Wednesdaymania 222: DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Oh my God, it happened.

The Pay-Per-View happened, and it was awesome.

Seriously, guys, you have no idea how cool that was to be in a room with people who watched through the Attitude Era and got to tell me that this is how it felt at the time. It was electric. It was incredible. It was all that I hoped it would be.

It wasn't 100% as advertised, but that's why they always, always say "Card Subject To Change".

So what changed?

Well, firstly, there was supposed to be a match between PAC (Neville from WWE now that he's free) and Hangman Adam Page. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of AEW's control and the respect they have for the plans that Dragon Gate have for their champion (PAC), the match couldn't go on. It wasn't that they couldn't have Page lose to PAC, or the other way around. They could've had Page lose to PAC. It was the next several matches that could have been a problem. Basically, they thought they had everything in order, but the storytelling didn't support it on Dragon Gate's end. No one is at fault. It happens sometimes.

They had the match anyway, just not on Double or Nothing.

Now, thankfully, there were really cool changes, too, but I'll get to those in the card!

Here's what I saw:

First of all, the commentary team consisted of the slightly underwhelming but still pretty good Alex Marvez, Excalibur, and good ol' Jim Ross. JR maybe couldn't pronounce the Japanese names very well later in the card, but he was himself and you could tell by their interactions that the drills they'd been going over prior to the night's events were really paying off. I think Marvez may have been a bit overwhelmed by just how intense everything was. I don't think anyone was ready for the almost nuclear heat of the event!

So. So. So COOL!

In America, we watched through an app called "B/R Live" or Bleacher Report Live. It was pretty simple to purchase via Roku and credit card, and despite the $50 price tag... well... it was freakin worth it, man!

The pre-show, however, was for free on YouTube (you can actually still watch it here).


Pre-Show Match #1: 21-Man Casino Battle Royale!

The rules are weird. They kinda worked, though!
Instead of having one guy every minute, they had teams.
It was pretty cool.

I'm not a huge fan of most Battles Royales. They're usually a mess. You don't get to see much of what's happening, and everyone's sequences get broken up by the new entrants. This method of BR really worked for me, though. I got to see a lot of people I'd never seen wrestle before, like Luchasaurus (who is my new favorite), Sonny Kiss, Jungle Boy, Dustin Thomas (who is a bilateral amputee, which... that doesn't happen in wrestling, so it was awesome to see him work!), and a guy called Orange Cassidy who was both hilarious and shockingly agile (seriously, who else can do a no-hands kip-up with both fists firmly in their pockets?!).

I really enjoyed the storytelling in this match, since MJF stayed in the whole time and was a total creep to everyone, especially Dustin Thomas, who he taunted by calling "Lt Dan". I loved how smooth Jungle Boy (Luke Perry's son) was in the ring. I loved everything about this Battle Royale! We even saw the (however brief) return of Marko Stunt! He's okay kids! Also, holy cow, Billy Gunn and fricken GLACIER showed up and it was incredible!

The final four were great!

I loved, loved, loved the finish. Not only did we get to see Hangman clear house, but we got to see some great character work from MJF, who waited for Page to dump Luchasaurus and... I think maybe Jimmy Havoc? before he tried to take out Page. He failed, however, and Hangman Adam Page took the win at 16 minutes!

Preshow Match 2: Kip Sabian vs Sammy Guevara

There was a lot of build towards this match on Being the Elite, but even without that, they did a great job of being two guys who hate each other. It was a very solid match that satisfied when Sabian took Guevara down in 10 minutes. Seriously, though, I might not have much to say here, but it was a really good match.

It's just... well... all of these are going to be great matches, so be prepared for a lot of me gushing.

And with that, we finished up our Pre Show, and Z, our Wrestling Friendos and I rapidly switched from the YouTube App on Roku to the Bleacher Report app.

It was time for the main show!

Show Match 1: SCU vs Strong Hearts

Now, we all know how much I loooooooove SCU scu and their fun, cool personas. I'm a huge mark for these guys, so of course I was always going to love this match. SCU made their stand against a three-man team from OWE, a Chinese wrestling promotion who AEW has a good relationship with. The Strong Hearts consisted of El Lindaman, T-Hawk, and CIMA (who runs OWE). There were so many great moments in this match - Christopher Daniels coming to the ring in a dark Freddie Mercury gimmick complete with singalong; SCU doing their "worst town" schtick about Las Vegas, which they actually quite like; Strong Hearts showing the world what Asia has to offer outside of Japan (spoilers, they're awesome); the pinning combination of "Best Moonsault Ever" into Tombstone Piledriver...

It was an incredible 13:40.

Oh, by the way, there were exactly 0 matches under 10 minutes.

And it doesn't feel that way.

Main Match 2: Triple Threat

You know how much I hate capitol-A Authority figures.

I hate that garbage.

