20 Absolute Best Wrestlers In The World Right Now
15. Darby Allin
The criticism thrown at Darby Allin's alliance with Sting is largely warranted. Those first few months were tedious, with samey angles barely straying beyond the mechanical formula of Allin finding himself in peril, The Icon hitting the ring, and occasionally staring down the aggressors. Fortunately, things have improved considerably in the last few weeks.
Sting took a snapping powerbomb bump from Brian Cage one week and got physical the next. While the TNT Championship doesn't feel as important as it did two months ago, Darby is now finally in the midst of a meaty storyline again.
The 28-year-old remains one of AEW's most reliable and versatile television performers. He has proven this through recent matches with Cage and Joey Janela, in which he entered two entirely different performances. Against the former, he has the adrenaline-pumping, big-bumping ragdoll even his critics know him as, though the latter bout demonstrated the full breadth of his in-ring mastery. Entering a focused showing based on surgical limbwork, Allin once again proved his versatility.
Well-rounded, captivating, and still on the upswing of his career, Allin has appeal like few others in modern American wrestling.