Chris Jericho Says Hulk Hogan Called Him After AEW Match, Darby Allin Talks Picking AEW Over WWE
AEW's Darby Allin was recently a guest on Talk Is Jericho. Among many other things, Allin talked about how he got signed to AEW, picking AEW over WWE, and seeing his friends in WWE flounder. According to Allin, he got signed to AEW after Cody saw Allin wrestle Pentagon.
"Talking to Cody," Allin explained. "Yeah, Cody was the man who kind of made it happen. Yeah, I think he saw this match I had at Northeast against Penta. And, like, it that rate, before that, I think he thought I was just this stunt dummy guy. Do you know what I mean? Like, just do all these crazy stunts. But then, I think he saw that match and he's like, 'yo, this guy can actually, like, work.' Do you know what I mean? And then, the ball started rolling, so it was very nice that I got to wrestle him in my first debut in this company. So yeah, it was good."
Jericho professed that AEW has benefited from Cody being on the indies as he was essentially scouting indie talents.
"I think it's cool that another one of the kind of really cool things that led to us all being here was that Cody was on the independent scene for a while," Jericho said. "[Cody] saw Sammy Guevara, and Joey [Janela], and MJF, and kind of amassed a little bit of a roster in his head before we even got started."
Apparently, Allin had talks to sign with WWE, but ultimately chose AEW. Mr. Priscilla Kelly stated that a lot of talent sign with WWE just because it is WWE.
"Yeah, they had Canyon [Ceman], they wanted to do something where, like, I go to the Performance Center," Allin recalled. "Not for a tryout, but I get signed and I go to the Performance Center for like a year. And then, debut a year from [then] or some crazy s–t.
"I was just like, that's the beauty of AEW. They're just going making people instead of like? if I was there, God, it's crazy to think about. A lot of my friends that got the opportunity, AEW or WWE, they chose WWE because it's like I don't know, 'I just want to say I was in WWE'. I'm like, 'come on, guys.' Like, you can't. That goes back to being the fanboy. Do you want to be the 100th guy who never sees the light of day, or do you want to be on the forefront of what we have? And a lot of guys just want to go brag to their friends and family, 'oh, I'm in WWE.'"
Allin claimed that he has done a lot in AEW's short history already, whereas a lot of his friends in WWE are not being utilized at all.
"Look at what I've done since, s–t, we've been on TV since October [2019]," Allin considered. "Yeah, look at all I've done. I'm not going to say names, but I see my friends who went to WWE and they're still in the bulls–t. And I knew I could tell my story the way I wanted here. That's all I ever wanted."
During the podcast, Jericho shared that Hogan [brother] called him after his match versus Allin and said that it is amazing that AEW is taking unknown talents and making the audience care about them.
"I got a call from Hulk Hogan after our match," Jericho remembered. "He goes, 'this is so amazing what you guys are doing because you have these guys that no one [has] ever heard of before and they're in the main event and people believe they can win in one week!' It's crazy to an extent, but that's also the concept of pro wrestling, is get guys over. It isn't hard to do. And it doesn't mean, 'he wins 15 weeks in a row.' That doesn't mean s–t. It's give you a chance to be you!"
Listen to the podcast here or via the embedded player below. If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.