Darby Allin has spent years treating his body like it owes him money, but Tony Schiavone was worried about the AEW star long before most wrestling fans even knew his name. Schiavone revealed that one of Darby’s wildest early stunts had him convinced the guy could literally kill himself in the ring.
During an appearance on the Battleground Podcast, Schiavone was asked whether there had ever been a Darby stunt where he watched from commentary and thought he simply did not want to see him do it. Schiavone immediately brought up the massive ladder dive and Darby being thrown down concrete steps before going even further back to their time together in MLW.
“Yeah. Off the top of that gigantic ladder. Yeah, that one. Did he go through glass? Yeah. Yeah, that — getting thrown down the concrete steps in Jacksonville. And there was another one too, and this is pre-AEW. So, I did MLW for a while and that’s where I got to know Darby and work with Darby and MJF and Brody King was there and a few others that I know I’m going to miss, not mention their names, but because I can’t remember all of them.”
Schiavone said it did not take long for him to realize just how far Darby was willing to push things. Even back then, he was already warning the future AEW star that his approach could get him seriously hurt.
“So, Darby, we would tape our show at this bar, two-level bar in Orlando. And I got to know Darby and I remember talking to Darby that, ‘You’re going to kill yourself, kid.’ And this was way, way before the Darby we know now.”
Then Darby suffered a concussion. That apparently did absolutely nothing to slow him down, because Schiavone said Darby came back to him only a couple of weeks later with another completely insane idea.
“And he, a couple of weeks into it, he came to me. He said, ‘Guess what? I have a concussion.’ And I said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Take care of yourself, buddy.’ So, he survived the concussion. Then he told me, he said, ‘So, here’s what we’re going to do.’ He said, ‘They’re going to throw me out of the ring as if I’m injured, and I’m going to go up on the balcony, and I’m going to duct tape a chair to my back, and I’m going to do a Coffin Drop from the balcony, on the railing of the balcony, onto the ring.’”
Schiavone wanted no part of it. Darby, naturally, had already made up his mind.
“And I said, ‘No, you’re not.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I am.’ I said, ‘You know you’re going to kill yourself.’ He said, ‘No, I’m going to be fine.’ And he did it.”
That stunt still sticks with Schiavone because there were so many different ways it could have gone horribly wrong. This wasn’t just another wrestling bump in his eyes — Darby could have slipped, missed the ring entirely or wrecked his back on impact.
“And that one moment more than anything else that Darby has done sticks with me because it’s like the first two or three months I had ever known him, thinking, ‘What is wrong with this kid?’ I mean, just the sight of him climbing up on the balcony railing. Okay. Number one, he could slip off, right? Number two, he could miss the ring. And number three, the impact could have broken his back.”
Of course, Darby didn’t become any less reckless once he reached AEW. Ringside News has covered plenty of examples, including the time he admitted that many of his most dangerous AEW stunts are actually his own ideas. Schiavone also brought up Darby climbing Mount Everest, something he actually accomplished in 2025 after reaching the summit and planting an AEW flag.
Schiavone then remembered another moment that summed up Darby perfectly. After Darby was set on fire during an AEW stunt, Schiavone went backstage to check on him — only to find Darby talking about a possible third-degree burn like he was deciding what to eat for lunch.
“Now, you know, they caught him on fire. And I went back to the trainer’s room, doctor’s room, and checked on him. And he went, ‘Yeah,’ he was taking off his tape. He said, ‘Yeah, I think I may have like a third-degree burn on my back, but I’ll pull through.’ He just talks about it like, you know, like, ‘Yeah, maybe I’m going to have ham sandwich for lunch, but I think it’ll be okay.’ Hey, but he’s talking about third-degree burns on his back. He’s an incredible human being.”
That is where Schiavone’s concern shifted from what Darby is doing right now to what all of this punishment could mean decades from now. He openly wondered what shape Darby’s body will be in when he reaches 50.
“Now, I know I won’t be around because of my age, but when he’s like 50, I just wonder how he’s going to be.”
Schiavone pointed to wrestlers such as Mick Foley and Hulk Hogan as examples of what years of punishment can eventually do to someone’s body.
“Because you see guys like Mick Foley, right? And guys who — even Hulk Hogan the last, you know, couple of years of his career could barely walk because of all the leg — only thing he was doing was leg drops on the guy, doing the compression on the spine. And the guys who back in the years have taken the bumps, you know, are just kind of not moving well.”
Schiavone said he hopes Darby is doing something away from the ring to counter all that punishment, whether that means stretching, yoga or simply finding ways to keep his body moving.
“And I just — I hope Darby is also trying to take care of his body in other ways like maybe chiropractic help. I don’t know. Maybe Tai Chi, stretch the body. I don’t know.”
When yoga and Pilates were thrown into the conversation, Schiavone agreed with the bigger point.
“Something to take care of yourself.”
Darby has somehow survived balcony dives, fire, brutal landings, broken bones, Mount Everest and just about every other insane idea he has come up with. Schiavone has been watching this madness since before AEW even existed, and after all these years, his concern hasn’t changed much — he just hopes Darby’s body can keep surviving whatever Darby decides to do next.
How do you think Darby Allin’s wrestling style is going to affect him later in life, and is there a point where somebody needs to tell him no? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
