Darby Allin heard the complaints that his AEW World Championship reign ended too quickly. He doesn’t regret a damn thing about how he spent it.
While speaking on The Mark Hoke Show Pro Wrestling Radio Show, Darby addressed his run with the AEW World Championship, which ended at Double or Nothing. Some fans wanted considerably more time with Darby on top, but he made it clear that stretching the reign out was never more important to him than going full throttle while he had it.
“Yeah, I have no regrets with that. I was burning the candle at both ends, but I have no regrets at all because you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”
For Darby, a shorter reign doesn’t suddenly make it a disappointing one. If anything, it fit exactly how he’s approached his entire career. And if he could go back and do the whole thing again, Darby wouldn’t touch a thing.
“So if a short and sweet championship run—that’s my motto in life. You just got to bring it, man. But I honestly have no regrets. I would not change a single thing.”
That championship run carried even more weight because of how long Darby had spent chasing it. He had been part of AEW since its earliest days before finally reaching the top in his hometown, and the emotion of getting there had already started pouring out of him during his promo before the title match. By the time the championship was actually in his hands, there wasn’t much left.
“I honestly had no emotions left inside of me. I spent all my energy just that day talking in that promo before the match about what it meant to me. And I was so depleted that I had nothing left. So, as I’m holding this, I feel just complete emptiness in a way of, like—it took everything. It took everything to have that happen, and I had no energy left. I was grateful, but as I look at this, I was like, ‘Man, there’s nothing left in me.’ It took everything.”
Darby waited years to become AEW World Champion and then attacked the reign exactly like you’d expect Darby Allin to attack anything—with absolutely no brakes. It may have burned out faster than some fans wanted, but asking Darby to slow down just so he could hold onto the belt longer probably would’ve defeated the entire point.
Short and sweet, live by the sword, die by the sword. Darby got his moment, emptied the tank and walked away without wanting to change a second of it.
Do you think Darby Allin’s AEW World Championship reign should have lasted longer? Let us know in the comments.
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