Let's Talk About the Darby Allin AEW World Title Reign, an All-Timer Run if Ever an All-Timer Run There Be

You have to hand it to All Elite Wrestling for one thing (well, many things, but this specific thing today): If they come right out and tell you how a story is going to go, they don't swerve you – they deliver. When Jon Moxley won the AEW World Title from Bryan Danielson, he locked that shit in a briefcase and said "if this company ever wants to see this belt again, they better step up and take it from me." Sure enough, the roster stepped it up, and eventually Hangman Page (with a little help from the roster) took it back. When Darby Allin shocked the world and took the title from MJF in two minutes, fourteen seconds, he came right out and said what was going to happen. "I know this title reign is gonna probably last 15 minutes, so I'm gonna make the most of it until the wheels fall off." Sure enough, he made the most of it, and eventually the wheels fell off. And it was awesome. The Darby Allin AEW World Title run lasted 39 days and 7 televised title defenses. By modern pro wrestling standards, that's fairly nuts (the pedantic nerd in me needs to point out that 7 title defenses in a month was routine back when Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart were working a shit-ton of house shows, but everyone knows house shows are only canon when the company decides they're canon, so). Darby currently lists dead last in total days as champion out of the 10 men who have worn the belt, which is sort of perfect. This title reign was the idealized 2026 version of a two-week 1986 Dusty Rhodes run, or a Mick Foley 1998 car crash reign. So let's talk about it, because it fucking ruled.

Because of the nature of pro wrestling booking, one title reign telling one specific, long-term narrative can be tough to pull off. More often than not, a title run is more contingent on the champ's drawing power and ability to sell tickets than serving one specific character arc. But in the 2020s, we've been gifted with some grand examples to the contrary. Perhaps the most impressive of these was the Bloodline/Roman Reigns WWE Universal Championship reign, which managed to stretch the Bloodline narrative for a solid 3 1/2 years (to be fair, it was easier to stretch things out with Roman working part-time during nearly the entire run). Clearly when your champion is Darby Allin, a man who treats his body like furniture on the Ed Sullivan Theater roof, the title reign is going to be closer to 3 1/2 weeks (or 5 1/2 in this case), but with Darby, it shouldn't be any other way. If a title reign is going to encapsulate the essence of a character in its booking, its matches, and its story, well, this is the way to do it for Darby Allin. The dude won't stop talking about how he lives life for the moment and doesn't think long-term. He's talked about being at peace with the idea of dying when he climbed Mount Everest. Also, he climbed Mount Everest. And thus, his title reign became a microcosm of the whole Darby Allin Thing. Live life at full gear until the wheels fall off. And hell, the match that started all this was a microcosm of the microcosm - a two-minute sprint where Allin spammed MJF with a nut shot and four of his Coffin Drop finishers (one for each pillar of AEW, whoever they even are anymore), because goddamnit don't waste time. Time is the most valuable thing we have, and if you waste too much of it MJF may recover and knock you out with his stupid ring.

Darby started off his reign at less than 100% - he was banged up from a #1 contender's match with Andrade El Idolo just three days before he beat MJF. So did Allin rest on his laurels after his shocking victory? Fuck no, he was challenged by Tommaso Ciampa earlier in the show, so Darby said, "ok, let's do it." Ciampa essentially earned his title match by shooting his mouth off, which isn't usually enough to convince the kayfabe version of matchmaker Tony Khan that one has earned a shot. But Darbs said he'd take on all comers, and it's easy to believe that somewhere backstage Allin convinced TK that he was going to make this his kind of title reign. Besides, Allin vs. Ciampa is a banger match on paper, as it was in execution. A five-star heater by ol' Dave Meltzer's estimation, Darby and Tom rocked each other's shit in a veritable wind sprint and set a precedent for the 4 1/2 weeks to come. As soon as Darby retained against Ciampa, out came Brody King, someone Darby has a long history with, to put his quarters on the pool table and claim He Got Next.

