10 Thoughts on AEW Double Or Nothing

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.