Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Double or Nothing on May 26 in Las Vegas.
This event marked the five-year anniversary of All Elite Wrestling and the card was appropriately packed with title bouts and grudge matches to celebrate the occasion. Here is a look at the card from Sunday's show:
- Team AEW vs. The Elite Anarchy in the Arena
- Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné (TBS title)
- Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage (AEW world title)
- Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black (TNT title)
- Roderick Strong vs. Will Ospreay (International title)
- Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb (AEW women's title)
- Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita (IWGP title Eliminator match)
- Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy
- Chris Jericho vs. Hook vs. Katsoyori Shibata (FTW title)
- Bang Bang Gang vs. Death Triangle (Trios titles)
- Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo
- The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass vs. Brian Cage and Gates of Agony
Let's take a look at what happened at this year's Double or Nothing.
Buy in Matches
Purrazzo and Rosa kicked things off on the Buy In and both women showed up in special gear. La Mera Mera was channeling Elvis Presley with her look.
These are two of the best technical wrestlers in the women's division, so this bout had a lot of great exchanges. Some of Purrazzo's attacks looked especially stiff, but Rosa is a pro and sold it all perfectly.
The Virtuosa was able to get the win with a pinning combination with some help from the ropes.
Result: Purrazzo defeated Rosa
Grade: B
The second Buy-In match featured Max Caster, Anthony Bowens and Daddy Ass taking on Kaun, Toa Liona and Brian Cage.
This match had a lot of crowd interaction and taunting among the competitors, so the fans were very vocal. They incorporated a lot of double and triple-team moves, especially Cage and Gates of Agony.
While this was decent, it felt somewhat out of place and would have fit better on an episode of Dynamite of Collision. The Machine tried to use a steel chair, but the Las Vegas Golden Knights mascot stopped him, allowing Billy Gunn to get the win.
Result: The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass defeated Cage of Agony
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The video package for Willow was fantastic.
- Rosa's face paint looked incredible.
- This was one of Caster's better pre-match raps in a while.
- Kaun probably hasn't had a carb
Roderick Strong vs. Will Ospreay (International Title)
Ospreay got a huge pop a he came out to kick off the main PPV card against Strong for the International Championship. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett were by the champion's side, but Wardlow was nowhere to be seen.
The Aerial Assassin didn't want to wait and went after Strong while he was posing in the ring, so the ref called for the bell. The fight spilled out of the ring almost immediately as both men were throwing lefts and rights.
The Kingdom interfered and hit a double-team move on Ospreay that almost ended in disaster when he landed on his head. The ref checked on him but he said he could continue.
As The Kingdom tried to distract the ref, Wardlow showed up to interfere, but the ref saw him and made him leave the ring before he could hit a powerbomb. Ospreay took out the entire Undisputed Kingdom with a corkscrew from the top rope before going after the champ.
These two men have reputations as being incredibly gifted performers, so it almost seemed effortless for them to put on a banger. They worked brilliantly together to deliver a highly competitive performance.
Strong began selling a neck injury and Ospreay looked concerned, but Callis fired him up and told him to use the Tiger Driver he retired. Strong managed to counter at the last second to avoid the impact.
The Aerial Assassin ended up getting the win anyway after hitting a picture-perfect Stormbreaker.
Result: Ospreay defeated Strong
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Ospreay taking out Taven and Bennett in the timekeeper's area looked great.
- The way Ospreay's head hit the ground looked nasty.
- Somebody in the crowd was dressed like Jesus.
- The way Ospreay did a backflip off of Roddy's chest was nuts.
Bang Bang Gang vs. Death Triangle (Trios Titles)
Adam Cole made a surprise appearance and yelled at the crowd about how he shouldn't even be there like he was Dante from Clerks. He pulled out the devil mask before a video began to play for MJF.
The former AEW champion's music hit and he came out in a leather jacket and denim vest similar to Triple H's look when he returned at MSG in 2002. He kicked Cole below the belt and hit a DDT. He grabbed the mic and gave a promo while Cole was helped to the back.
Jay White and Pac were going to start, but Switchblade did the heel thing and tagged out so his babyface rival needed to wait to get his hands on him.
This match had a lot of great individual moments, but there was something off about the pace. Things evened out as the action progressed, thankfully.
