12 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Mar 5)

2. Darby Allin Survives

Another night, another show-stealing Darby Allin performance in AEW.

The former EVOLVE man was magnificent in his handicap match with The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. With Jon Moxley taken out and dragged to the back before the bell, Darby was forced to go it alone, pushing the do-or-die underdog into exactly the kind of environment he thrives in, particularly with the whole Inner Circle surrounding the ring.

Much of this was Darby getting the sh*t kicked out of him, as it should have been. The odds, as noted, were horrendous, though the timing and execution of Allin's hope spots was excellent. With the crowd rallying behind him, Darby came to life with propulsion and verge, firing up by tagging himself in the third act and throwing everything into each move. Guevara and Jericho's control spots built perfectly to ever big moment. The Destroyer two-count almost blew the roof off the building as a result, and it was the same with Darby's Coffin Drop to the outside... and the second that almost pinned Guevara. Jericho made the save there, then stopped a dive with the Judas Effect, allowing 'The Spanish God' to take the W, but what an effort from Allin.

In defeat, Darby was presented as the ultimate survivor. He's the kind of character that can drop bouts like this but still keep pushing forward and this was one of his finest AEW performances to date.