Wrestling has been in an odd state for the past few years. Since WCW closed its doors, there has been one major wrestling company in town, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Many have tried to capture the market to become competitive. Companies like TNA (now known as Impact) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) over in Japan have certainly become very successful, but none have had the global domination that WWE has enjoyed since the early 00’s.
But these are all articles to be written on another occasion, the subject of this article today has its own interesting series of events. The aforementioned NJPW had a very successful stable (wrestling faction) made up of gaijin (foreign to Japan) wrestlers. This stable was called the Bullet Club. Luminaries such as AJ Styles, Finn Balor, Adam Cole and many other names you probably would recognise, went through the Bullet Club, until it split into multiple factions just a few years ago. One of these factions, known as The Elite, was made up of basically a Megazord of influential wrestlers. The Young Bucks are a divisive tag team who had spun their intense love and hate with fans into worldwide notoriety, Kenny Omega is one of, if not the, best professional wrestler in the world today and Cody (Rhodes) is a man the WWE stripped of his father’s legacy and dumped into the independent circuit, not really understanding the fire that they had started.
The Elite stepped away from NJPW and decided, of all things, to put on their own American Pay Per View called “All In”. The show sold out in 90 minutes, packed out the Sears Centre with just over eleven thousand screaming fans and proved their detractors wrong.
That’s when Tony Khan, a billionaire and entrepreneur, stepped in. Suddenly, All Elite Wrestling was signing contracts with big names like Chris Jericho and Jim Ross. Suddenly, Turner Broadcasting brought a TV deal to the table. Suddenly, AEW had the hope of bringing about the one thing professional wrestling has sorely lacked for a long time. Competition.
This is a very condensed history of the events that led to Double or Nothing. As a wrestling fan of fifteen years and having worked in the industry for nearly nine, I feel at least somewhat qualified to say, I think you can see why Double or Nothing was a pretty exciting prospect. This show defined how the wrestling world would perceive AEW, going forward.
I want to make it clear that I am reviewing this PPV in an effort to show you why wrestling is so amazing. In an article I hope to write later, I will explain my reasoning, but I feel that wrestling is almost impossible to quantify objectively. If you break down pure athletic competition, the smoothness of the action, the quality of production, you might be able to muddle some letter or star rating. But I truly believe wrestling is a subjective artform and even the worst it has to offer, has some merit. I will give you my views on the good and the bad, I will give you my opinion but it is ultimately only that. Only you can really decide what flavour of wrestling is for you.
After the usual Americana trope, of live events starting with the national anthem (you’ll pardon my Australian lack of care) we are introduced to the four men who will guide us through tonight. Justin Roberts, a long time WWE announcer and all-around great signing for AEW. Alex Marvez, a man I know so little about I had to Google his name to make sure I spelled it right. Excalibur, a masked commentator and former wrestler who runs a phenomenal independent wrestling company called Pro Wrestling Guerilla. And finally, most heart-warmingly, Jim Ross, a legend of pro wrestling and the voice of many wrestling fans childhood.
On the whole the commentary team was very good. The three guys work together and let each other show their strengths. Alex Marvez, for such an unknown guy, was a great sports caster type commentator. He gave us moves, fed in lines, and made sports references that I’m sure made American jocks very happy. Excalibur was in his element, delicately balancing between play by play and colour commentary. He added emotions where needed, making funny moments light, intense moments weighty and emotional moments clear. Finally, Jim Ross gave this show heart. He’s had a rough go over the last few years, losing his wife in a car accident and coping with an escalating case of Bell’s Palsy. But Jim Ross, from the second his cowboy hat filled the middle of the screen, had a twinkle in his eye. I will point this out in relevant matches, but JR wasn’t there to call every move or take the reins. He added a gravity to the show, legitimised it in so many ways. I don’t think anyone could do that except Jim Ross.
First Match: SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) VS #Strongheart (El Lindaman, T-Hawk and CIMA)
SoCal came out first playing to the crowd and cutting a promo (basically an in-ring skit). The strangest thing to me was that, as first impressions go, this may have seemed a little confusing for the uninitiated viewer. Scorpio Sky took to the microphone saying “this town was the worst town they’d ever been in” which the crowd responded to by cheering and chanting along. Now, these guys have been known in independent wrestling companies as a group of scoundrel “baddies” who people cheer anyway. I do think this was a very confusing angle to take for your first ever match in front of a potentially brand new or returning fan base.
Next out was #Strongheart, I refuse to call them anything else because it is the only way we will all learn how ugly hashtags look when used in actual names. CIMA is a legend in his own right, having come up through the Dragongate promotion in Japan and the US. T-Hawk has been another mainstay in Dragongate for years, but is still relatively new in pro wrestling terms. El Lindaman is a very fresh face in wrestling. Together they are representing the very new company Oriental Wrestling Entertainment from Shanghai, China.
