MJF Retains, Jade Cargill Dethroned!
Tonight, AEW held its fourth annual Double or Nothing PPV. The show was headlined by s killer double main event: AEW World Champion MJF defended his title against Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, and Darby Allin while the Elite faced BCC in the second installment of Anarchy in the Arena.While the show got off to a lackluster, rocky start, they managed to turn things around for the second half and deliver what was overall a solid show. Let’s break it down match by match.
WINNER: AEW International Championship Battle Royal
This was a fun way to open the show. Orange Cassidy himself chose a Battle Royal as the means to defend his AEW International Championship. The competition was incredibly stiff as the Battle Royal featured talent like the Lucha Bros, Ricky Starks, Bandido, Swerve Strickland, and Keith Lee. There were several captivating highflying spots and near eliminations. In the end, Orange was able to outlast all his opponents and walk away with his title.
LOSER: Adam Cole vs Chris Jericho
This was an unsanctioned match with a lot of moving parts that had no business being included. The most prominent bizarre addition to the match was ECW legend Sabu, who came to Adam Cole’s aid for unknown reasons. Sabu and Roderick Strong fought the JAS for a bit before everyone inexplicably disappeared.
The match ended via referee stoppage, something very bizarre for a supposedly unsanctioned match. Overall, it was messily booked and without much payoff.
LOSER: FTR vs Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett For The AEW Tag Team Championships
AEW boasts itself as home to the best tag team wrestling in the world. Fans want to believe that, but it’s getting harder and harder when they book matches like this. The match could’ve been the main event of Dynamite, but it wasn’t really worthy of a PPV spot.
Aubrey Edwards got hit in the head with a guitar, which seemed like AEW’s best effort to make this match interesting. FTR came away with the victory and made up with Mark Briscoe.
MEH: Wardlow vs Christian Cage For The TNT Championship
Despite having good presentation, Hollywood looks, and solid in-ring work, Wardlow has struggled to really put it all together in AEW. He’s currently in the middle of his 3rd run as TNT Champion, and the belt doesn’t feel important in the slightest.
This match was sloppy at times, with one particularly nasty botch happening on a ladder. Wardlow pulled off an impressive swanton bomb, jumping off a ladder and crashing onto Luchasaurus, through two tables. Arn Anderson also bit Luchasaurus’ thumb and had fake blood in his mouth. Overall, this was a very strange bout.
LOSER: Jamie Hayter vs Toni Storm For The AEW Women’s Championship
Jamie Hayter came into this match with a legitimate injury. She was attacked by Saraya and Ruby Soho backstage and came to the ring selling her arm injury. The Outcasts came to the ring with Toni and proceeded to distract the ref, spray their green paint, and remove the turnbuckles. Britt Baker made a brief appearance to chase off Saraya and Ruby, leaving the two actual competitors to fight in the ring.
Toni and Jamie are capable of putting on stellar matches. Instead, they wrestled for about 2 minutes in what was ultimately a drawn-out squash. Jamie lost, giving Toni Storm a second chance at being AEW Women’s Champion.
WINNER: House Of Black vs The Acclaimed For The AEW World Trios Championships
The Acclaimed gave this PPV a much-needed energy boost. Caster’s freestyle was fairly standard, but with the added bonus of a reference to Buddy Matthew’s girlfriend (WWE superstar Rhea Ripley) being in an onscreen relationship with another man.
The in-ring action was solid; Brody King especially shined as he showed off his sheer power. The House of Black managed to put away the Acclaimed and maintain their undefeated status as a trio.
MEH: Jade Cargill vs Taya Valkyrie For The TBS Champion
Jade was sung to the ring by rapper Big Boss Vette, and even did a short dance routine before coming into the ring. The match itself was fine. Jade seemed like she was wanting to play the babyface, which was out of character. She could be a mega-popular babyface one day though, especially if she became a big gun in the fight against the Outcasts.
All in all, this match brought to light the main issue with Jade Cargill’s TBS Championship reign; she grew stagnant and directionless when she is a star who deserves more care.
WINNER: Kris Statlander Returns, Immediately Wins TBS Championship
It was the rumor amongst fans online that Jade’s championship reign grew so stagnant because Tony Khan was waiting until Kris Statlander recovered from tearing her ACL so she could dethrone Jade. This segment, though it was a triumphant return, proved that rumor was in fact the actual situation.
But honestly? Whatever. Let Jade move on to something more interesting than her undefeated streak, and Kris can finally be the champion she was meant to be all those months ago.
WINNER: MJF vs Darby Allin vs Jungle Boy vs Sammy Guevara For The AEW World Championship
A lot of people didn’t know what exactly to expect from this match. While all four men have had stellar matches in the past, the build to this PPV was a little messy. But it all came together for an exciting title match.
Each wrestler got their fair amount of shine, but ultimately it was MJF who outsmarted and outmaneuvered his opponents to retain his title.
WINNER: The Elite vs Blackpool Combat Club, Anarchy In The Arena
This match was exactly the violent cacophony that fans hoped it would be. Both teams were on fire heading into the bout, all but ensuring that their collision would be action-packed, non-stop chaos. It did everything it should’ve, with the added bonus of an exploding superkick from Matt Jackson.
At the end of the bout, Konosuke Takeshita revealed himself as the newest member of BCC, adding a fresh and interesting twist to this feud. Hopefully, Takeshita gets more shine going forward.
This bout wrapped up the night with a nice (bloody) bow, and refreshed interest in AEW’s hit-or-miss booking style.