White and Pac's rivalry took center stage, but all six men had standout moments. Juice Robinson showed up and tripped Pac on the top rope. This allowed White to get the pin for his team.
Result: Bang Bang Gang defeated Death Triangle
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- MJF went a bit heavy on the tanning. He also elbowed the devil mask like he was Ric Flair giving an elbow drop to his jacket.
- Fenix almost slid and fell during his entrance.
- The Lucha Bros almost never try to match their gear but did for this match. Pac and Alex Abrahantes matched them, too.
- Austin mimicking Penta's strut was pretty funny.
- The way Pac sold a DDT from White was almost too realistic.
Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb (AEW Women's Championship)
During the leadup to this, Deeb said this would be the best women's match in AEW history, which is a lofty claim for anyone to make. From the moment the bell rang, you could tell both women were trying hard to live up to that claim.
They still incorporated some comedy spots here and there, but for the most part, this was a highly competitive exchange between two people who pride themselves on their skill.
Mariah May and Luther were at ringside but stayed out of the action for a long time, which was good because it allowed Deeb and Storm to show everyone exactly what they can do together.
Even though The Professor was playing the babyface, the crowd was clearly behind Timeless Toni. It didn't affect how they performed, but it took the wind out of Deeb's sails during her comebacks.
While this may not go down as the best women's match in AEW history, it was certainly a strong performance for both competitors. May wanted to throw in the towel for Storm but Luther stopped her. Storm escaped the hold she was in and threw the towel into the crowd.
Deeb came close to winning several times before Timeless Toni hit two Storm Zeroes for the pin and the win.
Result: Storm defeated Deeb
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Serena's ring jacket looked like one of Ospreay's.
- This may not be correct, but it feels like Storm has had different gear for every match, which is a great addition to her starlet character's ego.
- Some of the counters and transitions into submission holds were awesome.
Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta
The next bout was a grudge match between former members of Best Friends, Cassidy and Beretta. OC came out to his old entrance music instead of "Jane."
For the first couple of minutes, Cassidy and Beretta went shot for shot. Whatever one man did, the other did right after. Beretta finally got the upper hand, but not for long.
They did a good job telling a story. This didn't just feel like a series of spots. It felt like everything they did made sense for their feud. The pace was a bit slower than expected in some places but not in a way that hurt the match.
Cassidy was able to roll over Beretta into a pinning combination to get the win after failing to beat him with his usual finishers. Beretta looked absolutely devastated after the loss. He didn't even try to get revenge. He just slowly walked away with his head down through the crowd.
Result: Cassidy defeated Beretta
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Beretta finally had some new gear to match his new attitude. Cassidy was wearing darker denim than usual, too.
- Cassidy was already showing bruises and welts after just a few minutes. Beretta was not holding back.
- Cassidy looked great selling the piledriver on the apron. He sold the fall to the floor perfectly.
- When OC tripped Beretta on the steps, it looked like he fell a few inches more forward than intended. His lower back hit the edge of the steps but he was about to continue without any issues.
Chris Jericho vs. Hook vs. Katsuyori Shibata (FTW Title)
The FTW title was on the line in a triple threat match with Jericho defending the unsanctioned belt against Shibata and the man he won it from, Hook.
The Learning Tree went right after Hook when the bell rang, but Shibata and Hook were almost working as a unit at times.
Jericho dumped a bag of dice on the mat but Hook and Shibata ended up suplexing him onto the pile before he could use them to his advantage.
There was a scary moment when Shibata and Hook were supposed to fall onto Jericho and go through a table, but the table didn't break and everyone crashed down hard.
Big Bill eventually showed up and helped Jericho escape Red Rum, but Hook put him through a table at ringside. A masked man showed up and attacked Shibata and Hook before revealing himself to be Bryan Keith.
Jericho stole the win and left without checking on Keith and Bill. This was predictable but still mostly entertaining. Keith joining Jericho makes no sense, so we're going to need an explanation soon.
Result: Jericho defeated Hook and Shibata
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Jericho was announced as being accompanied by Big Bill, but the big man was nowhere in sight during his entrance. It was also weird to see Jericho without one of his many leather jackets.
