Add as a preferred source on Google Tony Khan once again had high praise for Darby Allin after his first reign as AEW World Champion came to an end at Double or Nothing on Sunday in Queens, New York.
The AEW President called Allin “one of the greatest fighting champions ever” in the company, even after his loss to MJF in the Title vs. Hair Match.
The praise did not come out of nowhere. Last month, Khan had already said Allin was “red hot” and that his style as champion was built around facing anyone, anywhere, every week.
Allin won the AEW World Championship at Spring BreakThru by defeating MJF, and he went into Double or Nothing with seven successful title defenses in less than 35 days, according to AEW.
Tony Khan calls Darby Allin ‘one of the greatest fighting champions ever’ in AEW https://t.co/oemDRcv295
— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) May 25, 2026
That list of challengers included Tommaso Ciampa, Brody King, Kevin Knight, PAC, Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara and Mike Bailey. Before the pay-per-view, only MJF’s first reign and Jon Moxley’s first reign had more successful defenses of the AEW World Championship.
In the main event of Double or Nothing at Louis Armstrong Stadium, MJF defeated Allin to become AEW World Champion for the third time. The show ended with Kevin Knight attacking Allin after the match.
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That leaves Darby in an interesting spot at the top of AEW: no longer champion, but with Tony Khan publicly reinforcing the importance of his run with the title.