Luchasaurus vs Darby Allin (All Out 2023)

Darby Allin is the quintessential underdog.

He stands out as one of the best bumpers this generation has to offer and his mastery of blending this with an emotionally compelling presentation gives him something that very few cookie-cutter underdogs have. Combined with the phenomenal heel act that is Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, you get what turns out to be a somewhat surprisingly phenomenal match. This is my MOTN for All Out 2023 and on a card with multiple MOTY contenders, this may stagger some more acquainted with the match-card of this show, but the more I watch and empathize with this match the more I admire it.

The main star of the show here is Darby, his almost instinctual ability to bump and play a tremendous underdog shines throughout the course of the match. He has perfectly interwoven hope spots almost akin to those of Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesner. The added layers of him going into this match with shattered ribs from a Coffin Match only a week prior add to the sense that Darby is fighting a losing battle throughout. While Darby is the evident star of the match Luchasaurus’ performance is one that should not go unnoticed. He isn’t required for this match; you could switch him out for any other decent dominant big man and you would most likely get a match of similar quality but even with this he still has the performance of a lifetime here.

Take, for example, the infamous stair spot within this match. After throwing Darby into the barricade in an awful-looking bump, he takes the opportunity to crush Darby underneath the steel steps. What I can only assume is a bone-crushing amount of weight is added onto by Luchasaurus climbing onto the steps while Darby is beneath. This is not only a spot, but a visual, that stuck in my head even months after first viewing this match. This spot represents what this match is, Darby fighting against insurmountable odds and barely being able to crawl out from under. It’s a strangely beautiful spot that quite literally shows how Darby is so disadvantaged within the match.

Image: AEW

This spot is the perfect time to bring up another interesting wrinkle in the match. Christian, of course in the corner of Luchasaurus, taunts Darby as he desperately struggles for air underneath the steps. The man who chases him off is one Darby has had a deep bond with his entire life. Nick Wayne, a man who had only just turned 18 at the time and had made his AEW debut not that long before this match, is in Darby’s corner to even up the odds. However, as the match progresses it slowly starts to show that Nick being there only hurts Darby, even if unintentionally. Towards the end of the match, Darby has one final shot to take down Luchasaurus, he goes up to the top but is distracted by Christian attacking Nick at ringside, this buys Luchasaurus enough time to surface and swipe Darby’s knees out allowing him to set up into a piledriver and win the match. Excaliber brings up on commentary that this could very well be the first time in Darby’s entire career that he has to worry about another person.

Darby can take as much punishment as possible, but he fails because for the first time, he has to consider another.

Image: AEW

This is a match that heavily went overlooked in my opinion and I rarely, if ever, saw it mentioned as a highly rated match. Generally, my biggest problems here lie outside of the two performers and fall on Nick. He just isn’t that great when it comes to selling and acting within the match. Alongside this, I have a problem with inconsistent arm work throughout the match. Darby tends to have very loose limb work in his matches and it comes back in the end but it isn’t as satisfying as it could be if he worked on it more in my opinion.

Final Rating: ****¼

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