Double or Nothing 2022 - Post Show Thread

[Dolfan in NYC]

Can you believe MJF did that?!?!

[DEAN]

Hey!  Danhausen threw the best suplex in the match.

 

[(BP)]

The story of tonight was people trying moves they shouldn’t. 
 

[The Natural]

Too many matches. Way too long a show. Less is more.

[Kang]

Very fun good ppv.

 

[Brandon Bones]

Loved every second of it.  Goodnight.

[supremebve]

Notes from the show.

I kind of understand why MJF wouldn’t want to do that.

The person putting the oxygen mask on MJF not putting it over his mouth is hilarious to me. 

I don’t know how many combined matches I’ve seen between the Young Bucks and the Usos, but it’s been quite a few.  If you put a gun to my head and asked me to correctly put names to faces with Jimmy and Jey and/or Matt and Nick, I’d ask if I could call my mom to say goodbye.  I literally have no idea who is who, and I’ve genuinely liked both teams for about a decade.

I don’t think I need to watch anymore matches from The Hardys.  Jeff Hardy looks like he’s going to shatter into millions of tiny little pieces after every bump, and it just seems like we’re watching him adding one blade of straw to his back at a time until he finally collapses in a heap.  I don’t think I want to be there when that happens.

STOKELY MOTHER FUCKING CARMICHAEL IS WITH THE BADDIES MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Athena is a good addition to this division, but I can see her getting lost.  They’re going to have to do at least 2 women’s matches per show if they are serious about this division.  They just plain don’t have enough time to get more than one or two women over at a time with the current set up.

I like everything about the presentation of the House of Black, except the fact that Buddy Matthews doesn’t feel like he belongs with the other two.  I still think the right move should have been Pac being corrupted by the mist and joining the House of Black, then they could have had the Matthews come in to help the Lucha Bros.  I just don’t see Matthews hanging out with those two weirdos.

Brody, please go through the ropes from now on, thanks.

I remember people talking about the trios titles being an opportunity for teams like The Dark Order to get championships, but The Death Triangle, House of Black, the Undisputed Elite, the BCC, the Bucks and Omega…none of them are jobbing to the damn Dark Order.

The only problem I have with this match is that it should have happened months ago.  I like all of these guys, and I like all of them together, I’m just ready for them to wrestle someone else. 

Julia Hart looks 14, so her new heel persona makes her look like a demented teenager, and it’s creepy as fuck.  Thumbs up so far.

Joe and Cole seemingly have zero in-ring chemistry.  I like both of these guys, and don’t really have a problem with how this match was worked, it just never seemed to get going.  I know people hate Cole around here, but this is probably his first AEW match that I actively disliked.  It wasn’t terrible, just felt like it would have been better if either guy was wrestling anyone else.

I’ve been watching wrestling for decades and have never given a single solitary fuck about any live performance of a wrestler’s theme song. 

This crowd kinda sucks.

This is a serious question, but is it better to be bigger and take a bump or smaller and take a bump?  Ruby Soho’s drop kick to the floor makes me think that being 130 lbs. soaking wet doesn’t provide much shock absorption.

J.R. is phoning in his phoning it in.  His non-sequitur of, “Did you know Ruby owns a farm in Indiana, she’s a farmer,” followed by Tony’s annoyed, “How bout that,” is the height of comedy.  I really want to know how the fuck he thought that added to the match.

Is The Sharpshooter the hardest move to do correctly in all of wrestling?  It seems like it wouldn’t be that hard, but only about 15% of people who try it, can actually do it right.   Another bone to pick with The Sharpshooter, Sting works for AEW, Bret Hart doesn’t.  Therefore, the move is called the Scorpion Death Lock in AEW.

When Martha Hart got dressed for the show, did she say, “You know what this outfit needs, a ridiculous hat?”

I know Cole and Baker are going to be near the top of the card for the foreseeable future, but I’d argue that is a reason for both of them to lose these matches.  They don’t need to win all of the time to be taken seriously as main event players, they are kind of already solidified in their spots.  Drop a fall, put someone else over as a player, and move onto whatever’s next for both of them.  Joe is Joe, and he’s going to be fine, but Soho could have really used a big win here.

