Over the last century the library evolved what it offered, but remained consistent in mission as a reliable source of information and escape. It did that by growing with and responding to the wants and needs of its people and communities: books and research, information and technology. At some point the library became a concept simply relied on, rather than something one might willingly spend effort to engage with or dare I say money on.
As AEW hosted the third Double or Nothing from Las Vegas, Nevada, CM Punk was set to celebrate nine months back in wrestling by challenging for the World Championship and I was in possession of pre-sale tickets to a joint AEW/NJPW show happening a month later. The pro-wrestling blood was clearly still pumping and yet, what was it about AEW that continued to leave me wanting more? And even if it did, why was I letting it?
I’d changed and so had AEW. I became a wrestling fan seeking escape not information, but by now both had become equally fulfilling parts of the fandom. As AEW graduated to their third year and took on more talent, more talent was left with inconsistent trajectories but even worse talk of AEW now more often than not shifted to just how crowded it was. Excalibur’s rundowns for any given week’s upcoming events went from charmingly brisk to uncomfortably rapid, and much of the Double or Nothing card didn’t feel completely on message until the Buy-In. If it was truly a choice between Double or Nothing, then surely double was winning — by a lot.
The week-to-week of AEW might’ve veered off course, but I’d seen this show before! It was the 1990s and I was young and there was tape trading and the wrestlers on those tapes like Jushin Liger were sometimes on American TV because of WCW. There were tag teams and chop blocks and other stuff of that nature. If I hadn’t embraced those pro-wrestling spoils back then, then maybe, just maybe I could do it all over again here and now and it could be… better, a perfect combination of sports and entertainment that could both embrace the moment and be reflected on with fondness later.
AEW wasn’t that but it still mostly “rocked,” especially compared to the alternative wrestling products available, but compared to the alternative alternatives available problems had begun to mount. In the middle of that chaos sometimes you’d get Wheeler Yuta taking a trip to Japan leading to Anarchy in an Arena, and sometimes you get a mysteriously booked plane ticket to New Jersey. Weird stuff happens on the way to the top.
As I yearned for something more I still had to admit that what I already had seemed pretty good. As I was provided something more, however, I found myself wanting for nothing more than a richer version of what was already there.
AEW Double or Nothing took place at the T-Mobile (or as my mom calls it, the T-Mo-beel) Arena.
0. Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & Smart Mark Sterling
This was the debut match of the tag team HOOKhausen, which consists of six-month pro HOOK and the face-painted Danhausen, who has wrestled longer than that but was making his AEW in-ring debut here. Dan and Smart Mark are both a pair of gimmicks but know their way around a ring beyond the jokes. The match was fun and harmless, except to maybe HOOK’s long-term arc — let him be a badass a little longer before you go endearing, you know? Anyways, they hit the right notes as far as people getting to chant for HOOK and see HOOK beat up Mark. **1/2
1. Wardlow vs. MJF
On one hand, one of the most consistent and crystal clear examples of a hero’s journey followed by a hero’s triumph and the bad guy eating shit in pro wrestling in a long while. On the other hand, it felt that way primarily because of all the MJF/AEW drama happening off-screen which ended up overshadowing Wardlow himself and at the last minute really muddied up that whole “crystal clear” thing.
This was intelligently laid out for maximum fun on Pay-Per-View, with a few cool or clever spots followed by: powerbomb, stretcher, Wardlow finally getting the #AllElite contract graphic and a big “You Deserve It. Very cool, refreshingly straightforward, but somewhere in the last six months it began to feel more obvious and manufactured than compelling and something to look forward to. Love wrestling. ***1/4
2. The Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
These are two of the most iconic wrestling duos ever, though just one pair remains in their primes and the other has been running on nostalgia since the Obama Times. They’re all over enough to get by doing almost nothing, but they tried some things and it was OK until an awkward Whisper in the Wind by Jeff Hardy grinded things to an awkward halt.
The Young Bucks went from being fired up to continue the Cody/HHH tradition of an over-the-top entrance and going too long on PPV to exhausted professionals trying to make something work as they closed up with Matt and a Jeff who was working at maybe 25% capacity. Messy. ***
3. TBS Title: Jade Cargill [c] vs. Anna Jay
HEY! It’s a match that on paper should’ve been on the show but in reality made no sense to be; primarily for the bloat but also because AEW neglected to feature Anna Jay until a week or two before the show. Like many AEW stars, she came in looking like somebody who’d be exciting to watch develop and then for the next year she’s…. just kind of randomly appeared every few weeks with little development outside of the first few weeks. That’s WWE stuff, man!
They kept it simple and the match was fine — good even! — but overshadowed by too many other matches and then the star-studded post-match angle with no less than Kris Statlander and debuts for Stokely Hathaway and Athena (Ember Moon). **3/4
4. Death Triangle w/ Alex Abrahantes vs. House of Black
Hey, look at all these good wrestlers staring each other down and diving all over the place. This was fun. The match’s big dive train actually started rough as Buddy Matthews wasn’t able to catch Fenix’s dive into his suplex spot, but everybody else quickly brought it back – even big Brody. Fenix’s Tiger feign right into a Black Mass from Aleister made me go OOOWAA, then a distraction from Alex Abrahantes setup Julia Hart finally joining House of Black, which more or less killed the vibe. ***1/2
5. Owen Hart Foundation Tournament – Final: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole
Owen Hart was one of my favorite wrestlers and the first death to affect young me, so I should probably start by saying that this had nothing to do with me. The intentions behind the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament have been more than admirable, and if Martha Hart is finding some closure with the wrestling business through this then God bless, but somewhere in the last few months it turned into more a branding-oriented “Warrior Award” than a tribute to The Rocket.
