By Mark Rodriguez
So this was an amazing success, and I was glad to be a part of it and watch it live from my laptop. After feeling dissatisfied with his previous position at his formal place of employment, Cody Rhodes went to Ring of Honor where he joined the Bullet Club and basically became big money. Alongside Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and The Villain Marty Scurl, The Bullet Club basically ran things at RoH. Seeking more, Cody sought out to make his own PPV, hoping to be one of the highest making PPV that wasn't from the WWE, and we got All In. Cody would leave RoH, but rather than sign up with another wrestling company, he would help form his own organization, All Elite Wrestling, and here we are at their very first Pay Per View, Double or Nothing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada. The company also works alongside the guys behind ProWrestlingTees and ProWrestlingCrate both of which I have given lots of dollars to by now.
Aside from the regular cable PPVs you would call and order, Double or Nothing was available on Fite TV, though only if you live outside the US, and Bleacher Report. I bought it on Bleacher Report, but sadly it doesn't work on the Playstation 4, so I had to watch it on my laptop. Johnny got to watch it on his TV since the Bleacher Report works on Roku. I wish it was on the Fite App domestically, which works fine on PS4's browser set to full screen, but thems the breaks. Here are my quick thoughts on the matches, and I have to let you guys know there are spoilers if you haven't watched the event by now.
I apologize in advance for my horrible coverage of most of the tag matches. This is why I'm not a professional journalist.
The Buy In-
This was the pre-show which was shown free on the Fite App internationally and also on AEW and TNT's Youtube channels. It didn't occur to me to check TNT's channel at the time, but the AEW channel had a 20 or so minute delay. Some friends of mine were live at the event and informed me it had already started, and therefor I was missing the show. Luckily the whole hour was available after the fact.
Casino Battle Royale- Winner faces the Winner of the Main Event for the AEW Championship at a later date
This was fun and full of craziness all over the place. The way it was set up was the wrestlers would choose from a deck off screen and would come out in groups of five, representing cards, like Diamonds and Spades, and there would be a Joker card in the end. Some notable faces were Tommy Dreamer, Jungle Boy, Shawn Spears and Glacier, the Sub-Zero from the WCW days. The joker turned out to be Hangman Page, who was supposed to have a match against PAC, but it was cancelled so this was his way in. There were some great spots, the ones I remember most were Acey Romero running at full speed and catching Jungle Boy in mid-air and tossing him out of the ring, Orange Cassidy's non-assault on Tommy Dreamer and Jimmy Havok yelling out SHO RYU KEN before clocking Hangman Page.
In the end, Hangman Page would win after taking out both Luchasaurus and MJF.
Kip Sabian VS Sammy Guevera
The two high flying youngsters put up a good show. Sammy played the cocky and arrogant heel very well and portrayed it perfectly in all his mannerisms. Both did a spot where they easily got out of each others' moves to show off the other. Some noticeable spots was Kip getting Sammy in the Sharpshooter and the fight to get out of it, and Sammy placing Kip on the barricade of the front row. having the audience move out of the way so he can hit him with a move off the ropes.
Kip would score the win by slamming Sammy down with the Deathly Hallows.
SCU VS The Strong Hearts-
A six-man tag match to start the event proper. There are several tag matches in the event and most are hard to call since so many things happens, it makes it hard to keep up with who is who. I kinda lost track of all the high flying madness since this was the first match in a 3 hour and half show, but trust me when I say it was amazing. I do remember one spot where one of the SCU guys literally stomped one of the Strong Hearts down as if he were a surfboard. It was insane.
SCU won the match as one of them held one of the Strong Hearts up as the other lept off the top turnbuckle and helped slam him down.
Britt Baker VS Kylie Rae VS Nyla Rose-
The first surprise of the night was Brandi Rhodes coming in and adding Awesome Kong into the match, making it a Fatal Four-Way. The match was pretty cool, as Kylie and Britt tried their best to focus on each other while keeping the larger women out of the ring the most they could. One top spot for sure was when Kylie and Britt were trying to suplex Nyla off the top turnbuckle, only for Awesome Kong to come up behind them and slam all 3 women on their backs. Nyla tackled Kong into the steel steps, taking each other out, leaving Kylie and Britt to end it.
