/09\/27\/darby-allin-aew-world-championship\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">Allin would be the AEW World Champion at AEW All In Texas<\/a><\/span> because there was personal and industry history that aligned so perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>Besides mirroring Allin\u2019s history with Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship, there was the potential parallel with Sting saving WCW from the NWO. All would&#8217;ve, could&#8217;ve, should&#8217;ve fantasy booking, I admit. An interpretation I championed because a potential story made sense.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, by <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/12\/19\/jon-moxley-aew-world-championship-at-worlds-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">December 2024<\/span><\/a><\/span>, I\u2019d already changed my mind. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/04\/16\/why-some-aew-fans-want-the-death-riders-to-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Death Riders\u2019 inconsistency<\/span><\/a>, the realisation that Allin didn\u2019t need the AEW World Championship to either ascend to the main event or fulfil that story. The story with Hangman Page was better. It had something Allin both then and now did not have. Personal stakes. Since 2024, Creative and Allin, both the character and the person, have undermined his credibility as a potential AEW World Champion.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Darby Allin is cleared, but Gabe Kidd throws him down the stairs! | AEW Dynamite, 12\/24\/25 (edited)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L21_cCJNgmo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Picked a Pinnacle<\/h2>\n<p>None of us knows if Allin was pencilled in to win the AEW World Championship at All In Texas. Yet Allin\u2019s choice of words at the time rings true at present. Some fans perceived that when given the choice of two pinnacles to climb, Allin chose Everest.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>\u201cI already feel like I\u2019m the champion of the world. I don\u2019t need the championship belt to feel validated because I\u2019m already winning in life. I feel so free and happy. I\u2019m grateful for everything.\u201d Darby Allin, WTF with Marc Maron, transcript from <\/em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/wrestling\/aew\/darby-allin-pumps-brakes-on-winning-aew-world-championship\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Sports Illustrated<\/em><\/a><\/span><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Literally saying he doesn\u2019t give a \u201csh*t\u201d about needing to win the world title, it\u2019s an easy reference point for the present. What\u2019s changed since 2024? Why does Allin\u2019s character suddenly care? The reasoning, save AEW, is old hat. The artificial heart and soul that AEW first became stale <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/05\/08\/aew-vince-mcmahon-and-giving-aew-fans-what-they-want\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">with The Jericho Appreciation Society<\/a> <\/span>and persisted through to <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rELbgD-Nw90\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Death Riders<\/a><\/span> at one time.<\/p>\n<p>The implication from Allin that AEW needs saving from MJF ignores <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/14\/why-mjfs-2nd-aew-world-championship-reign-will-be-better-than-his-first\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">that this second reign has already avoided the mistakes of the first and more<\/a><\/span>. MJF has changed to become the main antagonist of AEW. Allin\u2019s character motivation has become stale and stuck in the past. Allin and Creative are relying on what\u2019s worked before. Yet we know from AEW history<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/06\/21\/no-floaties-more-freedom-why-the-aew-philosophy-exposes-wrestlers\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\"> that the company\u2019s philosophy actively exposes weaknesses<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not about choosing the wrong mountain. It\u2019s that Allin\u2019s character remains in the same place he\u2019s always occupied. If Allin is to be more than a challenger of the month, an actual contender, then Allin needs a different peak to die on.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Darby Allin On Climbing Mount Everest\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m4a1J7pLUg8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>It\u2019s Not Enough to Die<\/h2>\n<p>Allin might bleed AEW. Shockingly, it was MJF rather than Allin who, kayfabe or shoot, got the AEW initials tattooed on his body. Although it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if you cracked Allin open like a chocolate bar, he\u2019s got AEW embedded in his core. Jokes not yet aside, Allin is synonymous with AEW in a way few are.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is, Allin\u2019s willingness to put himself at risk has become one-note. Critics often use Darby Allin\u2019s stunts as a strawman for the alternative\u2019s excessive violence, missing more obvious and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/10\/19\/what-criticism-of-violence-and-safety-in-aew-get-right\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">legitimate criticisms<\/span><\/a>. Allin is more than a stuntman. Yet it has become one by creative default.<\/p>\n<p>When Allin declared he would die for the AEW World Championship,<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LucyisjustLucy\/status\/2039516621547442683\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a tweet from Lucy of the Wrestling Groupchat Podcas<\/a><\/span>t sums it up. While hilarious and over the top, but true, Allin is willing to kill himself against every opponent. Be thrown down flights of stairs, off balconies onto flaming tables and glass.