Double or Nothing V - 5/28/2023

[Dolphman 3000]

2 minutes ago, StarChief EagleDemon said:

Did JR have a more censored version of the Heenan/Pillman "What the F are you doing?" moment at the Clash? He yelled "Hey! Stupid!" at one point and no attention was brought to it. Excalibur said at one point their ankles were getting bumped into, so I wonder if that happened to JR (what with his surgery scar and all).

JR throwing to Alex Marvez in the most unenthusiastic way possible was really, really funny

RJ City was good on the preshow and really deserves that spot a lot more

[elizium]

2 minutes ago, Krone said:

Time for Jade to move onto the AEW Women's title scene finally

I think Jade needs to stay away from belts for a bit. Now that she doesn't need to be invincible, a real extended back and forth feud would be the best thing for her continued development. She's been stuck in a loop of squash matches and one competitive match every two months. Put her with someone like Shida, or Deeb if you turn her face, and let them go at it for a couple months. Jade is destined to be champ one day, but now you have the freedom to put her into low stakes, high reward matches and try to build a memorable feud for her beyond the Goldbergian who's next thing she's been doing for a year.

[Kevin Wilson]

Overall I had a good time but man it started rough. I don't know what the fuck that Jericho/Cole match was. I actually usually enjoy them both but it was just not good, really disjointed, weird, nothing clicked... and it set a bad tone for the night which took time to recover from. Nothing else was below average (if Jamie is legit hurt, I can't hold that match against them) and the last few matches delivered, it just took time to get there.

The crowd was weird. There were certainly times their quietness was justified but they weren't really making a lot of noise outside of a couple matches. I don't know if it was poorly mic'ed, didn't have the usual hardcore AEW crowd since it was in Vegas, or what but a crowd not into the wrestling will always reflect poorly on the product. A hot crowd can really make up for iffy action, but a quiet one I think can do the opposite. Not their best PPV but not their worst, would be hard to really recommend it though top to bottom.

[S.K.o.S.]

2 minutes ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

If I never saw Jeff Hardy on TV again - I’d be just fine with that.

Yeah, I don't know what you even do with him any more. It's like "this is bad and I feel bad for watching it, someone please help this guy".

[Dolphman 3000]

Just now, elizium said:

I think Jade needs to stay away from belts for a bit. Now that she doesn't need to be invincible, a real extended back and forth feud would be the best thing for her continued development. She's been stuck in a loop of squash matches and one competitive match every two months. Put her with someone like Shida, or Deeb if you turn her face, and let them go at it for a couple months. Jade is destined to be champ one day, but now you have the freedom to put her into low stakes, high reward matches and try to build a memorable feud for her beyond the Goldbergian who's next thing she's been doing for a year.

Loan her to New Japan/Stardom for 6 months and then she can work Mercedes after she's healed up

[matt925]

I was going to start with positives but then that shitty fucking band with the lead singer in blackface (???) happened. I was texting updates to my friend who wasn’t watching, and I mentioned how wild thing was played twice last year and the fans loved it, so I wonder if theyll do it again or keep it running new jack style. And then that happened. Totally distracted me from the match until they mercifully stopped. 
 

Statlander back ruled. That really saved that match and scenario. After all that, taya hits the finisher and Jade kicks out, then wins with it? Lol. 
 

Just like the match last ppv with jungle boy, the ladder match totally over delivered and even though I didn’t care about the outcome, I thoroughly enjoyed the match. 
 

I want to see Swerve vs OC. The battle royal was entertaining. 
 

JR was like a totally different person tonight. He did call Karen jezebel, but he was telling the story of the matches and he even corrected taz on something! I was like wow who is this new commentator. 
 

When Briscoe started that match, he had this amazing look of seriousness combined worth surprise. Like he just found out he was the president of the United States and he wants to do a really good job. I loved it. 
 

 Man that storm vs hayter match was just awful. I don’t know what was going on there, obviously I guess she needs surgery or something but she was taking a lot of bumps here. Blatant interference in front of the ref over and over. Would have been way better to announce she was injured and call off the match. I guess they wanted to get the belt off her rather than do the interim bs again, but the results really sucked. 
 

the four pillars match was definitely a match that took place. Everyone worked really hard. But it sure felt like a total waste of three months. 
 

At least forbidden door will be totally different from this. 

[elizium]

All things considered, I actually liked what the work in the Storm-Hayter match. It's just a shame that Jamie's title reign had to end that way.

