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AEW hasn't had a lot of different singles champions since the company opened a couple of years ago. But one thing many fans constantly point to is that every single one of them has been talent that used to work for WWE.
Saturday night, at Full Gear, that all changed as Darby Allin defeated 'The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes to become the AEW TNT Champion. This is a big moment in the young history of All Elite Wrestling as it could be argued that Allin is truly the company's first home-grown talent to hold a singles title.
AEW owner Tony Khan certainly had a lot to say about their newly crowned champion Saturday night at the Full Gear media scrum.
Tony Khan confirms that Darby Allin is locked in long-term with AEW
Following Full Gear, AEW owner Tony Khan was very quick to compliment the new TNT Champion and went on to elaborate just how important he is to the company.
"I'm a huge fan of Darby, I think it was very appropriate that the fourth match between Cody and Darby here in AEW was this championship win for Darby because Darby's debut here came against Cody. Our Executive Vice Presidents do a great job scouting people and bringing them up to our attention, and Cody wanted to work with Darby from the beginning and I was very, very up for it, and was excited to sign Darby to a multi-year deal and then quickly when I saw what value he adds to this company I extended it, so Darby's signed here for many, many years to come. Because after the match he had with Cody I realized that Darby's going to be a huge, huge star. I saw he had potential but I had no idea until Fyter Fest in Daytona, 2019 in the Summer. So I really, really believe in Darby and I think everybody, our fans, and everybody here in the company believes in him. Wrestlers and our staff and our executives alike and myself, the ones booking the company. So I really, really tried to build Darby strong." - Tony Khan
It's clear from his words that Tony Khan is incredibly high on the new TNT Champion. It was absolutely a star-making moment at Full Gear when he captured the title from Rhodes and the best is yet to come for this young star in All Elite Wrestling.
