It’s the AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING go home show edition of AEW Dynamite! Join on-camera personality Denise Salcedo as she breaks down the events of the night, analyzes the storylines and matches while also engaging with the live viewers!
Topics include the build to AEW DON, Wardlow and MJF’s feud, the beef between Hangman Adam Page and CM Punk, NJPW’s Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan of the United Empire appear, a wacky Hardy Boys promo, the Owen Hart Cup Men’s and Women’s tournament, and more!
This podcast is sponsored by Wrestle Rumble.
Denise will also return on Monday to discuss her live event experience at AEW Double or Nothing.
Sting is out of this weekend’s AEW Double or Nothing Fan Fest due to injury, the promotion has announced.
AEW tweeted on Wednesday that Sting had not been cleared to travel due to injury and would not be appearing at the Saturday, May 28 Fan Fest as scheduled. AEW says that fans that purchased meet and greet tickets for Sting will be contacted with refund information.
Due to injury last week, @Sting has not been cleared to travel & will unfortunately not be at this Saturday’s #AEWDoN Fan Fest Meet & Greets. For fans who purchased tickets to see #TheIcon, Watch your inbox for information on refunds
Sting was attacked by members of The Undisputed Elite in a post-match melee on last week’s Dynamite following an Adam Cole vs. Jeff Hardy match in an angle that also included Kyle O’Reilly Pillman-izing Sting’s left leg with a chair.
It is unclear whether the injury to Sting is legitimate or a storyline.
Sting last wrestled on the March 23 Dynamite, teaming with Darby Allin and The Hardys in a tornado tag team match victory against Private Party, The Butcher, and The Blade.
The finals for the men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament have been set.
Adam Cole will face Samoa Joe in the finals of the tournament, which will be held at AEW Double or Nothing this Sunday. Joe defeated Kyle O’Reilly in the second semifinal match to advance, submitting O’Reilly with a rear naked choke.
After the match ended, Cole came out as he and Joe had a staredown to end the show.
Additionally, the women’s tournament’s first finalist was set on tonight’s show, as Britt Baker defeated Toni Storm to advance. She will face the winner of a Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho match that will take place Friday on Rampage.
Here is the current lineup for Double or Nothing, taking place this Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas:
AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against CM Punk
AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa defends against Serena Deeb
AEW Tag Team Champions Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus defend against Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland and Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Anna Jay
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho or Kris Statlander (determined Friday)
Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
Wardlow vs. MJF
Anarchy in the Arena match: Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager vs. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz
Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix
Pre-show match: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & Mark Sterling
After months of building up to it, MJF vs. Wardlow is now official for Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
Wardlow earned himself the match on Wednesday’s Dynamite by completing the final stipulation MJF decreed several weeks ago: defeat Shawn Spears in a steel cage match with himself as special referee.
While the odds worked against him early, Wardlow ducked a Spears chair shot which landed flush on MJF’s head knocking him out. Bryce Remsburg then came out to replace him, counting the pin after Wardlow landed his series of power bombs — the last one delivered on the same chair that knocked out MJF.
The other stipulation was ten lashes which Wardlow took last week.
If Wardlow wins at Double or Nothing, he is free and clear of his storyline contract with MJF. If he loses, he cannot sign a deal with AEW and remains under MJF’s employ.
