Double or Nothing was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada on May 25, 2019. It was the inaugural event under the AEW banner.
The card comprised nine matches, including two on the Buy In pre-show. In the main event, Chris Jericho defeated Kenny Omega, earning a future AEW World Championship match against "Hangman" Adam Page, the winner of the pre-show's Casino Battle Royale. Other prominent matches saw The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) defeat The Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix) to retain the AAA World Tag Team Championship, and Cody defeated his brother Dustin Rhodes. The event was also notable for the surprise appearances of Awesome Kong, Bret Hart, who unveiled the AEW World Championship belt, as well as Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) with Moxley and Kong both being confirmed to have signed with AEW.
Background Information:
After the success of the September 2018 All In event, a group known as The Elite (Cody, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega), the driving forces behind the event, used the positive response from All In to pursue further events with backing of businessmen Shahid Khan and Tony Khan. On November 5, 2018, several trademarks were filed in Jacksonville, Florida, among them were "All Elite Wrestling" and "Double or Nothing", leading to speculation of a formation of a promotion and the name of the promotion's first event.
On January 1, 2019, All Elite Wrestling was officially announced, along with the announcement of their inaugural event, Double or Nothing. On February 8, at AEW's Las Vegas rally, Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes announced the signings of Japanese women wrestlers Aja Kong and Yuka Sakazaki, who will make their first appearances for AEW at Double or Nothing. On February 10, it was announced that pre-sale tickets sold out almost immediately after going on sale. On February 13, AEW announced that all tickets for the event sold out within 4 minutes of going on sale. In April, it was announced that Jim Ross would do play by play for the event.
On May 8, 2019, it was announced that Double or Nothing will air on ITV Box Office in the United Kingdom. Additionally, a one hour pre-show titled "Buy In" will air on ITV4 featuring the Casino Battle Royale and other matches. The following week it was announced that it will also stream on WarnerMedia's B/R Live service in the United States and AEW's YouTube channel worldwide.
Results:
21-man Casino Battle Royale - Adam Page won by last eliminating MJF
Winner receives a future AEW World Championship match against the winner of Double or Nothing's main event
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| Shawn Spears reminding us that he is a Perfect 10. |
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| For a second there, I thought Joey Janela was dead off that. |
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| Marko Stunt once again dying for our sins. |
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| Second time in this match where I thought Joey Janela died. That bump looked like it absolutely SUCKED. |
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| If Page is going for that JBL style clothesline from Hell then he has it down FLAWLESSLY IMO. |
This match had an interesting concept where entrants weren't entering into the match Royal Rumble style like Lucha Underground's Aztec Warfare match. No, they were entering as groups at a time as entrants were asked to draw suits from a deck of cards prior to the match and each suit will enter the ring at timed intervals. It was definitely unique for sure, but it also made it hard to keep a track of who was all in this thing. I was more distracted at how many names from MLW was in this match (Ace Romero, MJF, Brian Pillman Jr., and Marko Stunt to name a few - wasn't he still damn injured? If not, I know Court Bauer's pissed...) along with some Lucha Underground alumni (Luchasaurus, Sonny Kiss/XO Licious, and Tommy Dreamer to name a few). I didn't understand why they allowed a dude with no legs into this - that was either a very cruel joke or just plain bold in a match like this.
The biggest takeaway from this match is that all of these guys are fighting for a shot at AEW World Championship when anyone could legitimately buy into (no pun intended) only at least 1-2 (Hangman Page and MJF if we're being honest here) of these guys max truly winning this thing. While it was cool to see guys like Dreamer, Jimmy Havok (I swear that dude wrestles everywhere not WWE...), Glacier (seriously WTF...), Billy Gunn, and few noteworthy mentions, this match came across like it was the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X7. Even Lucha Underground's Aztec Warfare matches didn't ever feel as comical as this did for the majority of it.
Kip Sabian defeated Sammy Guevara
Between Lucha Underground and a handful of other places, I've only seen Sammy Guevara work a few times but I thought it was a solid enhancement talent. As for Kip Sabian, this was my first exposure to his work and I thought he was showcased well here with Guevara. If AEW is serious about making new stars instead of this being the "Being The Elite" & friends variety hour, then they have to start somewhere to start showing off talent. This was a decent match to end the preshow on, I'll say that much. I had to go back and watch this match and Casino Battle Royal after the fact though as I only watched the show from 8PM to finish live.