It stood to reason that once word got out in the locker room that Darby was accepting random challenges, that the roster would start falling over themselves to get their shit in. Kevin Knight? Sure, why not, he's the TNT Champ and Darby was once synonymous with that title - also, he pinned MJF in a title defense, so beating a former World Champ warrants a shot. PAC? Had a 2-1 record against Darby and Mox is busy with the Continental Title. Things started to get ridiculous with Sammy Guevara issuing a challenge out of the blue (dude hadn't been on AEW TV in a year at least, right?), but he also had history with Darbs, so whatever, I guess. If there's one thing that disappoints me about Darby losing at Double or Nothing, it's that had he won, AEW could have gotten really wild with the challenges. Have an opening scene on a Dynamite where three or four dudes get in a fight at Gorilla position, trying to beat each other out to the ring to challenge the champ. Have Serpentico or John Silver issue a challenge backstage because why the fuck not, everyone else is (and maybe have like Jerry Lynn come out and gently explain to them why TK wasn't going to book it or something, I dunno. Comedy!). How fucking dumb does Rush look right now, by the way? Calling his shot for the show after the big PPV? Hoping that MJF, of all people, isn't able to capitalize on Darby breaking down? I hope they do something with pissed-off Rush this week because talk about being late to the dance. <Ron Howard narrator voice>He did not get the horns.</Ron Howard narrator voice>

Every week, Darby's body broke down a little more, and every week, a little nugget of foreshadowing for Double or Nothing was dropped. Darby starting to collapse when trying to apply the Scorpion Death Lock. Darby looking more and more like a deer in headlights with every title defense (he barely snuck by Konosuke Takeshita, to the point where my wife even said "ok, this is getting a little ridiculous - that's fucking Takeshita"). Speedball Mike Bailey calling his shot because his partner Kevin Knight got his turn, and Bailey is maybe starting to feel a little put out that Knight is enjoying more singles success than he is right now? This of course led to Knight coming out for the "don't disappoint us, Darby" rah-rah speech that foreshadowed that gnarly heel turn at the end of the PPV.

Finally, the rematch with MJF put all the pieces of the last 5 1/2 weeks together. Allin was going through tables all month (most notably against PAC at the golf course); crashing from the lighting rig onto Max ended up hurting him more than it did Friedman. He got MJF into the Scorpion Death Lock and passed out yet again. And let's not forget the two of them hilariously spamming side headlock takeovers during the entire match. And as my wife often likes to point out – when Max has time to work (as opposed to when Darby or Brody King caught him off-guard to snatch a quick squash), he thrives on beating his opponents at their own specialty. Bryan Danielson in a 60-plus-minute marathon? Beat him. "Hangman" Adam Page in a Texas Death Match? Beat him. Kenny Omega in a technical video game car crash? Beat him. Darby Allin in the title vs. hair match that Darby suggested? Just another case of MJF beating his opponent at his own game. Even with the story centered on Darby Allin, the character beats stayed consistent for his opponents. (There's a whole level to this with Max connected to his insecurity and jealousy of wrestlers that the fans love more than him, but that's a topic for another time.) And ultimately, Darby's title reign ended like so many people assume his career will: being carted away from the ring on a tipped-over stretcher.

So yeah, let's salute the 39-day title reign of Darby Allin. 39 days of stellar title defenses, entertaining wrestling, and Darby landing on his head enough different ways to make you seriously wonder just how different his genetic makeup is from us mortal, non-projectile human beings (while also, by the way, showcasing his wildly underrated technical wrestling skills). It's a rare thing on American television when a pro wrestling story is told in a neat little self-contained package with week after week of catastrophically entertaining in-ring (and out-of-ring) action. It was a snapshot of what makes AEW great when it's at peak storytelling powers: emphasis on plot points fleshed out in the ring with the occasional promo adding icing to the cake. Now take a few weeks off, Darby. For the love of god, please. Although I suppose you have another Kevin Knight grudge match to build to now.