Yep, she really likes that ridiculous hat, and she wants us to wear one too.

I guess Cole and Baker had to both win, because there is only one cup and this way they can keep it in the same house.

I have to say having 5 of 6 heels in a 6 man tag is an interesting booking strategy, but Sammy tagging in just to strut while Kazarian has his finisher locked in is some great heel work. 

Paige VanZant’s gear is kind of goofy, she looks like she doesn’t know if she’s going to the gym or to a burlesque show, but wants to be dressed for both, just in case.

Say what you want about Tay Conti, but she leaned into that super kick.

I love Kyle O’Reilly’s offense.  He’s one of the few current wrestlers who wrestles like they’re actually trying to hurt their opponents. Sure, a lot of his offense looks cool, but very little is done just because it looks cool.

Darby Allin is going to kill someone, most likely himself, one of these days.

Serena Deeb’s face looks exactly like her character.  Her gear still feels like it should be worn by a Divas era babyface.

Technical Dificulties – I saw about 15% of the women’s championship match.

Is the JAS trying to do Jodeci cosplay?  If so, I approve.

A word of advice for any non-black people who want to wear a doo rag…Don’t.

Hey JR, how about you just let us believe its gasoline. 

Why the fuck was Bryan Danielson the one to take the fall here?  He has been in this months long feud for about 45 minutes.  This entire feud is about Jericho and Kingston and their respective groups and Kingston is just laid out off to the side while his team loses.

The 3-way tag was fun as hell.  I know everyone around here is super high on Ricky Starks, which I can see, but I’m higher on Powerhouse Hobbs. 

It’s after midnight and the main event hasn’t started yet.  Is this a fucking Tyson fight?

I think Control Your Narrative wrestling is going to have to add The Sharpshooter to their list of banned moves

I’ve loved Page’s title run so far, but this match and build is pretty rough.  Neither guy really has any reason to dislike the other, which I know happens in real life, but when you’re telling a story you should probably come up with something.  Page is defending his championship from CM Punk, but why?  What has Punk done since he’s been in AEW that Page feels so strongly about?  Punk gets the win, but this was by far his worst performance since coming back.  He blew a few spots, and just didn’t look like he was on his A game.  I hope his run goes well, but Page was having a really good run, and I don’t feel like this title change feels like it was earned.

[Wyld Samurai]

Is it worth ordering the replay?

[The Natural]

[Niners Fan in CT]

Wow where to begin. This was not a bad show necessarily but it felt a lot like WrestleMania 32-35 where it's just way too long and bloated for no reason. 

CM Punk winning was good because I think it was time. I'd probably rather have him be heel though. 

Wardlow dominating MJF was great. 

A ton of stuff that needed to just be on a Dynamite. 

[HumanChessgame]

The buyin match was about what was expected in that Hook got to showcase his skills, Sterling did some comedy spots, and Danhausen got to show that he's actually able to do wrestling moves. Hopefully he gets to work a full match soon.

I was in the "MJF is working people" camp and it looks like that was the case. MJF did some great heel stooging; the ring spot was especially nice. A long, competitive match wasn't really needed here and Wardlow smearing MJF in short order was a suitable finish to their feud.

The Hardys aren't the same wrestlers they were 20 years ago, but you could tell wrestling them in their home promotion was a dream of the Jacksons. The Bucks kept their nonsense relatively low and put together a match that was as good as you can get out of the Hardys at this point in their careers. Caprice on commentary was a nice touch. He and Ian are great as the regular voice of ROH and bring a lot to the table.

There was very little buildup to Jade/Anna though I get the importance of having the women's titles defended and given a place on the card. Both Anna and Jade have improved in the past year, but the match wasn't pretty. The dog and pony show elements culminating in Stokely and Athena showing up did compensate somewhat for the lackluster match. Stokley can only add to Jade's act, provided he sides with her.

