Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Darby Allin was homeless before AEW, Coffin Drop to Cody, Skateboarding, Shawn Spears

Episode Date: July 16, 2019

arby Allin sits down with Chris Van Vliet in his hotel room before Fight For The Fallen in Jacksonville, FL. Darby talks about how he was living in his car before he signed with AEW, meeting his wife (and fellow wrestler) Priscilla Kelly, how he came up with his signature move The Coffin Drop, transitioning from being a pro skateboarder to a pro wrestler and more! Audio equipment provided by Samson Technologies: bit.ly/CVVSamson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Look at you, man. With the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Bleach Show. Chris Van Bleach Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris. What is going on, my audio friends? Here we go again for another episode of the Chris Van Vleet Show.

Thank you for downloading this. I mean, we are pumping these out at a crazy rate. It's been almost one a day since we started about three weeks ago. I really appreciate you guys joining us because for a long time you'd been asking for the audio versions of my YouTube interviews so you could listen to them. Whenever, wherever, I saw your tweets. I saw your Instagram comments. I heard you and I listened. And here we are.

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Well, then you'll be hearing this since you don't miss an episode. Great questions and conversations. Great job. Keep up with the great job. Keep up with the amazing job. There we go. Well, thank you so much. Keep these five-star reviews coming.

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people like me who this weekend at Fight for the Fallen in Jacksonville drove five hours each way. The show ran a little bit late. We did the interviews afterwards for the post-media scrum, didn't get back to the hotel until 2 in the morning, and didn't get to bed until 3.51 in the morning and then had to wake up at 6.30 in the morning. So if you do the math, that's two hours and 39 minutes of sleep that I got. And it caused a little bit of stress. So Green Roads really helped kind of Just make everything

Just slightly better Maybe I didn't think about it as much Also they're relaxed gummies They've been amazing They taste really good too It's just like actual gummy bears So use my code Chris 15 to get 15% off your order

At greenroadsworld.com Also the CV show Brought you by the audio equipment That we use From Samson Technologies They make it sound as great as we do I like to think that I mean we've done

almost 20 episodes here. And I think that we sound pretty good being 20 episodes in. A lot of people that are 20 episodes in sound like this where you can barely hear them and it just sounds super echoey. I'm glad that we're not one of those shows. So over the last few months, SamsonTech.com to check out their full lineup over the last few months, and especially since Fighter Fest, there have been a lot of requests for me to interview Darby Allen. And it's not like I can really take requests. It's not like I'm the DJ at your fat Uncle Mike's wedding or something. But seriously, I do the interviews that I can do, the ones that I have access to or the, you know, with the people that make themselves available. Or the people that are actually interested in doing an interview.

And, you know, some people do reach out to me and say, hey, Chris, can you do an interview next time you're in? Insert the name of the town they live in. And I usually go, yeah, sure, I'll fly there next week. So, and, you know, not everyone wants to do an interview. and that's okay. That's their prerogative. But with Darby, I'd actually work some independent shows with him at Blueprint Pro Wrestling in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where I'm the ring announcer. So the owner of Blueprint and one of my very good friends,

Jamil Malik, reached out to Darby, said, let's make this happen in Jacksonville. So boom, here we are. Thank you to Jamil for making this happen. And Darby's a fascinating character. You will see with this interview. And as you saw Fight for the Fall and he is super over. with him it's part gimmick and it's part real and he has a lot of stories here and they are

these stories are fascinating and interesting and riveting and you'll see also a lot of voices does a lot of really a lot of really interesting voices in this interview but if you didn't know much about Darby before it's hard not to love him after this man this is a good one so buckle up for my chat with Darby Allen All right, well, it's good to see you again. People might not know this. We've worked together before, Blueprint Pro Wrestling, Deerfield Beach, Florida. But here we are in Jacksonville.

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, people I think are used to seeing like a full half, you know, painted face. What's going on here? Well, we just got here, Jacksonville, right off the plane, decided to film a promo last second for tomorrow's fight for the Fallen. And I was going to go eat. a restaurant and I was kind of contemplating do I keep the face paint on or do I

wash it off? And I kind of got halfway through and I just, this is what you get. Oh, so you were, you were kind of washing it off. Yeah. And then we showed up and you're like, well, this is what you got. Yeah, yeah. So, but I go everywhere with my face paint regardless. Like, I really

don't care. I'll go to the airport with it. I'll go to the, you know, gym with it sometimes. Like, you know, and stuff like that after I film promos because I'm just I don't like, I like, I like showering, but, I'm just, I like, I I like showering, but I don't like, it's a long story. What's the reaction that people give you when they see you wearing? Crackhead.

Okay. Yeah. Crack head. Uh-huh. They say this to you or they just looking at you. That's a crackhead look. They hate crackhead. I'm like, and you're like, well, but read my knuckles.