<\/p>\n<p>Death means nothing when Allin, since Everest, has spoken repeatedly in interviews about finding fulfilment and content. If Allin has no real struggle, the chase or title win means nothing. But as a practising nihilist, I can tell you, the belief system is as misunderstood as how non-fans perceive wrestling as fake. I will not psychoanalyse Allin, the man, but the character\u2019s portrayal often reflects a surface-level nihilism. Apathy and emotional disconnect for the uninitiated is easy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Darby Allin calls out MJF ... and gets a match for AEW Dynasty! | AEW Dynamite, 4\/1\/26\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/92QVYhPV4k0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Nihilism: Filling the Void<\/h2>\n<p>Nihilism is not pessimism, cynicism, or edgelord angst. It\u2019s about recognising that external drivers and sources of meaning shouldn\u2019t matter to you. You find freedom by choosing your own meaning based on internal and subjective desires, not societal standards, unless those align with you.<\/p>\n<p>We choose our meaning. The true reality of nihilism is best exemplified in the words, actions, and<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SVif2qGMs7c\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> intro video of Willow Nightingale<\/a><\/span>. Nothing matters, smile anyway.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to be religious to think that French philosopher Blaise Pascal\u2019s assertion that there is a God-shaped hole in every human heart is true. As the psychologist and atheist Jonathan Haidt explains in his book <em>The Anxious Generation,<\/em> humans have a spiritual need to fill the void in themselves. Modern society will try to fill this with content and business if we don\u2019t try to fulfil it with something meaningful.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear that Allin, the person, doesn\u2019t care for the traditional trappings and status symbols of conventional success. Allin is content, but wrestling and storytelling require conflict. Internal as much as external. This sudden decision to go for the AEW World Championship is jarring because Allin\u2019s reasons for needing the championship are false and unbelievable.<\/p>\n<p>If given a reason, fan perceptions can change. Look how MJF adjusted his character after Worlds End when some fans feared <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/01\/03\/mjf-aew-championship-reign\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">history repeating<\/a><\/span>. MJF changed. Many of the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/31\/which-established-aew-wrestlers-need-character-progression\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">other established AEW stars who needed to change to evolve their characters did<\/a><\/span>. What Allin\u2019s character needs is a new meaning to change.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Darby Allin\u2019s Most INSANE Moments in AEW \ud83e\udd2f\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ucx4iRPf6pg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Making Meaning<\/h2>\n<p>AEW creative is guilty of surface-level nihilism with Allin. Relying on Allin\u2019s physicality, extreme risks, and violence to compensate for missteps. I\u2019d argue Allin was not elevated in victory over Jon Moxley. Needing Sting\u2019s intervention, plus a boring coffin match with Gabe Kidd, what did Allin achieve besides Ws?<\/p>\n<p>Allin did not save AEW or Moxley. In fact, what saved <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/29\/how-aew-and-the-2025-continental-classic-saved-jon-moxley\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_self\">Jon Moxley was AEW itself during the Continental Classic<\/a><\/span>. Like <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/11\/23\/orange-cassidy-aew-cowboy-bebop\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Orange Cassidy, another wrestler trapped in a nihilistic spiral,<\/a> Allin feels like a cog in the machine rather than an essential component.<\/p>\n<p>Undoubtedly, Allin loves and needs AEW. It\u2019s where a logical story and characterisation could easily come from. Following the footsteps of Swerve Strickland, MJF, and Hangman Adam Page, the Championship isn\u2019t a belt. It\u2019s not about status or being called a world champion. It\u2019s what it metaphorically and symbolically means to the champion\u2019s internal struggle. It\u2019s about self-actualisation and dealing with an internal struggle. They need the belt to be complete. To be whole.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst Allin might prefer arthouse cinema to Hollywood, the AEW World Championship is the McGuffin that will promise a change in the hero. For Allin, the story could be, despite everything, that void won\u2019t be filled by anything but the meaning he instils in the AEW World Championship. Perhaps it is the only thing that will make him feel fully alive. Like Page, Moxley, Strickland MJF, he\u2019ll have to learn that\u2019s not true, but that new meaning may anchor his character thereafter.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who will say &quot;I Quit&quot;? Darby Allin or Jon Moxley? | AEW WrestleDream\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XkdujpN1tjc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Currently, Darby Allin is chasing the AEW World Championship, and it feels half-alive like the daredevil\u2019s persona and make-up. For clarity, and for my sins, I\u2019m a Darby Allin fan. I wrote back in 2024 how Allin would be the AEW World Champion at AEW All In Texas because there was personal and industry history [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":156747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,2,6,2192],"tags":[4133,8598,5730,491,9081,4395],"class_list":["post-156725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-featured","category-north-america","category-wrestling","tag-aew","tag-aew-collision","tag-aew-dynamite","tag-darby-allin","tag-death-riders","tag-jon-moxley"],"modified_by":"Steph Franchomme","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156725"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156749,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156725\/revisions\/156749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}