AEW Double or Nothing Review - May 28, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: The Hardys and FTW Champion Hook def. The Firm ("All Ego" Ethan Page and The Gunns)

Per the stipulation, The Hardys are now in control of Page's contract. Page and Matt Hardy developed great chemistry together when Hardy was a part of The Firm, but I have no desire to see this storyline continue. The match itself was perfectly fine as a pre-show match, but my top takeaway is that Jeff Hardy should not be in the ring anymore. It makes me sad to say that, and maybe it was a case of ring rust after a long layoff, but he did not look good here at all.

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy Won the 21-Man Blackjack Battle Royale

This was basically every Battle Royale you've ever seen, especially in AEW. It had its moments, but most of the eliminations were hard to follow and only a handful of people had a legitimate chance of winning. The closing minutes were well done, though. I thought Swerve Strickland might take the title from the hurt Cassidy, but Cassidy found a way to win as he always does. I didn't mind that, but I would like to see Strickland hold gold soon.

Adam Cole def. Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match by Referee Stoppage (Sabu Served as Special Guest Enforcer)

This was one of the matches I was most excited for coming into this event based on the build. Unfortunately, it underwhelmed. I seemed to have liked it more than most people based on what I've seen others say, but it definitely didn't reach the level I thought it would. It didn't help that Sabu's involvement as the special guest enforcer was completely pointless and that Jericho Appreciation Society was too involved. The referee stopping the match was lame given the "unsanctioned" stipulation, but at least Cole won as he should have.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett (Mark Briscoe Served as Special Guest Referee)

I knew these two teams could have a good match, but this was ruined by the excessive amount of interference and shenanigans from Lethal and Jarrett's crew. Was most of it even necessary? I understand the story they were trying to tell with Briscoe as the ref, but it overshadowed the action and it wasn't a match I wasn't overly excited for, anyway. FTR retained and that's all that matters.

AEW TNT Champion Wardlow def. Christian Cage in a Ladder Match

This had a fairly basic build, but this ended up being one of the best bouts on the entire show. Cage proved he could still go and Wardlow proved he can thrive in a Ladder match. They worked really well together, and although I didn't think coming into the event that the stipulation was necessary, they had an excellent outing that I thoroughly enjoyed. Wardlow's booking over the last year has been atrocious and this was a win he desperately needed.

Toni Storm def. Jamie Hayter to Win the AEW Women's World Championship

Storm and Hayter had one of the best bouts of the night at Full Gear back in November, but I didn't have high hopes for this rematch knowing that Hayter was hurt coming into the event. Sure enough, this was more of an angle than it was a match. It was disappointing how brief this was but also understandable given the circumstances. Storm already had her run as champ last year, but maybe this can help heat up The Outcasts.

AEW Trios World Champions House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) def. The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn in an Open House Rules Match

I'm all for getting House of Black on pay-per-view, and their Open House Rules gimmick has served them well so far, but I don't know why this wasn't just announced in advance if it's been obvious for weeks that The Acclaimed would be accepting the open challenge. It was a quality contest while it lasted and they made the most of their time, but I'm not sure if this needed to last as long as it did.

AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill def. Taya Valkyrie; Kris Statlander def. Cargill to Win the AEW TBS Championship

Cargill vs. Valkyrie had minimal heat because the build was abysmal. I was on board with their feud a few months ago, but then they had that wonky finish to their first match and there was almost zero follow-up until right before the pay-per-view. This was actually one of Cargill's better matches, but it was quickly overshadowed by her post-match open challenge that was accepted by the returning Statlander. The crowd popped huge and I was happy to see it (I assume it would've happened a lot sooner if Statlander didn't get hurt), but I can understand why some people would have an issue with this being thrown out there instead of building it up ahead of time.

AEW World Champion MJF def. Darby Allin, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Sammy Guevara in a Four-Way

In the weeks preceding the pay-per-view, this was heavily touted as the main event, but I understand why it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I liked this a lot more than Anarchy in the Arena, but that bout felt bigger on paper and they probably wanted to end the night with the "shocking" heel turn as opposed to MJF predictably retaining his title. Despite the obvious outcome, this was a terrific four-way. Everyone worked wonderfully together and I appreciated the consistent pace throughout. MJF winning with a headlock takeover on Allin was an awesome touch and hopefully that gets revisited again eventually, maybe with Allin being the one to dethrone MJF one-on-one. ​On a side note, congrats to the Guevaras on the announcement of a new baby on the way. That indicates Guevara's face turn is permanent if his fellow heat magnet Tay Melo is going away for a while. Now he just needs to sever ties with Jericho Appreciation Society.

Blackpool Combat Club (Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli) def. The Elite (Kenny Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page and The Young Bucks) in an Anarchy in the Arena Match

I was in the minority of those who hated Anarchy in the Arena last year, largely because of how chaotic and unorganized it was. Yes, that's intended to be the appeal, but it's not my cup of tea, personally. That's why I liked it when the live music was cut off halfway through and they ended up in the ring for the final stretch. I didn't love this, but I thought it was an improvement over last year's installment. Konosuke Takeshita showing up and turning heel by attacking Omega was the highlight as it sets up an Omega vs. Takeshita feud and prolongs the program between Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite.

Overall Show

The top two matches delivered and will be what's remembered most about Double or Nothing this year along with Statlander's surprise title win, but this was far from AEW's strongest effort on pay-per-view. In fact, this arguably one of the weaker shows they've done in the last four years, and not necessarily because it was bad, either. Most of the booking decisions were the correct ones, but Double or Nothing never felt important and the execution of the event did nothing to change my mind despite some gems scattered throughout.

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