Double or Nothing VII - 5/25/2025

[NoFistsJustFlips]

Looks like no Triller for The US. Not up as of now and Meltzer made a Tweet about PPV.com Amazon or YouTube.

Not the biggest deal on the world. But Triller let you import your B/R Live purchases when that went down so slightly annoying to not have everything in one place. With HBO Max getting all the PPVs up eventually that wont really be an issue too much longer to not have your back log.

[Ramo2653]

On 5/18/2025 at 10:12 PM, Johnny Sorrow said:

Briscoe vs Ricochet is going to be a stretcher match. Already? Believe me, I want to see that. But where was the escalation in this "feud" that would lead to a stretcher match?

I felt the same way. I also felt the same about the Mariah May/Thunder Rosa street fight from last year. Considering how AEW will stretch things out over a long time when they do these quick escalations, it really stands out.

[The Natural]

Anarchy in the Arena official for the show.

[SturmCRF]

Anyone else reckon maybe they have Briscoe beat Ricochet to heat him up for a Moxley filler feud before All In? It'll be impossible to sell people on Moxley possibly dropping the title in June, may be a good way to kill time with a nice mini blood feud for a few weeks.

[The Green Meanie]

If anything, I believe they'll be holding out for the returns of either Darby or Eddie.

[Curt McGirt]

The guy on Mount Everest and the guy with the impossibly broken leg. Uh... hmmm...

[Casey]

5 hours ago, SturmCRF said:

Anyone else reckon maybe they have Briscoe beat Ricochet to heat him up for a Moxley filler feud before All In? It'll be impossible to sell people on Moxley possibly dropping the title in June, may be a good way to kill time with a nice mini blood feud for a few weeks.

Nah, the stuff with the Opps & Friends isn't going to be done after this Sunday, they still have to do the annual Blood & Guts match. Unless that happens after All Out, which is entirely possible too. But I think it happens in June sometime. Probably see whoever wins the Owen Cup join the fray, maybe sub out Omega for Ospreay or Hangman and turn that Okada build up to 100.

[Kevin Wilson]

19 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

The guy on Mount Everest and the guy with the impossibly broken leg. Uh... hmmm...

I'm no expert and we'll know the answer shortly but apparently the descent is very quick compared to the climb, like under a week. I don't know how long it takes to re-adjust or if Darby will need time to relax/knock off the ring rust but I wouldn't be shocked if he's back in a month if they need him for something storyline related unless he gets an injury on the way down.

[Dolfan in NYC]

37 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said:

I'm no expert and we'll know the answer shortly but apparently the descent is very quick compared to the climb, like under a week. I don't know how long it takes to re-adjust or if Darby will need time to relax/knock off the ring rust but I wouldn't be shocked if he's back in a month if they need him for something storyline related unless he gets an injury on the way down.

The descent is still extremely dangerous. More than half of the deaths occur on the way down.

Let him get back to Base Camp 1, then start fantasy booking him to cost Mox the title in Texas.

[Kevin Wilson]

6 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

The descent is still extremely dangerous. More than half of the deaths occur on the way down.

Let him get back to Base Camp 1, then start fantasy booking him to cost Mox the title in Texas.

We fantasy booked him the whole way up, why not the way down too?  Although him costing Mox the title would be annoying, I'd almost rather he return after All In but since they'll want him to come back with a big pop you may be right.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

If Darby doesn't return by repelling out of a helicopter at All In like Sting did at that one Nitro then what are we even doing here? Not to cost Mox tho, only to counter act Deathrider interference.

[Go2Sleep]

Briscoe/Ricochet in a stretcher match feels like a "spin the wheel make the deal" kind of thing, but both guys have top level character work and are more than willing to take crazy bumps, so I expect it could be a quiet show-stealer.

Only match I'm not interested in is the tag titles. The MJF/HS angle just needs to get where it's going, and it took a step backwards on Dynamite. The Outrunners match showed that Shelton and Bobby need to be in there with guys who push the pace, and Dustin is definitely not that. In fact, he's probably the worst type of dance partner for the Syndicate. Too big to be thrown around, too slow to hit credible offense. CRU would've been a much better fit here.

Beyond that, it looks like a killer show. Hanger and Ospreay are signaling that they're going full epic, AITA is always fun, Hayter/Mercedes is a good pairing, FTR vs. Nigel/Garcia is much better suited to deliver the type of story they're going for with the tag title match, the aforementioned stretcher match, Speedball/Okada is a foregone conclusion but could be a lot of fun if Okada isn't in "mail it in" mode. Lots to look forward to.

[Curt McGirt]

It was cool how they teased the Froggy Bow onto the stretcher last night. Man, that's a huge bump to take. Briscoe is the perfect guy to do the Sabu tribute with all his chair spots and wild diving. 