[elizium]

1 minute ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

Loan her to New Japan/Stardom for 6 months and then she can work Mercedes after she's healed up

I understand that thinking, but I like Jade and would rather see her on AEW TV. One of the things I've loved is watching her clearly improve over time. The crowd also really wants her face, so I think having her disappear for several months could kill that.

[GodzillaPerez]

I take back all the bad things I've said about the Bucks for shutting that band up. 

I LOVED Anarchy In The Arena. I HATED Cole vs Jericho. Everything else was perfectly fine.

Edited May 29, 2023 by GodzillaPerez

[JLowe]

Ok if we’re convincing people whether to spend money?

Battle Royale was good, like most just made you want to see individual matches.

Cole-Jericho was bad, other than Jericho taking a legit beating and doing his best to make something of the match.

Tag titles was old school Memphis shenanigans at its finest, outside of the finishers almost every move done in that match could have been seen on TV by 1982.

Storm-Hayter was not good but impressive to see what Hayter took given her bad wing.

Wardlow-Christian had a couple big holy shit spots.

Acclaimed-HoB was really good IMO, reinforced my desire to see a Malakai-Bowens singles match. Waving the dealers choice was dumb AF though.

Taya-Jade was Jade’s best match, I think it helped her to have someone larger who could take her stiffness and not get thrown all over. The post-match with the surprise Stat win was one of the biggest wastes of a huge match in the history of wrestling.

Four Pillars was MOTN, a well-paced spotfest telling an amazing story. I knew MJF was going to win and yet still I bought some hope spots. The one thing clear from this is that Jungle Boy right now wouldn’t be considered a champion but Darby would and Sammy made his case with a flawless performance.

Main was indeed anarchy. The Bucks are a joke BUT damned if they didn’t bleed and take some dumb shit, especially the bare foot spot into the tacks. Kenny Omega is a mutant, taking barbed wire, a fork (repeatedly’, and a screwdriver without bleeding. I loved the band playing for the first 10+ minutes even though they were bad. I wish Takeshita had legit joined BCC.

General thoughts: the lackadaisical approach to heel and faces is causing problems right now..

[S.K.o.S.]

Real quick: Wardlow vs. Christian was my MOTN, which I never would have expected. Almost went off the rails with the broken ladder but they got it back on track.

Some good stuff in the battle royale, but would've expected Starks or White to win, to justify not giving them another singles match on this show. 4 pillars just wanted to do spots, the match was laid out like a series of improv sketches. Half of the Anarchy in the Arena match was cutting between 4 different fights every 5 seconds like Kevin Dunn was running the show.

[elizium]

I thought the trios was alright, but the last thing that card needed at that time was a match with an extended heat spot based around a leglock. Removed from the card I think it was a good match, but with how that show was going at that point, a mistake.

E: Plus it seems weird to use that matchup for a surprise pop. The Acclaimed had already won a title shot and that's something they could have actually built up over a few weeks.

Edited May 29, 2023 by elizium

[StevieNippz]

Not one of my favorite AEW shows but it ended with some good matches. Orange Cassidy with the hilarious battle royal elimination was a great start. B/R started screwing up during the Cole/Jericho match but I was fine with that. The next few matches were kinda just there but I enjoyed the Trios match for what it was. I really enjoyed the 4-way match but I don't think Jungle Boy or Sammy need to be anywhere near the main event again for a long while. Count me in as one of the few that enjoyed the crappy band playing Wild Thing over and over, it matched up well with the chaotic camera cuts and had a nice payoff with the Superkick party ending the set.

 

One of the weaker AEW PPVs I've purchased but I still feel like I got my money's worth and I was entertained. Also very happy it wrapped up before midnight, nice to see that the 6 hour shows seem to have been retired

[StevieNippz]

44 minutes ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

If I never saw Jeff Hardy on TV again - I’d be just fine with that.

I missed the Buy-In match but I had just told a friend(one of those rare casual fans) that Jeff was still wrestling and the look on his face was probably the same all of us have about him. I'm fine with Matt Hardy but Jeff Hardy is just an embarrassment and liability, they need to have their final tag match already and get it over with 

Edited May 29, 2023 by StevieNippz
Sorry for the double post

[Dog]

Didn't watch the show, but from the clips I've seen, sounds like Tony Schiavone had the time of his life. At this point, that might be all I care about.

EDIT: I might have spoken too soon.

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Dog

[EVA]

I feel like Jeff Hardy is stuck in that same sad territory Taker was, where he just wants that one last great in-ring run before he rides off into the sunset, and it is just not happening, not ever.

