AEW Double Or Nothing Review

Without hyperbole, this is one of the most important nights of wrestling in quite some time. The card looks great so I hope that they can live up to the considerable hype they have heading in. 

Buy-In Preshow: Casino Battle Royale

The winner of this match gets a title shot against the winner of Omega vs Jericho. It took place under modified Royal Rumble rules. It was a fun enough encounter to put on the preshow. The Joker was Hangman Page, which foreshadowed the finish to the match somewhat as he was pretty damn likely to win it. He did. The major spot of the match was Janela taking a chokeslam from the ring through a table to be eliminated by Luchasaurus. It was brutal. Page eliminated MJF, who looked great, to win the match. **1/2

They head to a backstage segment with Kylie Rae that was weird as fuck.

But-In Preshow: Kip Sabian vs Sammy Guevara

This was a good showcase match for both men. They both got to show a portion of what they can do, to a crowd that may not know a great deal about them. It wasn't as smooth as I know they can go but it featured enough stuff to get the crowd involved. ***

The VPs of AEW come out. Cody makes a joke about selling 20 thousand tickets to a venue that holds 13 thousand people. Then jokingly claims it is the attendance record. 

The main show starts with an ear-bleeding version of the US National Anthem.

Our commentators for the evening are Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Alex Marvez. Having watched a ton of PWG, that is still a mindfuck.

Strong Hearts vs So Cal Uncensored

They made a wise decision to open the main card with this match as it was a fast paced, all action encounter. It was a mini banger in all fairness. Considering that a number of these men aren't getting any younger, the stuff they do continues to be consistently impressive. As a showcase for the men involved, I don't think that this could have gone much better, to be honest. Well, JR could have got the nationality of the wrestlers right but that isn't the fault of the wrestlers. If this is the level of match quality we can expect then we are in for a fun time. ****1/4

Britt Baker vs Nyla Rose vs Kylie Rae vs...Awesome Kong

It's nice to see Awesome Kong back in a prominent match as she was always somebody that impressed in TNA. She doesn't really do that much in this match, she takes everyone out before being beaten by the numbers game. The match itself was solid enough and had a few nice spots to pop the crowd. I look forward to a singles match between Rae and Baker as they were the stars of this match. ***

Best Friends vs Angelico & Jack Evans

I love the Best Friends. Everything they do entertains me and this was no different. They put on a really good tag match that had the crowd entertained throughout. Both teams worked their asses off to get the most from the amount of time they were given, and let the match build throughout that time. This show is going pretty well so far. ***3/4

After the match, the Super Smash Brothers, who are fucking great by the way, appeared and decimated everyone. The crowd had no idea who they are, but they will cuz they put on bangers.

Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki & Emi Sakura vs Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe & Ryo Mizunami

By all accounts, Kenny Omega is taking a massive role in the AEW women's division and this has his fingerprints all over it. Some Joshi legends and some great up and comers. Make no bones about it, this was easily the better of the two women's matches. If you don't know Joshi wrestling, watch it, it's fucking great. Everyone busted their asses here. It was a shame that there was a botch by the bell ringer at the end, which the referee handled very well, but don't let that take away from what was a thoroughly enjoyable match. There was one moment where Emi Sakura did a Freddie Mercury themed move and the crowd did a rendition of We Will Rock You. It was great. ****

Cody vs Dustin Rhodes

During his entrance, Cody smashes a HHH-style throne with a sledgehammer. Before I get any further I will say that this match was bloody. Very bloody. I can't state that enough. The match itself was fucking great. I expected them to put it all on the line but to be honest I never expected them to have this in them. I am quite confident in saying that this is the best singles match that each man has had. Dustin may have had a better match back in the day but I can't think of it. This match had everything you could want. The emotion was high, the intensity was off the charts and at no point was it anything other than completely engrossing. This was pro wrestling storytelling in it's purest, most violent, beautiful best. I'm a sucker for this shit. ****3/4

Following the match Cody cuts an emotional promo saying that he has signed to face the Young Bucks at the next show and he doesn't need a partner, or a friend, he needs his brother. They hug with tears in their eyes. JR and Excalibur are emotional about it too. A genuinely heartfelt moment.

Jack Whitehall, of all people, introduces Bret Hart, who has the AEW World Title belt with him. He flubs his promo a little bit but I'll let him off. He brings Hangman Page to the ring but this is interrupted by MJF. It's a great idea to get a promo from MJF cuz he is a proper dickhead. He tells Bret Hart that a fan is running in the ring to get him. Classic dickhead move. He talks more shit before being removed by Page, Jungle Boy, and Jimmy Havoc. The belt itself looks kind of old school, which I can get behind.

AAA Tag Titles - Young Bucks vs Lucha Bros

Heading into the show, I thought this would be the best match on the card. It would at least have some crazy shit in it. It did, in fact, have some crazy shit in it. Lots of it. AEW is certainly following through with their promise that they would put a lot of stock into the tag division as this was an absolutely wild 25-minute showcase of high level, high intensity tag wrestling. It was the perfect match to follow the Cody vs Dustin match as the two of them were on the complete opposite of the wrestling scale. This was four men busting out all the moves that they knew how to do, completely enthralling the crowd and kicking all the ass. ****1/2

Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega

This match had the lofty heights of their previous encounter to live up to. While it wasn't on the same level as that match, it was still a very good main event and a fun way to finish off the show. They played off what they had done in their previous encounter, and added a few new wrinkles, but it couldn't quite get to the lofty heights of the Tokyo Dome. It may have actually seemed less impressive because of the two matches that it followed. Jericho won to set up a title match with Hangman Page. A win for Page in that match would be career making. ***3/4

Following the main event Jericho demands a thank you from everyone, but what he actually gets is his ass beat by a debuting Jon Moxley. Moxley then attacks the ref and gets into a brawl with Omega. They work their way to the ramp where Moxley throws Omega off the set to end the show.

Overall Grade - A+

On the whole, I think that AEW knocked it out of the park. In a show where they had to deliver, they did just that. Most of the wrestling on show here was excellent and it was backed by a super hot crowd that helped push everything along. They also had a few surprise appearances, including the big debut of Jon Moxley, and set up some matches for future shows. JR's commentary got a lot better after the initial bumpiness and I think that he and Excalibur make a great tandem in that regard. Alex Marvez was not good though, so I hope they switch to a two man booth for future events. All in all, this is a show that you should definitely go out of your way to see, and it ranks among the best that any company has produced this year.