AEW's Darby Allin has explained why he chose to reference the company's former EVP, and current WWE Superstar, Cody Rhodes, on Dynamite.
Darby will be teaming with Sting in what will be the legend's final match next month at Revolution against the Young Bucks, putting their Tag Team Championship on the line.
On last week's Dynamite, Darby cut a promo on the Young Bucks, calling them out for how they behaved towards him as EVPs, while praising Cody. The promo caused a stir online, with some fans arguing that Cody shouldn't have been referenced.
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Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Darby explained why he wanted to reference Cody while facing off with the Bucks.
"That's easy because he's the reason I'm in AEW. You think back to my debut, I wrestled him at Fighter Fest and we went a 20-minute Broadway draw," Darby said.
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"For him to take a chance on me that early... I was relatively super unknown still, I was never really the guy on the independent scene
"He did that. You've got to give respect where respect is due. I feel very strongly on paying homage to how I got here because I never thought I was going to get here.
"I begged people for jobs, I wasn't part of the little 'California crew.' I had to sit by and watch all these press conferences and have all these people that had no business being on national television get on national television," he continued,
"Meanwhile I knew exactly what I was capable of doing if I was given the opportunity. Fast forward all these years later and now look at me."
As for those who say it was a mistake because Cody is gone from AEW, Darby thinks the company should never ignore its history.
"My biggest problem is when people try to ignore the history of things as if something never happened," he said. "I'm like, we're not stupid, come on."
When it comes to online reactions, Darby says he doesn't pay attention to what people have to say about his work.
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"I only pay attention to what I think, I really don't care about what anyone else thinks," he said.
"You've just got to listen to yourself about things. I really felt it was important for me to tell my part of the story leading into that match and not just be this second-rate character going into the match.
"I have a lot of things I wanted to say to the Young Bucks and I said it and so be it. I just want to go out there and speak my mind on things."
Catch AEW Dynamite live every Thursday at 1am in the UK, Rampage every Saturday at 3am, and Collision every Sunday at 1am on TrillerTV with an AEW Plus subscription. US customers can also watch Dynamite on TBS and Rampage and Collision on TNT, and in the UK, AEW repeats air on ITV4.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.
After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.
You can read more of her work on her Substack page.
