Matt Cross On How Darby Allin Is Similar to CM Punk, Teaming With Allin in Defy

Matt Cross recently discussed his experiences with Darby Allin and how Allin is similar to CM Punk during a new interview. Cross spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview, and you can check out some highlights below:

On Bobby Fish working in MLW: “I think as far as if we get a singles, that would be a first time ever, so there’s a lot of opportunities. My favorite memory with him was when I tagged with Darby Allin against the two of them, ReDRagon (Fish and Kyle O’Reilly), for Defy in Seattle. In my opinion, Defy has the best independent crowd in the country right now, so to be able to do that a couple years ago was just phenomenal, and it was sort of like wrestling 101. And everything clicked and came together, and we just had this match where we’re just hitting on all cylinders.

“It was so much fun, so to get the chance to kind of distill that down to just the two of us now, I got my new chrome dome look, I guess. Before that, everyone was always mistaking me for him also. There’s so many tweets where it’s like, ‘You look like Bobby Fish,’ and I would think he hears the same, so it’s like, a Highlander thing. ‘There can be only one,’ so maybe him and I need to face each other to find out who gets this look or whatever you want to call it.”

On the similarities between Allin and CM Punk: “I’m a bit taken aback because I don’t know him in that regard because it’s, I guess, similar to CM Punk where sometimes these guys have their circles, and then they’re a touch wary of people outside of their circles, which I understand because, in both cases, you almost sort of blow up overnight. And then the interest level is crazy. And then it’s like, ‘well, who are all these new people? Are they interested in me? What are they interested in?’ It’s just like, a different world for those people.

“So sometimes, I don’t want to speak for them, but sometimes, they may retract and be like, ‘let me stick with who I know and whose intentions I know.’ There’s some comfort there, but he’s cool. We’re both straightedge and we’re both into these really strange bands. There’s almost an instant connection. To draw that CM Punk parallel again, when I first met him, it was 2001. We’re independent wrestlers, he lives in Chicago. I’m in Cleveland, very similar Midwestern cities. I think I was wearing a Misfits shirt.

“He was wearing a Misfits shirt and we’re both straightedge, so it was inevitable in some ways. You’re like, ‘oh, what’s up other dude who’s also parallel universe me?’ So it’s sort of the same, whereas with Punk, we’re almost the same generation. He was slightly before me, so I was looking up to him in some regards, and maybe there’s some elements now with Darby and myself. There’s almost this weird timeline of, okay, there’s this brethren, or this passing, or carrying of the torch between the genuine, punk, straightedge community of wrestlers. So for us, it’s all very familiar. I saw him and, instantly, it was cool to see him there. And again, he was in the pit, in the mix and everything, so it was a lot of fun for both of us.”