Death Triangle/HOB was probably the match I was looking forward to most. I'm a big fan of all the wrestlers involved and was hoping they'd get ample time and opportunity to put something good together. Holy shit did they not disappoint. Maybe not everyone will be into this sort of spotty sprint, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of great sequences and no major botches. The lights out finishes from HOB are starting to wear out their welcome, but officially inducting Julia Hart after months worth of spinning their wheels finally paid off.

In an ROH title match that never happened, Samoa Joe and Adam Cole faced off in the Owen Cup finals. I'm tired of Adam Cole and was really hoping Joe would go over in quick fashion. Unfortuantely that's not what we got. Joe doesn't have all that much time left in his career, and fuckery or not he deserved to win here and go on to a bigger push.

The entrances to the women's Owen Cup final made it seem like a big deal. I wish Statlander was in Ruby's spot, but with the exception of Ruby's godawful sharpshooter, the match was totally decent. Everyone's predictions about the first couple of AEW winning their respective tournaments came to pass, because of course they did.

Martha Hart seems like a lovely person and this was undoubtedly a special moment for her, but on a show that was already overly long, that ceremony really could have taken place on Dynamite on Wednesday.

Didn't pay much attention to the mixed trios match. This didn't need to be on a ppv. Are ATT supposed to be faces now?

Darby and Kyle are both good and unsurprisingly this match was good. Had it taken place on Dynamite or Rampage we'd be talking about what a shining example of an excellent TV match it was - they told a quick story, kept it tight, and finished in a reasonable amount of time. There was no reason to put this on the PPV as it would have been perfect for the Buy In or Dynamite.

I'd been looking forward to Rosa/Deeb and wasn't let down. They didn't do anything fancy or over the top, it was just two wrestlers trying to out-grapple eachother. There was plenty of clean mat wrestling as well as much rougher and less crisp action that was just an example of each competitor trying to gain the upper hand without caring about clean technique. Is Deeb the best woman on the roster right now? The men's division has guys like Sydal, Frankie, and Christian who are veterans you can depend on having a good match with anyone and Deeb is like that with the women's division, though I'd say she's got more to her that keeps her from just being a JTTS.

The buildup to the Stadium Stampede or whatever they wanted to call it was solid with Eddie giving more of his masterclass in cutting a promo, but for whatever reason I just didn't care about this match. Maybe because two large teams of guys having chaotic brawls is just becoming obligatory at AEW ppvs? Moxley's music playing over and over got annoying, though I suppose they were trying to channel The Sandman or New Jack. Then as the match started to go on I found myself getting into it. There was some goofy stuff like the mustard and elevator spots, but there was plenty of bloody brawling thrown in. Kingston and Garcia especially were laying it into eachother really snug. By the time the match went mostly back to the ring I was fully into it. Danielson's final stand was especially impressive. Give me Danielson/Kingston beating and stretching the shit out of eachother yesterday.

It's a shame the tag titles match went on so late and sandwiched between the brawl and the world title match. There was a lot of fantastic stuff going on here and color me shocked JE retained.

The main event was totally fine but Page's title reign has never felt like that big a deal to me. So does Page feel like he did everything the right way and lost the belt and turns heel? That could freshen his character up a bit. I'm looking forward to seeing Punk have some quality title matches either way.

Overall this was a quality event with way too much stuffing.

[John E. Dynamite]

God bless the back half. Turns out the Owen Cup was a total curse. Months of television being interrupted by story-less matches, leading to the most disappointing possible winners and a truly surreal ceremony. Once it's over? The show goes nuts and immediately locks into the high-end AEW PPV groove you just can't get enough of. And in the end, the crowd wasn't even burned out after 11 PM. Even the Tag Titles match was hot. AEW Double or Nothing 2022 - An Exercise In Delayed Gratification.

Edited May 30, 2022 by John E. Dynamite

[The Natural]

Four hour, forty minutes show. Card really needed trimming down. Too bloated.

Edited May 30, 2022 by The Natural

[The Man Known as Dan]

10 Man might be my MOTY. Gotta love a Memphis Brawl in 2022. The stretch with Wild Thing playing on repeat was literally perfect.

