Darby Allin Reveals How He Learned He'd Be Facing CM Punk

Darby Allin was recently a guest on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where he spoke about how he learned he would be facing off against CM Punk in the former world champion's first wrestling match in 7 years.

“I was talking to Tony (Khan) on the phone. You don’t believe something until it happens, and then once I cut the promo about the best in the world that aired in North Carolina, I knew that it was a done deal and it was go time. That was the highest pressure moment ever because I knew everyone was going to be watching him because it’s such a big thing. Seven years, holy sh*t, that’s a long time. For him to leave wrestling the way he did and to come back, people weren’t sure if he ever was going to come back. So when he did, and I was the first opponent, I was so nervous.

I was in a zone, and I’ve been in a few zones in life, but like I was in a zone that day where I was like it’s not going to get more nerve wracking than this. It’s cool to get moments like that because it does make you mentally stronger. But it started hitting me hard because I remember when he left wrestling in 2014, it was the same year that I started wrestling. At the time he was my favorite wrestler. Besides the whole straight edge, it was the punk rock, and the I don’t give a sh*t about what you think about me attitude. It was cool as a kid watching him, but then it hit me. When he left, I was a dishwasher, and dude, life is a trip, so I got a little teary eyed before that match.”

Allin also spoke about a bad skateboarding injury he once had.

“I was going down this big hill and I hit a crack at the bottom. My elbow went into my ribs. I thought I broke my ribs. Then my kneecap smashed into the wall. I was laying there and I thought I had broken everything. I was laying on the ground, and then I saw I was laying in a red ant hill. It just got worse and worse. I thought I broke my wrist and I had to wrestle next week. It was fu**ed up. I was contemplating going to the hospital for 3 hours. I was like, if I cough up blood then I will go, but I didn’t, so I didn’t go.”