AEW Double or Nothing 2020

AEW Double or Nothing 2020
Jacksonville, FL
Daily’s Place / TIAA Bank Field
May 23, 2020

Wednesday night continues to be my favorite night of the week. I look so forward to AEW Dynamite and just treasure this company. They’ve done an amazing job with producing top notch weekly wrestling despite the circumstances of the world. I love how AEW feels like a real, human wrestling company, not just an entertainment corporation. They actually acknowledge COVID by name, explain that all the wrestlers and crew on site and in the crowd have been tested. They are definitely making the best of a bad situation. A lot of roster members were in isolation and unable to travel over the last few months, giving others lower on the card a chance to step up and earn some valuable prime TV time. This company is a joy to watch, and I continue to be more invested in a current wrestling product than I have in over 10 years. Bless your heart AEW, and thank you for making what has been personally a really challenging year, so much better.

Because of the circumstances of the times, I had to watch this PPV solo. I definitely missed watching with my sister and brother-in-law. It feels like a decade ago that I was over at their place on a cold Saturday night in late February watching AEW’s last amazing pay-per-view. It totally feels like a different lifetime ago. Just wasn’t quite the same watching it myself, but still awesome nonetheless.

Because of the ownership of the Khan family, AEW has been fortunate to be running all of their shows from Daily’s Place amphitheatre in Jacksonville. The large open air venue really helps bring these shows to life. For Double Or Nothing, they changed up the setup from regular TV, adding lots of set pieces and such, to give it it’s own look and feel. JR, Tony Schiavone, and Excalibur handled commentary duties and were great as always.

The Buy In: Best Friends defeated Private Party 15:10

Good, basic tag team match featured in the pre-show. This was to determine the number one contenders for the next major event, Fyter Fest. Best Friends have really stepped up in the absence of lot of other teams and have been wrestling a lot of good matches. Private Party have cooled off a lot since fall, when they were pushed hard in the early episodes of Dynamite, and they still need a lot of experience and improvement in the ring. A lot of their stuff looks really sloppy, but the work and effort is there, and these guys have a bright future. I loved that Private Party were paying tribute to Cryme Tyme in this match. AEW did a really beautiful tribute to Shad Gaspard, and talked about him several times during the show. Extremely classy, and again, adds such a human element to the presentation. Lots of sloppy high flying and creative double team moves, as well as some great aggression shown by the Best Friends. They’ve clearly been building them up in recent weeks. Sure enough the Besties pick up a really pick win, as all their hard work as of late pays off.

1) Casino Ladder Match for a future AEW World Championship match: Brian Cage (with Taz) defeated Darby Allin, Colt Cabana, Orange Cassidy, Joey Janela, Scorpio Sky, Kip Sabian (with Jimmy Havoc and Penelope Ford), Frankie Kazarian, and Luchasaurus 28:30

Real crazy and sloppy match to open the show. I wasn’t the hugest fan of this match, as it overall felt like a mess and an obvious money in the bank ripoff, but it at least got a lot guys featured on the show. It was still an enjoyable car crash of a match and would have been insane with a live audience. The wrestlers all drew numbers, and every two minutes a new wrestler came down, though the match could have been won at any time. It started with SCU members Kazarian and Scorpio Sky facing off, and friendship was out the window as they wrestled seriously and went for the ladder. Once the two minutes hit, the real craziness of this match began with Kip Sabian entering next, and Jimmy Havoc joining him in, even though he wasn’t officially in the match. Everybody was trying to top the insanity and pull off crazier and crazier stuff, that it felt less like a match at times. Darby Allin, whom I’m a huge fan of, pulled off one of the stupidest and most insane spots, as he took his skateboard to the top of a giant ladder and tried to jump off with it, but crashed hard through a ladder below, effectively taking him out the match. That was just stupid and disappointing. The huge surprise of the match was the debut of independent superstar Brian Cage. For weeks they had been hyping a mystery entrant and rumors floated around the internet that it would a recently fired WWE star like Rusev, but in a true surprise it was Cage, who is an absolute monster. Cage went on a path of destruction until the other wrestlers ganged up on him to take him out of the match, burying him under guard rails and props from around ringside. Later in the battle, Cage exploded out from under that stuff and started laying waste to everyone, finally capturing the giant casino chip at the top of the ladder to win. Great dominating win by Cage and a real good showing for a lot of the other guys in the match. This was definitely entertaining, but they need to dial back on the insane spots and focus more on the drama. Certainly a great first effort for this new match concept.

