All Elite Wrestling hit its six year milestone when it presented Double or Nothing on pay-per-view in its traditional slot of Memorial Day weekend. In many ways, the four and a half hour card was basically what you’d expect from the promotion on PPV, which is a positive or a negative, depending on your perspective. I don’t want to sound like a broken record here, but the time matches were given, the overbooking, the lack of logic, and some great wrestling are all still a part of the process for a Tony Khan presentation. If that should continuously be the case, especially after six year is debatable.
One thing I know for sure is that based on the course that the company is on now, specifically with the Death Riders angle that nobody considers “must see” television, and the ratings that have declined 40% from where they were three years ago, there wasn’t anything about this event that looked to be a major change in the overall direction of the organization.
So, while Double or Nothing was the benchmark of six years of existence, it wasn’t any type of landmark event that will garner any historical significance in retrospect.
The opening match saw Mercedes Mone beat Jamie Hayter to win the Women’s Owen Hart tournament Cup, setting up for Mone vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship in July. This will be a common theme for this event so my apologies in advance if this column gets unintentionally repetitive going forward, but as a whole, Double or Nothing appeared to be merely a bridge to get to All In at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas in July more than anything that truly had to be seen on its own. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand and agree that the promotion should build to its biggest event of the summer as much as possible in an effort to maximize ticket sales and PPV orders, but that was done at the expense of this event being able to stand on its own merit. Throughout the night, you got the impression that “the big PPV” is in July so why exactly does the audience have to pay $50 for this event?
As far as the match itself, I’m not sure what happened, but to say that they weren’t on the same page would be an understatement. These two weren’t reading the same book or discussing the same topic. From the opening moments of the bout, this match was sloppy, clunky, and had absolutely no pace to build to the conclusion. There were several botches, including a leg lock spot where the two tried to figure out what the other was going to do next and looked like fish out of water in the process. The crowd was mostly quiet as they tried to get back on track with very sloppy technical exchanges on the mat. Hayter also slipped on the outside when she attempted a flimsy clothesline, and the combination of all of the mistimed sequences led to a very flat presentation. You know when the broadcast team tries to cover such mishaps that the match went off the rails. Part of the many issues with this match is that very similar to other Tony Khan pay-per-view formats, because this was one of the main matches on the card, it was given twenty minutes. This should’ve went maybe half of that given all the mistakes in the ring, and I don’t think it would’ve been too drastic to call an audible to end it early. At one point, Hayter landed an excellent lariat during a very solid sequence, and if that would’ve been the finish then this match might’ve been able to escape criticism with a solid conclusion. However, it’s obvious that Mercedes doesn’t want to lose since she hasn’t done the job in AEW yet so she won with a clunky roll up to win the tournament.
I’m not sure who is more to blame for how much this went off the rails, but the former Sasha Banks was supposed to be a major acquisition for the promotion last year and has fallen woefully short of those expectations. Outside of her match with Momo Watanabe at Revolution a few months ago, how many good matches has Mone had? How many stellar promos has she done on television? It’s disappointing, but Mone is coasting by for a hefty paycheck based on her WWE tenure and an overinflated ego.
Speaking of twenty minute matches, somehow FTR vs. Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness went a few minutes passed that mark. The match itself was fine, these guys, even Nigel, who hasn’t wrestled full-time in almost 15 years, are solid in-ring workers. But, what was the point? As I wrote in an article about the build up to this event, what exactly are they trying to accomplish with this? Nigel isn’t going to get back in the ring on a regular basis near the age of 50, nor should he, and outside of a random one-off paring, how does this help Garcia, who is in the same position now as he was before he won the TNT title? Furthermore, despite being terribly under the radar in terms of exposure and status within the company, FTR are probably still the best tag team in the business so how aren’t they in a more prominent position? I could be wrong, but more than anything, this appeared to be a situation where the segment was booked just to get a few more names on the card. Along with that, there just wasn’t any reason for this to go over twenty minutes or even close to that, specifically because it could’ve trimmed down on what became a tedious viewing experience later in the night.
Just two weeks after Micheal Cole did a spot during the Pat McAfee/Gunther match, Tony Schiavone was involved when Nigel, who is typically a commentator, was injured on the outside. The spot just made it look like All Elite was trying to do a weak imitation of what the WWE just had on pay-per-view. FTR got the win when Garcia was unconscious in the sharpshooter. I don’t know what’s next for Nigel, Garcia still doesn’t have any direction, and FTR are still extremely underutilized.
It was an hour into the show and only two matches had taken place. Now, we know why the company shills energy drinks during the broadcast.
I said on many occasions that Tony Khan, much like his E-fed booking on the internet during his youth, is a good matchmaker, not a booker. Hence why I’ve often pointed out that if you watch certain AEW PPV matches in a vacuum, there’s some great wrestling. When you put it into the context of a four-hour event, it will usually be illogical, counterproductive, or both.
The Mark Briscoe/Ricochet stretcher match was a prime example of this. They are both very solid in-ring workers, and I’d say that Briscoe should’ve had a lot bigger opportunities prior to this, but he was pigeon-holed into a secondary role. Ricochet was so cringe worthy as a baby face that they had to turn him heel, and he has probably done better in the role than most would’ve expected. That being said, this match was at the wrong place at the wrong time and became a hindrance to the overall presentation. It should be noted that this was a rather lukewarm mid-card feud, not some long-term rivalry with an extensive history behind it. During the course of the match, Briscoe bled buckets, and not only does this storyline not justify that type of blood, the amount that he bled took away from the small amount of blood that Powerhouse Hobbs had during the Anarchy in the Arena segment. Again, the guy worked hard and put in the effort to give the fans something in this segment, but was this the right angle and the right place on the card for a bloodbath? The argument could be made that blood wasn’t necessary at all, but the bigger issue is that it was yet another example of a car crash just for the sake of a car crash. Briscoe bleeds buckets because why not? Sure, it won’t be used to boost his position in the organization, but that amount of crimson might get a few extra stars in The Wrestling Observer, right? Ricochet got the victory after he threw Mark Briscoe in the ambulance.
