411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction: Is Darby Allin the Wrestler Of the Year So Far?

Welcome back to the 411mania Wrestling Fact or Fiction. I’m your host Jake Chambers.

This week we back with the third round of the (semi) annual Larry Csonka Memorial Fact or Fiction Tournament. As mentioned previously, we’re doing it Gauntlet Style for the first time, and it seems we have a mini-version of Kofi-mania going on. Or should I say, Sambu-mania! Our very own Theo Sambus just nudged past Thomas Hall last time and so he is now hoping to run the table through to the Finals. But it’s not going to be easy.

Today Theo is up against former tournament champion and multi-time finalist, head editor Jeremy Thomas! Who will be the one to win this week and move on to face the FINAL BOSS in the championship round? Only one way to find out…

Statement #1: Having Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns as the top WWE champions in 2026 is super boring.

Theo Sambus: FICTION – Sure, it’s a return to the status quo, and it’s perhaps a little uninspiring, but I see this as a time where we’re focusing on building new stars. Rhodes and Reigns sit comfortably on top of the WWE right now, and it’s up to Triple H et al to get behind the next crop of talent and find those who could provide a legitimate challenge to their throne.

The upper-midcard in WWE is STACKED and the company have a LOT of choices on the direction they could take. There are some obvious choices for those who could break through into the next level; Jacob Fatu has been on a roll (at least until he got ‘neutered’), LA Knight is clearly being built for something, Bron Breakker is biding his time. Then there are the stable hands who could easily step up when needed; Sami Zayn is still chasing that elusive first World title, and his newly solidified heel persona could coincide with his time to shine, or perhaps Finn Balor having broken away from the Judgment Day finally finds his feet. Hell, capitalize on the reaction Chad Gable has been garnering. The championship scene beyond Reigns and Rhodes’ current titles reigns is certainly intriguing and wide open.

The excitement always comes in the chase, so there’s a lot to be said for having the status quo in place at the head of the table (no pun intended), ready to be upended at any minute.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – This is the statement this week I went back and forth on the most.  I don’t blame anyone who feels bored by QB1 and OTC still on top at this point.  Cody has been champion or challenging for the title for about three years now. And while Reigns was away from the picture for a good two years, it didn’t seem like it somehow.

That said, I think that at least right now, they make the most sense as champions.  Reigns kept his word and stayed around, whereas CM Punk probably needed the time off (and no shade to him for taking it). Orton is taking time off (maybe due to injury, maybe not) so putting the title on him may not have made sense.  And honestly, I prefer Gunther as a challenger and threat than as a champion right now.  While Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu would be fresh picks, I think WWE wants to get them better positioned before that happens.  Same with Femi, who I would rather see finish off Lesnar at SummerSlam.  I’m kind of into the Reigns and Fatu storyline and want to see where it goes and am looking forward to the eventual Rhodes vs. Punk feud.  If other people are bored, I get that, but I’m enjoying them as champions right now (just don’t make them last another year in that spot, please).

Statement #2: Oba Femi is another Ryback or Braun Strowman.

Theo Sambus: FICTION – Admittedly, I don’t think we had any idea at the time just how much Ryback would go off the rails. So there’s always a chance…I’ll refrain from worrying until Femi gets his name legally changed…THAT’S when we’ll know if he’s gone Full Ryback. 

Personally, I do see Femi as a different breed to Ryback and Strowman. He’s not ‘just another big guy’. He’s got the impressive physique, sure, and he’s got the aura…but he matches it with the athleticism, all the while dripping with charisma. 

Strowman had some decent feuds and matches under his belt, and they probably could have successfully pulled the trigger back in 2018, but I don’t think he had that connection with the fans that Femi’s already established. The Mania victory over Lesnar is HUGE for Oba Femi, and as long as he rebounds from the Clash in Italy defeat (which he’ll do resoundingly with a good showing in the King of the Ring tournament), he’s a made man for the foreseeable. He just needs to keep his head on his shoulders and not believe his own hype, unlike certain others mentioned in this statement.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – I honestly don’t fully understand this comparison.  Yes, they’re all big men who were initially pushed very hard.  But with all due respect to Ryback, he never felt like he remotely deserved his position.  “Feed Me More” was the most over thing that he ever did, and it never really went anywhere because he frankly just wasn’t a main event-level talent.

As for Strowman, that’s a little fairer but I think the difference is that like Ryback, Strowman felt like someone who was pushed into the main event arena before he was ready for it.  Femi earned that connection with his work in NXT and by the time he came to the main roster, fans were salivating for it.  He also feels comfortable in his spot in a way that neither Strowman nor Ryback ever did.  There’s still a lot of time and WWE could always screw up Femi’s trajectory (which would be wild because he feels like the surest thing to come into WWE in years upon years), but as of right now Femi feels like a star given a star spot, whereas Ryback was a midcarder pushed into a main event spot and Strowman was someone who could have felt comfortable in the spot if WWE creative had handled him better.