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) defeated Strong Hearts (Cima, T-Hawk, and El Lindaman)
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| Surprised that Daniels can still move around like that at his age after all of these years. |
Going into this match, I was pleasantly surprised as I wasn't even aware that Cima was still wrestling anymore. I haven't seen him wrestle since he was on Ring of Honor back in the early 2000s. Good to see that he could still go.
This was fun match to start the show off with. It was a high speed, hard-hitting affair to keep everyone interested while keeping the excitement up to set the tone for the rest of the night.
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Nyla Rose, Kylie Rae, and Awesome Kong (with Brandi Rhodes)
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| I can't speak for anyone else but I was SHOOK when I saw Awesome Kong come out. |
No lie, I was legitimately shocked to see Awesome Kong show up here. I was convinced that Brandi Rhodes was going to insert herself into this match. That necessarily wouldn't have been a bad thing, but I hope she's improved since her days wrestling as part of the Impact Wrestling roster. Those matches left a lot to be desired in her regard. To be honest, I wasn't expecting Awesome Kong to do much here. She was vastly immobile and a shadow of her former self in her last recent returns to Impact Wrestling from back issues. She looked in her best shape to date though. I figure she must be working a part-time gig with AEW since she's still a part of the Netflix GLOW TV series. She didn't do much in this match outside a few big spots to put over some of the other girls and that's all she really needed to do to be honest. I really can't see her working a full-time schedule with AEW or anywhere for that matter.
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| Awesome Kong cleaning house as usual. |
I wasn't surprised in the least at Britt Baker (AKA Mrs. Adam Cole) picking up the win. AEW has made it pretty obvious that they are looking to make her the face of their women's division and I can see why, especially given that she was their first female signing to the promotion. Outside of some weak as hell looking Super Kicks (Carmella along with the IIconics do some far worse though, so I'll give the ladies here a pass...) this wasn't a bad match at all. Nyla Rose was pretty forgettable to say that she was the other "big" lady in this match along with Kong, but Kylie Rae definitely got over with most of this crowd. I can't buy into her wannabe Bayley gimmick though. She comes across as that one chick in some social circles who tries to hard for everyone to like her. In terms of in-ring ability, she's going to get over just fine with the audience that AEW seems to be marketing towards.
On a side note, AEW botched that image for promoting this match, misspelling Nyla Rose as "Nayla Rose" instead. If this was TNA/Impact people would have given them shit to all hell, but of course, this is the new favorite toy of the smark crowd so everyone was pretty tight lipped about that. Just thought I'd point that out as everyone are always quick to point those mistakes on everyone under the sun, but I didn't see any mentions of it from the usual suspects.
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) defeated Angélico and Jack Evans
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| I don't know why this came to a surprise to so many people, but Jack Evans and Angelico have been doing crazy shit for YEARS now. In Evans' case, he's been at it for roughly two decades. |
Here's the thing that got me during this match. Jack Evans and Angelico have been working on the indies as a tag team and against each other on rival teams/factions in Lucha Underground and people are losing their minds like this is something new. Jack Evans has been amazing since the early years of NWA-TNA when I first discovered him and Angelico's no slouch either. I'm glad these two have another great platform to showcase their talents.
I thought the Best Friends gimmick was stupid when I saw it in Ring of Honor and I still think it's stupid here. That's just my opinion. I just feel like it takes away from their in-ring talents. That being said, even in a losing effort, Jack Evans and Angelico were the definitely the stars and ones to watch in this match who got over huge with this crowd.
As for the interference post-match, I went like everyone else did and said, "WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE GUYS?" It didn't help that the commentary team was as confused as everyone watching in and out of the arena were. Excalibur did mumble something along the lines of, "Hey! I recognize these guys!" but didn't elaborate on it. Apparently it was the Super Smash Bros. tag team from the indies, according to reports after the fact.
That being said, AEW's tag team scene is fucking stacked. You got the Young Bucks, Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix), Best Friends, Private Party (graduates from House of Glory), SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky), Angelico and Jack Evans, then now these guys - whatever they are going to be called as you know Nintendo isn't going to allow them to be called Super Smash Bros. and they don't have anything to do with it.
Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe, and Ryo Mizunami defeated Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki, and Emi Sakura
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| Well shit at that deadlift German Suplex. |
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| Man, she straight up ragdolled a bitch right here. |
If AEW wants to entice fans over to their product, they have to offer something on their line of wrestling that WWE, or anyone else for that matter, is offering in the states on a regular basis. If AEW is going to have joshi women wrestling featured on their product regularly, then definitely count me in. That shit can get over as big as the cruiserweights did back on WCW back in the day if booked properly and featured prominently on their programming.
