A Wrestling Pay-Per-View by AEW

I have been really bad about doing these wrestling pay-per-view reviews like I used to. Honestly, as you can clearly see, I have been more into local wrestling as of late, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching stuff like AEW and ROH. I need to go back and see what I’ve missed, so don’t be surprised if I start confusing you with old shows popping up like they just happened. That is, assuming I have the time to even do that! I figured that I better attempt to get the nearly month old review up for AEW Double or Nothing 2023 before AEW / NJPW Forbidden Door happens, so here we are! Hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada – historically one of AEW’s hotbeds comes a show that is usually pretty awesome.

AEW has been doing pretty well this year – shows have been largely consistent, and there is focus on having AEW be AEW so far. Last year, Tony Khan was busy promoting his acquisition of Ring of Honor, showcasing a ton of guys from NJPW, and seemingly hiring everyone WWE fired all at once. It was a summer that reminded me of the sort of stuff that got me to stop watching NXT, so I’m glad 2023 hasn’t devolved into that this time around. That said, there really isn’t a true ‘BIG STORYLINE” going on right now unless you count the impending return of the soon to be back from injury CM Punk. After AEW awarded “Hangman” Adam Page the belt, I fear that they are now lacking the direction I am used to with them. I don’t watch WWE at all anymore, but at least I know about the Roman Reigns / Usos stuff. This somewhat colors my impressions of this show, a show that is great on paper, but lacks the extra oomph to make it a classic pay-per-view.

Even though I feel that way, let’s see what actually happened on this show, and go over my favorite moments. If anything, this show is a good way to start building some of those needed storylines, and for that I am excited.

For anyone wanting to watch this, it can be found on B/R Live which I am sadly not a fan of at all, but AEW has a deal with them so we all have to deal. For anyone wanting to watch other wrestling shows, I would recommend Fite.TV. you can get some FITE credits (10 dollars I believe) with the following code: “6m6lyyn”. I’m sure there are other ways to watch it, but FITE has a solid interface and has been worth it so far.

As always, they have a Pre-show up on YouTube absolutely free!

The Card:

• 1P The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) and Hook (with Isiah Kassidy) defeated Ethan Page and The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) by submission Six-man tag team match. Since the Hardys and Hook won, Matt Hardy took ownership of Ethan Page’s contract. 15:10
• 2 Orange Cassidy (c) won by last eliminating Swerve Strickland – 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal for the AEW International Championship (Other entrants – Tony Nese, Ari Daivari, Komander, Kip Sabian, Chuck Taylor, The Blade, The Butcher, Bandido, Lee Moriarty, Trent Beretta, Keith Lee, Rey Fénix, Juice Robinson, Jay White, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, Dustin Rhodes, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Big Bill) 22:25
• 3 Adam Cole (with Roderick Strong) defeated Chris Jericho (with Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager) by referee stoppage Unsanctioned match – Sabu was the special guest enforcer. 17:00
• 4 FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (c) defeated Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal (with Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh) by pinfall Tag team match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship – Mark Briscoe was the special guest referee. 20:00
• 5 Wardlow (c) defeated Christian Cage Ladder match for the AEW TNT Championship 17:10
• 6 Toni Storm (with Saraya and Ruby Soho) defeated Jamie Hayter (c) by pinfall Singles match for the AEW Women’s World Championship 3:05
• 7 The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews) (c) (with Julia Hart) defeated The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn by pinfall Open House Rules six-man tag team match for the AEW World Trios Championship 15:30
• 8 Jade Cargill (c) (with “Smart” Mark Sterling and Leila Grey) defeated Taya Valkyrie by pinfall Singles match for the AEW TBS Championship 8:50
• 9 Kris Statlander defeated Jade Cargill (c) (with “Smart” Mark Sterling and Leila Grey) by pinfall Singles match for the AEW TBS Championship 0:48
• 10 MJF (c) defeated Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry by pinfall Four-way match for the AEW World Championship 27:50
• 11 Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta) defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and “Hangman” Adam Page) by pinfall Anarchy in the Arena match 27:00

DISCLAIMER:

I’ve come up with this little disclaimer since I have some new readers:

READ MY FULL DISCLAIMER HERE

I usually go through a show and pull a half dozen or so things that I thought were significant or that I liked and concentrate on them, usually ignoring stuff I did not. You might think some of my choices are dumb, and that’s OK! We can all like different things, that’s what makes something like wrestling so great.

My Thoughts:

Heel of the Night:

I’m just going to say it – this crowd was awful, something that honestly made this show feel less important than it should. I’m not sure if they had the audio set up wrong or if the audience was just bored (or a tapped market?) because you would have thought AEW was producing a show in Japan or something considering how apathetically they came across to the TV audience. I’m usually not an advocate for “crowd sweetening”, but I wish they would have something on deck for silent audiences. WWE has had some situations like this, if I recall constant shows in Charlotte, North Carolina led to crowds that slept unless somebody with “Flair” in their name came strolling out. Las Vegas has been a constant for AEW pay-per-views, and unless this was something technical, I think it may be time to give them a rest for a while.