Britt managed to slip out of Kylie's grasp and hit her with a Fishermen Neckbreaker and win the match. I was honestly surprised because the event showcased a bit of Kylie with pre-match interviews and such, I was expecting this to have been her first win. Dr. Britt Baker takes this one.
One visual I do remember was Britt superkicking Kylie in the face so hard, her hair ribbon flew off. Ouch!
Best Friends VS Angelico and Jack Evans-
Another hard fought tag match full of crazy spots as all 4 men are athletic as can be. Sadly I don't remember any specific spots or scenes.
Best Friends won the match and convinced Angelico and Evans to come in for a hug. Just as they finally agreed to it, everything went dark. As the lights come on, these mystery men came in and attacked everyone. These two guys, coupled by a bunch of masked goons laid out all 4 men. I later found out that these guys are the Super Smash Bros from Ring of Honor, but they might use a different ring name when the time comes to properly introduce them.
Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki and Emi Sakura VS Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe and Ryu Mizunami
This one was wild crazy, and it also had a 'pupil surpass the master' vibe as Emi trained most everyone on the opposing team. There were some crazy spots, and I liked the battle between Emi using a bucket against Riho's kendo stick while the ref was distracted, ending with Emi literally bouncing the bucket off the head of her opponents. I did like whenever a pin was attempted the women would try to keep the tag partners held back to prevent breaking the pin.
Riho would score the win, nailing Emi in the face with a Shining Wizard as the pupil would finally surpass the master. I also have to add that Yuka is practically an anime character come to life.
Cody VS Dustin-
Easily the match of the night. Cody started off by ceremoniously being handed a sledgehammer by Brandi and using it to bash a Triple H styled throne. At the start of the fight with Dustin, he would imitate Stardust's hand gestures saying he 'still remembered' being forced to endure that gimmick longer than he wanted. Brandi would interfere with superkicks and the like when the ref was distracted until Diamond Dallas Page would make a surprise appearance to come in and carry her away.
Dustin would run into an exposed turnbuckle and get a bleeding gash on his forehead. The blood just wouldn't stop, and as the match continued, his entire face was dripping red. After several instances of Dustin getting minor comebacks, Cody would end the match with a Cross Rhodes.
After the match Cody told Dustin he doesn't get to retire just yet. He has a match coming up against the Young Bucks with a partner of his choosing. In a touching moment, Cody says he doesn't need a partner, or a friend, but his older brother. The way Cody's voice cracked when he said the last part made me wonder how people snuck into my house and started cutting onions.
Bret The Hitman Hart made an appearance to help unveil the new AEW Championship Belt. This was a hell of a surprise. MJF came in to talk trash and Jungle Boy, Hangman Page and Jimmy Havok stepped in to get rid of him.
I have to say... that's one cool looking strap worth fighting for.
The Young Bucks VS The Lucha Bros- AAA Title Match
The Young Bucks got the title off of The Lucha Bros in Mexico, so now they've come to get them back. We have the added story that The Young Bucks haven't wrestled in a month or so, so they had a bit of ring rust. They would even mess up and accidentally hit each other with their own moves. One of the Lucha Bros did a move that snapped one of the Bucks' arm back. Some memorable parts were the Young Bucks both doing Sharpshooters on the Lucha Bros, and the Lucha Bros spanish swearing.
Despite the pain, the injured Buck managed to do a one armed Meltzer Driver as his partner lept off the top turnbuckle to finish the job. The Young Bucks retain the titles.
Main Event- Chris Jericho VS Kenny Omega-
We had a cool intro as several people showcased Jericho's previous gimmicks until the real one came in for Alpha VS Omega 2. I felt this match was Jericho VS Omega VS The Table, cause when the table got introduced into the match there was some serious damage. First Omega runs and leaps out of the ring while Jericho was holding up the table outside. The impact caused Jericho to not only fall back but have the table flatten his arm. It was propped up outside and somewhat forgotten about until Jericho threw Omega off the ring and through the table. Kenny's nose was busted and Jericho was showing signs of wear and tear as the match continued.