I have to admit, the way Brandi has appeared to take on the Stephanie McMahon gimmick in this match is a little annoying, but considering the nature of her feud with MJF and the nature of her introduction to the ring in general, I think it does still suit.

So why am I mentioning Mrs. Rhodes in a match she's not booked in? Did she book herself?

Oh no.

She definitely pitted all three combatants against one another in Being the Elite videos, but... she had another plan.

Another woman, in fact.

Awesome Kong.

The pop Kong got when she came out was insane. It was one of the most intense freakouts I've ever heard for a female performer, and she was great. She pummeled everyone, and I love how it's building to a feud between her and Nyla Rose! I personally wouldn't have gone with Britt Baker as the winner, but I like the idea of a feud between her and Kylie. Actually, I would have loved the women's match on Double or Nothing to be a Singles match, but there was no framework for that, so I get where they're coming from.

Kylie is in yellow. She was eventually pinned by Baker while Nyla and Kong exhausted each other.

At 11:10, this was one of the longer women's matches I've seen in a PPV, but it was fairly well-laid out. I'm just not as big a fan of Western-styled women's wrestling as I am the next women's match on the card...

Main Match 3: Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) vs Angelico and Jack Evans

The main complaint I've heard about this match was the overabundance of green on the ring gear. I may have to agree, despite loving it. I kind of wanted to shove Evans & Angelico into a locker because the neon chartreuse they chose was definitely activating my bully impulses. That being said, these men can absolutely go. Holy guacamole, these guys were everywhere. They did high flying. They did striking. They did submissions. The did it all, and they did everything well.

It was great storytelling, though I noticed that the Best Friends did a lot less of their "comfort me, I'm scared!" gimmick than they usually do. In the end, they triumphed, which leads me to wonder how this will effect their standings in AEW and on Being the Elite.

At a breezy 12:35, this is a great match: fast-paced and satisfying to watch!

Ever wanted to know what women's wrestling was like in Japan in the 1990s?
Main Match 4: Hikaru Shida, Riho Abe, and Ryo Mizunami vs Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki, and Emi Sakura
Joshi Wrestling is awesome.

I have loved women's wrestling from Japan ever since Z and I watched possibly the best Dream Slam. It had everything I love, though it also included a fairly tedious kickboxing match, as Japanese wrestling shows seem to have done often in the 1990s...

Regardless, this was basically a match ripped straight from one of the best cards of the 1990s Joshi scene, complete with Aja Kong still wrecking it in her late 40s. Seriously, this match rocks. Every one of these women are brilliant in the ring. I mean, Emi Sakura reprised the Mercury gimmick from Daniels, also bringing a microphone, but with the addition of a fake mustache that had me howling. I really, really hope we get to see far more of these ladies in the future, perhaps in more one-on-one matches. I'd love to see Aja Kong vs Awesome Kong or Nyla Rose. I'd love to see more of all of them.

I have a quote I found from lb hunktears over at fanbyte: "God made the devil just for fun (when he wanted the real thing he made Aja Kong)".  I 100% agree. Aja Kong is the beast incarnate. Not Lesnar. Kong.

Shida, Abe, & Mizunami won in a seemingly timeless 13:10, which seriously felt too short!


Main Match #5: Cody vs Dustin

I'll get this out of the way quickly:

I love the gimmick at the start of this where Cody destroys the HHH throne with its stupid iron cross and dumb skulls with a sledgehammer.

I love it.

It's hilarious, and if HHH is going to call them a "pissant company", then he's just going to have to expect this.

Besides, it looks so much like the throne from the Dungeon of Doom that I can't help but love it.

Cody. What are you doing? Cody. Stahp. lol

But this match wasn't about gimmicks. It wasn't about killing WWE or taunting them. It was a symbolic sacrifice of the past on the altar of the future. It was a way to free Dustin Runnels from a lifetime of servitude to the WWE. It was bringing him back home to the bosom of Turner. And it was kind of a redemption for Earl Hebner, too.

It was also a freaking bloodbath.

Early on, Dustin bladed.

It was like someone had punctured a balloon filled with infinite cherry Kool-Aid. It went everywhere. Dustin may have arrived in the ring with half of his face painted red and black, but he left coated in blood.

The match itself was easily the slowest men's match on the card, but it didn't need to be flashy. This wasn't a match to impress people. This was a symbol. This was brother vs brother. This was a fight, and fights don't tend to have a ton of flipty-doos.

Brandi was eventually ejected from this match for spearing Dustin, which she fought, but then DDP came down and carried her away. Cody seemed... surprisingly okay with that.

In the end, Cody pinned Dustin on a mat so coated with blood it was hard to find a spot that didn't have a liter on it. It was dramatic, it was satisfying, it was terrifying.

Earl should've worn gloves. That's the biggest thing that bothers me.

