"I can't believe he's here," says Tommy Dreamer after former champion's return to AEW
Tommy Dreamer reacted to a surprise return from a top AEW star on Dynamite a few days ago. Former TNT Champion Darby Allin made his first appearance after more than two months of absence.
Eddie Kingston recently sustained a leg injury that put him out of action for Double or Nothing. At the pay-per-view, he was supposed to be one of the four men facing The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match. Allin emerged as his replacement for the match.
On Busted Open Radio, Tommy Dreamer gave his thoughts on the entire segment. He admitted that he, too, popped for Darby Allin's return and enjoyed the genuine reaction the crowd had for his return.
"... Listen, man, that building popped big for him. I popped big for him. I'm just happy to see his return ... I loved his return, loved him being on team AEW," Dreamer said. "We talked a lot about pillars for a long time. If not so much a pillar, [Darby is] an OG, an AEW original and getting the fans to rally... It was so great until you got a real organic, 'Oh my God, I can't believe he's here.'"
He felt there was a slight improvement from the promotion regarding surprise moments and how it was best not to announce anything beforehand.
"Really, I enjoyed last night," Dreamer continued. "Any time you give me a surprise, and I think AEW has learned from [their tendency to say] 'We got a big surprise. We have a big, big announcement.' They're learning from their mistakes that, I don't want to say backfired on them, it's just hard to live up to those expectations." [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
The ECW legend compared AEW star Darby Allin to the likes of Sabu and Jeff Hardy
On the same podcast, Tommy Dreamer talked about how Darby Allin was hardcore due to his ability to take bumps of various kinds.
He compared him to Sabu and Jeff Hardy, who also did the same and were daredevils in the industry.
"Darby you know, we used to say, like, 'Sabu had pigeon bones because of his ability to absorb punishments!' I saw him take so much punishment, and I was like, 'Man, how is this guy walking?' for Darby [Allin] too; he is one of those anomalies that puts his body on the line. Jeff Hardy is another guy who goes out there and does it like that and, you know, has made a lot of money doing so; the daredevil wrestler! loved his [Darby Allin] return, loved him being on Team AEW!" he said.
Interestingly, Allin is coming off some miraculously healed injuries, and he seems to be in good condition to compete at Double or Nothing in less than two weeks.