Jericho wins the match with the most controversial finisher, The Judas Effect, which is basically a spinning elbow. This lays Omega out and Jericho scores the pin. While I can somewhat defend that this somewhat works if you factor in all the damage Omega already took during the match... most everyone else will agree it was a weak way to end such an epic battle.
But then suddenly, Jon Moxley appears and attacks a surprised and confused Jericho with a DDT. He also hits the ref with a DDT. He pretends to help Omega back up to his feet and also hits him with a DDT. However, Omega isn't going to take this laying down and a fight erupts between the two that leaves the ring and ends up atop the poker chips display for the PPV. Moxley ends the first AEW event by tossing Kenny Omega off the poker chip display and through the platform below.
My Overall Opinions-
This was simply an amazing show. I literally could not stop smiling from start to finish. All the matches were amazing in their own right and had crazy and insane moves. I do again, apologize for the lack of detail on the tag matches, but those matches move so fast you just have to see them for yourself, it's impossible to write a proper play-by-play unless I pause the match every 10 minutes to write this review. The surprise appearances of Awesome Kong, Diamond Dallas Page and Bret the Hitman Hart were totally unexpected and made me mark the hell out. I mean, people have been gossiping about Jon Moxley possibly showing up for weeks, but no one could have guessed they got the Hit Man to unveil the Championship Belt. They saved Moxely til the very, VERY end, so it really came as a surprise for those that thought the show was over and were getting ready to leave.
Now granted no show is perfect. This is their first show and it shows, mostly with the camerawork being bizzare at angles. There were times some big spots were missed because the camera panned away or the angle was weird. The two most obvious moments was when the camera panned away as MJF was talking trash (right at the camera no less) during the Battle Royale.... but worst of all, we could barely get a good look at the AEW Belt cause the camera kept panning away or doing whatever else. How could they have possibly have blown that one??
The commentary was a bit rough at times. Wrong wrestlers or wrong moves being called out, but I assume the team of JR, Excalibur and Alex will improve.
While I enjoyed all the matches, some people felt the Emi VS Riho 6-women tag match was unnecessary, and nobody liked Jericho ending the match with the Double Dragon Spinning Elbow. I also had a 'that's it?' reaction but Moxley's surprise attack made up for it.
Overall an amazing show and yes, I do feel that WWE will have some competition at last. For those that feel the product has been lacking, many people say it's because they were the only show in town. Not anymore. While I am not insane enough to believe AEW will truly put WWE out of business, I will say it should at least make WWE step up their game, much like WCW did during the nWo era, and to be honest, in that scenario, everybody wins. Cody has made sure the shots have been fired, so it's time to see how they will respond.
Other background information I want to add was that originally Hangman was supposed to face PAC during the event, but they fought it out a week early at WrestleGate Pro in Nottingham England. There PAC bashed up Hangman's leg with a steel chair (which is why he was limping at this event) and said he only signed up because he wanted to cripple him, and now that he's done that he has no reason to go to Vegas anymore.
I believe the non-kayfabe reason was a mixture between PAC having Visa issues to fly out to the US, and also the fact that he was the current DragonGate Champion and he needed to be booked strong wherever he goes for the time being. There's a chance that PAC might still compete in AEW once he drops the title, but right now it's too early to know. Also it's hard to say who would have won the Casino Battle Royale originally, but my guess would have been either MJF or Shawn Spears.
There will be more PPV events coming up, including Fight for the Fallen in July and All Out in August. There is a TV deal with TNT which will start later this year and Cody says he won't be making monthly PPVs. It's way to soon to see if they will be getting some sort of streaming service so that the PPVS won't always be 50 dollars a pop.
AEW Double or Nothing was an impressive outing. Let's hope they can keep this level of indie innovation and intensity. This no longer 'sports entertainment', this is wrestling.
