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As someone who will always have a place in his heart for the chaotic world of ECW, the August 27 episode of “AEW Dynamite” was right up my street. A show that was so ECW-coded that, if you listened closely, you could hear Tony Khan backstage doing his best Paul Heyman impression by writing down the card for this Saturday’s “AEW Collision” on a napkin. However, a show in the 2300 Arena wouldn’t be complete without a bit of hardcore action, and there is no one better at producing high-quality, “Oh My God, he’s dead” matches than Darby Allin.

Darby has virtually mastered his own genre of match, “Darby Death.” The way it works is Darby throws himself around the arena like a human pinball, takes an ungodly amount of punishment, bumps that even the legends of ECW would look at and go “Yeah, I’m already not getting paid, so I’m definitely not doing that,” before fighting from underneath to get the underdog victory. It’s perhaps one of the best formulas in all of wrestling right now, as it is incredibly entertaining, and for the people who don’t like the guy due to all of the things he’s been accused of in the past, the sight of him getting murdered in real time is something that they can cheer for as well.

This Falls Count Anywhere match with Claudio Castagnoli already had high expectations, given their pair of matches from late 2024 being excellent, and the fact that when he’s paired with someone much bigger than him, Darby will go above and beyond to make his opponent look like an absolute killer. That’s exactly what happened with this one, as right from the jump, Darby leaps off the top of what looked to be a shipping container to kick things off, and 20 seconds later, he is launched “Jackass” style into a sea of chairs from a shopping cart, before being slammed through a flatscreen TV.

When they finally get into the 2300 Arena, Darby and Claudio make great use of the surroundings by having Darby climb one of the building’s support beams for a Coffin Drop, and by having Claudio do his best Bam Bam Bigelow impression by launching Darby out of the ring and through the announce table. Back in ECW, Spike Dudley would have been caught by a sea of fans, but in AEW, Darby Allin gets caught by an announce desk that Excalibur keeps trying to convince me is solid oak, but I’m just not buying it, dude, I’m sorry, it’s too flimsy.

There were weapons galore, the ringside area looked like a tornado ran through it, and after making Claudio look as strong as he’s ever been, Darby gets the win to wrap up the show-long story of him wanting to face Jon Moxley at All Out. One of the most entertaining TV matches of the year so far, Darby Allin is back in AEW, and he’s only going to get crazier from here.

Written by Sam Palmer

It’s Wednesday night, and you know what that means …Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) & JetSpeed (Kevin ‘The Jet’ Knight & ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey) vs. The Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & Hechicero)The Opps (c) vs. Ricochet & The Gates Of AgonyDarby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli

It’s main event time!

When the show returns, we hear the familiar sounds of Claudio Castagnoli’s theme music. Out comes the member of The Death Riders for the advertised main event of the evening, a Falls Count Anywhere match against enemy number one to Jon Moxley and The Death Riders — Darby Allin.

As Castagnoli is about to walk through the back to make a custom entrance through the crowd, he is cut off and attacked out of nowhere by his opponent. Allin gets off to an early offensive lead as this Falls Count Anywhere match gets off to a hot start.

Castagnoli quickly fights back into competitive form before ultimately taking over control of the action. He slams Allin on a bunch of crap nearby and then drags his lifeless body into the entrance area inside the arena. Castagnoli grabs Allin by the legs and begins a giant swing.

He releases him and sends him flying with authority into the unforgiving barricade. He goes for a pin right there on the spot, but Allin kicks out to keep this one alive. Allin fights back, re-enters the ring, quickly hits the ropes, sprints and dives through the ropes for a splash onto Castagnoli at ringside.

Allin stops to play to the crowd as they roar. He then begins his long climb way up some production stuff at ringside. A giant pole, basically. He’s way up there and without any hesitation, he jumps up and leaps off backwards, soaring down to Castagnoli and crashing into him with his Coffin Drop finisher.

He goes for the follow-up pin attempt, but only gets two. The action resumes inside the ring after that. Castagnoli ends up taking back over on offense. He hoists Allin up with an overhead military press and runs across the ring, launching him over the ropes where he crashes violently onto a desk at ringside.

On that note, the show shifts gears and heads into a mid-match commercial break as the action in our Falls Count Anywhere main event of the evening continues inside the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. When the show returns, we see Castagnoli still controlling the action.

Two tables are brought into the ring and are set up leaning long-ways in opposing corners of the ring. Allin starts to fire up, and the crowd loudly comes to life in the background as well. Allin hops on Castagnoli’s back with a choke.

Castagnoli throws him off. He goes charging at him, but Allin moves and Castagnoli puts himself through a table in one of the corners. Allin grabs a steel chair and begins blasting Castagnoli with it. He puts Castagnoli’s head through the chair and lets out a war cry.

Allin heads to the ropes, looking to do to Castagnoli what he and The Death Riders did to Will Ospreay after the Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage main event of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door: London this past Sunday night. Castagnoli stops him, however, and Donkey Kong’s him onto a pile of chairs for a two-count.