Yeah, I'm a straight edge, but I don't know, man. People always, for some reason, think the drug-free means free drugs. And I'm just like, the fucking. But yeah. I think some fans see the face painting go, oh, this is just a guy who likes to paint his face. There's obviously a much deeper story to this. For people who don't know what it is, what is it?

All right. Well, if you saw on the, welcome to AEW Fighter Fest's introduction to Darby, who is Darby Allen? So when I was five years old, I was driving with my uncle. and he was drunk driving. And obviously you don't know what the difference from normal driving.

Drunk driving is when you're that age. Sure. But he got a car accident from it and he passed away. So I paint my face because 50% of me feels dead inside. That's like the trust for people and the respect for people. So I just felt like it's been like caring with me through my whole life, like whether it's the stuff. stuff I film on a skateboard or the stuff I film for TV or all the crazy shit I do in the ring.

Like, when you're like that close to death at such an early age, I really feel like it makes you want to live that much more. But when people watch your matches, it's very obvious that you, like, don't have a respect for your body. You're maybe not scared of dying. What's going on there? A lot. You know, like, it's weird because...

The more like life happens, the more I'm like, wait, this is actually pretty cool. Living? Yeah. But then they're like, but like back then I just did not know what my calling was in life. You know what I mean? And I had so many times I felt like I almost died in life. Like, for example, that game, Hot Potato, you know. You know, hot potato, hot potato.

My brother, me, we're wanting to play, but with like a baked potato. and I wanted to like set it off fire with like a gas tank. Oh, no. And then we were going to play with that. But as I was lighting on fire, I had the gas tank in my hand. And then like some of the flame that was already on the potato shot into the gas tank. Oh my God. I blew up my, while I was holding in the gas tank and actually like broke this finger.

And you can see the little bone. Oh, yeah. And half way out there. But it actually engulfed both of us in his whole leg right here. Like the skin was gone and it was just straight up muscle. And then, to this day, like, I'd, like, pop my ears and, like, uh, in, like, pop your ear drums? Yeah.

And then, like, uh, like, soul is hard. Oh. Yeah, so. But that's, um, and then just some crazy, like, skateboarding stuff that I've done. Like, you know, it's like, looking back on it and it's like, dude, there's like, you're, I was, like, risking everything, like, doing half of these stunts. But, like, you know, you don't think about it. because when you live like there's no tomorrow,

it just becomes so natural to just don't give a fuck. Do you feel like maybe in some sort of strange way, you cheated death when you were five? So you're like, well, if I cheated death then, I'm fine now. Yeah, I literally thought, like, things aren't going to get much worse than that. So I was like, dude, like, let's just push things. And it just, like, it comes from a lot of areas. Like, um, feeling like, like,

You can't fit in with anybody. And then the moment you do something psychotic, they're like, oh, that's crazy. It like breaks the ice. You know what I mean? So for someone like me that's like maybe not be like that good of like a communicator with people. Like, hey, man. Like I don't just walk into a room and go, yo. I like sit in the corner.

Like in, you know, I do that at wrestling shows. Right. But the moment like you get noticed and someone's like, you're, you know, that crazy fucking thing you did the other day. Let's talk about it. I'm like, okay, now I can talk. But besides that, you'll see me probably just, like, screw off in the Jenner's closet and, like, take a nap or something. It's true. When I saw you backstage at the show, you're very unassuming.

You know, you shake hands, and then you just kind of go to the corner and you do your own thing. Yeah. And then the match starts, and it's like, oh, my God, that's Darby Allen. Yeah, it's a weird thing, but in a way, I wouldn't have any other way because I feel like it got me to where I'm today. I think a lot of people are, you know, were introduced to you at Fighter Fest. obviously your match with Cody. A lot of people, when I tweeted that I was going to interview you, were talking about the coffin drop,

which is the move you did to the apron and looked very, very painful. Yeah. Where did the idea for the coffin drop come from? It's just the thought in my head, a do-or-die moment in the match. Am I just going to roll Cody in and try to pin him, or am I going to try to annihilate him or decapitate him?

and I wanted to decapitate them because then I knew for sure that was going to get the win so it's just pretty much risking it all and yeah that that fucked up my ribs pretty bad I would think your spine

yeah no for some reason it was my ribs like over here like you go and then I got a massage the next day and the lady was just like walking on my back and she's like oh yeah back's so tight

And I'm like, because that's fucked up. But where did you first come up with that move? It's just like, okay, like with my wrestling, I don't fly to look pretty. I fly to hurt. So I ain't going to do a 630. I ain't going to do a million rotations at the top. I'm just going to throw all my body at you. Like all my body weight.