- Hook and Shibata no-selling kendo stick shots was a fun moment. Jericho's kendo stick was bending way more than usual when he would hit one of them. It looked like it was made of rubber while the other ones looked like the usual bamboo.
- The way Big Bill went through the table caused the support leg to go through the wood. If Bill had fallen a few inches to his right, he would have been in trouble.
Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Takeshita was out first for his IWGP Championship Eliminator match against Moxley. If he were to win, he would earn a future shot at the title.
This was the third singles match between these two. Moxley won the first two in 2022, so Big Take was looking to make sure he didn't make it a hat trick.
Mox came into this match with an injured arm, so Takeshita focused almost all of his offense on it to exacerbate the injury. They worked at a slow and methodical pace so Moxley could sell every big move, but once he began to build some momentum, they started moving a bit quicker.
The majority of this match was a dominant performance from Takeshita. He was probably responsible for 90% of the offense, but Mox still ended up getting the win. This was completely different from everything else on the show in a good way.
Even though Takeshita would have benefitted a lot from a victory, he still came away from this looking strong.
Result: Moxley defeated Takeshita
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Callis was all over this PPV but he wasn't on commentary this time.
- Moxley's left arm was heavily bandaged. He did a good job selling by not using it much.
- There was a weird moment when Takeshita was kicking a chair that was around Moxley's arm, but it very clearly was not set up in a way where it was doing anything to Mox's arm.
Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black (TNT Title)
The most gruesome stipulation on the card was up next when Copeland and Black fought inside a barbed wire steel cage for the TNT Championship.
Copeland came up through the stage surrounded by a ring of fire just like he used to during his Brood days. They wasted no time going for some of the weapons that were in the cage.
Both men were bleeding within minutes, but Black's wound looked worse. They eventually used a barbed wire bat to inflict even more damage upon each other.
This was exactly what you would expect it to be. There was very little wrestling and lots of weapon spots and blood. If you like that kind of thing, this match overserved you. If you didn't, you had the perfect chance to get a snack and use the bathroom.
After tying Black to a table with barbed wire, Copeland climbed to the top of the cage and dove off. He put Black through the table but also landed on his feet instead of on top of Black. It was a painful-looking impact, to say the least.
While this wasn't quite as gruesome as a bout like Swerve vs. Hangman Page in a Texas Death match, it was still a violent and brutal affair. Brody King and Buddy Matthew showed up, but they stood next to Copeland and made it look like they were siding with him before attacking him.
After all three men beat on him for a bit, the lights turned red and some eerie music began to play. Gangrel came up through the ring and attacked HOB. Copeland used the barbed wire to apply a crossface. Black passed out and the ref declared The Rated-R Superstar as the winner.
This was pure chaos from start to finish. Both men are going to need some stitches after this.
Result: Copeland defeated Black
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Copeland came out to a Slayer song instead of his usual entrance music.
- Copeland cut Black open with some barbed wire within the first two minutes.
- The white ropes had blood stains all over them, and so did the mat.
- Nigel McGuinness used the phrase "Unholy afterbirth" to describe the carnage.
Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné (TBS Title)
The first of three main events was the TBS title bout between Willow and Mercedes. The CEO had a big entrance with summers and showgirls on the stage for her debut match.
The champion was looking to establish dominance early by forcing Moné to the corner as the crowd chanted for both women over and over.
Nightingale had control for a long time, but once Moné began working on her leg, the TBS champion found herself on defense.
This was a surprisingly hard-hitting fight that made both women look incredibly tough, which is even more impressive because they had to follow the most violent match of the night and Mercedes hasn't wrestled in a year.
Willow had the match won with a Doctor Bomb, but Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway accidentally distracted the ref. This allowed The CEO to hit her finisher for the win.
Stokely yelled at Willow for losing but Stat shoved him to the mat. Then, Stat attacked Willow as Stoke looked on with a smile.
Result: Mercedes defeated Willow
Grade: A
Notable Moments and Observations
- Moné's gear was really cool. Willow had a new hairdo and a giant friendship bracelet being carried by Statlander and Hathaway.
- Willow hit a chop to Moné's back that looked and sounded brutal.
- The kneebreaker Willow hit on the apron was wild.
Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage (AEW World Title)
Strickland had an entrance inspired by the movie The Warriors. His gear was even clearly a reference to the cult classic. Prince Nana, Killswitch and the Waynes were all at ringside for this match.
