AEW Double or Nothing Review - May 24, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions The Divine Dominion def. Zayda Steel and Viva Van in a 5-Minute AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Match

I'm stunned this came as close to the five-minute time limit as it did considering Steel and Van aren't an actual team. Sure, they're both signed to the company, but I never once bought into the possibility of them upsetting the champions, even with it being an Eliminator. TayJay returning afterward to confront the champs was cool, though. I don't know if Anna Jay has re-signed with AEW, but even if she hasn't, it makes sense for her and Tay Melo to put over Divine Dominion on the way out.

Zero Hour: The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta) def. The Opps (Anthony Bowens, Katsuyori Shibata and Hook)

We saw enough of The Opps feuding with Death Riders last year and I have no interest in them feuding again. This was essentially an excuse to get these guys on the card, and it was a well-worked six-man tag team match. Death Riders are more of a priority than The Opps at the moment, so the outcome was logical. Bowens isn't exactly off to the strongest start as a member of The Opps.

Zero Hour: Boom & Doom and The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe and AEW World Trios Champions Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong) def. Shane Taylor Promotions (The Infantry, Shane Taylor, Anthony Ogogo and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty)

I've made it quite clear in the past that I'm biased toward the Costco Guys because I find their stupid shtick mildly entertaining, but as I've said before, Big Boom! A.J.'s wins have to lead somewhere eventually, even if he and QT Marshall unsuccessfully challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, the AEW World Trios Championship or one of the titles from Ring of Honor on a pay-per-view pre-show. This was fairly standard stuff, but at least the crowd was into it.

Zero Hour: AEW World Champion Darby Allin Saved Mick Foley from MJF

It was announced that Mick Foley is officially "All Elite," if it wasn't already obvious. Foley had to cross paths with MJF at some point, but I didn't think it'd happen so quickly. I'm glad it did since they had a great verbal exchange here and Foley is so similar to Allin. He played his role perfectly in this segment. I don't need to see Foley wrestle in AEW, but he excels with this sort of stuff.

Adam Copeland and Christian Cage def. FTR in an "I Quit" Match to Win the AEW World Tag Team Championship

Had Copeland and Christian lost, they would've had to stop teaming. That automatically foreshadowed the finish to me, but I can't complain because this was a hell of an opener. "I Quit" matches can be hit or miss, but this one fit the feud and they made the most of it. Copeland and Christian winning their first set of tag titles together in 25 years was a memorable moment.

Konosuke Takeshita def. Kazuchika Okada to Win the AEW International Championship

Good lord! I really liked their first match back at Worlds End, but this was way better. Not only that, but I'd go so far as to say this was one of the best matches I've seen all year. I had my guard up for some sort of fluky finish or Okada retaining again considering this was second on the card, but they surprised me with that Takeshita title win. This was just a fantastic piece of business. Kyle Fletcher returning afterward and turning on Takeshita was the icing on the cake.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Mina Shirakawa in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match (Non-Title)

We've seen Athena and Shirakawa wage war once or twice before, so this was nothing new, nor was Shirakawa losing when it mattered most. That's pretty much been the story of her entire AEW career up to this point. They had a nice match, but the finish felt obvious and it paled in comparison to everything else on the show. It's worth noting that this was never supposed to make the card, and it was only added because Willow Nightingale was supposed to face Alex Windsor in a quarterfinal match before she got injured.

AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley def. Kyle O'Reilly

This had no time limit after O'Reilly took Moxley to the (literal) limit on Wednesday's Dynamite. After all the matches they've had dating back to late last year, you know what to expect from these two. The wrestling was solid but nothing flashy. I appreciated that they didn't get hardcore or anything because we already saw that from them at Full Gear. I never bought into the possibility of O'Reilly dethroning Moxley, but they finished their story and now they can move on.

Will Ospreay def. Samoa Joe in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

I loved how they wasted no time taking the fight to each other. They've never fought each other one-on-one to my knowledge, yet they had instant chemistry here. The match was on the shorter side, but it was a blast for as long as it lasted, even though Ospreay advancing was never in doubt. This honestly may have been Joe's best bout in AEW ever.

Swerve Strickland def. ROH World Champion Bandido in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match (Non-Title)

This was another instance of the outcome being predictable from the get-go without it affecting my enjoyment of the match. This was terrific. Bandido has been killing it for the last year, and although he has lost a lot of important matches in AEW as of late, he never ceases to deliver. As for Strickland, he's making it to the finals, where he'll likely lose to Ospreay.

AEW Women's World Champion Thekla def. Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida and Jamie Hayter in a Four-Way Match

Thekla has had so much momentum this year, so it's disappointing this didn't have a better build coming into the event. It was a fun four-way, but I didn't think Thekla was losing, and the "drama" with Statlander and Shida felt contrived because, why wouldn't Shida "cost" Statlander the title? It's every woman for themselves! And there aren't any disqualifications! I don't have any major complaints about this match, but the women's division needs to become a bigger division going forward.

Jericho, The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) and The Elite (Kenny Omega, "Jungle" Jack Perry and The Young Bucks) def. The Demand (GOA and Ricochet), The Dogs (David Finlay and Clark Connors) and The Don Callis Family (AEW National Champion Mark Davis and Andrade El Idolo) in a Stadium Stampede Match

At this point, I have no idea what the difference is between Anarchy in the Arena and Stadium Stampede other than music not playing during this. That aside, I preferred this over the installments of Anarchy in the Arena we've gotten in recent years. It was complete chaos, but I was engaged throughout and everyone got their time to shine. It also served its purpose of getting everyone on the card. They could have trimmed off a few minutes, though.

MJF def. Darby Allin in a Hair vs. Title Match to Win the AEW World Championship

This was the match I was hoping we'd get from them when they first faced off for the AEW World Championship on Dynamite last month (which ended up being an angle instead). It was a top-notch main event and on par with MJF's other above-average title defenses this year. Sure, I didn't think MJF would legitimately get his head shaved, but much like with other matches on this show, the predictability didn't bother me much at all. In fact, Kevin Knight attacking Allin afterward was one of the biggest shocks of the night.

Overall Show

I've seen it said that this was among the greatest pay-per-views AEW has done to date. That might be true, but I feel like that's been said about so many shows over the years that I'd have to think about it some more. Either way, it was an excellent event from top to bottom. Multiple title changes, exceptional action, and a few twists and turns thrown in. I'm happy AEW's hot streak culminated in a major way with Double or Nothing. Now the key is keeping it going into the summer.

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