There was one hiccup/botch in this match, but that was completely on the referee botching the three count, but I thought the ladies recovered well from it. I think once AEW has more shows under their belt, people will be receptive to this joshi stuff in the States. Fans will need time to familiarize themselves with these women and what they each bring to the table. I know I didn't know who anyone outside of Aja Kong was in this match but still enjoyed it for the most part.
Bret Hart Presents the AEW World Championship
During the show, I retweeted a comment from someone who said that their belt looks like the TNA Legends Championship made out with the current Impact Knockouts Championship. I hear a few other people say that it looks more influenced by New Japan's IWGP title and I can see that too. I was legitimately surprised that they got Bret Hart to come out here to present the championship. I heard that Ric Flair was actually their first choice, but with all of his health issues that led up to him backing out of appearing at Starrcast, they went with their second choice.
The star of this segment was MJF though. Much like his performance in the Buy In preshow battle royal, MJF excels at heeling it up to a crowd. I'm sure there's going to be people who instantly compare him with EC3's heel run in Impact Wrestling, but I think he's in his own vein already to say the guy is only 23 years old. He hasn't even hit his prime yet of doing this. I'm glad that he's getting the exposure here to showcase his talents that fans of MLW (like myself) have been raving about for a while now. Once again, I know Court Bauer has to be kicking himself that he doesn't have exclusive rights to this guy.
Cody (with Brandi Rhodes) defeated Dustin Rhodes
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| That iconic (rather cliched for wrestling) shot of the Austin-esque face of crimson while trapped within the sharpshooter against Bret Hart. |
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| Cody with the Stardust throwback for even more call backs to their WWE runs in this match. |
Arguably the best match of the night, but from my observations live on social media, people weren't getting the point of this match. This was straight up a recreation of a classic NWA Dusty Rhodes match in their father's prime. The heavy blading, the babyface going through hell and back to keep fighting against everything the heel threw into his way - c'mon it's hard NOT to get behind this kind of classic, yet VERY effective storytelling. You rarely see that in WWE anymore and this is exactly what AEW needed to do tonight, show that they can bring a true alternative to the table.
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| Really? Was that even necessary? |
By the way, my thanks and personal credit goes out to Jason Solomon AKA Solomonster to pointing out that Cody's speech at the end was a recreation of this moment. No wonder the guy was tearing up. Imagine the pressure on his mind and body after that excellent match to deliver this promo like their father did those many moons ago. Just great stuff here from bell to bell.
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) defeated The Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix) Tag team match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship
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| The more I see Fenix in action between Lucha Underground, Impact Wrestling, MLW, and the various events on the indies, the more and more sad I get thinking about the fact that we never got a proper Rey Mysterio vs. Fenix program between them while they were in Lucha Underground together. |
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| Good grief, that was an awesome sequence. |
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| Can't believe we're at the point now in wrestling where people are doing Canadian Destroyers on and off the ring apron. |
This was the only match I was tuning into this show to see if I was perfectly honest from the promotion going into this show. It definitely delivered for the most part but goddamn I grew sick of all of the near-falls from the big moves towards the end.
Breaking one of the Bucks' arms and he was STILL able to hit the Meltzer Driver with one arm was impressive but at the same time, it irked me in the same manner where Lucha Underground did that match where Pentagon broke both of Brian Cage's arms, did a curb stomp through a cinder block, a Pentagon Driver through some chairs and some shit through a table to garner only a damn near fall until another normal Pentagon Driver ended the match or some shit. All four of these guys are hella talented in the ring, but there has to be some restraint on these damn 101 near-falls in "big" matches like this by not just AEW, but across the board in wrestling.
Chris Jericho defeated Kenny Omega
Winner faces Adam Page (Casino Battle Royale winner) in a future AEW World Championship match
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| Good lord, Kenny. That damn landing, yo. |
His entrance for this match was truly something else. He had several different actors playing him at various stages of his career (Lionheart, the List of Jericho, and finally the light up jacket version) before coming out decked out in all black to his own "Judas" song. The older Chris Jericho gets the more he surprises me on how he continues to adapt to change with the times. The guy isn't really blowing me away with his in-ring performances either, but him and Kenny Omega put on a decent match here, save for a few sloppy moments on execution. It felt like a few steps shy of their match at Wrestle Kingdom a year ago.