And I assume how I do that, it's the most impactful. Like I've heard people say like I've nearly shit my pants after taking that cough and drive. And that's actually happened before a lot of people actually shit their pants from it. What? My people, so I had this, like, tryout match a couple of years ago. And then I was wrestling the guy, and I did it to him in the match. And he shit his pants. And then, like, I didn't know it, but you just, like, you smell something.

And then, like, you start looking around, and then there's, like, little puddles of shit. because apparently he ate like a pizza hut buffet the night before so it was just like everywhere and then I just remembered him like getting out of the ring after the match and then sitting in a chair to get critiqued from the person who was running the thing and then he got up and I saw this huge bubbly pile of just diarrhea and then I didn't want to rat on him like yo man that's this fucking shit so I didn't tell anybody and no one else saw it

and everyone else getting your critique they sat in that same chair They got all these white gear and all this stuff. And I was just like... Oh my God. In a way, it was like a nice, like... It was funny. What are the fundamental... Why does the coffin drop cause this to happen?

I don't know. Or is it just out of sheer fear? I think it's because, like, all my body weight, there's no way of, like, landing soft on them. Sometimes you do the 450 and you can land on your hands and knees and protect the blow. I can't fucking save anybody's life for this. and like it's just like yes i think it's like all pressure and it just depends on where i hit them and when someone moves out of the way i feel very bad for you yeah but it's um it's like one

those moves like you know all or nothing you're gonna make it or you're gonna die trying and that's just how i like to live and in that match with cody it was such an interesting spot when you went into the body bag uh you obviously couldn't see anything at all in there no god that was tricky because as I was standing it was like jumping up and down yeah I was like holy shit yeah I can't see anything yeah it was uh it was tricky but I'm not wanting to get

claustrophobic but that just felt like you know couldn't breathe really in there but could you bump correctly in there and I guess not but there's also you know there's some critics online that say you know your match with Cody was great but then a lot of people aren't even

paying attention to your match because of what happened after the match with Sean Spears. Yeah. Yeah, and that sucks because it is a debut and it means everything, you know what I mean? And then I literally felt like I put

as much into that match as I physically could at times. And then to get it overshadowed like it did, yeah, it sucks. It's fucking annoying as hell, but in a way it makes you think you gotta work harder next time so if you thought you put on a decent match there

you got to make it harder to top over just a chair you know so like i you know i'm just going to so no matter what happens after my match i want people to remember only my match and unfortunately that might entail me dying some more in the match because you know that's what you got to do Oh, please don't die at Fight for the Fallen, please? No, not yet. Okay, yeah. Maybe, maybe, maybe Sean Spears will die. How much has changed for you since Fighter Fest?

I mean, obviously that was a big match, big match for you, maybe one of the biggest of your career. Absolutely. How much has changed for you before that match to, you know, where we sit here right now? A lot, a lot. And it's like a light switch because, you know, some people think, like, on the Indies, like, I'm fucking rock and roll, king of the world. like yeah I'm big dog

and then you get introduced to a company like AEW and then it just humbles the fuck at you and you're like you get all these comments who the fuck is Darby Allen who's Darby Allen? What is this guy?

And you're just like you're like damn man all that work it felt like it went under the radar so when I was saying in that promo I felt like my career I've been wrestling now for five years,

but I felt like a lot of it was under a rock. And like, I mean that. You know, I'm not going to come into this company acting like I'm the king of the goddamn universe. I'm going to tell you how I really feel. And that's how I felt. I felt like, you know, a lot of it was just humbling and it was nice. But now you can show the whole world of wrestling what you're capable of now. So, like, a lot of people just,

Where in a lot of comments? Where have you been in my whole life? Been coughing dropping on aprons in Kentucky. All over the world. But we're just scratching the surface right now of Darby Allen. Yeah. That's the crazy thing about it. Yeah, there's a lot I got left.

I got so much stuff in my mind that I'm ready to just like get out there. And I'm like a real, I'd like to say I'm a real good get her out there. I don't like to wait for direction. I like to do my own thing. So, and with a platform like AEW, like, here, you want to be yourself, be yourself, show us what you got. So there's been a real opportunity to just kind of drive the character yourself? Yeah, absolutely. That's amazing.

100% everything I've done, I've came up with myself, and I haven't been told to film something. I've just filmed something. So, you know, because like all I ever wanted was this platform. So I might as well just run with it. Was the transition from skateboarding to wrestling, like a natural transition for you? You're both, you know, you're putting your body on the line of both of them. Yeah, but do you like skateboarding is so much worse. God, it destroyed me.

