AEW World Champion Darby Allin has been on a tear of exciting matches since winning the belt from MJF on April 14. He's defeated the likes of Tommaso Ciampa, Brody King, PAC, Kevin Knight, and more in six defenses, with another to go against "Speedball" Mike Bailey before MJF gets his rematch at Double or Nothing in a hair-vs-title match. Bully Ray evaluated Allins' reign so far on an episode of "Busted Open Radio," and said while Allin may be exciting, he's not sure if he's helped business overall."I think Darby gets a little too crazy sometimes and could be a little more selective of where and when he does things," he said. "Whatever it is, it's working with Darby because fans like it. As far as fans being into it, that's great. Is it working for them on a business level? Are more people paying to see Darby as world champion? Are ratings better? I don't know what the exact numbers are... Darby might be turning in more fun matches than MJF on a weekly basis, but I don't think Darby is doing better business for AEW than MJF did."Bully Ray lauded AEW President Tony Khan's decision to put the title on Allin just days ahead of WWE WrestleMania 42, so the conversation had to be shifted to AEW, at least for a moment, that week. He went on to say that he thinks Allin is going out there and exerting himself to levels he never has before, every single week."Darby doesn't burn the candle at both ends, he just incinerates the entire candle," he said. "I like that that's his outlook on things. Darby is balls to the wall. He's all gas, no breaks. He's all in on his performance every single week."
That mentality, however, may be the downfall of the champion, according to Bully Ray. During his match against Sammy Guevara on Saturday's "AEW Collision," Allin passed out in sheer exhaustion while applying the Scorpion Deathlock. Bully Ray said that it seemed like a seed was planted going into the Double or Nothing match that could benefit Allin in defeat."If you see a guy like Darby Allin who's willing to bring it every single week to the level that Darby is bringing it and he happens to lose against MJF, you as a fan know, 'This guy has given his all...,'" he said. "[If] MJF were to walk away with the championship and then Darby slowly gets to his feet, people are going to give Darby a standing ovation and start chanting 'Thank you, Darby,' because you're thanking Darby for everything that he has given of himself."Bully Ray said that he rather be over emotionally with the fans than have a championship, and "being over trumps everything. It's a way to get the title back on MJF, but to get Allin to the next level in the eyes of the fans. He however questioned if anyone else's stock has really gone up after facing Allin."Nobody is a bigger draw because of these matches," Bully Ray said. "I'm going to use Sammy as my best example. You believe that this match against Sammy on 'Collision' reminded everybody of how great Sammy once was in AEW and how great Sammy can be again? The only way I will agree with you is if this Wednesday night on AEW if they follow up with Sammy."If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