That double foot stomp spot looked like it sucked like hell for both Jericho AND Omega. I've read reports that Omega's broken nose happened earlier in the match, but I was under the impression that it happened here as it looked like Omega banged his face on the ramp coming down so hard off the landing. Say what you will about that guy, but major props to Omega working the entire main event with a broken nose.
I don't even what to make of Jericho winning off that plain looking spinning elbow that he's calling the Judas Effect. I get it, Jericho's getting older and has to work even safer, but talk about bland (or rather unceremonious) ending to this match after how much shit they did to each other to get to that point. It got to same problem as the match before this. Doing too much shit to the point you're devaluing the finish.
With Jericho going over here, it's going to be him against Adam Page at a future event to crown the first ever AEW World Champion. I'm fine with Jericho going over to be the first champion as the guy to beat as they head into their first show in October on TNT. Chris Jericho is a household name in terms of wrestling, so that will get old and new fans to tune into their product with him as the first holder of their top prize in the company. Not to mention, Jericho's name value adds a lot of prestige to that title right off the bat. You can easily make Page, Omega, or even Moxley into bigger stars by having them chase for it, even doing a title change on that first card on TNT.
Speaking of Moxley, I thought the post-match attack of him showing up through the crowd and laying waste to both Jericho AND Omega was the right note to end on with a shot out of a cannon.
For a lot of people, this was the "gunshot heard around the world" to kickstart another Monday Night War and I firmly believe we don't need to get ahead of ourselves on that regard. Dean Ambrose made a name for himself in WWE over the last few years as a byproduct of their own system. I'm anxious to see what Jon Moxley can do now that he's unchained and unhinged from that ball and chain in a new environment.
Afterthoughts
This is where I'm going to piss a lot of people off with this write-up on the event. While I enjoyed a lot of this show and I thought it was a great (if not amazing with the last three matches) first effort for a new promotion, I do have a lot of concerns going forward.
Presentation
I couldn't believe that the same people who criticize WWE for all of their knee-jerk camera angles and reaction shows (as per Kevin Dunn) were praising this show from start to finish in terms of cinematography. There were points of this show where it was as nauseating to watch as a WWE broadcast in terms of all of the camera cuts and reaction shots. Call me old school, but do less of that. One of the main things that definitely set Lucha Underground apart from everything else in wrestling at that time was how it was shot, how it was lit, to how the backstage segments were shot, to just about everything about it was far away from what WWE was doing and still doing. No one else in wrestling was shooting stuff like how Lucha Underground was and it was part of it's unique charm. Not everyone was a fan of it, but that established it's identity right off the bat.
I applauded AEW for bringing back set pieces for their stage for a wrestling production, but genuinely laughed at AEW when I saw people coming out of the two separate entrance tunnels like during the early years of TNA/Impact Wrestling. You can't tell me that they don't have people on payroll who don't know how to film a wrestling match, especially with how much money is involved in this project. Don't get me wrong. The poker chip set piece was great, but in terms of that coupled with the other aspects of their visual presentation, this still came across as an indie show with a bigger budget. The proof in the better production values is in how this was well-lit, shot well for the most of the program, excellent video packages/promotional videos, and there weren't any audio hiccups that absolutely ruined the broadcast at times (looking at you, ROH). If they can keep those finer points of their production, then they are going to be just fine in that regard.
Commentary
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| This image alone sums up the commentary team in a nutshell for the night. |
Jim Ross, Excalibur, and whoever that Alex Marvez guy was were stumbling and fumbling throughout this entire show for the most part. Let's face it - JR is not what he used to be. I have seen that back when he was calling New Japan on AXS, but he still has the ability to deliver his golden moments, especially when he was calling the main event on this show and aftermath with Jon Moxley. I think he'll get better once he has time to familiarize himself with all of the AEW talents, but for this first show, boy did he seem lost for majority of the show. Excalibur was hit or miss as well, but I think him and JR will need time to mesh well over the live broadcasts. As for Marvez, I think they would do better without him in the conversation at all on commentary as didn't seem to contribute anything in the least. It could have been nerves or anxiety, but that guy was just awful here from start to finish. Bad commentary will turn people off to your product just as quickly as bad booking would, so that's something to keep in mind too.