And the difference... Really bad on you nuts, too. Yeah, the difference between skateboard and wrestling is a skateboard slam. Sometimes you're there like by yourself and you fall and you're like, oh, that hurt. But with wrestling, there's a thousand of people. like yeah yeah good man awesome but it's like a light like a difference but like skateboarding definitely prepared me more than anything for pro wrestling like my first day at practice i was bump in

you know learning bumps and then my trainer it's like yeah how do you feel man it hurts doesn't it and i'm like no i feel i feel good like he's like what do you mean like it's as if it's like disrespectful to like the business that yeah yeah yeah yeah god forbid you feel pain from another sport. But yeah, I just like, well, here's these clips of me falling on concrete for my whole life. And he's like, oh. What made you decide that you were done with skateboarding, or at least at that level, and now it was time to go into wrestling?

I'm a very storyteller of a human being, I'd say. And I couldn't tell a story I wanted to the world on my skateboard compared to, like, an audience. you know physical Broadway and stuff like that so if I'm going to fall I might as well convey it with like emotion character instead of just to do an escape park that like prakes his ankle and screams on the fucking gravel so do you still skate right yeah I try to skate all the time all the time I just got back having a six-day trip in Arizona and I skate like the whole time I was down there and I was trying some spooky stuff and I was just all that was in the back of my head.

It was all like, you got, fight for the fall on Saturday. How are you going to explain to Tony if you break your leg? You gotta be extra careful now. It's hard, though, man,

because I'm so passionate about both of them, you know what I mean? I'm like, I just want to skate and I just want to, like, do all this stuff. But it's like,

ugh, because back then I could, like, break my ankle and then, like, just like, oh, okay, cool, I'll just hang out for, like, a month.

But now it's like, oh, shit. We got TV coming up. Yeah. We got all the, stuff and it's like I don't want to make my debut on TV in a wheelchair. There might be a chance that when TV does start, they're going to say, hey, Darby, can you lay off the skateboarding a bit?

We need you. Yeah, I've been actually, uh, there's like this mega ramp, a guy named Bob Bernquist that's in his backyard. It's like one of the biggest ramps you can jump like gap-wise. And I want to try it like before TV starts. Well, if Darby shows up on TV in a wheelchair, you'll know why. Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah, that's a, That's all I got planned. That sounds like a bad idea. Yeah. I'm just going to say that right now. Yeah, I know, but damn, it's hard to pass up. What's your go-to skateboarding move? I like no complies.

No-compli 360 is like a big trick that I've always liked. And especially as much of times as I've broken my ankles, it feels really easy on the angles and stuff like that. Can you explain it to someone who might not know what that looks like? dude it's so hard it's so hard it's like the weirdest thing because like a kickflip you say like the board flips but it's fucking

God I don't even how to well everyone's gonna now Google it after watching this yeah that's like I don't know man like I'm trying to do like low impact things on my body when it comes to a skateboard now

because like before I used to jump off these like huge ass sculptures and stuff like that and just like yeah I don't know yeah but but now that you're married you're married to Priscilla Callie you know, another wrestler, is she like,

hey, babe, maybe you shouldn't be doing this crazy stuff? Yes and no. Yeah, because she's just like, I don't want to have to take care of you. Like, when you're older, like, all, like, fucked up. At the same time, I'm like, look how far I've came out with it, you know? Let's get that beautiful trailer by the water that we've always wanted.

Have you had to give her a call and go, hey, I am really hurt. Yeah, yeah. She's actually in Japan. When it happened, it was mania week in like two weeks, two weeks, what the fuck? Two years ago. And I was at a progress show, and I did this dive onto Janella. But, like, my head hit the ground, the concrete, and I was bleeding from the brain.

And then, like, I finished the match. And then, like, I rushed myself to the hospital and, like, yo, you're, like, bleeding from the brain, man. And I was just like, ah! And then there's, like, they're like, they're like, okay, man. just chill out and, you know, we'll do some more stuff. And I remember I had to call Priscilla and she was in Japan. She was just like, dude, like, God, you can't be doing this. And it's like she's having like a mental breakdown.

People can die from brain bleeding. Yes, that's happened. Yeah. To like, there's this guy in my junior high and he was playing football. And then halfway through the game, he got a concussion, but he didn't know. he just had the adrenaline run too much and then he kept playing and then by the end of the game

he passed out and then the air fucking helicopters had to lift him in the hospital and then his brain was swelling so bad that the adrenaline to his school it's like trying to relieve pressure and now he's stuck in a wheelchair like in a vegetable state we don't want that to happen to you

yeah me neither but it's just like but it's like that's all that was playing in my mind when I was in New Orleans was thinking about that because I remember I just moved to that school and people are like yo this guy he just got fucked on the football field and then i was like thinking every time i hit my

i'm like oh god damn i don't want to fuck but it's just like it's like such unpredictable because like this could happen anywhere you know what i mean sure you could be low on your lawn and then a burn well i don't know about that but maybe take us back to when you met priscilla where was it and had that happened it was uh in the evolved van. Okay. Fucking. Going to and from a show or something?