That's a very good sign, by the way, that the Ref not being careful of himself was the biggest issue I had in a bladed match.

After the match, which lasted 22:30, Cody began to head back to the entrance while Dustin began, tearfully, to unlace his boots, symbolizing that his career had ended. Cody saw this and stopped him, cutting a teary and powerful promo demanding that he be at Fight for the Fallen, an upcoming event to benefit victims of gun violence. He needs Dustin to help him fight the Young Bucks. He doesn't need him as a partner. He doesn't need him as a character. He needs his big brother.

It's one of the most emotional and beautiful moments I've ever seen in a ring.

Speaking of the Bucks, though...
Main Match #6: Young Bucks vs Lucha Bros for the AAA Tag Team Titles.

At first, this match and its finish annoyed me.

You don't have two of the best luchadors on Earth show up at your PPV to reclaim their AAA titles and then have them lose, after all.

And yet they did.

It's a fantastic match, don't get me wrong, but it's also a match we've all seen before. We've seen Bros vs Bucks. They're great. They're always great. But we've seen them tango a few times, now. I thought this would be the end.

But now that I know that they're having at least one last matchup in AAA itself, I think that'll be where the Bucks drop those titles until they find a way to do a Tag Tournament in AEW.

I liked this match, but at this point, everyone in The Elite had won. I was ready for things to be shaken up and was almost disappointed when they weren't, despite already knowing that the build to this match wouldn't allow the Bucks to take the loss.

At 24:55, this match is one of the only ones that felt a little long, but that was only because I'd seen the booking before.


At one point, however, they took a break from the action and revealed the title (which I've left to the end) delivered by another surprise:

BRET HART.

Bret freakin Hart was presenting the AEW championship belt with the help of Hangman Page, but they were interrupted by MJF, who taunted Bret about the random guy who had attacked him during the Hall of Fame ceremony. MJF was... disposed of by Jimmy Havoc, Jungle Boy, and Page, who chased him to the back. It was great, though the cameramen had a very hard time keeping the lenses on the belt (it's a handsome belt, too).


Finally, though, it was time for the Main Event:

Omega vs Jericho

You cannot convince me that Kenny Omega isn't one of the best wrestlers on the planet.

This match was brilliant. Not only can Omega have a match with anyone and, like Bret Hart, polish it to a high shine, but Jericho can do the same. I honestly think that these two have Sterno gel instead of blood, because they are heat machines. They built this match to a fever pitch with finisher after finisher, move after move, near-fall after near-fall, and each almost-ending cranked up the intensity more and more!

But these fiery fellows weren't the only thing to blow our minds, even with Jericho winning at 27 minutes.

AEW had one last surprise for us following this brilliantly executed Main Event. I was shocked that Kenny had lost (especially being the only member of the Elite to take a fall during the PPV), but I was utterly and completely unprepared for what happened next.

Remember how everyone was contemplating what would happen to a certain WWE guy who'd just quit?

Yeah. You know the one.

It was pure electricity the moment he appeared.

While Jericho was spouting demands of gratitude from AEW and its corporate owners, there was a wave of sound rising from the crowd. You could feel it rising and overtaking everybody there, one by one, as they realized who it was who was coming through the crowd. No words can do justice to the moments before the cameramen and announcers seemed to cotton on to showing Moxley (Dean Ambrose) stalking towards the ring with sinister purpose.

He destroyed Jericho. He destroyed Omega. He nearly destroyed the set dressing (which really gave me a WCW vibe, by the way, in the best way!)

So that's it, right?

Jon Moxley is All-Elite, right?

Kind of.

He's actually got a deal with New Japan right now, which makes things... interesting. See, here's what fascinates me:

The Bleacher Report App belongs to Warner.
AEW is a Turner show.
Jon Moxley is signed to NJPW.
NJPW has a working relationship with ROH.
ROH is tied into Sinclair.

How can these entities all work together, especially when Jericho has not officially severed ties with WWE (though after Dustin's remarks, I'm not sure there can still be any friendliness there...)

What a strange time for wrestling. I like it!

Okay, so that's what I thought of this amazing Pay-Per-View. Seriously, 10/10, would 100% watch again. And again. And again!

But what about the belt?

It's no 24/7 Title, to be sure.

It's so, so much better.

According to the belt's creator, it took 34 hours just to set the gems. Amazing. Look how heavy it is! I like that it seems to be largely silver? The E in AEW seems to be goldtoned, which is really cool.

It's beautiful.

I love it.

I would have a replica of that displayed proudly in my home.

Actually, I kind of want a cuff bracelet made to look like it.

Wow.

I hope we get more closeups of this beautiful belt!

I think that'll do it for me, though.

I'm out of coffee and there's a cheddar bagel in the kitchen calling my name. Also, I might have to go find videos of these matches to rewatch again :)

Go Enjoy Something!
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