The match was well paced. Daniels is the definition of consistency, having been able to maintain an impressive style for close to three decades now. Kazarian and Sky are also veterans in their own rights and did an amazing job. CIMA did a great job of wrangling guys who may not have been as used to such a tremendous crowd, but T-Hawk and Lindaman managed to get some amazing moves in. My main memory from this match was watching the 5’3 Lindaman, german suplex people from a deadlift. He must have done it at least four times and every time it was entertaining as hell!
Second Match: Dr. Britt Baker vs Kylie Rae vs Nylah Rose vs Awesome Kong
I won’t lie, when I saw Brandi Rhodes (Cody’s wife and on-screen head of the women’s division) I was worried. It didn’t start well, with her music playing as the microphone she held gave off more feedback than angry twitter accounts after WWE Money in the Bank (Google it at your own peril). My fear was that Brandi would insert herself into the match, having her ring gear on they were at least baiting that to happen. But when she announced Awesome Kong was entering the match, all was forgiven.
Awesome Kong is a phenomenal wrestler, actor and human being. If you ever want to hear a story of someone who makes the best of the hand they are dealt, chuck her name into Google. Nylah Rose is one of the first openly trans female wrestlers to compete on a major stage. Dr Britt Baker is a well-established wrestler. Kylie Rae is also a phenomenal wrestler and new love of my life.
These guys new what this match needed to be. Kong and Rose are absolute monsters in the ring, Baker and Rae are athletic machines. Between the four of them, they did well to bring the best out in each other. Kong hasn’t wrestled at this level in a fair while, so she needed breaks through out the match which were covered expertly by Rae and Baker. Rose also seemed to need some time, but this seemed more like a build up to letting the monsters go at it. One of my favourite pieces of commentary came from this match when Excalibur said “Kong and Rose waiting under the Pacific Ocean” building them like dormant kaijus, resting before wreaking havoc. It was well done; my only real complaint is with Dr Britt Baker. A friend of mine observed that whilst her gear had teeth on it, she didn’t do much more than just be a wrestler, as opposed to a dentist wrestler. Gimmicks are important, “Smiley” Kylie Rae was bright and bubbly, Awesome Kong was awesome. But Britt Baker was just a wrestler everyone kept calling doctor.
Third Match: Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?) VS Jack Evans and Angelico
I’ll say it now; Chuck Taylor is one of my favourite wrestlers. If you ever want to know why, just type in “Chuck Taylor funny” on Youtube and enjoy losing an hour of your life. Trent? is another former WWE wrestler who pivoted into becoming an independent wrestling mainstay effortlessly and now is enjoying a sort of renewal to his career. Jack Evans is the flippiest guy you have ever seen. I know “flippiest” isn’t a word, but go watch this or any match of his and tell me I’m wrong. Angelico is a very talented young wrestler who just so happened to be tragically outshone by everyone else in this match.
The match was strong, this is really where the show started to showcase the fast pace style, non-WWE wrestling became popular for. Jack Evans performed some of the most insane ariels I have ever seen and that’s having watched him for close to ten years now. Chuck and Trent? kept the match going. It had this real fun energy to it and I put that solely on them. Chuck Taylor and Trent? are fun wrestlers. If your partner hates wrestling, show them Chuck Taylor. I don’t know what more I can say other than this match was exactly what the label says. Its two Best Friends having a real fun match.
After this match the lights went out and two men appeared in the ring, with masked minions surrounding the ring. This tag team was the team formerly known as (and I’m not making this up) The Super Smash Brothers. Yes, they were a video game themed tag team, yes one of them had a video game cartridge slot built into his gear and YES the game inserted into the slot would change his move set. But this was not the fun cartoon video game boys of old. These guys beat up all the members of this match, with their minions beating anyone thrown to the outside. After hitting a really cool finishing move, they made a throne of people and vanished in another black out.
I really wish I could make this make more sense, but I can’t. Its just…it’s real cool guys, trust me.
Fourth Match: Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe, and Ryo Mizunami VS Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki, and Emi Sakura
If I had to pick a weakest match of the night, it would go to this one. All of these women really did give it their all and each one established their own character in it. But this match was about Aja Kong. Aja Kong is a legend, one of the pioneers of women’s wrestling and any female wrestler will say Aja Kong was a huge influence on their career. Yuka Sakazaki was a phenomenal high flyer, Ryo Mizunami was a tremendous bumper, Hikaru Shida is clearly someone AEW wants to push and Emi Sakura was charismatic as all hell. This match was crazy and giving Aja Kong this platform was an amazing opportunity. There was a stumble near the end where the bell was rung early and the referee had to cover, and its probably the only reason I didn’t enjoy this match as much as everything else.
Fifth Match: Dustin vs Cody
Ok so, there’s two things to this match. One is what happened during Cody’s entranceand the other is the match itself. So, let’s get Cody’s entrance out of the way.
