# 10 Thoughts on AEW Double Or Nothing

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/
- Published: 2022-05-31T16:00:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

AEW’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view was this past Sunday Night and it’s the first
wrestling pay-per-view I’ve ordered…and might be the last. Here are 10 thoughts 
on the night.

 1.  **The Bleacher Report App is trash.** The program started at 6PM CST and the buy
     in match started about 6:50. I wasn’t able to get into the app to watch it until
     6:55. The app wouldn’t load, the app showed I hadn’t bought the show, the app 
     wouldn’t recognize my sign on. I was so frustrated I almost called to cancel it.
     I probably won’t order another one until they move to a different platform (say
     HBOMax and have it included in the price of the app).
 2.  **The buildup for the show was lackluster.** I didn’t feel like they did a good
     job setting up many of these matches. The Bucks/Hardy was mainly set up on BTE;
     that’s fine for the hardcore watchers, but the casual fan knew little of what 
     was going on and it was added to the card a week before the show. There was no
     real build up to Jade Cargill/Anna Jay or Darby Allin/Kyle O’Reilly. The mixed
     trios match was also added at the last minute and had gotten to the point where
     no one really cared. The Woman’s Championship match had a little build up and 
     they’ve done a poor job with Thunder Rosa as champion. The Tag Championship felt
     thrown together. If it wasn’t for a great Dynamite last week, the Championship
     Title Match would have been included here; that build up had little heat until
     Punk and Hangman met in the ring.
 3.   **Was the MJF drama a work?** I expected the MJF/Wardlow opener to be a pretty
     quick match, but damn. Wardlow with the squash. I wonder though if that was the
     finish coming into the weekend? Did they change it to a super quick match after
     MJF no showed the Fan Fest? Was the no show legit, or was it a work for this or
     a future story? Tony wouldn’t comment on it after the event. I did laugh when 
     Max mimicked an plane as Wardlow came to the ring.
 4.  **The Hardy’s Don’t Have Many Miles Left.** They looked really rough against the
     Young Bucks; it would have been worse against just about any other tag team. Reports
     have stated that Jeff’s been hurt since his match with Darby Allen. The Hardy’s
     have had a great career, but it’s no wonder time has caught up with them with 
     the risky moves they’ve been doing for 20 years. Going forward, I’d really try
     to save them as a team for bigger events.
 5.  **The House of Black and Death Triangle carried the show.** Their match was awesome.
     There was great storytelling in the match, amazing moves, and the inevitable turn
     of Julia Hart. While the Hart turn should have happened months ago, it was still
     surprising because I didn’t think it was going to happen. I’d take a few more 
     weeks of these guys going back and forth.
 6.  **The mixed trios was better then expected.** I didn’t expect to care about this
     match, but it was better then expected. I like the Men of the Year, but I’m ready
     for someone other then Sammy to be involved with the TNT title. I think what set
     this match apart was the issues between Sammy/Tay and Frankie; they were never
     on the same page, so you wondered the whole match when they were going to turn
     on each other.
 7.  **The Owen Hart Tourney finals fell flat.** Neither of the final matches to the
     tourney were all that appealing. Adam Cole/Samoa Joe was a boring match. There
     was a little technical wrestling, but Joe is getting to that Hardy place where
     he’s limited in the ring. Because of that, Cole was limited on what he could do.
     The Woman’s match started better, with Rancid there playing Ruby Soho; it ended
     up with a boring finish. I haven’t been a fan of Ruby since she’s debuted, but
     she could have used that win to put another solid woman’s option; Britt is already
     at that level. But they wanted the couple of Cole and Britt to win together; I
     think they are setting up a Britt/Cole vs Sammy/Tay best couple of AEW storyline.
 8.  **Anarchy in the Arena was too much but ended strong**. When the match started,
     there was too much going on; guys were fighting everywhere and they were quick
     to get the blades out. Once they slowed down and had most of the guys closer to
     the ring, it was much better. There were some crazy bumps and good in match storytelling.
     Eddie Kingston continues to shine in these brawls. I’m looking forward to him 
     and Danielson facing off.
 9.  **C.M. Punk had to win the belt.** Nothing against Hangman, but his run was boring
     and they need someone bigger to carry the belt. Punk is a name and they can use
     that name to push AEW to the next level (if TK can get out of his own way); casual
     wrestling fans might pay a little more attention to AEW because Punk has the belt.
     Punk can also work solid matches with anyone. Again, nothing against Hangman; 
     I feel they did him dirty by not building up his feuds more. Even this one was
     boring until last Wednesday night.
 10. **The whole thing was too long.** The event went almost 4 1/2 hours. They could
     have pushed Darby/O’Reilly to the buy in, along with the Cargill/Anna Jay match.
     Then cut about 5 minutes out of each match (besides Hookhausen – because that 
     buy in match was too short – and MJF/Wardlow); that’s 55 minutes they could have
     cut out. I’d rather have a 3 hours show of great matches vs 4.5 hours of OK matches.

Where do they go now? With Punk as the champion, he needs to turn heel; heel champions
are typically more entertaining then face champions. I think eventually they go 
MJF (if he’s still around in a few months), but there needs to be at least 2 short
term feuds before we get there. Maybe Swerve Strickland or Keith Lee for a short
program, Andrade El Idolo could have an entertaining run with the champ, and Miro
would be perfect for a good storyline when he’s back. There is also Wardlow, but
I think they should hold off on that for a bit.

Hangman’s best time was before he was the champ and this is a good time to get back
to that. I really think a good arc with Alex Reynolds and John Silver could help
get back to that part; the Dark Order should be upset that Hangman turned his back
on them. After he either wins them over again and they move on, you have Hangman
work his way back to the top. This will be another slow burn story. During it, you
have him reunite with the Elite; hopefully, when Kenny gets back, you get a power
struggle within the Undisputed Elite and have Kenny and the Bucks on one side, and
Cole and ReDragon on the other. Hangman gets caught in the middle with both trying
to recruit him.

### Share this:

 * [  Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=x)
 * [  Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%2010%20Thoughts%20on%20AEW%20Double%20Or%20Nothing&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2F10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing%2F&share=email)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=nextdoor)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=pinterest)
 * [  Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=reddit)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/10-thoughts-on-aew-double-or-nothing/?share=tumblr)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_