Orange Cassidy is Invincible!

When AEW announced that Orange Cassidy was going to put his International Championship on the line in an over-the-top battle royale, I honestly figured he was actually hurt (rather than a storyline) and this match would be an easy way to get the belt of him. What actually happened was an amazing match where he came out to narrowly beat Swerve Strickland at the last moment retaining his belt. This not only continues to make Orange an interesting character – a supposed lazy guy that dominates in his matches with little (in terms of storylines) effort. He’s like some sort of ancient martial arts master that has tapped into an art of not giving a damn and it has fueled his power. This feud with Strickland ought to be something to watch moving forward. My only issue would be that there were not many obvious people who were going to be viable options to win, making the battle royal a bit predictable.

A Slight Disappointment:

While this match was fun, I feel like having Sabu in the mix was a bit squandered and it somewhat followed the blueprint of pretty much every similar street fight. Considering there is another similar match on the card, this just felt somewhat bland. It’s a real shame because this was a match I was really looking forward to.

FTR Showing Why They are the Best!

This was pretty solid. I’m an unapologetic fan of heel Jeff Jarrett, and he was at his typical best here in this match. Karen Jarrett was especially despicable, and in true annoying heel valet fashion, was damn near insufferable throughout the match. At one point, Karen took out a trademark Jarrett guitar and obliterated Mark Briscoe, then followed up with an equally brazen attack on Aubrey Edwards who came out to hopefully officiate the match after Briscoe was incapacitated. Jeff eventually makes the mistake of slapping Mark Briscoe, who slaps him back, and right into FTR’s Shatter Machine to retain the titles. Fun and enjoyable pay-per-view match as always from FTR.

God Damn I Love The House of Black:

In the past, wrestling promoters would often have a “scary” gimmick for somebody that was obviously a metal fan, and saddle them with the most butt-rocky butt-rock song ever, completely killing the vibe and aesthetic. Think Bram in TNA Wrestling and his terrible theme song that did not line up with what he was going for in any way. Even though he had a cool entrance, this was even a problem for Malakai Black when he was in NXT, especially whatever that second song was. But here we are in 2023 in AEW and The House of Black comes out to a full-on black metal song, in full black metal regalia, including “corpse paint”, and I couldn’t be happier.

Welcome Back!

While it kind of sucks that Taya Valkyrie lost after a solid build up to her match with Jade Cargill, only to have somebody basically “WrestleMania IX” her in many ways, Kris Statlander has been sorely missed and this win was LONG overdue. I fully assume she was supposed to win over a year ago when originally feuding with Jade, so this was picking up where she left off in many ways. This also sets up a great path for some future feuds with Jade and Taya, so I’m all for it.

MJF is so Underrated:

If you go online, you see a bunch of dudes constantly whining that MJF never wrestles, or that they think he’s boring (and usually they are ironically Roman Reigns fans), but the dude is damn impressive in almost every match he wrestles in. At one point MJF ended up doing a “Blonde Bombshell”, a terrifying top rope powerbomb popularized by the late Chris Candido, which was definitely a highlight of the match for me. While everyone was on their A-game, MJF was on fire with the ways he played to the crowd and solidified another great win.

This Match Was Insane!

Aside from the questionably dressed band playing during the opening moments of the match (to which the singer earned a double superkick Yay!), this match was absolutely crazy and really fun. One of my favorite parts of this match was Kenny Omega wielding a trash can lid as if he was Captain America, to which Claudio answered with his best Winter Soldier callback, catching the lid and knocking it out of his hand. Then there was the infamous exploding superkick from Matt Jackson to Mox, something that I’m sure the Cornettes of the world are fuming about, but I loved it. Follow those spots up with Don Callis being absolute garbage causing a Takeshita heel turn, and setting up a potential feud with Omega, and I’m definitely having a blast.

Conclusion:

AEW Double or Nothing proved to be a highly memorable event with its share of standout matches and significant title changes. I didn’t talk about it, but there were many shocking moments such as Toni Storm’s victory over the injured Jamie Hayter (the match wasn’t great for obvious reasons). Additionally, Kris Statlander’s return was met with great excitement as she ended Jade Cargill’s undefeated streak, asserting herself as a dominant force in the promotion.

However, while the show had its highlights, some parts of the card felt reminiscent of AEW’s regular weekly television programming. The Las Vegas crowd’s energy was notably lackluster, which somewhat dampened the overall atmosphere. Despite these minor shortcomings, AEW Double or Nothing 2023 managed to set the stage for future events and maintained a solid foundation for the promotion. Looking ahead, fans eagerly anticipate the highly anticipated AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door collaboration, which promises to bring exciting cross-promotional matchups and fresh rivalries. Additionally, the return of CM Punk ought to be a lightning rod for controversy.