13 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Fyter Fest 2019

11. The Mad Bumper

Darby Allin is an enigmatic performer. At first glance, he looks like every "troubled" goth kid you knew growing up. He dresses all in black, covers half his face with corpse paint, and wears a moody facial expression constantly. On top of this, his backstory begins with tragedy (he was involved in a road traffic accident in which his drunk uncle passed away when Darby was just five years old) and he has "lost his faith in humanity," which, if you're a cynic, sounds corny and may present Allin as a caricature.

Here's the thing about Darby, though: he's fantastic in the ring. His crisp, impactful offence, maniac bumping, and do-or-die attitude blow every preconception away as soon as he gets rolling, and while it took him a while to work through the gearbox versus Cody's more methodical style, he got there by the end.

This match was at its least interesting with Cody in control. As great a performer as he has become, the 'American Nightmare' isn't always the most exciting wrestler when booked as some kind of ring general. Fortunately, Allin's bumping prevented any major lulls. He flopped straight through the ropes and to the outside on a whip to the corner, then took an insane bump later on, landing back-first on the apron after soaring from the top. Lord knows what kind of damage this stuff is doing to this body, but it sure is exciting.

The time limit expiring before Cody could score the decisive pinfall was a nice touch that puts Darby over as a difficult guy to beat, too. Allin made a mark, though it would've been nice to see him show more of the cool sh*t he can do, but such was the layout.