It also seemed weird to see the recent favorites of two of Owen’s unfriendly contemporaries (DX) making it to the Finals in the first place. Its’ last matches could’ve been on a less crowded show too and, if they had to be, a little bit better than OK. Joe did the Ole Kick for the first time in a while, or he set it up then ran into a superkick. They drew up an awesome sequence too that built to and concluded with an amazing Joe lariat and Cole bump, but those were rare highlights from what was otherwise just an OK match between two guys who spent the last five years perfecting how to have that OK match. ***
6. Owen Hart Foundation Tournament – Final: Ruby Soho vs. Dr. Britt Baker
Not happy to report that this was more of the above. You can’t run a middling Tournament Finals back-to-back, and you can’t do a bad Sharpshooter in the Finals of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. There are rules. I probably shouldn’t have written off this match as “more of the above” either, but three weeks later that’s still all that’s coming to mind. ***
7. Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti vs. Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & Paige VanZant w/ Dan Lambert
Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti have embraced the boos and become “heels,” but a problem occurred when they were working heel against… other heels. Not just any heels, either: actively unlikable heels. New Japan ran a United Empire vs. Bullet Club 6-man at Dominion (thoughts incoming) a couple weeks later that was similar, just as awkward and tonally inconsistent. Scorpio Sky took a beating then ran through some of his spots as Page and PVZ seemed relegated to the apron. Boo! **
8. Darby Allin vs. Kyle O’Reilly
In a show either trying too many things or keeping it way too basic, Darby Allin and Kyle O’Reilly brought the house down by just doing wrestling. Good, varied wrestling based in a credibility that took place in a quiet vacuum before the crowd woke from their overstimulated stupor and said, “oh wow — this is great!” Kyle’s nasty knee, Darby’s wild tope and somebody’s disgusting koppou kick were highlights. ***3/4
9. AEW Women’s World Title: Thunder Rosa [c] vs. Serena Deeb
All of the excitement of a good technical wrestling match with a little too much filibustering from Jim Ross trying to fill airtime; this had the now normal AEW PPV third act problems but they still kind of tore it up. Good matwork, good armdrags, good wrestling. ***1/4
10. Anarchy in the Arena: Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
As “Wild Thing” played on loop, the bad guys bled all over their stupid white outfits amid brawling, brawling, brawling – it was anarchy, and it was all over the arena. Matt “Daddy Magic” Menard in particular cut a gusher and bled red all down his face, then had the audacity to participate in a spot with yellow mustard later on. Eddie Kingston was dragged by a belt, Jon Moxley chucked a cooler, and later Eddie Kingston emerged covered in blood with a can of gasoline. Like last year’s well-received Arcade Anarchy, a near-perfect example of pro wrestling just delivering as advertised. They even pretty slyly limited Danielson until the very end. ****1/2
11. Triple Threat Tag Match – AEW Tag Team Title: Jurassic Express [c] w/ Christian Cage vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs w/ Taz
“What’s his role?’ asked JR indignantly of Christian Cage, weeks before what would be Cage’s eventual heel turn. The fellas “understood the assignment” here and got right to the action, then took it up another notch once Keith Lee caught Jungle Boy’s tope con hilo and powerbombed him onto Luchasauurs – as sometimes happens. Ricky Starks did the ultimate Undertaker rope walk and Swerve looked especially spectacular in front of a big crowd. It overstayed its’ welcome a little and I wish Jurassic Express had the benefit of a better title run going in, but a good time at the matches in between all the other matches. Plus they did the big boy showdown with Lee, Hobbs and Saurus. ***1/2
12. AEW World Title: Hangman Page [c] vs. CM Punk
Conceivably I waited years for this, but by the time the bell rang I was pretty exhausted. That could probably explain much of the crowd, though when the bell rang they still woke up and gave Page and Punk tha’ “big fight feel” and dueling chants. I still had to re-watch this a couple weeks later, and I’m glad I did.
As they embarked on a completely unpredictable finish, Page and Punk brought the intensity early on everything from chops to lockups to Page’s first elbow that Punk sold loopy. They traded elbows and Punk hit the ropes, but got caught with a rolling elbow — still a step behind. The crowd began booing Page as he rained down on Punk right after: fuck your anxiety, I want my 20s back! The match was pretty equally heated in cheers and boos, and each guy was well-prepared (dare I say excited) to play off those reactions in between every move.
There was a rhythm to it all: Punk did bodyslams, Page did a plancha. Punk tricked Page and knocked him off the apron, Page powerbombed Punk on the apron. Page went for the Orihara moonsault, Punk brought him in with a superplex. Page did the springboard clothesline, Punk did too. Punk went up top, Page knocked Punk down and did the Orihara. Page tried the Buckshot lariat, Punk caught him with the Sharpshooter. Contrasts, are you familiar?
The match pretty brilliantly built into its frantic and desperate stage, which included Punk going for a Buckshot lariat and just collapsing before following through with it. Mistake or not (I vote not), it hit as both a great match beat and crowd reaction. They brought the counters and near falls of a great main event while Punk sold the absolute dirge involved with trying to keep up with The Youth. Then, the referee fell down. I thought the wrestling itself did a better job of telling whatever story they were trying to tell with Page’s eyes after that, but up until then (and even sort of during then too) this was a heck of a match for Punk to reclaim the throne.
Almost. ****3/4
Happy Thoughts: Somehow both a sprint and a marathon, Double or Nothing’s wrestling was mostly good and fun (sometimes better!) but AEW’s overstuffed flaws cast a shadow over everything than nobody seemed to want or need. 3.25 / 5.0