[Niners Fan in CT]

My favorite part of the night was the INSANE brawl and Eddie Kingston coming back from the dead with gascan in hand like a fucking 80s slasher..  

I loved that Bryan was like "yeah we want to beat dudes up but maybe MURDER is too far.." 

Eddie's promo that led to that moment was fantastic. 

I felt maybe they should have just had Eddie go too far.. gimmick it somehow.. leave everyone in shock and horror

[Shadow]

Of the matches I cared about I think this is the first time I didn't get a single result I wanted. Blah.

[Curt McGirt]

That was pretty much the Discord consensus, that the Owen matches and then the turd of a midcard tweeners feud match killed everything dead, then it was slowly (KOR/Darby) to speedingly (Women's title) match revived until the Tupelo brawl and three-team tag blew the wheels off. Everyone is gonna complain back and forth about the main and I thought it was garbage but whatever, I shant argue me points. Generally a fun card but some of this one... phew. And the LENGTH. Someone needs to have an intervention with Tony about that. 

[John E. Dynamite]

1 minute ago, HumanChessgame said:

Moxley's music playing over and over got annoying, though I suppose they were trying to channel The Sandman or New Jack.

There was a God-honest pop when that track repeated, followed by the barely-heard chattering of smarks explaining to their friends and s/o's why it was cool. For one short moment it felt like New Jack was alive again.

[The Natural]

The GOAT.

[Curt McGirt]

1 minute ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

My favorite part of the night was the INSANE brawl and Eddie Kingston coming back from the dead with gascan in hand like a fucking 80s slasher..  

I loved that Bryan was like "yeah we want to beat dudes up but maybe MURDER is too far.." 

Eddie's promo that led to that moment was fantastic. 

I felt maybe they should have just had Eddie go too far.. gimmick it somehow.. leave everyone in shock and horror

I thought he was more akin to a zombie from an '80s Fulci movie with the gas can. And as far as murder, Daniel Garcia clearly did not have an issue with that considering his dragging of Kingston in that one spot. That was the most extreme thing they may have ever done really, it looked more real than a fucking pizza cutter to a forehead. 

[Dog]

Fuck Punk with a rusty shovel. His act was stale in 2004. Terrible, terrible decision.

[The Man Known as Dan]

3 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

My favorite part of the night was the INSANE brawl and Eddie Kingston coming back from the dead with gascan in hand like a fucking 80s slasher..  

I loved that Bryan was like "yeah we want to beat dudes up but maybe MURDER is too far.." 

Eddie's promo that led to that moment was fantastic. 

I felt maybe they should have just had Eddie go too far.. gimmick it somehow.. leave everyone in shock and horror

 

This is an All Timer Westling Photo.

[The Natural]

 

[eikerir]

Fun show as always with nothing being bad but we could have cut 2-4 matches and shave an hour of the show. TBS Title, Darby-KOR, Mixed tag, Trios Tag and maybe even the Hardys-Bucks could have all been saved for Dynamite/Rampage main events. Take at least 3 of these or and you have a much tighter show.

 

Main event was great and even tho I was rooting for Hangman I’m cool with Punk as champ. They were both really laying it in to each other. Felt bad about Punk botching the Buckshot twice but they sold it well by fatigue.

 

Please don’t let Jeff Hardy wrestle again. Not sure what happened after he attempted that whisper in the wind but I thought he had completely checked out after that until he suddenly came back to life at the end. But I’m so worried every time I watch him that I can’t enjoy his matches, he’s falling apart.

 

My favourite moment of the whole night was probably Ricky Starks walking the top tope while spamming his taunt button. I was dying at this and looked like Keith Lee was too.

 

Anarchy in the Arena was chaotic and thank god they stopped the song the second time. Eddie looking like a zombie waking out and Bryan being a badass were the highlights.

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by eikerir

[John E. Dynamite]

And this card is already proving itself to be a wild testing ground for the smart mark reaction to a card not matching up with their fantasy booking. Meditate on this.