They were slow to make contact but once they locked up, they were vigorously fighting to see who could take control. They ended up making a clean break and locking up again after coming to a stalemate.
They took a different approach than a lot of the matches we saw on this show. They took their time and spent a lot of time taunting and sizing each other up instead of going from 0-60 right away.
Swerve was his usual impressive self, but this match was a reminder that at 50 years old, Cage is still capable of putting on fantastic performances.
After the ref was tricked into ejecting Nana from ringside, Nick and Killswitch attacked Swerve. The ref eventually wised up and ejected the entire Patriarchy.
The Mogul tried to use the steel steps to his advantage but ended up being sent into them by Cage. Nick returned and hit a cutter behind the ref's back, but Nana chased him through the crowd with a pipe.
This may have gone a bit longer than needed, but everything we saw was executed well. After several false finishes, Strickland hit the Swerve Stomp followed by the House Call for the win.
Result: Strickland defeated Cage
Grade: A
Notable Moments and Observations
- Shayna Wayne is such an underrated part of the Patriarchy. They should let her talk more in promos.
- The way Swerve rolls his opponents from the mat back to their feet for a vertical suplex always looks so smooth.
- The announcers were having a lot of fun during this show. Nigel McGuinness and Taz were especially funny.
- The way Swerve turned a powerbomb into a powerslam was one of the most impressive things we saw in this match.
The Elite vs. Team AEW
As Jack Perry, Kazuchika Okada and Nicholas and Matthew Jackson made their entrances, Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Bryan Danielson and Darby Allin attacked them to get the action underway immediately.
Matthew grabbed a mic and made the production truck play the Bucks' music as they fought, but Danielson put a stop to that by having them play "The Final Countdown."
The song played for a long time as all eight men battled around the arena. AEW showed the various pairs in a four-way split screen at different times so we could follow all of the mayhem. The crowd was singing and cheering the whole time.
After the song stopped, the crowd chanted "We want music." It was hard to follow the action at times until everyone made their way back to the ringside area, but that never stopped it from being entertaining.
Trying to summarize everything we saw would be impossible, but at one point, Perry appeared to run over Allin with a truck outside the arena. That's how crazy AEW tried to make this.
As Perry was coming back, he grabbed Tony Khan and tried to drag him to the ring. Allin showed up with a flame thrower and lit the former Jungle Boy on fire. He was quickly extinguished but it was still a wild moment to witness.
Allin was tied to a cable from the rafters, Harwood was hit with an exploding chair, and the Bucks used shoes covered in tacks to kick Allin in the face as he was hung up like a pinata.
Much like the TNT title bout, your level of enjoyment is going to depend on how much you like chaos and non-traditional violence in your pro wrestling. This was certainly a spectacle. Nobody can deny that.
After he returned from being set ablaze, Perry hit Danielson with a running knee for the pin and the win.
Result: The Elite defeated Team AEW
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- When Justin Roberts made the introductions, he said "Welcome to the s--t show."
- The shameless Reebok plug was kind of funny.
- Allin had a mask on because his nose was still broken from being hit by a bus.
- Harwood looked like he was busted open by a beer can thrown by a dumb fan who was hopefully kicked out.
- It was kind of weird seeing Harwood and Wheeler in long tights instead of their usual trunks.
- The Bucks put Allin on their entrance elevator and had him lowered down to trap him.
The Final Word
AEW Double or Nothing 2024 delivered what might be the widest selection of wrestling styles on one card.
If you wanted a technical showdown, Deeb and Storm gave that to you. If you wanted blood, Copeland and Black delivered. If you wanted unbridled mayhem, The Elite vs. Team AEW was for you. If you wanted to have your heart broken, seeing Statlander turn on Willow will do that.
You can even see a mat set on fire if you want to. Even if you hated some of what we saw on Sunday, chances are good that you probably loved something else from the show.
Picking the best performance on the card is nearly impossible because so many bouts worked well in different ways, but Strickland vs. Cage and Ospreay vs. Strong are contenders for Match of the Night.
The only major complaint one could levy is the runtime. If you count the pre-show, this event was just over six hours long. But to AEW's credit, it was an easy six hours because it moved along at a brisk pace.
Grade: B+
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