So this was an amazing success, and I was glad to be a part of it and watch it live from my laptop. After feeling dissatisfied with his previous position at his formal place of employment, Cody Rhodes went to Ring of Honor where he joined the Bullet Club and basically became big money. Alongside Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and The Villain Marty Scurl, The Bullet Club basically ran things at RoH. Seeking more, Cody sought out to make his own PPV, hoping to be one of the highest making PPV that wasn't from the WWE, and we got All In. Cody would leave RoH, but rather than sign up with another wrestling company, he would help form his own organization, All Elite Wrestling, and here we are at their very first Pay Per View, Double or Nothing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada. The company also works alongside the guys behind ProWrestlingTees and ProWrestlingCrate both of which I have given lots of dollars to by now.
Aside from the regular cable PPVs you would call and order, Double or Nothing was available on Fite TV, though only if you live outside the US, and Bleacher Report. I bought it on Bleacher Report, but sadly it doesn't work on the Playstation 4, so I had to watch it on my laptop. Johnny got to watch it on his TV since the Bleacher Report works on Roku. I wish it was on the Fite App domestically, which works fine on PS4's browser set to full screen, but thems the breaks. Here are my quick thoughts on the matches, and I have to let you guys know there are spoilers if you haven't watched the event by now.
I apologize in advance for my horrible coverage of most of the tag matches. This is why I'm not a professional journalist.
The Buy In-
This was the pre-show which was shown free on the Fite App internationally and also on AEW and TNT's Youtube channels. It didn't occur to me to check TNT's channel at the time, but the AEW channel had a 20 or so minute delay. Some friends of mine were live at the event and informed me it had already started, and therefor I was missing the show. Luckily the whole hour was available after the fact.
Casino Battle Royale- Winner faces the Winner of the Main Event for the AEW Championship at a later date
This was fun and full of craziness all over the place. The way it was set up was the wrestlers would choose from a deck off screen and would come out in groups of five, representing cards, like Diamonds and Spades, and there would be a Joker card in the end. Some notable faces were Tommy Dreamer, Jungle Boy, Shawn Spears and Glacier, the Sub-Zero from the WCW days. The joker turned out to be Hangman Page, who was supposed to have a match against PAC, but it was cancelled so this was his way in. There were some great spots, the ones I remember most were Acey Romero running at full speed and catching Jungle Boy in mid-air and tossing him out of the ring, Orange Cassidy's non-assault on Tommy Dreamer and Jimmy Havok yelling out SHO RYU KEN before clocking Hangman Page.
In the end, Hangman Page would win after taking out both Luchasaurus and MJF.
Kip Sabian VS Sammy Guevera
The two high flying youngsters put up a good show. Sammy played the cocky and arrogant heel very well and portrayed it perfectly in all his mannerisms. Both did a spot where they easily got out of each others' moves to show off the other. Some noticeable spots was Kip getting Sammy in the Sharpshooter and the fight to get out of it, and Sammy placing Kip on the barricade of the front row. having the audience move out of the way so he can hit him with a move off the ropes.
Kip would score the win by slamming Sammy down with the Deathly Hallows.
SCU VS The Strong Hearts-
A six-man tag match to start the event proper. There are several tag matches in the event and most are hard to call since so many things happens, it makes it hard to keep up with who is who. I kinda lost track of all the high flying madness since this was the first match in a 3 hour and half show, but trust me when I say it was amazing. I do remember one spot where one of the SCU guys literally stomped one of the Strong Hearts down as if he were a surfboard. It was insane.
SCU won the match as one of them held one of the Strong Hearts up as the other lept off the top turnbuckle and helped slam him down.
Britt Baker VS Kylie Rae VS Nyla Rose-
The first surprise of the night was Brandi Rhodes coming in and adding Awesome Kong into the match, making it a Fatal Four-Way. The match was pretty cool, as Kylie and Britt tried their best to focus on each other while keeping the larger women out of the ring the most they could. One top spot for sure was when Kylie and Britt were trying to suplex Nyla off the top turnbuckle, only for Awesome Kong to come up behind them and slam all 3 women on their backs. Nyla tackled Kong into the steel steps, taking each other out, leaving Kylie and Britt to end it.
