AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Glendale, Arizona

ANNA JAY & HARLEY CAMERON vs. MEGAN BAYNE & PENELOPE FORD (12:35): I guess they didn't know what to do with Anna Jay so they threw her in with Harley Cameron, who is still pretty popular with the fans. Megan Bayne was in the women's championship match at the last PPV and now she's on the opener of the pre-show. That's not good. This was only the 2nd Double or Nothing PPV outside of Las Vegas (the 2020 pandemic show was in Jacksonville). I think they went somewhere else because they had a small crowd there the last two years. This crowd seemed to be quiet except for the big spots most of the night, although they did go nuts during the Anarchy in the Arena match and they tended to get louder towards the end of all the matches. This match was forgettable but the crowd was into Harley. *1/2

AR FOX, BANDIDO, HOLOGRAM & KOMANDER vs. CRU (LIO RUSH & ACTION ANDRETTI) & RPG VICE (ROCKY ROMERO & TRENT BERETTA) (13:16): Kind of didn't think I'd see Rappongi Vice back. Not sure why they're using a slightly different name, though. There was a lot of good action in this match. AR Fox has been a crowd favorite lately. Fun pre-show match. **1/2

MERCEDES MONE vs. JAMIE HAYTER (21:17): This was the final of the Owen Hart Cup. The winner will face Toni Storm at All In Texas. I thought it was kind of obvious that Mone and Ospreay would win the Owen tournament. I was wrong! Mone won, though, so I was half right. Match definitely picked up steam and turned into something pretty good. Mone spiked Hayter right on her head with a package piledriver to win. It looked like Hayter was paralyzed instantly, but maybe all that red hair was in the way and it wasn't that bad. She did seem okay. **1/2

FTR vs. DANIEL GARCIA & NIGEL McGUINNESS (23:31): FTR are heels now for whatever reason. Boredom, freshen up things...I guess. Nigel only wrestles once in a blue moon these days, so it was nice to see him back in there. Match was fine. **

RICOCHET vs. MARK BRISCOE "STRETCHER MATCH" (16:11): Good match. I haven't seen a heavy crimson mask like Briscoe had in this match in a while. Because all the fans chant about Ricochet being bald, Briscoe sprayed his head with cleaner and shined it with a rag. Okay. This was AEW's first Stretcher Match. Also could be called an Ambulance Match. Crowd was into it and there were a lot of cool spots. ***

THE HURT SYNDICATE (BOBBY LASHLEY & SHELTON BENJAMIN) vs. THE SONS OF TEXAS (DUSTIN RHODES & SAMMY GUEVARA) (12:38): Is there even a tag team left in AEW to compete with The Hurt Syndicate? They've kind of buried everyone except for other heel teams like FTR and The Young Bucks. Sammy Guevara is exciting to watch so I have no idea why they've demoted him to ROH. Are they still angry that he injured Jeff Hardy like a year ago? Guevara and Rhodes got more offense than most against The Hurt Syndicate. MJF was out there because he's a member of The Hurt Syndicate now. He tried to get Lashley to use his diamond ring to cheat and knock someone out. Match was okay. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. MIKE BAILEY (16:02): Bailey looked good. Okada is still his slow-walking self. Match was fairly entertaining. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. MINA SHIRAKAWA (15:52): This show was 4.5 hours long. This is why. Did they even promote this match? Mina is supposedly now signed with AEW. She's exuberant. Toni Storm has always been more entertaining outside of the ring than in. Match was fine but nothing special. **

KENNY OMEGA, SWERVE STRICKLAND, THE OPPS (KATSUYORI SHIBATA, POWERHOUSE HOBBS & SOMOA JOE) & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. DEATH RIDERS (JON MOXLEY, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI, MARINA SHAFIR & WHEELER YUTA) & THE YOUNG BUCKS "ANARCHY IN THE ARENA" (35:19): This was a hell of a lot of fun. The gimmick now is they play music during the match. They started to play "I'm So Excited!" for comedy and then "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" five or six times. The crowd loved that. The highlights included Mina Shafir stapling Swerve's tongue with a staple gun and Kenny Omega giving a One Winged Angel on one of the Bucks onto an exploding table at ringside. They brawled outside and in the stands. The Bucks gave Omega a double knee to the face after putting thumbtacks in his mouth. Eventually the Death Riders were locked inside the ambulance that was still by the entrance, leaving the Bucks alone in the ring to lose. I'm still a little bit baffled as to why they didn't make this the main event. I thought maybe because the heels were winning. They weren't! Fun match, though. ***

THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (JOSH ALEXANDER, KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & KYLE FLETCHER) vs. PARAGON (ADAM COLE, KYLE O'REILLY & RODERICK STRONG) (12:48): Good luck to anyone that had to follow up that Anarchy match. This was pretty forgettable because they even turned off the crowd lights because everyone left to go to the bathroom or get something to eat. Normally with a hot crowd this might've been something fantastic. A bunch of guys came out after to beat up the heels. Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi came out for no real good reason. **

'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE vs. WILL OSPREAY (36:59): Everyone online raved about this match and proclaimed it a classic and maybe the best match of the year. It was good but I didn't think it was a 4 star classic or anything. It did shock me that 'Hangman' won. Not in a million years did I think Ospreay wasn't going to win the title in the main event of All In Texas. He's the best wrestler in the world. What the heck are they waiting for? 'Hangman' is great but he's had the title already. Is it because he's a cowboy and All In is in Texas? I mean...Ospreay could win the title in August at Forbidden Door in London. Or they could wait until next year's All In at Wembley. Seems like they're waiting too long, honestly. This was dramatic and the crowd got super into it. They did the gimmick where Page and Ospreay were using their friend's finishers and then their rival's finishers. That was creative. They did botch the table spot because it broke while they were attempting to do a move while standing on top of it. 'Hangman' won with the Buckshot Lariat. So Moxley vs. 'Hangman' is the main event of the biggest AEW show of the year. I did not see that coming at all. ***