In professional wrestling, some characters are so good, they capture the hearts and imaginations of fans outside of the “wrestling bubble.” From Hulk Hogan, to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and even Darby Allin‘s tag team partner in AEW, Sting, some gimmicks, for one reason or another, connect with the general public and create buzz for the business as a result, with fans tuning in to see WWE or WCW in order to watch some of their favorite television, movie, or video game stars, instead of the other way around.

Are there any wrestlers who fall into that category now? Debatable, but in the opinion of the “Wrestling Genius,” Chris Hero, who has started to work with AEW as a backstage producer, Allin is doing a fantastic job of establishing himself outside of the industry while bringing new eyes back to Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, as he explained on The Masked Men Show.

“We get in the wrestling bubble, and we only see what's in front of our face, and we only reference what's in our recent memory and what we remember historically. It's very easy in pro wrestling to be self-cyclical. It's not always about the bell-to-bell and the promos. It is larger than that. When I look out into the arena and see these kids with their face painted up like him, these are five, six, seven-year-old children that are going to grow up and have lives. This is connecting with people on a deeper level,” Chris Hero told the Masked Man Show via Fightful.

“Darby, wrestling fans are like, ‘It's Darby, we're going to see something crazy, he's great and creative.' This dude is in a skit with Tim Robinson. This dude is hanging out with JPEGMAFIA and Tony Hawk. Darby's crossover is incredible, and it's not this phony studio-made. These are things that Darby likes and is interested in. You see him, and it's like, ‘I wonder what that dude is about.' He did Nitro Circus. It's not even about the pro wrestling, it's about the butterfly effect of who else he meets in the world. People like Darby, when they crossover to different areas of entertainment, it affects the business as a whole, it's not just about the rating he gets or the false finish. Some wrestlers are bigger than that, and I think Darby is one of them.”

From his instantly recognizable facepaint to his high-risk, high-reward offense and his extracurricular activities outside of the ring, it's clear Allin is one of the most unique performers in professional wrestling today. If he can use that excitement to build an even bigger audience for AEW, well, then that's just gravy for everyone involved.

Darby Allin explains his desire to get new eyes on AEW.

While Chris Hero makes some good points about how Darby Allin brings in new eyes to AEW, why not see what the man himself had to say on the subject, as the two-time TNT Champion recently extrapolated on the subject in an interview with Forbes?

Discussing his appearances at Nitro Circus, Allin noted that he's doing his best to introduce a brand new audience to AEW, even if he has to do some crazy things to get it done.

“They give us so much creative freedom in and out of the ring. I’m trying to push the limits of what a professional wrestler can do. If I go to Nitro Circus, I’m gonna backflip the big wheel. I will be the guy that gets more eyes on AEW,” Darby Allin told Forbes.

“You’re never gonna catch another wrestling backflipping a big wheel. You’re never gonna catch another wrestler hiking Mount Everest or skateboarding with Tony Hawk. It’s just not gonna happen, and I’m willing to go, physically, places not a lot of other people are. If I have to be the guinea pig through my insanity outside the ring to get more eyes on AEW, let’s go.

“I’m gonna go crazy outside the ring because I do feel like there’s a crossover with action sports fans that have never given wrestling a shot. No, if people see me going crazy and they’re like, ‘Oh let’s check out AEW. Let’s see what this is all about.'”

Will doing big wheel flips while hanging out with Tony Hawk actually get more eyes on AEW? It's impossible to know, as there's been no clear publically identified correlations with these episodes and viewership bumps, but hey, when it comes to building fanbases, sometimes its a game of inches to get where you want to be. If Allin can create a few new life-long fans a month, in the end, the results will be a net positive all the same.