Britt managed to slip out of Kylie's grasp and hit her with a Fishermen Neckbreaker and win the match. I was honestly surprised because the event showcased a bit of Kylie with pre-match interviews and such, I was expecting this to have been her first win. Dr. Britt Baker takes this one.
One visual I do remember was Britt superkicking Kylie in the face so hard, her hair ribbon flew off. Ouch!
Best Friends VS Angelico and Jack Evans-
Another hard fought tag match full of crazy spots as all 4 men are athletic as can be. Sadly I don't remember any specific spots or scenes.
Best Friends won the match and convinced Angelico and Evans to come in for a hug. Just as they finally agreed to it, everything went dark. As the lights come on, these mystery men came in and attacked everyone. These two guys, coupled by a bunch of masked goons laid out all 4 men. I later found out that these guys are the Super Smash Bros from Ring of Honor, but they might use a different ring name when the time comes to properly introduce them.
Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki and Emi Sakura VS Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe and Ryu Mizunami
This one was wild crazy, and it also had a 'pupil surpass the master' vibe as Emi trained most everyone on the opposing team. There were some crazy spots, and I liked the battle between Emi using a bucket against Riho's kendo stick while the ref was distracted, ending with Emi literally bouncing the bucket off the head of her opponents. I did like whenever a pin was attempted the women would try to keep the tag partners held back to prevent breaking the pin.
Riho would score the win, nailing Emi in the face with a Shining Wizard as the pupil would finally surpass the master. I also have to add that Yuka is practically an anime character come to life.
Cody VS Dustin-
Easily the match of the night. Cody started off by ceremoniously being handed a sledgehammer by Brandi and using it to bash a Triple H styled throne. At the start of the fight with Dustin, he would imitate Stardust's hand gestures saying he 'still remembered' being forced to endure that gimmick longer than he wanted. Brandi would interfere with superkicks and the like when the ref was distracted until Diamond Dallas Page would make a surprise appearance to come in and carry her away.
Dustin would run into an exposed turnbuckle and get a bleeding gash on his forehead. The blood just wouldn't stop, and as the match continued, his entire face was dripping red. After several instances of Dustin getting minor comebacks, Cody would end the match with a Cross Rhodes.
After the match Cody told Dustin he doesn't get to retire just yet. He has a match coming up against the Young Bucks with a partner of his choosing. In a touching moment, Cody says he doesn't need a partner, or a friend, but his older brother. The way Cody's voice cracked when he said the last part made me wonder how people snuck into my house and started cutting onions.
Bret The Hitman Hart made an appearance to help unveil the new AEW Championship Belt. This was a hell of a surprise. MJF came in to talk trash and Jungle Boy, Hangman Page and Jimmy Havok stepped in to get rid of him.
I have to say... that's one cool looking strap worth fighting for.
The Young Bucks VS The Lucha Bros- AAA Title Match
The Young Bucks got the title off of The Lucha Bros in Mexico, so now they've come to get them back. We have the added story that The Young Bucks haven't wrestled in a month or so, so they had a bit of ring rust. They would even mess up and accidentally hit each other with their own moves. One of the Lucha Bros did a move that snapped one of the Bucks' arm back. Some memorable parts were the Young Bucks both doing Sharpshooters on the Lucha Bros, and the Lucha Bros spanish swearing.
Despite the pain, the injured Buck managed to do a one armed Meltzer Driver as his partner lept off the top turnbuckle to finish the job. The Young Bucks retain the titles.
Main Event- Chris Jericho VS Kenny Omega-
We had a cool intro as several people showcased Jericho's previous gimmicks until the real one came in for Alpha VS Omega 2. I felt this match was Jericho VS Omega VS The Table, cause when the table got introduced into the match there was some serious damage. First Omega runs and leaps out of the ring while Jericho was holding up the table outside. The impact caused Jericho to not only fall back but have the table flatten his arm. It was propped up outside and somewhat forgotten about until Jericho threw Omega off the ring and through the table. Kenny's nose was busted and Jericho was showing signs of wear and tear as the match continued.