2) MJF (with Wardlow) defeated Jungle Boy 17:20

One of the things I love most about AEW is the match variety. There is truly something for everyone on the card, and each match is treated with importance. AEW has done such a great job of letting the wrestlers be individuals and you end up emotionally invested in wrestlers up and down the roster. After all the craziness of the opening match, this was a straight-up, feud based wrestling match. MJF and Jungle Boy Jack Perry are two young homegrown stars that have really flourished and come into their own over the past year. They’re both in their early 20s and have the makings to be top level superstars in the coming years. This was an excellently wrestled, hate-filled battle that expertly played into the characters of each competitor. MJF has been the biggest piece of shit heel in the company and has been generating crazy heat. This match would have been nuclear in front of a real audience, and they wrestled as though they were. I loved how back and forth this was, and MJF won with a true wrestling counter. Jungle Boy desperately needs some major victories, but this loss didn’t hurt him. Huge win for MJF though as they continue to build him strong.

3) Tournament final for the inaugural AEW TNT Championship: Cody (with Arn Anderson) defeated Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts); Mike Tyson was at ringside to present the championship to the winner 22:00

Lance Archer has been a fucking wreckless killing machine, and his partnership with the evil and sinister Jake the Snake Roberts has been a highlight during the quarantine episodes of Dynamite. Archer has looked unstoppable and his character work makes him come across like a total killer. I really enjoyed the few New Japan matches of his that I’ve seen. The TNT title tournament was taped during the long lockdown period in April, when AEW was forced to tape a month’s worth of shows in a small gym. The tournament added some much needed intrigue to those episodes and really built up the Archer-Cody feud, culminating with Archer sickeningly destroying Dustin Rhodes. I was really hyped to to see this match at Double or Nothing and it more than delivered. It was probably my favorite on the whole card, minus the awesomely wacky main event. Archer brutalized and punished Cody, smiling like Zeus whenever Cody would go on the attack and countering with more brutality. It was fucking awesome! However, no matter what punishing blow Archer dealt, Cody kept finding ways to get back into the match and keep on fighting. Adding further intrigue were the presence of Jake the Snake and Arn Anderson on the outside, who had a memorable face to face debate on the Dynamite before the pay-per-view. Both found their way into the match, with the ref eventually tossing them to the back in the latter stages. The story progressed with Archer trying to mask his frustration and how hurt he actually was, and Cody coming back stronger and stronger. I kept thinking during the match that Cody really needed this victory, as he has lost almost all of his big matches thus far. Finally two Crossroads finished off Archer in dramatic fashion and Cody was the first TNT champion. I forgot to mention all the Mike Tyson stuff too, as he was the special guest at ringside and was going nuts for both guys at various points. Tyson presented the title to Cody after the match in a really epic moment. Awesome match and an awesome finish!

4) Kris Statlander defeated Penelope Ford (with Kip Sabian) 5:30

One of AEW’s biggest faults has been its inconsistent women’s division. There have been some great matches, but the quality and experience is all over the place, and they kind of made a mistake by booking Riho to be the first champion, due to her commitments in Japan. Since the quarantine began, they’ve really tightened up the division and have only been focusing on several ladies. Kris Statlander has continued to improve and look really impressive, while the inexperienced Penelope Ford has been a surprise standout. She looks like a superstar and is improving dramatically. Ford was a last minute replacement for the injured Dr. Britt Baker, who has become one of the best and most entertaining heels on the roster. This was a straightforward TV style match, but at least it got both ladies featured at the event. Ford once again looked good, but Statlander comes out strong with the win.