He then picks Allin up and launches him through the other table in the other corner. He quickly follows up with another pin attempt, but once again only gets a count of two for his troubles. Fans begin rallying behind Allin with chants as he is slow to recover.

Allin does start to fight back, however, and even connects with a big Code Red. He goes for the cover, but Castagnoli survives. Allin follows up by climbing the ropes and hitting a Coffin Drop. He pops right back up, climbs the ropes a second time and hits a follow-up Coffin Drop for the win.

Winner: Darby Allin

Gabe Kidd Attacks Darby Allin

Once the match wraps up, a mystery man in a hood hits the ring and begins attacking Allin. He pulls the hood off to reveal he is none other than NJPW star Gabe Kidd, one of the members of the The Death Riders team in the Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door: London.

Jon Moxley and The Death Riders make their way out to join in. Instead, Allin manages to flee the ring and hop the barricade. He exits through the crowd. Mox is shown helping Castagnoli up in the ring. They go after him but decide against it. That’s how this week’s show wraps up. Thanks for joining us!

Pro wrestling is big business. With the industry seemingly in a boom period, there are a lot of people taking an interest in it. And with there being so many fans, there are going to be a whole load of different kinds of them. Here are six different types of wrestling fans.  

1. The Sports Bettor

Although wrestling might not be entirely on the up and up (but don’t tell Eddie Kingston), the Sports Bettor doesn’t really care, because no matter what happens, there’s a bet to be made. Whether it’s through All Elite Wrestling’s partnership with DraftKings or checking out wrestling odds on domestic or overseas sportsbooks, the Sports Bettor is trying to make money from his knowledge of pro wrestling. If they are at a show, it’ll be a larger one, because that’s where the books are made, and they’ll be looking at their phone to place their bets. If nothing else, they love a bit of booking rumor, so they can be a useful source for that. How accurate those rumors will be is another matter entirely, though. 

2. The WWE Maximalist

The WWE is the biggest promotion, so it is only inevitable that it has the most fans. But within any E crowd, there will be a certain sort of person who only exists for the Stamford company. You might not notice them immediately, but a conversation about any other form of wrestling with a WWE Maximalist gets knocked back with, at best, a dismissive shrug. These people are obsessed with TV ratings to the extent that any other company gaining viewers is their worst nightmare. There’s a good chance they aren’t just willing to defend the indefensible; they are willing to endorse it. And woe betide you if you happen to wear a t-shirt from another company at a WWE show. Titan Towers will forever be their spiritual home.

3. The Wrestlehipster

In some ways, Wrestlehipsters are the opposite of WWE maximalists. On the other hand, they are basically the same person, only they swap their love of TV ratings for a love of Dave Meltzer’s ratings. To be found anywhere that isn’t the WWE, they are only too keen to try to hijack the show with their unusual facial hair and annoying chants. Oh, and they are going to try to dissect the in-ring action, using the latest insider term they’ve learned, to the extent that it could make the most hardened sceptic dream of the glory days of kayfabe. If you see one with a glint in their eye and a Bullet Club logo on their chest, just know that you might be in for a lecture. 

4. The Returner

The Returner is like a newbie, only not quite. They’re someone, usually of a certain age, who had a deep and abiding love of pro wrestling that never really went away in their youth, but they stopped watching. At some point over the last few years – possibly during the pandemic – they started watching again and realized that, yes, they loved professional wrestling. They’re a font of knowledge on things like the Golden Age and the Attitude Era, but there is a possibility you could talk about the SuperCena era, or Raw guest hosts, or Hulk Hogan’s dalliance with TNA, and they will look a little baffled. On the other hand, they can probably tell you who Lance Storm beat to become Intercontinental Champion in 2001 (it was Albert) or wax lyrical about the cut of Steve Blackman’s, admittedly stylish, martial arts trousers. 

5. The Treasure Hunter

No matter what people say, we all like to feel like we’ve discovered something. The Treasure Hunter is on a constant mission to find the Next Big Thing in wrestling. Although they’ll enjoy the big promotions, they are never happier than when attending a small indie show in the hope that they’ll witness future greatness. They probably never saw Bret Hart in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, or a young Will Ospreay at a community centre in Essex, but that’s not for want of trying. One day, they hope, their merch collection will be worth a lot of money. If it isn’t, they’re considering leaving it to the as-yet-unfounded Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame. 

6. The Regular Wrestling Fan

Finally, we come to the sort of wrestling fan that doesn’t make a noise, doesn’t wind people up, and doesn’t, in some cases, even come across like a wrestling person. And that’s the Regular Wrestling Fan. The truth is, despite what you might read on the internet, most people who like wrestling have regular jobs and regular lives. They might not have wrestling as their number one thing, but that’s OK, because they are the real lifeblood of the game. They buy their tickets, watch the shows – when they can – and they are the sort of person who every promoter worth their salt wants to attract to the show. They might not talk about “spots”, or make up chants, or be able to hold forth about the legacy of Kenta Kobashi, but they are out there, and they are, perhaps thankfully, the majority.

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