[StuntmanCrowley]

So who is going to be his Goldberg?

[EVA]

OC just said he wants to wrestle ZSJ at the press conference, so let’s get to work manifesting that.

[Dog]

Dragon running down Nigel big time on the scrum, basically saying Nigel wouldn't stand a chance against him if he came out of retirement. Make of that what you will.

[Phantom Lord]

This ppv was very hit and miss tonight. The opening battle royal was fine. I was pulling for Switchblade Jay White to win but I'm fine with Orange Cassidy's title run continuing. 

With all the hype for Sabu we got one table splash in the first five minutes and that was it. I don't understand why they needed a non sanctioned clause for this match. With the inclusion of the chain at the end it should have been a chain match from the start. Would have been a bit better in my view. After the match at least I got my fireball.

FTR vs. Jarrett/Lethal was pretty good. I kept waiting for Mark Briscoe to turn on FTR It didn't happen but I thought the match was good none the less. Aubrey took that guitar shot like a champ though.

Wardlow vs. Christian was better than I thought it would be. It went off the rails when the ladder broke and then Arn Anderson trying to bite off Luchasauras's finger was a wtf moment. Surprised that Wardlow won.

I knew there would be heavy shenanigan's involved in the Hayter match. She fought like hell despite her injuries. 

Not sure why they threw away House of Black vs. Acclaimed and Daddy Ass so quickly tonight. That should have been built up for another couple of weeks. I mean it was good, but I would have waited before doing the match.

Jade vs. Taya was probably Jade's best match. I thought for sure Taya was going to win.  I was shocked at Statlander's return. I agree they should have saved that for Collision or something else. But glad to see her back.

MJF vs. Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy vs. Sammy was really good. I didn't have anyone picked as a surefire winner. Thought Darby was going to win after the coffin drop and side headlock. That got played up way too much in the match though. I get it, MJF is a prick so of course he'll win in a shitty fashion like that. But they did the side headlock spot one too many times in the match beforehand. 

Anarchy in the Arena made up for any of the lackluster booking through out the night. Fun to watch. I liked the ending with Don and Takeshita. I hope this somehow sets up Ibushi finally coming to AEW to reunite with Kenny.

Overall not the best ppv, but it made up for it by the end.

[EVA]

I feel like I’m more positive on this show than the general consensus here. Jericho/Cole was the only outright stinker to me. And it was really bad. No idea what they were going for there. Randomly turning into a chain match at the end really summed it up well.

Jamie/Toni wasn’t good, but I at least understand why it was overbooked gaga, and it didn’t overstay its welcome.

Everything else was fun.

I loved Stat’s return and I see no problem with hotshotting the belt onto her. It’s past time for Jade to move to another phase, and given Stat’s injury history, there’s no guarantee that her knees wouldn’t explode before you build her up for a title challenge. Just do the damn title change. Get the pop. Move forward.

This was a heel getting her comeuppance. Jade has effectively spent most of 2023 squashing nobodies and while complaining that there’s no competition for her. She stuck her nose out too far tonight and she got what she asked for.

 

[TheVileOne]

This was sort of like a tale of two shows. The first half was mostly garbage. The Las Vegas crowd was low energy and they didn't really start waking up until the trios match. Next time they are in Vegas, they need to re-think running T-Mobile Arena again. It looks like they've fairly burned out the Vegas market. MGM Grand or Mandalay Bay likely would've been a better venue for this event.

The Battle Royale was your typical throw-everyone-else into a big clusterfuck match with a ton of spots. I like Orange Cassidy, but him winning this felt really silly. I was dying for someone else to win the title at this point, even if it was Swerve. I don't understand why Hobbs and the other guys refused to work the Battle Royale, but then they bowed out even when they were never announced for it anyway.

Chris Jericho vs. Adam Cole was an utter letdown. For one thing, it was too early to book them into a blood feud Unsanctioned match. Just didn't seem to make sense. Cole and Jericho just didn't seem to click very well as opponents. 

Can a team other than Jarrett and Lethal start getting tag team title shots already?

Wardlow and Christian Cage are not well-suited for ladder matches at this point. Seemed like the more natural opponent for Wardlow really should've been Luchasaurus. The gimmicked biting of Luchasaurus' thumb spot looked dumb. You could see Arn had some sort of mechanism in his mouth. Also, once again they rushed Warldow and Cage into a ladder match in this feud when they really just started feuding with each other. Additionally, they hot-potated the belt off of Hobbs too early, which I'm still upset about.

