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Blackpool Combat Club Beat The Elite in Anarchy in the Arena at AEW Double or Nothing

Mike Chiari

Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta of Blackpool Combat Club defeated Elite members Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and "Hangman" Adam Page in an Anarchy in the Arena match at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday.

If you like chaos in wrestling, this was the match for you. Yuta got the pin for his team after spiking Omega with the screwdriver, which followed Takeshita hitting Kenny with a running knee strike and aligning himself with Don Callis.

It would be impossible to do justice to all of the anarchy that happened in the arena, but some of the highlights included Violent Idols playing music throughout the match before Matt Jackson laid out the lead singer with a superkick; referee Rick Knox bleeding from a beating at the hands of the BCC; and Castagnoli hitting Matt Jackson with a European uppercut after tacks were put in his mouth.

Matt was involved in another wild sequence that saw his boot explode when he nailed Moxley with a superkick, which led to him taking off the boot and later having his foot dropped into a pile of thumbtacks.

The Anarchy in the Arena match made its debut at last year's Double or Nothing when the Jericho Appreciation Society defeated Blackpool Combat Club in one of the most well-regarded matches of the year.

While the BCC made their return to the stipulation at Double or Nothing 2023, the dynamic was much different, as they were the clear heels after being babyfaces last year.

In the weeks after Danielson fell to AEW world champion MJF in a 60-minute Iron Man match at Revolution in March, the other BCC members began displaying villainous tendencies.

Danielson returned to AEW programming a few weeks later and appeared to be annoyed with his stablemates, but it was all a ruse, as he orchestrated a vicious attack on Omega.

That eventually led to a steel cage match between Omega and Moxley on the May 10 episode of Dynamite, which was won by Mox when Don Callis turned on Omega.

With the numbers game clearly in the Blackpool Combat Club's favor, an old friend stepped up the following week in the form of Page, as he rejoined The Elite after being out of the group for the past couple of years.

Page made the suggestion to have an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing, and it was made official shortly thereafter.

Given the entertaining chaos provided by the inaugural match last year, this year's version was, arguably, the most highly anticipated bout on the entire card.

It featured perhaps the two top factions in AEW and several of its biggest stars, so the stakes were high even without any titles on the line.

Ultimately, the BCC got the better of The Elite again, creating some doubt regarding what the future holds for Omega, The Young Bucks and Page.

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