10 Wrestlers Who Got Over By Losing

10. Darby Allin

Darby Allin's early win/loss record was uneven by calculated design.

In addition to getting Darby over as an emerging, spirited talent, it put the very notion of achievement over, how difficult it was to ascend. The dissonance between his record and his performance level asked a probing question - "What else does he have to do?" - with the fundamental answer to everything: "win".

He took Cody to the limit in an inspired match at Fyter Fest 2019, in that it positioned Darby as a future player and established the drama of a time-limit draw unfamiliar to modern U.S. audiences. In the Dynamite era, Darby defeated the fellow midcard pack (Kip Sabian, Sammy Guevara) but lost to the established top-level players (PAC, Jon Moxley). He showed out in those defeats, which were deftly orchestrated to put him over as a man on the cusp of the big time; Mox had to put him away with the top-rope Paradigm Shift, PAC had to use the steps.

Allin was twice defeated by Cody to further a rivalry indebted to the great Misawa Vs. Kobashi series. When Darby finally ascended, at Cody's expense, it was going to mean more than any rocket-strapped push because he had to earn it.

He did, at Full Gear 2020, in a sensational match structured with the next chapter in mind: Allin was a very skilled wrestler, despite the patronising misgivings of Taz.