Hayter did what she could while dealing with a legit injury. It sucks, but the Oucasts winning the title does add a little bit of gas to the feud at least. And Toni Storm has finally become the legit Women's World Champion. Plus, Hayter was protected in the defeat. Hayter had a relatively decent run win the belt, so now Toni Storm gets the chance to run roughshod over the division with the Outcasts for a while until Hayter is ready to come back or someone else, such as Shida, steps up to face her. Not the end of the of the world.

The Trios match was good and was where the card finally started to pick up.

I think having Jade Cargill lose the title to Kris Statlander and the way it was done was the right decision. It starts with Jade getting another big win and going 60-0, and she was technically still protected in defeat. Plus, you have the victorious babyface Kris Statlander coming back and winning her first AEW title, so it was a nice moment. The trick will be what do you do with Jade Cargill now that she's lost? I think there's still a lot you can do with Jade, but her TBS title run was getting kind of stale as was her undefeated streak. So this could turn to be a good shakeup for her, but they need to actually follow through with it and not just have her curtain jerking on Rampage every week or quietly book her off of TV. Jade was so strong as champion, this was basically the only way she was going to lose the belt. On that note, you now have good basis for a rematch with Jade and Statlander. Now Statlander has to truly prove she's a worthy champion and can beat Jade without any shortcuts. 

Some of the moments where AEW attempted super special WrestleMania-style entrances worked, and others totally fell flat on their faces. The Jade Cargill entrance was awkward and bad. It didn't work. The MJF one was good. The Taya Valkyrie one was weird. House of Black had a really good entrance. 

The Fatal 4-Way was fun, that said Darby Allin looks like an absolute schmuck breaking up two winning pinfall attempts for absolutely no reason other than the fact than he's a dumb schmuck. I would've liked the Chris Candido top-rope powerbomb to have been the finish. They kept a fairly fast pace for close to 30 minutes, but I would've shaved off about five minutes.

Anarchy in the Arena was dumb, outrageous fun. It was a stupid wild brawl. I will give credit to the production crew that this one felt a bit more focused and less chaotic. Like they knew what to film and when this time. Even when they missed a spot they got a replay showing what we missed a little later. The exploding Air Jordan was unique and it actually worked, so kudos. Stuffing Matt Jackson's face with thumbtacks so he could spit them out was also a new one, so kudos for that too. Again by around this time the fans were finally awake and the crowd had gotten hot, so that was a plus.

At least they paid off Callis scouting Takeshita finally. Not sure where he fits into the BCC, but considering he was somewhat of a protege of Danielson, it would make sense if he joins as well, though that's not clear. 

I think the problem with this show is that most of it felt very slapped together and they still tried to make it like this big card of the year thing, and it really wasn't. And not every card needs to be that. Anarchy in the Arena and the Fatal 4-Way worked because they've been building those up and been developing those feuds and storylines for a while. The rest of the card felt slap-dashed together. 

I think one benefit of the crowd being so low energy and half asleep for the first half, when it was necessary for them to wake their asses up, they finally did something and it was a hot crowd by the end. It's probably hard for a crowd to maintain that level of energy the whole way through. That said, Las Vegas, disappointed in you tonight. Step your game up.

Taz was great all night on commentary. Exaclibur always sounds nervous doing big events. Even JR, Taz, and Tony seemed to be poking at him all night. I think Excalibur needs to relax and loosen up a little. He sounds too tense. Meanwhile, Taz sounds like he's always having a great time and not worried about anything, but he still casually gets the storyline and wrestlers over. Tony sounded like he was in a good mood tonight as well.

[EVA]

On the whole, Jade/Taya really over-delivered on my expectations. I didn’t particularly care for their first match on TV with the finisher stipulation (it was fine), but this one really went to another level. Taya as an equally big, athletic woman posed a more interesting challenge for Jade than her typical title matches. The spot where Jade spring boarded into what I assume was an attempt at a Codebreaker by Taya was really dynamic; the fact that it didn’t hit completely clean and they both stayed down a while afterwards just sold it as this titanic collision.

I do kinda wish Taya was returned the favor of kicking out of Jaded, but Jade is the franchise, so I get it.

[Dog]

TK says he's talked to NJPW and is hopeful they can have Jushin Liger appear for some of the Owen stuff, since he competed in Stampede and faced Owen over there, too.

[mystman]

1 hour ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

So who is going to be his Goldberg?

My money's on Goldberg.