Liiiiive from Daily’s Place at the south end of TIAA Bank Field in downtown Jacksonville, Florida…. it’s the third annual AEW Double or Nothing!
The catch? There are over 5,000 people in the stands again.
0. NWA Women’s World Title: Serena Deeb [c] vs. Riho
The vibes for a packed house watching some real Championship Wrestling for the first time in a long time were bright, though even without an audience this would’ve been a tremendous match. It started off with a lockup so intense Steve Austin probably texted them props, and unlike many matches they were able to keep that energy going all match. Deeb was working like AEW is pushing a new Woman of a Thousand Holds t-shirt (they are) — the fake-out Romero Lock stomps and cagey Serenity Lock attempts were especially great.
Riho is just amazing too, not only keeping the crowd rooting for her but surprising them too — the Northern lights suplex hold out of a front neck lock and dragon suplex hold were especially great, too. Her trap cradle towards the end made for a completely bonkers near fall that led into a cherry-on-top finish: giving up on trying to apply it through technique, Deeb smashes Riho’s knee into the mat again and again until she finally locks on the Serenity Lock for the win. Real. Championship. Wrestling. ****
1. Hangman Page vs. Brian Cage
An unreal pop for Hangman Adam Page kickstarted another match filled with those first crowd back vibes and another one that delivered on them too. Page fired everybody up early going right at Cage with punches and a big tope, then Cage went to work after catching a pescado and powerbombing him into the post.
This match had a lot of that, big tall boys capable of big time moves. Page’s moonsault to the floor and the frankensteiner tease/delivery were both completely insane and so so beautiful. Cage lifting Page from inside the ring to superplex him onto the red carpet ramp was also completely insane but more terrifying than beautiful.
The crowd buys into their guy and is with him every step of the way at the end: trading signatures, last-second kickouts, and a screwball finish that was slotted in and executed kind of perfectly — including Taz’ “son of a bitch!” on commentary as the crowd’s guy pinned his guy. Brian Cage is a complicated beast, but this was a fun return to form for the wrestling business. ***1/2
2. AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston
You try and be as cool as Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston walking down a hallway, kicking in a door, and emerging to a crowd of 5,000 people going apeshit and singing along to “Wild Thing.” Do it. I dare you. Try it. It’s fine if you kick Brandon Cutler’s ass a little bit during it too.
From initial good guy ass-kicking to tag team heat (Eddie Kingston selling!) to interference (Anderson! Kazarian!) to more tag team heat (Jon Moxley bleeding!) to multiple hot tags and near falls and a crowd losing their minds for — among many many things — a shoe-assisted Doomsday Device.. this match hit.
Still kind of amazing the Young Bucks can’t fill a screen mocking the Shield pose though. Is that on production or is that on them?
I had no clue how this was going to go but they over-delivered on my confused expectations. Would’ve preferred a Jackson bleeding over a Jon, but this was both a PPV-quality tag match and big forward movement for all four participants: Matt and Nick the dipshit heels, Eddie the star with room to grow, and Mox the star probably in need of some time off. Before he went down for good, Mox was doing some real elite level work: that double lariat was so satisfying; those big and bloody eyes so dramatic. So good it could’ve been used later in tehe show. ***3/4
3. 21-Man Casino Battle Royale
I’m completely in on the Casino Battle Royale as a concept, though as a needy wrestling fan my next ask is that maybe they lay it out a little cleaner. The cast is great; give them more things to do. The Preston Vance/Nick Comoroto hosses of the future and Matt Hardy/Christian legends of the past showdowns were fun, even if the last one was done right as the “Hearts” group was drawn.
The entries were as follows: The Clubs (Christian Cage, Matt Sydal, Powerhouse Hobbs, Dustin Rhodes, Max Caster), The Diamonds (Isiah Kassidy, Matt Hardy, Preston “10” Vance, Nick Comoroto, Serpentico), The Hearts (Brian Pillman Jr., Griff Garrison, Colt Cabana, Anthony Bowens, Penta El Zero Miedo), The Spades (Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Aaron Solow, Evil Uno, Lee Johnson), and the surprise Joker entrant… Lio Rush! Like Matt Sydal last time, a genuinely cool surprise… it can’t always be the Big Show, you know?
Max Caster, Jungle Boy, and Penta El Zero Miedo got especially big reactions during what was ultimately a bunch of stuff. Jungle Boy’s run — eliminating Penta first and eventually Christian to win — was both awesome and felt like the right call, but rarely did this go anywhere beyond that and the usual hijinks. **
4. Cody Rhodes w/ Arn Anderson vs. Anthony Ogogo w/ QT Marshall
Ah, what to say when the match is just kind of boring? This is basically an impressive performance from new cool guy Anthony Ogogo and another tough go by Cody Rhodes on AEW pay-per-view, a run that still occasionally has me convinced the mediocre matches are a work themselves. White privilege, there you go again.