Thankfully, the tag team title match was exactly what it was supposed to be and it isn’t a coincidence that it involved the former WWE stars. As we know, more often than not, there are conflicting narratives that hurt the overall status of many stars or angles within the organization. For example, instead of being a serious heel that is one of the top guys, MJF is doing lame comedy segments on television to try to join the Hurt Syndicate. He had a cameo on pay-per-view last month and got to stand outside the ring this month so that will definitely maximize his star power. Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin are accomplished veterans that have characters that are portrayed as no-nonsense competitors. They don’t do anything on television to take away from that persona. In a similar fashion, the dominate tag champions should be able to defeat Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara. That’s not a knock on either of their talent, but rather a reflection of each team’s position in the organization. It wasn’t a squash match and it shouldn’t have been, but ten minutes for the Hurt Syndicate to retain the titles make sense. The lesson here is, not every match has to been a 50/50 Tokyo Dome classic, because when you try to get everyone over, nobody gets over. This match was designed to reinforce the Hurt Syndicate and it accomplished that.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Mike Bailey to retain the Continental championship. This match was very solid, as it went about 15 minutes, which was a good way to pace the card and it delivered the type of action that you’d expect from the brand while avoiding some of the usual pitfalls of most AEW bouts on pay-per-view. Bailey is an incredible athlete, and while it remains to be seen how much he can evolve that style to different opponents, he’s still a very valuable asset to the promotion. Bailey got the chance to bring his aerial skills to the table, and Okada still looked like a strong champion because he beat Bailey with rainmaker clothesline. That should be the biggest takeaway from this contest, they didn’t kick out of 38 finishers to make the conclusion predictable, but rather allowed for a more natural drama to build for the finish.
The AEW Women’s World title match was a combination of solid wrestling and theatrics. Mina Shirakawa is still relatively new to All Elite programming, and as mentioned earlier, this seemed like just a bridge to get to the All In show in July. There’s not much to say about it because with Toni’s popularity with the timeless character, it wouldn’t make sense for her to drop the title.
The Anarchy in the Arena match was almost 40 minutes of a continuous car crash, and when you try to do something like that for an extended period of time, there are going to be unavoidable flat points. This had many of the usual bad habits of AEW shoehorned into one segment, with a random exploding table with no explanation other than Tony thought it would look really cool, and thumb tacks on the shoes from Swerve, which has become completely stable with how many times it was done on All Elite programming. It would be a waste of time to attempt to parse details on the match because none of those moments were anything more than a disposable portion of the stunt show. This was another situation where the results of the match were moot because the bigger picture is Moxley defending the title in July so did it really impact the direction of the product that the baby face team won?
The six man tag match was just there to pace the card, which is fine except for the fact that it was almost four hours into the show. The Don Callis stable beat Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly. However, the action of the match or even the result are secondary for this segment. Look at the amount of talent in this match and consider where they are on the AEW landscape. Kyle Fletcher was booked to go step-for-step with Will Ospreay, Takeshita proved to be one of the top workers in the company, and Josh Alexander just debuted with the promotion last month. That’s not to mention the potential that Cole had before injury and booking fumbles minimized his star power. These guys are in the 10-minute six man tag that will be forgotten about after the show goes off the air. This is a major example of how such a bloated roster leads to truly underutilized talent.
I mentioned earlier about how it would’ve been helpful to trim a few minutes off of a few of the matches and the conclusion of the pay-per-view explained why it might’ve been a wise decision. Ospreay and Adam Page are top great performers, but as far as a viewing experience, it’s going to be an uphill climb when the match that eventually went over 35 minutes didn’t get into the ring until almost midnight. The match itself was on brand for All Elite Wrestling, both the positive and the negative. It had incredible wrestling, reckless bumps, including a styles clash to the floor from the apron where it looked like Page got spiked on his head, and good drama toward the conclusion. There was also a scary moment when the announce table collapsed and it looked like Ospreay almost fell on his head. This was an AEW main event, it had fast-paced action and hard-hitting wrestling, which delivered a quality bout for the audience.
That being said, I have absolutely no idea why Adam Page won the match to challenge Moxley at All In for the championship. Ironically, the video package for Paige’s entrance summarized the reasons why he isn’t nearly over enough to be cast in the role of the savior of the company. Technically, it goes back to his original title reign when he went to a draw with Bryan Danielson in his first title defense because nothing is more indifferent than a draw. Furthermore, the whiny promos as a baby face didn’t do him any favors. Finally, the bizarre switch between heel and baby face during the Swerve feud last year was another example of complete indifference, and the notion of indifference to a character is the opposite of drawing money. How can the audience invest in Adam Page when he’s a whiny baby face? How can they invest in him as a hero or a villain if the narrative continuously switched during the course of a storyline?
I’m not taking anything away from his talent in the ring, but as a character, is Hangman Page truly over with the audience? Can anyone give an accurate description of what his character is supposed to be? More often than not, Page sounds aloof in promos, is that the guy that the fans are supposed to invest in to beat Jon Moxley? On the other hand, Will Ospreay is the in-ring representation of the AEW style and the crowd is behind him. It’s questionable if Page is over with the fans at all, and Ospreay seems like the most over performer in the company so I really don’t understand the decision to book Page/Moxley at the next pay-per-view.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