Yeah, we used to drive from Florida to New York and to be like, almost like 25 hours, like in this van. And like, I remember she was in the van and I never talked to her for like a whole year in the van. I just, I was like, girl in wrestling. Nope, not talking to her. It only leads to bad shit. You don't dip your ink in the, you don't dip your ink in the, you don't dip your ink in. the company you don't dip your pen in the company ink and then uh i just remembered um one night i was taking a trip to like times square after the show because we had a double

shot with progress and i wasn't on progress and i was like i'm just going to go to time square and then she's like i've never been like can i come i'm like no and she's like please and i'm like whatever and then i like start talking to her on the subway and i was like this person's absolutely nothing like i thought she was She's like so like much better like then I thought she was you know and that was on me for being like Stereotyping people you know what I mean but then from there like I like lived in my car in Atlanta And then she lived in Atlanta at the same time because I would just go there to train like and then it's so happen to be she's like hey you like you don't have to like live in your car you can like stay at my house from time to time I'm like Okay and you didn't think anything of it no oh no at this point you're

You were dating at the time. Slowly starting to date because it was just like, you know, it's spooky, man. Because, like, you don't want to have to, like, get a relationship and break up. Somebody didn't have to see them every fucking week. Like, it's so scary. Especially, like... It's the company ink, yeah. Yeah, it's like, you know, that's why I always joked a long time ago, like, my gene girl's a girl who works at Lowe's or Home Depot.

People are like, why? I'm like, because they won't hurt you. And they're like, dude, like, I'm pretty sure girls at Home Depot cheat on people, too. But just in my mind, I was thinking, like, Home Depot people are so nice. Hold on, we kind of skipped over the part where you're living in your car. Why were you living in your car? Because certain companies don't pay shit. But still, you weren't able to, like, make ends me or, like, live with somebody.

The thing is, I liked living in my car because it just forces you to get up and go. Like, you wake up, you go to bed, you wake up at 6 in the morning, it's all hot and muggy. And you're like, I want to sleep in. No, you can't sleep in. You got to get your day going. And that's what I really liked. I really liked doing that. And I, uh, I just remember I had all these hospital bills and all this shit.

And I was like, dude, I can't afford to, like, live anywhere right now. And so, like, kind of compromised the way I liked living with, like, being forced to, like, just get up and go. And, in the meantime, I could pay off some of these hospital bills without having worked. How long did, how long were you living in the car? I'm not a freeloader. Like, I hate asking people for, like, shit. You know, like, hey, let me live on your couch. No, I was, uh, I lived in my car for about, like, three months.

Like, it wasn't anything, like, but then, like, uh, once I started dating Priscilla, like, I just remember, like, just being more at her place. And then, uh, eventually we got married and got her own place. And then as the time, I feel like she's, like a good luck charm in a way. because like once we started like dating I felt like my career started picking up and once got married I thought like my career started picking up

and now I'm here and now I can just like fucking I don't know it's cool to be with somebody from like when you guys are like when she has glasses when she doesn't wear her contacts and then like she like broke her glasses one time

and like I remember like we didn't have any money to like buy repair kit for glasses and I remember just like digging in the coins like in the car to like find money to buy her like secretly surprise her with this like I I kit repair thing you know and then it's fun to be from that moment in our lives to like now and that's like we've only been get together for like almost like two years now and it's just like a lot's happened since then so it's cool wait so you were just indie wrestling that was the only thing that was paying the bills yeah wow I just refused you think about

you know getting another job no god no I'd rather be homeless you could have worked at Lowe's or I know, can't dip your ink in the company. But, no, like, seriously, yeah, no, I just, I wanted to tell myself, like, I don't want anything, like, any, like, you know, safety net here. I was like, you're either going to fucking make it in this wrestling or you're going to live in your car your whole life. And if you don't make it out of this car, you're not trying that hard. Wow. So, like, that's how I, that's how I thought. I'm a very, you know, a lot of people, like, if they ask, like, hey, can you give me some.

tips on wrestling can you like help train me like local people from like Seattle I'm such an asshole because like a lot of people like to like try to like free load and they're like hey can you put the word in for me here I'm like dude like no like do it yourself like because I live in my car for this I've spent so much nights in the hospital for this like I'm not gonna help you and that's not being an asshole I just feel like everyone at the end of the day when you do get somewhere on your own without friendship championship wrestling it's that much more rewarding and it may you appreciate it that much more. So when you're living in your car,

what do your meals look like? Oh, I actually had a George Foreman and I'd bring in to the Anytime Fitness and I'd cook food on the grill at like one in the morning. Did they catch on to what you were doing? No, not they, but like people at the gym would come in and they'd be like,

yo man, I want to smell out chicken. And then I was all like, er. These voices are awesome. Yeah, but they were just like, everyone was like, man, like, I smell like chicken. And I was just like, yeah, dude.