The Cody pay-per-view match is becoming Cody’s take on the Inoki Different Style Fight, a vision of Inoki-ISM rooted in back-and-forth exchanges and the former boxer doing a frog splash. They hit some notes here if not a whole match, and those notes weren’t ever really hit strong enough to account for the match not being so good. **1/4
5. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Lance Archer
I was so jazzed about this match but they just couldn’t hold a momentum, especially after Lance Archer started the match diving through or over the ropes at Miro and landed on top of his head. They hit a few impressive spots but didn’t really kick each other’s asses, and towards the end of the match Miro killed a snake in a bag. Just complicated. There’s a time and place for these things guys. I wish Archer made more of a visible effort to avoid getting put in the Accolade too. Maybe this will be better in a G1 Climax one day. **1/4
6. AEW Women’s World Title: Hikaru Shida [c] vs. Britt Baker w/ Rebel
Considering their in-ring history all the way back to those innocent times that were November 2019, considering this was Hikaru Shida’s first championship defense in front of a filled house, considering this was the championship victory conclusion of Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.’s incredible 2020 through 2021… I really really wish this hit more.
It didn’t fall apart, but it didn’t hit either. It’s possible to appreciate them getting nearly 20 minutes while also thinking it just… dragged… out. Baker dominated Shida for most of it but it didn’t feel nasty enough, then Shida made her typically awesome comeback but it didn’t feel fiery enough. The last couple minutes are awesome and Shida sells the absolute shit out of the Lockjaw submission, but this just kept staying OK. **1/2
7. Sting & Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page
The irony is that the needy wrestling fan doesn’t ACTUALLY ask for much — if something can be kept simple then go ahead and keep it simple. They did that and this ruled, milking all one possibly could out of the Stinger in 2021 from the big “he popped back up!” moment after his first bump (on the ramp!) to a freaking plancha. Darby got everything cooking with that psychotic somersault tope before the bell, while Page and Sky provided a beating that was star-making in its’ simplicity. False tags, hot tags, Darby getting tossed from the ring into the crowd, Sting doing a Code Red… wrestling is fun. ***1/2
8. 3-Way Match – AEW World Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Orange Cassidy vs. PAC
This was a pretty fun 3-Way Dance or Triple Threat or whatever they call them, the match with enough action to satisfy even if it holds a more compelling exchange back and can easily disappear from the mind. The action kept flowing for about 20 minutes, typically impressive stuff from Omega and PAC and a serious main event performance from Orange Cassidy even if there’s still more to figure out with him. Like, “desperation headbutts from Orange Cassidy…” I don’t want to hear that.
Then they brought the bullshit: bumped referees and belt shots, a jackknife cradle of all things awkwardly bringing an already over-complicated match to the close. This had some moments, but if the bullshit and interference isn’t going to add any actual spice to the match then you can probably cut some of the bullshit. The AEW World Title doesn’t have to be the Triple Crown, but its’ first match in front of a large crowd should at least be better than the WrestleMania Backlash opener. ***1/4
9. Stadium Stampede: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana & Ortiz) vs. The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears & FTR)
Shawn Spears? Lives among the chairs.
The first Stadium Stampede match was certifiably The Best, but the return to Casa de Duval a year later kind of felt like that thing where WWE slots in a Hell in a Cell match just because they have to. I don’t like saying that! The first go-around had a joy to it, and I’ll admit I’m a more grizzled fella one year later but this didn’t have enough intensity to not be more fun and it wasn’t fun enough to not be crazy intense. I dug a bunch of bits, from Sammy’s kung-fu and Jake Hager’s icepicks to Urban Meyer and DJ Konnan’s absurd cameos to Jericho’s piledriver on the oak conference table.
But while The Inner Circle vs. The Elite + Broken Matt felt like it was still somehow staying true to pro wrestling in the midst of the madness, this felt like a full-on stage production where the boys and girls gleefully smashed iced cold beers after the last scene was filmed while all the fans watched like, “Well. That was fun. Thanks.”
The Pinnacle and Inner Circle rivalry went way too quickly from intense blood feud that might establish a bunch of new acts to a collection of Chris Jericho workshop ideas, like a mid-range episode of current SNL stretched across a wrestling feud with this as the 12:50pm EST sketch culmination. There’s some great bits in the middle of it all from the future of the business, but I’d prefer just an FTR vs. Santana & Ortiz match or something. ***
Happy Thoughts: I missed large groups of people audibly reacting to things and whatnot, even if the reduction in noise and energy during the middle of the show trended with my own. That’s how this works though. We are a people. Some of this was a blast and at this point that works for me. Serena/Riho, Page/Cage, the Tag Titles and Sting matches are all awesome. The rest had moments. Much like the 3-hour RAW, the 4-hour PPV might just not be necessary for AEW. Tighten up the matches, drop some of the interference (or at least get more creative) — just some ideas. Welcome back, people. 3.0 / 5.0
