AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING

 Jacksonville

SERENA DEEB vs. RIHO (14:05): I remember reviewing AEW's first PPV, Double or Nothing, and mentioning that it was a great show mostly because of the "crowd for the ages." Well at least for half of this PPV, this was once again a crowd for the ages. The reason is that this was the first AEW show with a full house since the pandemic started. And this loud, raucous crowd definitely sounded like they'd been cooped up in the house for a year. Some noted that this match was the best pre-show match they'd ever seen and pretty much everyone raved about it. It was mostly a basic match but the crowd was so loud and it was such a party atmosphere that it elevated this match. Deeb retained the NWA women's title...and no, I have no idea why the NWA champion is on this show. Riho was in Japan during most of the pandemic so it was nice to see her back because the crowds love her and she's super entertaining to watch. **1/2 (out of ****)

ADAM PAGE vs. BRIAN CAGE (12:00): This was two guys just beating the shit out of each other, which is a good thing. When Taz's crew came out to help Cage win he waved them off but ended up losing. I'm guessing Cage will turn into a good guy and feud with Taz's stable. Unfortunately, when Taz's stable comes on TV I want to change the channel. I think one flaw with AEW is that there are way too many groups. **1/2

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. JON MOXLEY & EDDIE KINGSTON (21:00): This was fantastic. Of course it was, though, because the Bucks always deliver on PPV. The insane crowd definitely helped. The Bucks are heels now, so they did a bunch of heel things like use a hairspray can to spray Moxley in the eyes. The Bucks also did a bunch of other wrestler's moves like Hogan's leg drop and Roman Reign's "ooh-ahh" spear. By the end of this, the Bucks just destroyed Moxley and Kingston. They gave them multiple face kicks and finally did four double knees to the head on Moxley for the win. This was super entertaining and wild and a hell of a lot of fun. ***1/2

CASINO BATTLE ROYALE (JUNGLE BOY) (23:30): The boisterous crowd peaked when Jungle Boy won this battle royale. It was more or less a typical battle royale; entertaining, mostly forgettable. Lio Rush was the surprise entrant here, and he looked amazing and the crowd ate up everything he did. The final two were Christian and Jungle Boy. The crowd reached a fever pitch during this and popped like they'd just won the lottery when Jungle Boy won. Jungle Boy stood on the second rope to bask in the adoration and Marko Stunt ran out and hugged him and it was awesome. **1/2

CODY RHODES vs. ANTHONY OGOGO (10:55): It was kind of obvious that the party atmosphere would diminish and the crowd would get tired. These AEW PPV's are long, at four hours, and so the crowd was quiet during this match. It didn't help that this was a bore. Anthony Ogogo was apparently a boxer in the Olympics. I'm not sure why he never went pro. He hasn't wrestled much, so he didn't exactly blow the doors off the place. Cody won. Yawn. 1/2*

MIRO vs. LANCE ARCHER (9:50): This definitely did remind me of a Lance Archer G1 match, as the Wrestling Observer reviewer noted. It was two big guys slugging it out and delivering back and forth power moves. Miro won with his submission hold to retain the TNT title. They might have to change that name, as come next year Dynamite is moving to TBS. **1/2

BRITT BAKER vs. HIKARU SHIDA (17:20): The crowd got back into the show big time to root on Britt Baker late in this match. This was just an okay match, as neither is all that exciting in the ring for whatever reason. The last few minutes were great, though, as the crowd cheered everything Baker did and roared with approval when Shida tapped out to her mouth claw submission. Baker won the title and when she was walking to the back, Tony Schiavone left the announce table and walked over and gave her a hug and whispered something in her ear. That was such a touching moment. You can tell a company is doing something right when you well up with tears of joy when someone wins a title. **

DARBY ALLIN & STING vs. ETHAN PAGE & SCORPIO SKY (12:30): The crowd was also very loud when Sting did anything in this match. Shockingly, Sting even did a stage dive off the poker chips onto Page and Sky. That was insane. Sting is in his 60's. So while there wasn't really much to this match, hearing the crowd pop for Sting and Sting doing all of his trademark moves was fun to see. **1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. PAC vs. ORANGE CASSIDY (27:00): Early on I was like, man, I thought this match would be better. But by the end of this, when all three were just back and forth delivering devastating maneuvers to one another and every near fall got massive gasps from the audience, this turned into a phenomenal match. I would have rather seen a Pac/Omega singles match...but the reason they shoehorned Cassidy into this match is because he's a crowd favorite and they knew with a full house it would be better with him in it. There were so many great near falls in this match. And the last ten minutes were just non-stop, crazy action. The big problem with this match is that they really played out Omega being a heel. Don Callis pulled the ref out of the ring when Cassidy was about to win. Omega knocked out the ref. Omega hit PAC with all of his belts when the ref was out. After Cassidy almost won, Omega reversed it and pinned him with a quick small package. So the end was a bit anticlimactic...but this match was awesome and by far the best AEW championship PPV match so far. ***1/2

THE INNER CIRCLE vs. THE PINNACLE "STADIUM STAMPEDE" (31:30): When they announced that this match was going to be another Stadium Stampede match...I was a little surprised. The whole reason they did this last year is because Double or Nothing had zero fans in the building and they needed something special to close the show. Why would they go and have a match in an empty football arena when they have a packed crowd in Daily's Place? Well my fears were right. The match didn't really work, although they did go to Daily's Place at the end and Samy Guevera pinned Shawn Spears in the ring in Daily's Place. There were some entertaining things in this match, but most of it was kind of boring. When MJF and Jericho were brawling in the football offices, they came across new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer. He handed Jericho a laptop to hit MJF with. Then, when Jericho threw MJF through a table, Urban Meyer said, "Holy shit." That was amusing. FTR and Ortiz and Santana battled in a backstage club where Konan was the DJ. Wardlow and Jake Hager brawled backstage in a kitchen area and meat freezer. Samy and Spears battled in a room filled with chairs. Spears ran for his life from motorcycles and a golf cart. The Inner Circle also made their entrance by repelling down the scoreboard. They mostly didn't even fight on the football field, it was mainly backstage stuff. Eventually, Jericho and MJF ended up in the upper deck of Daily's Place where Jericho put a bloody MJF through a table. Samy and Spears wrestled in the ring at Daily's Place for awhile until Samy pinned him and The Inner Circle won. Then the IC got in the ring and the whole crowd sang Jericho's theme song together and it was a great way to end the show. **