For those who don’t know, WWE’s main corporate guy is Triple H, who often represents himself as a “skull king”. The man’s pushing 50 and loves looking like he fell into a toy castle Grey Skull. So, Cody taking the sledgehammer (also a Triple H trope) and smashing the throne, was very much a tongue in cheek reference to AEW “destroying” WWE. I thought it was quite dumb and more than anything made no sense in the continuity of the show. However, it made a lot of fans happy, so I’m willing to say I get why people thought it was cool, I just don’t agree.
As for the match itself, it was excellent. Dustin is coming into the twilight of his career and Cody is just in his prime. There was no illusion, this match was a match for their father, the legendary Dusty Rhodes. If you’re ever curious what Dusty Rhodes’ style of wrestling was like, it was this. Lots of heart, lots of fighting and far far too much blood. Dustin’s cut was far too deep. He must have lost a fair few pints in the ring. It was quite a spectacle to see in modern wrestling, but this match was for their father and anything else would have been a misrepresentation.
The two of them really did bring out the best in each other. Mocking each other’s past gimmicks, playing to each other’s strengths. Cody played his arrogance to perfection and Dustin showed a vulnerability he was never able to show in the WWE. This was the match where Jim Ross shone. The slow pace suited his calls, the emotion was sharp and pained. Jim Ross helped you understand why this match mattered.
The end was tearful, with Cody offering his brother a chance to wrestle along side him. Both men cried and left as one. This wasn’t the most athletic match of the night, but it was the best told story. And to be honest, that will always win me over.
After this match, Bret Hart, a Canadian Wrestling legend, came out to unveil the AEW championship. He was interrupted by Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who in my opinion, is one of the best promo guys in wrestling today. If you watch this segment you will be entertained. You will gasp at MJF making fun of Bret Hart being attacked at the WWE Hall of Fame (yes that happened), him calling the guy who beat him in the preshow a horseman, overall you will just enjoy MJF. Oh, and the belt looked cool too.
This segment also set up that the main event of the evening would face horseman (the erstwhile Adam Page) for the AEW championship at the next show.
Sixth Match: The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) vs The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) for The Young Bucks’ AAA Tag Team Championships
Ok, context time the AAA (originally called the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración) is a Mexican professional wrestling company that has spent a long time as one of, if not the largest in Mexico. Lucha Libre (which is what we call the Mexican style of pro wrestling) is personified by the style of the Lucha Brothers and they were previously the tag team champions, before being defeated by the Bucks.
This match was what wrestling fans like to call a “spot fest”. What this means is that numerous intricate sequences (otherwise known as spots) are chained together to create a very fast paced and chaotic match that looks like a performative form of dance fighting. My favourite way to describe it is: costumed murder gymnastics.
The only problem is with this kind of match, its all about witnessing it. It’s a spectacle that is self-contained and that makes it difficult to give much more than a rating. It was a really fun match. There’s not much more to say than that.
Seventh Match: Main Event: Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Kenny Omega is quite possibly the best wrestler in the world today. There is no real describing him. His matches don’t look real, he himself is a phenomenal character and athlete. If you don’t know who Kenny Omega is, you will after watching five minutes of any match he has ever had (including one where he wrestles a 9-year-old Japanese girl and makes her look like a superstar).
Chris Jericho is a legend in his own right. Having a career that has spanned nearly four decades of wrestling and a list of championships and accomplishments that no other wrestler can touch.
Having these two guys as the main event was the right choice and the story they told, was epic. Jericho played an arrogant big-league wrestler, who believed all the credit for AEW’s success was his alone to claim. Kenny Omega just wanted to prove he was better than Jericho, having already been beaten by him before.
They told this with every fibre of their being, showing what the combination of a fast-paced style and well thought out characters look like. It had a taste of everything you’d seen already, melted into one delicious stew. It was like this was the synopsis to the essay that was: Double Or Nothing. Honestly guys, go out of your way to watch this. Even the ending was well paced and timed.
Finally, after all this intensity and an ending I promise I won’t spoil. Something felt incomplete. As the two men were in the ring, somebody wandered in through the crowd.
Jon Moxley (previously known by WWE fans as Dean Ambrose) rushed the ring and beat the hell out of every person standing. Jon Moxley was an independent darling, who made a name for himself as a pretty cool character in WWE. It had been suspected that he might come to AEW, but seeing him in ripped jeans and a sleeveless denim jacket, turned the full stop of the main event into an exclamation point.
Final Thoughts:
Double or Nothing is different. After a long time of a fairly consistent style of mainstream pro wrestling, this felt like something new and fresh.
It wasn’t polished, there were moments where mistakes were made. Referees missed counts, lines were flubbed and commentators left confused. But ultimately, this had heart.
Double or Nothing will be a show we look back on and remember fondly, whether AEW succeeds or not, as we all got to see the birth of something new.
