Priscilla Kelly Reveals Why She Rejected AEW’s Pitch to Debut as “Darby Allin’s Wife”

Priscilla Kelly is finally speaking out about why she passed on what could have been a major AEW opportunity—and it all came down to refusing to be defined by her relationship.

During her conversation on the Rulebreakers podcast with Saraya, Kelly shared the full story of her early time in AEW, her marriage to Darby Allin, and the decision that may have changed her career path forever. She recalled making appearances during the early AEW run and trying to find her footing with the company.

“Yeah, so it was really weird. I did—what did I do? I did All Out, I did the Casino Battle Royal. I wasn’t in for very long, but I think I had a good little showing. And then I did the Jericho Cruise, and I did an episode of Dynamite on that. And then I had a house show. And I had a lot of fun. I was really trying to get in there.”

Because she was married to Darby Allin at the time, Kelly said she was around constantly during the COVID era when AEW ran shows in Jacksonville.

“At the time, I was married to Darby Allin, so it was easy. I could just jump in the car with him and go. At that time, it was COVID, so they were doing all the shows in Jacksonville. So I would go… it’s just weird. Nothing ever really came of it. I don’t know if it was a timing thing, probably.”

Then came the pitch—a chance to debut as Darby Allin’s on-screen wife. But Kelly wasn’t interested.

“Yeah. That was the idea. But I didn’t want to be introduced as someone’s wife. I was scared that if I got my first real introduction on TV as ‘Darby Allin’s wife,’ that’s all I would ever be.”

She feared being overshadowed by someone else’s spotlight, no matter how much respect she had for her then-husband.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Screw my then-husband,’ but I wanted to be my own entity. I didn’t want to be the person who comes to the ring and hears chants for their husband. Like, Brie Bella would come to the ring and they’d chant ‘Cena.’ AJ would get ‘CM Punk’ chants. And that was my biggest fear. That I’d be introduced that way and it would stick forever.”

Even though turning it down might’ve closed the door on a longer AEW run, Kelly stood her ground.

“Maybe that screwed me over, maybe it didn’t. But I was really strong about it. I didn’t want to be someone’s Robin.”

Priscilla Kelly walked away from a guaranteed role in AEW because she didn’t want to live in someone else’s shadow—and whether or not it cost her in the short term, it cemented her identity on her own terms.

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