"Curtain Call"
Cody, Brandi Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and the rest of their entourage did this at the beginning and the start of the show, where they address the crowd as themselves but not their wrestling personalities since they have stakes in this company as some of the leading staff members in this new promotion. It's comparable to Triple H's circle-jerking at the top of NXT TakeOver events as the "daddy of NXT" and COO of WWE, but I didn't like this vibe that they have to stand out in front of the crowd and the top and end of the show and pat themselves on the back as if this is the end of an episode of In Living Color or Saturday Night Live. I know there's going to be the people who say "Kayfabe's dead already!" but whatever. You want people to buy into what you're selling in terms of storylines and what not, but not going to sell what you put on the show beforehand? That irked me to no end at the end of the show that they dragged Kenny Omega back out for this when even he said that he should be getting proper medical attention. I didn't need to see this on-air. It could have been something for when the cameras went dark after the show and saved for a DVD/Blu-Ray extra.
While we're on this subject, all of the petty bullshit and potshots at WWE weren't called for either. AEW needs to be worrying about their own shit instead of "clapbacks" to WWE. That goes double for WWE too as they have far more important problems than taking shots at other companies. I hope that doesn't turn into a regular thing as it never did TNA/Impact Wrestling any favors over the years.
Delusions of Grandeur
The biggest takeaway in this regard was all of this talk that "OMG THIS WAS THE BEST WRESTLING SHOW EVARR" talk on social media that night of and the days that followed. There's a LOT of people drinking the Kool-aid of this thing and while I thought this was a great show in terms of in-ring quality, I think some people need to calm down a bit. In time this could be a serious contender, but as it stands, this was merely an indie show with a big budget behind it. Let's not forget the asking price for this show on PPV - $49.99. I'm not ashamed to admit that I pirated a stream to watch the show on. Hell, I was pushing it WrestleMania weekend for MLW and Impact Wrestling's cross-promotional event for $20. I definitely wouldn't have paid $60 to watch G1 Supercard on iPPV if I weren't already paying for New Japan World at the time. With their follow-up shows, AEW isn't going to have that aura of mystery surrounding it that this first show had. I'm sure that their return to Chicago in August for AEW's second PPV, ALL OUT, is going to bring the fans out in droves expecting CM Punk to make an appearance out of curiosity. I'm just skeptical about casuals wanting to continue paying that much for another PPV at the $50 price tag, especially when alternatives like the WWE Network is $9.99/mo. and New Japan World is $7.99/mo.
I guess the folks who weren't around for the Monday Night War back in the '90s want it to be recreated so badly that they are willing to believe anything at this point. AEW is competition for WWE, but not in the scope that so many of AEW's early supporters and adopters are foaming at the mouths for. Anyone who goes "head to head" with WWE on Monday Nights are dooming themselves to fail. We saw how that turned out for TNA/Impact Wrestling when Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan twisted Dixie Carter's arm around with that foolish idea. ALL IN was a massive success and I thought tonight's show was too (even more so in some aspects), but anyone who thinks that AEW can topple and/or challenge WWE right now with Being The Elite/leftover gaijin Bullet Club guys, Chris Jericho, and a ton of talent that isn't instantly recognizable by casual fans then you're out of your mind. I would love to have whatever you're smoking.
All of this crap I'm seeing on social media from the hardcore of hardcore marks of the Elite guys and AEW who can't take a single shred of criticism on this company are in for a rude awakening when AEW gets on TNT and really have mainstream eyeballs analyzing every fiber of this thing under the microscope. I'm critiquing this first effort because I want to see them succeed and do better the next go round, not settle for the bare minimum just to get by. We've seen TNA/Impact Wrestling do that time and time again over the years and they aren't even in this "competition" conversation anymore, despite the fact I still enjoy watching their current product. I want AEW to trim the fat and leave nothing but the juicy, good bits of the meat they are bringing hot off the grill to sink my teeth into.
Closing Thoughts
I don't want to shit on AEW's parade of having a great event for their "coming out party" in a sense with their first PPV event. While I feel like this is one of my shorter write-ups, I thoroughly enjoyed this show, so don't come at me like I'm trying to bury the product. I'm just pointing out that AEW has some kinks in the machine to work out and iron out before they can call themselves healthy competition for WWE. Truth be told, there's no need to rush those improvements either. Contrary to popular belief, they don't have to be ready to stand up and oppose WWE like the indie smark crowd wants right here and now. They can take it slow and gradually build this thing into something that truly cannot be ignored. For a first event, AEW definitely knocked out of the park, I'll say that much. It reminded me of the same vibe from the first NXT TakeOver special where everyone there had something to prove to everyone around the world with the eyes on their product.
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