Statement #3: After his ambitious AEW World Title run, Darby Allin is currently your Wrestler of the Year.

Theo Sambus: FICTION – It was the perfect World Title run for the ‘character’ of Darby Allin, where he did the only thing he knows how to do – put his body on the line each and every night uNtIl ThE WhEeLs FaLl OfF™. I couldn’t have asked for more from a Darby Allin title run, and the matches all ranged from pretty wild to excellent (even if we did hit overkill territory on some of the stuff he kicked out of, see: two count after being thrown off a balcony).

AEW World champ of the year? Yeah, maybe. But there are some MUCH clearer frontrunners for Wrestler of the Year in my book over Darby at this point. First and foremost HAS to be Konosuke Takeshita. I mean COME ON! Big Tak has killed it across AEW and New Japan (not to mention his DDT appearances), with bonafide classics against Okada the other week at Double or Nothing, and Yota Tsuji back at Wrestle Kingdom. His slow burn exit from the Don Callie Family was handled with subtlety and ever growing intrigue, and it really feels like the sky is the limit for him. 

Prior to injury, there was a strong argument for Kyle Fletcher continuing his fantastic in-ring run, and he’s one who has grown infinitely in the eyes of AEW fans this past year. Now back and ready for in-ring action, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the ballet come December.

What else we got? I’d totally get it if someone were to put Tommaso Ciampa up there, as the man simply has not put a foot wrong since stepping in AEW. We’ve got strong contenders in other promotions too – Mistico is doing incredible things in CMLL, CM Punk’s title reign was a ton of fun this year and showed that his best years are certainly not far behind him. 

And of course, we can’t ignore everyone favorite scumbag, MJF, who has been back on form, both on the mic and in-ring since his return to AEW in December. 

It’ll be a hard fought contest for Wrestler of the Year in 2026, and while I hugely respect Darby’s title reign, it’s not gonna put him up there for me personally. 

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – I really liked Darby Allin’s World Title run.  I think he threw everything he had into it and he wrung every single drop of juice he could out of what was always going to be a short-lived run.  He and his opponents put on some truly fantastic matches in the process.

All that said, he’s not my wrestler of the year so far.  I would probably put that on MJF or Rhea Ripley.  The Salt of the Earth has been at the height of his already-impressive skills for a while now, and he was a big part of Allin’s successful title run.  And Ripley not only had a stellar Women’s Tag Team Title run with IYO SKY, but she also helped bring Jade Cargill to the best match of the latter’s career at WrestleMania 42.  Allin may be well in the conversation for the top spot, especially if he has a strong back half of the year, but for now those are my frontrunners.

¡SWITCH!

Statement #4: Sure the Mask vs. Mask match was great and the Mexican crowd loved it, but there is still something uncomfortable about WWE owning AAA for over a year and the biggest match they have promoted there was between two white guys pretending to be Latino.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – I completely understand what’s being said here, and fair.  But I also think it says a lot that, as the statement points out, the crowd got behind both stars.  And sure, that’s more about the performers, but the point stands that Mexican wrestling fans, who were not okay with the gimmick initially, were won over.  Whatever we may think of how the gimmick started, Americano II has shown legitimate respect for lucha libre and the follow-up has been a key, with Gable (so far) showing a lot of respect for Mexican wrestling as he’s gone on his apology tour.

The point is, there were so many ways this could have gone wrong.  But by the time of the mask vs. mask match, fans of lucha libre were into it.  If the whole thing had ultimately bombed, I don’t think WWE would have made it the massive match that it was.  WWE still could do a fair amount more in putting the focus in AAA on the promotion’s homegrown talent, but I’m not the person to tell Mexican wrestling fans that what for many of them is their favorite match of the year was wrong.

Theo Sambus: FICTION – For something that could have been utterly dead in the water from day one, somehow Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser managed the impossible, not only getting the gimmick and themselves over, but making it one of the hottest gimmicks and feuds in both WWE and AAA. And I really feel we shouldn’t be taking anything away from that. Their mask Vs mask match was an instant classic, and that’s not just hyperbole or buzzwords – that match epitomized everything that we all love about pro wrestling. That is testament to their work, their dedication, and to how much fans were buying into it too. 

Did WWE intend that match to be their calling card when they purchased AAA? I highly doubt it. It’s a very happy by-product in my book, and while I’m sure diehards will be hoping for a similar spotlight on homegrown talents, there will still have been a huge amount of new eyes on the product that likely wouldn’t have tuned in if it weren’t for the El Grande Americano feud. The real test will be whether or not that popularity and visibility gets capitalized on.

Aside from all that, did you HEAR the response from the home AAA crowd? They were losing their minds and loving every second of it. That’s not the reaction you get if your target audience have an issue with two white guys pretending to be Latino. Reverse Kerwin White, this ain’t! Somehow, someway, the El Grande Americano experiment was a resounding success.