And then a lot of, like, it was a lot of stuff. I would never eat out. I was like so against it. Just because I, like, didn't have the money for it, you know? Okay. And I was like, oh, man, like, by the price of one meal, I could have bought six. This is the thing people don't realize. Yeah.

You could buy a bag of grilled chicken for like $10. Yeah. Or you can buy one meal at Subway. And those air dryers, I would, like, take shrimp and I put it in my hand and put it under the air dryer. It's like, and like, yeah, I got to be. video of it, but sometimes they'd fly over the floor and like trying to balance it. Just like, you know, but like, that was just that. Yeah.

What if AEW didn't come along? Well, you'd still, you'd be living with Priscilla, but, you know. Who knows? Like, honestly, who knows, man? Like, things are so crazy and wrestling right now. I feel like anything. Like, but AEW, I love it so much because it gives me the platform to be recognized on a serious level instead of being like.

typecasted as like a 205 live guy where it's like you're down here you're in this company but you're really not here you're gonna just keep you down here like and i feel like that's so like you talk about like back in like wcw when all the cruiserates would always like be like dude it's so annoying to be considered a cruiserate when you know you got the main roster guys and like it's so like stereotyping everybody and then like they're bitching about it back then and now it's happening again and it's like the same thing like you're never going to be in the roar rumble Like, yeah, sure, like, some people have been, but, like, they're not taking that, like, serious. And you're always going to be on the pre-show.

And it's, like, dude, there comes a time where, like, I just want it more out of my career. And there's no way I was going to go there and, like, settle for that shit. Like, I want it to, like, tell my story. And I don't feel like, you know, one promo AEW made me more than I think five years could have ever done there, period. Wow. Because they let me be me. Yeah. And that's, you know, that's like the biggest thing to me is I'm a performer.

I'm not a guy who you can tell like, hey, say this or read this or this is how you're going to act. I'm going to Darby Allen. I'm going to die as Darby Allen. And you believe that with the way AEW is booking things, that you could be the world champion. Absolutely. Absolutely. Which is exact opposite of what you were talking about with WCW and 205 Live. Yeah.

Absolutely. You know what I mean? I feel like someone as relentless and determined as, myself anything's possible and um if you're not in here to be taken serious like that like i feel like you're wasting your time yeah Justin Roberts announced you i think at 174 at fighter fest that's your shoot weight yeah you didn't like a lot of guys away 175 and they'll go oh announce me at 195 no no i like to be real as much as like you know this world will allow it but that's why like i say these things and like promos and i tell like how i feel

all my life story of things is because I just so sick of these people acting like everything's so awesome and everything's like amazing and perfect. Like, oh God, I've never had any problems in my life.

Like, this is awesome. Like, I'm the best. I'm like, the greatest. Like, that's their like, there's, what's your, what's your wrestling character? I'm the greatest. Like, can you like, I'm the greatest.

I'm the best. Okay, we get it. Like, so much of generic shit. out there, you know. So, I don't know. I just like to keep it real. Well, if we're keeping it real, I think people need to know

that you were on TLC for a, well, a very different medical problem, I guess. Yeah. What was the show called? Sex sent me to the ER. The episode's called Birds and Bees. I was living in Arizona at the time, and I was, like, really fucking broke.

Like, working at the 99 cents. store down there. Like, legit, like, spending $10, like, a week on food

from the dollar tree. Just, like, it'd be nights where you're like, oh, like, you like...

Like two-for-one tuna, or, I don't know. Yeah. What's the go-to at the dollar store? Yeah, like,

just all this, like, nasty-ass food. And you, but then I just remember, like, there's this thing, sex send me to the yard,

and then I'll, like, wrote into it and came up with this, like, fake-ass story about,

like um hiking in the woods with like a grandma and then like we were like making love and then like they're in the grandma yeah and then and then like we rolled over in like a bees nest and then like we thought it was like dead the bees were like the nest was dead the nest was like there was no bees in there we just like oh it's it's an old bees nest and then like the bees came out and attacked us and this obviously did not happen at all no god but you got to be on tc and you got paid for it. Yeah. But,

like, I came up with the story and then, like, and I remember TLC thought it was real. Of course they would think it's real. Yeah, and then,

but I was like, shit, they're gonna fly me down there to film this interview. I'm like, I need to find a great. So I had like, Craigslist Peeful and then

there's like this aspiring actress down in Los Angeles where they were filming it. And I messed this chair about it. And like, hey, would you just like to pretend on the show and she's like,

yeah, what's her name? I forgot, to be honest. And then, I remember we filmed it and we like it was it was fun and you know

you got paid $800 and like put up in a nice hotel and then I was like for me I was like $800 I made it. Yeah. So it was fun though but yeah you've seen that movie My Girl McCullocholink. Yeah of course so like when he dies at the end

with the bees so like the director of the show was like so what's going to your head on the bees are attacking you and I like started like I was like I just didn't want to end up like McCullocholkin. And he's like, we can't use this. God, God, God, God. But it was fun. That shit's fun to me.