Jericho wins the match with the most controversial finisher, The Judas Effect, which is basically a spinning elbow. This lays Omega out and Jericho scores the pin. While I can somewhat defend that this somewhat works if you factor in all the damage Omega already took during the match... most everyone else will agree it was a weak way to end such an epic battle.
But then suddenly, Jon Moxley appears and attacks a surprised and confused Jericho with a DDT. He also hits the ref with a DDT. He pretends to help Omega back up to his feet and also hits him with a DDT. However, Omega isn't going to take this laying down and a fight erupts between the two that leaves the ring and ends up atop the poker chips display for the PPV. Moxley ends the first AEW event by tossing Kenny Omega off the poker chip display and through the platform below.
My Overall Opinions-
This was simply an amazing show. I literally could not stop smiling from start to finish. All the matches were amazing in their own right and had crazy and insane moves. I do again, apologize for the lack of detail on the tag matches, but those matches move so fast you just have to see them for yourself, it's impossible to write a proper play-by-play unless I pause the match every 10 minutes to write this review. The surprise appearances of Awesome Kong, Diamond Dallas Page and Bret the Hitman Hart were totally unexpected and made me mark the hell out. I mean, people have been gossiping about Jon Moxley possibly showing up for weeks, but no one could have guessed they got the Hit Man to unveil the Championship Belt. They saved Moxely til the very, VERY end, so it really came as a surprise for those that thought the show was over and were getting ready to leave.
Now granted no show is perfect. This is their first show and it shows, mostly with the camerawork being bizzare at angles. There were times some big spots were missed because the camera panned away or the angle was weird. The two most obvious moments was when the camera panned away as MJF was talking trash (right at the camera no less) during the Battle Royale.... but worst of all, we could barely get a good look at the AEW Belt cause the camera kept panning away or doing whatever else. How could they have possibly have blown that one??
The commentary was a bit rough at times. Wrong wrestlers or wrong moves being called out, but I assume the team of JR, Excalibur and Alex will improve.
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| Allie (known as Cherry Bomb in other promotions) was a guest commentary during what would become the Women's Fatal Four Way Match. I can't wait until she gets into the ring at a later time and I hope they release a new AEW shirt for her too. |
While I enjoyed all the matches, some people felt the Emi VS Riho 6-women tag match was unnecessary, and nobody liked Jericho ending the match with the Double Dragon Spinning Elbow. I also had a 'that's it?' reaction but Moxley's surprise attack made up for it.
Overall an amazing show and yes, I do feel that WWE will have some competition at last. For those that feel the product has been lacking, many people say it's because they were the only show in town. Not anymore. While I am not insane enough to believe AEW will truly put WWE out of business, I will say it should at least make WWE step up their game, much like WCW did during the nWo era, and to be honest, in that scenario, everybody wins. Cody has made sure the shots have been fired, so it's time to see how they will respond.
Other background information I want to add was that originally Hangman was supposed to face PAC during the event, but they fought it out a week early at WrestleGate Pro in Nottingham England. There PAC bashed up Hangman's leg with a steel chair (which is why he was limping at this event) and said he only signed up because he wanted to cripple him, and now that he's done that he has no reason to go to Vegas anymore.
I believe the non-kayfabe reason was a mixture between PAC having Visa issues to fly out to the US, and also the fact that he was the current DragonGate Champion and he needed to be booked strong wherever he goes for the time being. There's a chance that PAC might still compete in AEW once he drops the title, but right now it's too early to know. Also it's hard to say who would have won the Casino Battle Royale originally, but my guess would have been either MJF or Shawn Spears.
There will be more PPV events coming up, including Fight for the Fallen in July and All Out in August. There is a TV deal with TNT which will start later this year and Cody says he won't be making monthly PPVs. It's way to soon to see if they will be getting some sort of streaming service so that the PPVS won't always be 50 dollars a pop.
AEW Double or Nothing was an impressive outing. Let's hope they can keep this level of indie innovation and intensity. This no longer 'sports entertainment', this is wrestling.
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| Noelle Foley was at the event as well! I knew that girl in the front rows of the crowd looked familiar! |
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