Statement #5: Speaking of uncomfortable, wrestlers can wear whatever they want to, sure, but it’s still kind of awkward watching the ones who wear tight, tiny trunks or thong bottoms, like Andrade or Kendal Grey.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – Not even a little.  We’re talking about an industry where Rick Rude performed as a wrestler and no one was overly bothered by his gyrating with a women’s face on his crotch.  This is a different era, and no one is forcing Kendal Grey to wear what she’s wearing.  She chooses to do it, and good on her if she wants to.  I’ve honestly never even thought about it, but to be fair that’s also because I don’t tend to think at the members of the various wrestling rosters in that way (which is not to say that I don’t find several people in wrestling all along the gender spectrum attractive).

And speaking of which — as someone who finds attraction in all genders, I have honestly never seen Andrade’s trunks and thought “Oh, yeah.”  If he wants to wear them as part of his Ladies Man character, cool.  If it’s just what he finds comfortable and wants to wear them regardless of his character, cool.  That goes for anyone. I’m not shaming people who aren’t comfortable seeing it, but it doesn’t bother me the slightest.

Theo Sambus: FACT – I’ll give Andrade a pass here as it’s been built into his character, and it makes sense for a self-proclaimed lothario to want to show off as much of his…ahem…manhood as legally possible in a wrestling ring. Entire spots in his matches are built around the striptease and the UNVEILING of his tiny trunks, so it seems fitting for him and justified by his presentation. And you know what, Kendal Grey’s gear I’d argue is fitting too, as it’s clearly a riff on the amateur wrestling classic singlet. No harm, no foul.

Where it gets trickier is with some of the other women’s gear in general. This is not the Divas era; we fortunately live in a time where women frequently main event shows based on their wrestling prowess, with storylines and feuds eclipsing the men, merch sales skyrocketing, and the female Superstars being just as over as their male counterparts.

So when we’re presented with a woman in her wrestling gear that seems to focus the gaze on her ‘physical assets’, you have to ask yourself…who made that call? Who chose that gear? Who gave the advice that that was the direction to take? IF it is 100% her choice, great, I’m all for autonomy, and celebrating bodies when it’s the individual’s prerogative in question. 

But all too often we’ve heard stories of women in wrestling being told they need to show more sex appeal, show more skin, appeal to the male gaze. If it’s for character purposes, like a Scarlett Bordeaux for example, sure, that makes sense. But there are countless examples where the gear seems purely designed for servicing fans who are all too happy to objectify the women they are seeing competing on screen. And for me, that’s an uncomfortable thought.

Statement #6: You would be interested in seeing Mick Foley have one last match in AEW.

Jeremy Thomas: FICTION – Whatever is stronger than “FICTION.”  I can’t express how little I want to see Mick Foley wrestle in 2026.  And that’s not because I don’t think it would be enjoyable or because I don’t love Foley.  I think they would come up with something entertaining, and the man is one of my all-time favorites.  But Mick Foley is the poster child for someone who, against all odds, made it out of an incredibly brutal career relatively okay.  The key word there being “relatively,” because he has admitted he has memory issues from time to time.

My point is, I don’t know what happened with Foley that somehow, he is not wrecked way worse than he is.  But he managed it, and it feels like he essentially tap danced his way through a minefield without blowing up.  I have no desire to see him get anywhere close to the mines again.  And this isn’t an AEW thing.  I wouldn’t want to see him wrestle in WWE, TNA, NWA, MLW — anywhere.  I understand that he knows his body better than I do, but he also has had, throughout his career, admitted desire to do things that his body is telling him not to do.  I just feel like watching such a match would be like waiting to see if a Jenga tower falls, except the Jenga tower is a man’s spine or brain.  I’m a huge Foley fan to this day, but hell no.

Theo Sambus: FACT – HE SHOULDN’T DO IT! HE ABSOLUTELY SHOULDN’T DO IT! But I am ashamed to say I would be interested if the stars align and the right scenario was presented. Do I want to see him in a high-profile singles match? Hell no, he shouldn’t be anywhere near that kind of thing. But I do believe he could offer something tangible that satiates his desire for one last match, gets over some of the current up-and-comers, and gives fans a genuine feel-good moment, all the while staying safe and as protected as one can be in a wrestling ring.

Make it a cinematic match. Make it a multi-man gimmick match. Throw him in a trios with Darby Allin and Mark Briscoe, let them run wild with the bulk of the work, and then tag in for a nostalgia kick…although for the love of GOD don’t let him drop a stereo Cactus Elbow off the apron with Briscoe – THINK OF YOUR HIPS, FOLEY! If he’s somehow medically cleared and they can work out a path through a match where any kind of head trauma is as minimized as possible (does he even have to take a bump?), then yeah, go for it, and I’ll enjoy the heck out of the promos leading up to it.

Great stuff from both writers, but now it’s time for YOU to vote! Who do you want to see move on to the championship round in the gauntlet and face off with the FINAL BOSS!?

Thanks again to Jeremy and Theo.

Remember to join Theo Sambus on Saturday nights for 411’s weekly live Collision coverage!

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We’ll see you next time for more in our tournament to honor the legendary Larry Csonka!