Mick Foley on Darby Allin’s Style Has Made Him “One Of The Biggest Stars Of This New Generation” & Working with Tony Khan and It Being Nice To See An Owner “Who Is Really Happy To Watch His Product”

The Sportster held a recent interview with WWE Hall of Famer and AEW personality Mick Foley. One of the topics discussed included Foley’s thoughts about his praise of Darby Allin’s wrestling style and how Allin took his Cactus Jack style and added “a whole lot of athleticism to it” to become one of the biggest stars of this current generation of wrestlers.

“Well, it’s funny because I saw Darby mention that I was one of the biggest influences on his career and when I saw him, I said, ‘Darby, I never knew that.’ He looked at me and said, ‘How could you not know?’ So, I mentioned on my first night in AEW at All In that I remember him being the quiet kid who didn’t speak up much and and then it was only Jon Moxley saying ‘You have to see this kid. He can do anything’, that I began to see an image of Darby Allin as a younger fan, maybe not quite fitting in and seeing someone A. who made it cool to not fit in and B. who took chances.

I see Darby as someone who took the inspiration from Cactus Jack and had a whole lot of athleticism to it, did things that I could have never done, and he’s created a hybrid style that borrows from me a little bit and from others who were far more athletic than me, and he’s made it his own in the same way that I basically took one part Bruiser Brody, one part Tommy Billington and made it my own. He’s created a hybrid style that works for him and has made him one of the biggest stars of this new generation.”

Foley also gave his thoughts about his work with AEW CEO Tony Khan since he joined the company and his praise of Khan for being an owner who is really happy to watch his own wrestling product.

“I just thought, I like one of these things a little better than the other. Since I have begun working with AEW, I have to tell you, there’s something really refreshing about seeing the owner of the company so obviously happy after matches. So obviously thankful for how hard people work for him. I’m not saying that Vince McMahon’s management style didn’t work, because it did. It’s just that my age, there’s something really nice about seeing an owner who is really happy to watch his product and to watch the people excel inside of it.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com