Is that what kind of inspired you to chase after the MTV stuff? No, I was doing the MTV stuff way, way before, just through mutual friends and skateboarding and stuff like that. And then, like, I remember just like my friend, Matt Schlaugger. He's this guy who got flown down to ridiculousness and was on this, like, episode as, like, one of the guests and he like tried to ollie like this like flat 13 flat 13 so it was like it's the equivalent of like almost like 30 stairs okay and then he it was in the pouring rain and he just ate the worst shit in it and then like but then I like got connected through him and then I started

sending stuff to MTV all the time and then like they're like the crazier the better so I just started like up in the ante like every week and then just filming crazier and crazier things to the point where they couldn't take it anymore like the crazy shit. Like what's the craziest thing? What was the cutoff? I'd love to hear what the thing was where they went, sorry. The cutoff was when we were driving from Arizona to Vegas. And it was like that five hour car ride.

And we all rolled up the windows and wore diapers and took Xlaxen and shit her pants the whole way there. Oh no. And whoever rolled down the window first lost. And if you lost, well, in reality, we're all losers for doing that. But if you lost, you get smacked in the face with the diapers. Oh, my God. But, like, I remember, like, I was like, oh, I was like, yeah, man, we're going to, like, this is, this is gold.

Like, they're going to buy this and this is going to be on TV. This is, like, some jackass stuff. Yeah, but then, like, they were just like, what the hell? Can't use that? Dude's in a diaper back there, chugging fucking X-laxen. Because, like, we, like, there's just, like, this guy named Juan Pablo, and he was my brother. me and this guy named Juan Pablo and Juan Pablo was like this big

heavyset guy and then like I remember the windows rolled up and the AC was broke so it was like 115 in the car. It was hot as hell and then he just had this like fry box for McDonald's and he just like and I look back and I'm like dude this is

the grossest thing ever I thought the I thought the fry box cooling himself down was grosser than the actual shit because it just looked so I mean we saw Tommy Dreamer do some like weird stuff in WWE. Do you think that this would transfer over for you to your wrestling character? No, I don't know if I'd want to, but at the same time,

you know, if someone really wants to pick up fight with somebody, like no one's going to fight somebody if they're covered a shit. I don't care who you are. That's true. It's also really gross. Yeah, yeah. But it's true. Yeah, I don't think I'd carry it onto my wrestling, though,

because I don't know, man. I just feel like my wrestling, like, to me, it's like, this is fucking serious like my life like this is like my life's work right here and then there's times to dick around but then there's times like you got to like really fight for what you like you know but I absolutely love digging around are these are these ever going to be pranks you pull on people backstage

I've pulled some pranks before backstage just like letting off like stink bombs and shit and stuff like that but like nobody like knows me Oh, now they do. And yeah, but like I just remember just like it was a lot of just like random stuff like that. And then, um, yeah, there's some weird shit. Yeah, I remember in the interview you did with Alicia Tut, you were talking about it was right before your wedding. And you were talking about how you hadn't met your father-in-law yet, but you were going to pepper spray him at the wedding.

And this was somehow a great idea. Yeah. So how'd that go? Well, it didn't go. Okay. Because he, uh, was on a drug binge. and got arrested a couple days before the wedding and taken away

and he's still in jail and it's been like a year and a half okay wow that story took a turn he writes he writes letters all the time I'm sorry I missed your wedding so when he gets out you're gonna welcome him with a

yeah I do a pepper spray I was like yeah do like this about that off what's the hold on what's the idea behind this nobody wants to get pepper sprayed oh I think it's more of like a break the ice like hey like that's like something

you do with like a close friend Yeah, okay, or a police officer who a victim. Or like a creepy guy trying to break in your house. Right. But like, yeah, I just thought it to be like, you know, like, Hey, you know, by that time I met my father a lot, I pepper sprayed his ass first time. Yeah, that was awesome.