5) Dustin Rhodes (with Brandi Rhodes) defeated Shawn Spears 3:20

More an angle than a match. Shawn Spears debuted with a big push almost a year ago in the early months of the company, but has mostly been wrestling on Dark and in lower card feuds since. He’s stepped up during the lockdown, as a cocky and slimy mid-card heel, and called out Dustin Rhodes after getting his head smashed in by Archer. Spears cockily came down to the ring in a suit, declaring that Rhodes is retired and he’ll win by forfeit. Spears trolled the audience by being mock scared when Rhodes’ music played, but revealed it was a set up. When the music started a second time, this time it was Rhodes. Dustin beat the crap out of Spears and comically stripped him down to his underwear, laying in with a spanking and finishing him off in short order. Fun and inoffensive match.

6) No Disqualification and No Countout match for the AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose (c) 16:40

Shida has been on fire in 2020 and has been a shining star. Rose was missing for a few months during lockdown, and she came back ice cold. The stipulations really helped this match, which was a crazy wild brawl. They battled all around ringside, destroying each other with weapons and power moves into the various props. I’m glad this wasn’t a straight up match, as Rose just hasn’t looked good since returning. Shida survived a lot of the onslaught, but was dishing it out right back. The ending was pretty nuts as Shida just cranked Rose over the head with the kendo stick to put her away and win the title. I was really surprised to see the title change, but it was definitely the right call. Shida more than earned that title and is capable of really great matches. I’d love to see her hold the title until Britt Baker can return.

7) AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) defeated Mr. Brodie Lee by technical submission 15:30

Brodie Lee debuted as the Exalted One, the leader of the Dark Order, during the same lockdown tapings as the TNT tournament. I can’t even imagine what kind of a crazy crowd reaction he would have received in a full building. Lee has been destructive in the ring, laying waste to opponents, while becoming a parody of Vince McMahon out of the ring. They’ve been running segments with Lee using all kinds of inside references to Vince, like Lee blowing up at his Dark Order flunky for sneezing. Lee immediately picked a fight with Jon Moxley and stole the AEW world title, setting up this brutal battle. This wasn’t a no holds barred match, but it might as well been, as they destroyed each other all around ringside, using weapons, tables, guard rails, etc. This was nonstop brutality from the opening bell, as they fought at a punishing pace. This was an awesome match, and Mox matches always make me jump out of my seat and go nuts for the guy. He’s fucking amazing. The ending was insane as Moxley drove Lee onto the ramp with the paradigm shift, but they smashed through the boards in an insane visual. Lee emerged busted open, and Mox dragged him into the ring where locked him in an MMA submission hold until Lee passed out and the ref called for the bell. What a fucking battle!

8) Stadium Stampede: Matt Hardy and The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz)

I don’t even have the words to describe this insanity!! “Cinematic wrestling” has become all the rage in 2020, following in the footsteps of things like the Final Deletion or whatever it was called. This very much straddled the border between a real match, a cinematic match, and some kind of a Youtube skit – welcome to wrestling in 2020! Whatever you’d call this, it doesn’t matter, as it was FUCKING AWESOME!! This was just nonstop insanity, action, jokes, character development, and awesomeness all rolled into one amazing match! The ring was set up truly in the middle of the massive TIAA Bank Field, and the wrestlers had free reign of the entire facility. I can’t even recap this, but for me, some of my highlights included Matt Jackson moonsaulting off the goal post, Adam Page chasing Sammy on a horse, the amazing bar fight between Hager and Page, every moment featuring Chris Jericho, all the wild and crazy brawling and weapons, and of course, the INSANE finish – Omega’s amazing one-winged angel, driving Sammy from the stands through tables below on the field. As a Bret Hart style purist, it’s admittedly been hard for me to get into these types of matches, but this one was just fucking fantastic! It was so balls to the wall nuts that you couldn’t help but enjoy every moment of madness. Plus it was all character and story driven, so they weren’t just making up stupid shit for the sake of making up stupid shit.

AEW is a national treasure. I love this company more than I can say! Thank you for giving me so much happiness and not insulting my intelligence as a fan. Thank you for giving me wrestlers to care about and events to be excited for. I hope to support and remain a fan of this company for years to come. And I really hope WWE eventually steps up their game and we can have a future golden age of wrestling once again.