Darby Allin

Samuel Ratsch (born January 7, 1993) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Darby Allin and is a two-time AEW TNT Champion and one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Sting).

Ratsch began his professional wrestling career in 2014, competing for various independent promotions including EVOLVE, Progress Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide before signing with AEW in 2019. Since then, he has become one of the promotion’s most featured performers, appearing in major matches at events such as All Out, Full Gear, Revolution, and All In.

His wrestling persona incorporates influences from punk rock and skateboarding culture and is known for a high-risk, unorthodox in-ring style. Outside the ring, Ratsch lives a straight edge lifestyle and has pursued interests in filmmaking, skateboarding, and mountaineering.

Samuel Ratsch was born in Seattle on January 7, 1993. During his youth, he participated in track and field and played football, inspired in part by one of his grandfathers, who had played in the National Football League. He also briefly took part in amateur wrestling, mistakenly believing it was the same as professional wrestling. Ratsch attended a film school in Arizona but left to pursue a career in skateboarding.

Ratsch was trained by Buddy Wayne. In 2014, under the ring name Darby Graves, he made his debut for Blue Collar Wrestling in Portland, Oregon. He later adopted the ring name Darby Allin and competed extensively across the American independent circuit between 2015 and 2019. During this time, he wrestled for a variety of promotions including EVOLVE, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), The Wrestling Revolver, and Full Impact Pro (FIP).

Allin became a regular performer for EVOLVE, a promotion affiliated with the World Wrestling Network (WWN), making his debut at EVOLVE 59 in April 2016. Over the next three years, he frequently appeared for both EVOLVE and WWN-affiliated events until April 2019. He also appeared in Major League Wrestling (MLW) between 2017 and 2018, beginning at MLW One-Shot. He departed MLW in April 2018 due to scheduling conflicts with other promotions.^{[citation needed]}

Allin made a one-off appearance for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide at the 2018 Verano de Escándalo, competing in a six-way match. He also toured with British promotion Progress Wrestling in 2018 and 2019 during its events in the United States and its annual Super Strong Style 16 tournament.

Allin signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in April 2019, making his debut at Fyter Fest on June 29 in a time-limit draw against Cody. At Fight for the Fallen the following month, he teamed with Joey Janela and Jimmy Havoc in a losing effort, which led to a three-way match between the trio at All Out on August 31, won by Havoc.