Who's this voice? I love it. I don't even know. It's like hillbillies. Do you think we'll ever see a color photo on your Instagram? No. maybe oh no just kidding i don't know

i like you know i don't know i just think it's aesthetically pleasing when it's like that and then uh i don't know it's nice so if we just scratch the surface of darbby this is the scratching the surface motion here for people that are watching us not listen to the podcast what can we expect in the next like if we if you and i sat down a year from now and had the same conversation what would what would we have seen in this last year in a

you. Darby being a household name, like, internationally. You know, you take those 13,000 followers and you turn it to 1,300,000 or? I don't even know. I'm going to Stott Steiner math there. I don't even know my mind is racing. No, it's just like, because like I said, it's just a matter of time before people, like, get introduced to me. Well, we can get you some more followers right now.

Yeah. Just tell everyone, we'll link it up below. Just at Darby Allen, right? See, I don't really, it's weird because, like, I don't care about Twitter and I don't care about Instagram. But it's also the way the business is going. Exactly. But I also feel like it's just a nice way to, like, show the people, like, yourself.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Because, like, everything I do put on is, like, whether it's my skateboard material or my, just weird-ass stuff, like, the last thing that I really posted was, like, I, like, paid a clown for Priscilla's birthday to break into the house. and like like we'll go with this clown in the house like singing

happy birthday and it's like it's just random shit like that this is what you're missing if you don't follow Darby yeah but uh there's a lot of just things like that but it's just fun you know what I mean because you can actually like

connect with people that like will end up like looking up to you and that's always oh yeah it's always nice to like connect with these people that like feel like losers or outcast because like I remember I just like this autograph sign

in the mall like down in Tucson like last week and then people are like dude it's like here's this drawing i did of you and like how much of inspiration wow and it's just like it's like oh like that's nice like thank you very much and it's like i just want to you know i'm not here for like fame where it's like oh like i'm better than you i just want to like be real with people so when you talk to me like be real with me like don't like think of me as like this wrestling guy you know i was just working at the 90s sense or five years ago eating

damn oh that's another good one they're throwing away hot dogs at the 90 cent store and there's like 500 of these hot dogs and then I took them all and I filled up my bath with them and took a bath with them and I got a video of that that's also on Instagram so you can watch that did you eat the hot dogs too no

actually my brother my brother threw up in the bathtub with all the hot dogs oh my god and then like and then like I had to actually go to Los Angeles to film that six in the the next day so I didn't clean out the hot So I was gone for like three days. Oh, no.

And then I came back and there's like moldy throat with all these hot dogs. Oh, must have smelled awful. It was the worst. And then my dog tried to jump in there and eat it. I'm like, oh, you're going to die. But yeah, just weird stuff like that. Man, we've learned so much in this interview. Yeah.

This is definitely. 40 minutes. Yeah. 40 minutes of just interestingness. Like seriously. There's a lot of just stuff. I don't know. Like the biggest thing is like I feel like next year, this time next year,

more people will see shit like this. You know what I mean? Like more like human pieces of me. Yeah. Getting to know me and not so much. You know, like the character stuff for wrestling is awesome

because it does feel like me because I'm just pissed off all the time. Just wanting to. I don't know if I believe that. I'm pissed off in the sense of like wanting to prove people wrong. Okay. Stereotypes and stuff like that.

Like that's like otherwise I'm at like I'm very happy to hand. But like I'm very happy to have. But like I'm, I'm like pissed off with just like people just like you know like oh that guy that guy really like look at him like is he is he really belong here or what's the deal with him you know what I mean it's like dude like wrestling we all come in different shapes and sizes and I want people to like you know I don't want to like like I said live as Darby and die as Darby so this year next year time whatever the fuck I just said I think it's a pretty good way to end things. And I'll link it up below at Darby Allen so people will follow you

and they can see the adventures in black and white. Yeah, that's what it is. And please don't, please don't die at Fight for the Fallen or All Out or any of these. We'll see what we are back. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, wow, it's hard to sum all that up.

So much happened in that interview. First of all, please don't die, Darby. But man, a lot going on. on there. The story of having sex on a beehive with an old woman, a made-up story so he could get on TLC. The diaper and the X-lax and the car, the literal hot potato, man, I think it goes without saying that Darby Allen is going to be a megastar in AEW, and those chants for him are just going to keep getting louder and louder. Thanks to Green Roads, use my code Chris 15 for 15% off at Greenroadsworld.com. Also, thank you.

to Samson Tech for the audio equipment that makes us sound so good. Thank you to you for tuning in. Thank you for the five-star reviews. Thank you for spreading the word. If you are loving this, if you are enjoying these, please take a screenshot. Share it on your Instagram story. Let me know that you're listening, and I'd be happy to share that out with the rest of the world. Scott Steiner and Hornswoggle are going to be in South Florida this weekend for a show at Gangrel's Wrestling Asylum.

So there you go. little nugget there. Little nugget to keep an eye out. Be on the lookout for those interviews soon. And have a great day. As you know, Vague goals get Vag results. Boom. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary.

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