All
Elite Wrestling (AEW) has come correct firing first shot across the bow to the
WWE with the execution of their first official pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas Saturday,
May 26.
Double or Nothing
sold out the MGM Grand Arena in less than 30 minutes with a crowd just over
12,000 jam-packed to the rafters and according to Forbes, AEW took home over $1
million at the gate. This show had that big fight feel.
From the opening bell, the card was booked with a few established names in the wrestling
business and exposing unknown talent from across the world headlined by Kenny Omega
versus Chris Jericho. The buy rates appear to have surpassed 200K.
The
pre-show live on TNT's YouTube page, a #1 contender battle royal won by Hangman Page and
cruiserweight action as Kip Sabian defeated Sammy Guevara.
The
AEW broadcast team consists of Hall of Famer Jim Ross flanked by Alex Marvez
and Excalibur.
Marque
matchups in the undercard full of high pace action opening as So-Cal Unsecured
(SCU) in a 6-man tag team match defeated Strong Hearts from the Chinese
Promotion Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE).
The
first women’s match in AEW history changed from a triple threat between Kylie
Rae, Brit Baker, Nyla Rose to a fatal four-way when AEW executive Brandi Rhodes
surprised the crowd adding legendary woman wrestler Awesome Kong to the match
to a massive pop from the live crowd. Baker picks up the victory pinning Rae.
Best
Friends of Chuck Taylor defeated Angelico and Jack Evans. A 6-woman tag match
follows with Japanese female stars Hikaru
Shida, Riho Abe, and Ryo Mizunami defeated Aja Kong, Yuka
Sakazaki, and Emi Sakura. Fans did not know these women, except possibly
Aja Kong, but they do now.
In an emotional bloodbath, “The Natural” Dustin
Rhodes fell at the hands of his younger brother “The Nightmare” Cody. The story
these two men told was felt by everyone that watched. Cody opened with a
symbolic knock at the WWE when he took the sledgehammer, the foreign object of
choice for one Paul Levesque…Triple H, the WWE COO, and legend. Triple H fired a
shot at AEW during the DX induction at the WWE Hall of Fame when he called them
a “piss ant company.” Well Hunter, this piss ant company just put on a clinic.
Before the bell rang, the crowd was hot with an
eruption of chants of Dusty. The emotions that Dustin and Cody put on a display
as the 50-year-old hung in there with his 33-year-old in his prime brother in what
was booked as Dustin’s last match. The finish saw Cody pin his brother with a
second Crossroads in the middle of the ring.
Cody told his brother that Dustin would not retire
tonight, he needed his older brother because they will be competing in some tag
team matches in the future. This segment brought tears to fans eyes.
The presentation of the new AEW World Championship
Title Belt was another shot at the WWE with another Hall of Famer Bret Hart
carrying the title to the ring. The segment was filled with the younger AEW
talent with Hangman Page, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Jungle Boy, and Jimmy Havoc.
MJF cut a classic heel promo on Hart and Page, but then MJF’s mouth got him in
trouble as he received a beatdown from the babyfaces.
Nick and Matt Jackson, The Young Bucks in a battle
of who is the best tag team in the world, held off Pentagon and Fenix, the
Lucha Bros in a car crash of a match. Pentagon’s battle cry of “Cero Miedo,”
means no fear as the crowd was booming through the crowd as the fans were torn
between both teams. The AAA Tag Team Championship was on the line as The Bucks
fended off the former champs in an instant classic.
The main event is Chris Jericho versus Kenny Omega II. The winner will
face Hagman Page for the honor to be named first AEW World Champion. This match
lived up to the hype. A physically stiff match that told the story of
resentment from the two native sons of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Omega won
the first of their encounters in Japan at the Tokyo Dome, Jericho wins this
bout with his new finisher the Judas Effect, a reverse back elbow.
After the match, Jericho cut a promo telling
everyone from the fans and the office they should thank him from becoming a
member of AEW. Then an enormous pop from the crowd as John Moxley made his
debut. He came through the crowd, laid out Jericho and the ref, then a brawl
with Omega. Moxley left Omega laying with a Death Valley Driver of a platform as
the show goes off the air.
AEW Double or
Nothing was everything one could expect. From the wrestling, announcing and
the production quality, Double or Nothing
delivers in all angles. The show left with multiple angles the company can take
with feuds and championship contenders. AEW is not direct competition to the
WWE yet, but this is the first step in breaking the walls down of not only
giving fans an alternative, but the wrestlers have financial alternatives as
well.
Double or
Nothing, live from Las Vegas show
gets a rating of 5 out of 5, All Out is
the next major pay-per-view in Chicago August 31.
