Darby Allin has successfully defended the TNT Championship eight times since beating Cody Rhodes for the title six months ago at AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view. He’ll look to make it nine defenses this week when he takes on Miro, a man who has not been pinned since first jumping to AEW last September. The match was announced last week with the stipulation that, if Allin was unable to compete, he would have to relinquish the title to “The Best Man.” Allin wound up in a brawl with Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky earlier in the show that saw him get thrown down a set of concrete stairs and injure his shoulder.
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Ever since the match was booked, the pair have been trading shots on social media.
No forfeit! Not my fault he signed the contract then immediately threw himself down a stairs. https://t.co/BXuaxOLfqj
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) May 7, 2021
Denial will get you hurt bad. Ask emo face-paint Daddy @Sting if you can win. If he wants to protect you he’ll tell you it’s over too. https://t.co/rDrA2FaiZr
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) May 8, 2021
You say Darby’s this & Darby’s that I know exactly who I am.
Do you know who you are Miro? You show up the hottest free agent just to talk about video games and be some best man. You’ve gotta be the most underwhelming Thing I’ve seen.
You ain’t taking shit away from me. https://t.co/yMR9K5TcEN
— DARBY ALLIN (@DarbyAllin) May 9, 2021
By “underwhelming,” Allin was referring to the criticism surrounding how Miro has been used since joining AEW — partnering up with Kip Sabian and obsessing over video games and weddings. Tony Khan explained in a media conference call last year that he believed Miro (formerly known as Rusev) needed his character to be rehabilitated after his final few years in WWE.
“Whether people know it or not, we’re re-contextualizing Miro,” Khan said. “I don’t know what Miro was supposed to be before he came to AEW. I don’t understand what he represented. And I think most of the great characters in wrestling have some element of their personality, where they bring themselves into it. And the Miro you’re seeing is the person I know.”
I’m just kind of rebuilding him, to be honest with you. I thought he got beat up so badly [in WWE],” he continued. “I saw some jackass on Twitter was like, ‘This guy drove a tank at WrestleMania and now he’s doing this,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, and then he got kicked in the nuts and they treated him like s— for years. He drove a tank out five years ago. That’s not the guy I signed. The guy I signed had been abused for years. And he’s being rebuilt.”