Collectively this does indeed look like an awesome card; I can't see a single match I'm disinterested in. I'm just a little concerned about Bobby or Shelton hurting Dustin. Hopefully they take it easy with the Beast Mode on him and rather beat the living shit out of that weasel Sammy instead. Dustin will know how to arrange things. 

[The Natural]

I'd prefer Anarchy in the Arena to be 5 vs. 5 or 4 vs. 4 than 6 vs. 6 here. First time women are in with Willow Nightingale and Marina Shafir. It's always a spectacle that but last year's was the worst of the three. Dread to think what Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland will do.

Most intrigued in the Owen Hart Cup Finals as they can go either way. Not to sound like a broken record but hope Bruv Boy loses to Hangman. Torn between who I want to win the women's. Fan of Mercedes Mone since her days as Sasha Banks and Timeless Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Mone is the biggest match you can run but Jamie Hayter needs a big wjn, she's not what she was pre injury. Hayter needs it more and I've wanted Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm to run it back since their Full Gear 2022 match, it's an underrated match in AEW history.

We're on 8 matches, that's enough as a few will go 20+. Anarchy in the Arena, the Owen Hart Cup Finals, Timeless Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa and FTR vs. Nigel McGuinness/Daniel Garcia are the matches I most look forward to.

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

It was cool how they teased the Froggy Bow onto the stretcher last night. Man, that's a huge bump to take. Briscoe is the perfect guy to do the Sabu tribute with all his chair spots and wild diving. 

Collectively this does indeed look like an awesome card; I can't see a single match I'm disinterested in. I'm just a little concerned about Bobby or Shelton hurting Dustin. Hopefully they take it easy with the Beast Mode on him and rather beat the living shit out of that weasel Sammy instead. Dustin will know how to arrange things. 

Slapabble Sammy!

[Technico Support]

Outrunners, Top Flight, Gates of Agony, Sammy and Dustin…we’re one Rusty Brooks jobber match away from Stoke playing Miss Elizabeth and cutting a promo asking why Hurt Syndicate doesn’t wrestle anyone with credibility.

https://youtu.be/_LCOCoKEBJo?si=WaLbJAf0iQijS3CQ

[Kevin Wilson]

Few matches to add to the original post:

ZERO HOUR BUY IN:

• Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay and Harley Cameron

Main Show: 

• The Paragon (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Josh Alexander)
• AEW Continental Championship:  Kazuchika Okada vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey

The Trios match doesn't do a lot for me (even though I really like Fletcher) and probably wasn't necessary but Okada/Bailey will be good and I'll never complain about another women's match. I hope they add another match to ZERO HOUR, I know some are still on the 'more matches are bad' campaign but I'd rather watch another match or two then ESPN desk analysis. Looking forward to the show.

[tbarrie]

I've leaned towards the "more matches are bad" attitude at times, but for me at least it's more about not making the shows too long and exhausting. Putting more matches on the pre-show instead of talking segments doesn't hurt anything.

And I really like that women's tag, as it actually has a fair bit of build-up leading to it. Honestly, I'd say it's more deserving of a main show spot than the six-man.

[just drew]

they aren’t showing much faith in their new TNT champion…

[Kevin Wilson]

Since it seems likely Gabe Kidd will get involved in Anarchy in the Arena, it seems also likely that a wrestler will come out to neutralize him. The most obvious choice is Kingston, I know he said he isn't ready yet but wrestlers lie and he could be ready enough to catch someone on fire even if he isn't ready for a 15 minute match yet. Secondary options are Darby (if he is down Everest), Hook (if he is healthy), and Ibushi (if his visa issue is done). All four have different reasons why they don't work but since fans are rarely privy to the up to date status of wrestlers I don't think we can write off any as impossible either.

[StevieNippz]

5 hours ago, just drew said:

they aren’t showing much faith in their new TNT champion…

Has he defended that belt more than once since he won? Seems I only see him on commentary or in 6-Mans. Would be great for him to drop that title to either Fletcher or Josh Alexander. Hell even Lance Archer would be fine for a bit. I liked Garcia as champ but it didn't help that he spent his first two months losing matches in the C2 and Cole hasn't done anything to elevate it. The TNT title is such an oddity

[The Green Meanie]

36 minutes ago, StevieNippz said:

The TNT title is such an oddity

TIL that Scorpio Sky was a TNT Champion. Then I learned that I had completely forgotten about his reign.

[Kevin Wilson]

I don't consider this a spoiler since she posted it herself and as stated before wrestlers lie, but Thekla is teasing showing up tomorrow by tweeting an emoji of a cactus. Not sure who she will feud with upon debuting, unless Hayter somehow wins and Thekla attacks Mone afterwards. I don't think they'd have her debut just to be a quickie title challenge in June to either champ.

[Curt McGirt]

She costs Hayter the match *sigh*

[Hail Sabin]

Maybe if Stat helps Willow in the Anarchy Thekla helps Marina to even the sides.