There was no rest for Darby Allin following his AEW World Championship victory over MJF last week as he made his first defense of the title on the April 22 episode of “AEW Dynamite” against Tommaso Ciampa. MJF did come out and demand that he have the match as an alternative but Darby refused, and after a wild and bloody affair, Ciampa couldn’t get the job done and Darby emerged with the gold around his waist.
Darby tried to recreate what happened with MJF one week ago by hitting the Coffin Drop but Ciampa moved to the skin. This led Darby to hit the Coffin Drop on the skin to take an early advantage, a bonus that did not last long as Ciampa gathered his bearings and produce the pain to the champion on the skin because the match entered the industrial break. Through the break, it was all Ciampa as he threw Darby from pillar to post, and because the match got here out of the break, he hit a Slingshot under the ring apron so Darby’s throat hit the steel structure of the ring.
The champion would make a comeback and Ciampa tried to create a long way, but that led to Darby launching himself off the ring post to hit a Splash on Ciampa, with each men going through the timekeeper’s table. Ciampa emerged from the wreckage with a crimson mask which Darby immediately took advantage of with a Tope Suicida, and when the motion returned to the ring, Ciampa tried to show the highest turnbuckle. He did manage it, but only after taking a Scorpion Death Drop, and as Ciampa’s blood filled the ring, Darby went for a Coffin Drop on the apron. Nonetheless, he took too long and Ciampa cut him off, which led to the challenger hitting an enormous Psycho Driller off the second rope to the ground because the match went to a different industrial break.
Ciampa tried to reap the benefits of the situation, despite injuring his tailbone within the midst of hitting his signature move, but Darby would get better and the 2 men can be evenly matched throughout the break. Back from the break and Ciampa got the higher of the strike exchange and tried to make use of the exposed turnbuckle to his advantage, but Darby improvised and hit a Stomp to counter. Ciampa would get a glimmer of hope with a running knee, just for Darby to fireplace up and hit the Code Red for a near fall. Darby got caught going for a Coffin Drop as he landed in Ciampa guard who locked in a Rear Naked Choke. Darby would escape but he hit his head on the exposed turnbuckle and was hit with one other knee strike for a near fall. One other near fall got here after a Project Ciampa and a 3rd knee, resulting in Ciampa attempting to lock within the Scorpion Death Lock, but Darby countered and locked in one in every of his own which eventually forced Ciampa to submit.