Here’s the current lineup for Sunday’s PPV in Las Vegas:
AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against CM Punk
AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa defends against Serena Deeb
AEW Tag Team Champions Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus defend against Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland and Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Anna Jay
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe or Kyle O’Reilly
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho or Kris Statlander (determined Friday)
Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
Wardlow vs. MJF
Anarchy in the Arena match: Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager vs. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz
Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix
Pre-show match: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & Mark Sterling
Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out of the WWE taping on Monday. What were the plans, where were things going, how did it go down, what was the reaction, what is the not talked about story that was the key to all of this
Dwayne Johnson and the XFL get an ESPN deal, what it means, what is their competition and also a look at ratings
Ric Flair returning to wrestle, a look at the situation, the match, others of his age wrestling, why Ricky Steamboat turned down the match
Cain Velasquez denied bail again, the man he was accused of shooting speaks, his lawyer speaks
AEW Double or Nothing and WWE Hell in a Cell as well as business notes for the week
Ticket sales for the WWE Clash at the Castle in Cardiff
Full coverage of Capital Collision, the New Japan show from Washington, DC
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
This past week’s ratings
Main event plans for the next four WWE PPV shows
More details on why Stephanie McMahon took a leave of absence
Update on Money in the Bank
Update on Young Rock
Streaming numbers
Freak accident ends a main event just three minutes in
Matt Jackson does video challenging for major world title
Five Star Grand Prix tournament
Update on Kota Ibushi
New Japan Strong tapings for the next month run down
Best of the Super Juniors update
Update on Tammy Sytch
Wrestler shot to death
Zachary Wentz talks about his Hitler photo
Former WWE stars announce new promotion featuring the wrestling debut of Alistair Overeem
Huge match between two of the top stars in the business set for Sunday
More on the Warner Discovery upfronts and what is going on at Warner Discovery
Tony Khan talks the creative process
Hikaru Shida gets upset
Toni Storm talks the original plan for the Charlotte Flair angle
AEW vs. WWE in New York and Chicago business update
International TV ratings
Sports franchise of the year
How much UFC CEO Ari Emanuel earned this past year
Ari Emanuel defends his ESPN PPV deal
Baseball legend on MMA promotion board of directors and a new investor
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Wednesday News Update
WWE
Bobby Lashley and Happy Corbin were guests on this week’s episode of The Bump. Starting on June 1, the show will start airing at 1 pm ET.
On last night’s NXT, a vignette aired for a new character named Giovanni Vinci.
Matches taped for Friday’s NXT Level Up include Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward vs, Bryson Montana and Damaris Griffin, Amari Miller vs. Arianna Grace, and Trick Williams vs. Dante Chen.
The New York post covered Becky Lynch’s Seinfeld-inspired shirt from Monday night.
Last night’s season finale of Young Rock on NBC scored 2.359 million viewers, with 0.19 in adults 18-34.
AEW/ROH
Tony Khan has announced that media at the Double or Nothing scrum that will take place after the pay-per-view will be able to record and stream, reversing an earlier stance by AEW that had barred media from recording. “I’ve seen that some of the wrestling media are upset with our policy that they can’t record the post-ppv scrum onsite at Double or Nothing this Sunday,” he wrote. “No problem, we’ll change it. You can record. Media, be on the lookout for an email from @AEW PR. See you tonight @#AEWDynamite.”
The Las Vegas Sun has an article on AEW ahead of their events in Vegas this weekend.
Champs Sports has announced that a sneaker collaboration between Diadora and AEW will be released on champssports.com for $120 on May 26 at 10 am ET. The sneakers will be released in honor of Pride Month. Champs Sports will also be donating $25,000 to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention group for LGBTQ+ young people.
A Double or Nothing media call with Tony Khan will take place tomorrow at 1 pm ET.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Rush expressed interest in working for AEW. “I want to wrestle in AEW,” Rush said. “I want matches against CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega. Everyone in AEW will learn, when you mess with the bull, you get the horns.”
In the same article, actor Jon Hamm spoke about his love for 80’s WWF: “I was a big Andre the Giant fan,” he said. “He made everything he did so interesting. And Hogan slamming Andre, that’s a moment you never forget. I’ll always be in awe of that ’80s era.”
PWInsider is reporting that Tammy Sytch was served with a lawsuit by Julian L. Lasseter’s estate on 5/13, when she was incarcerated. They had previously been unable to serve her the suits. She has yet to respond to the suit.
James F. Pente, Sytch’s boyfriend who was also named in the suit, did respond on 5/23, denying all responsibility for the incident and demanded that Lasseter’s estate bring “strict proof” for any proof of negligence and his liability.
A mixed gender tag team match involving Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti against Paige VanZant and either Ethan Page or Scorpio Sky is “internally listed” for AEW Double or Nothing.
While the match has not been officially confirmed, our own Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that he’s been told it is “tentatively scheduled” for the show.
“The plan for sure was a mixed tag. I know people who presume that still is the idea,” Meltzer said.
On AEW Rampage this week, Guevara, Conti, and Frankie Kazarian took a sledgehammer to the TNT title and said they would continue to do so until they got the match they wanted.
“I was outright told over the weekend that it was ‘listed’. Until it’s announced it’s not announced, they could do it a different way,” Meltzer continued. “But, I was actually outright told that that match is tentatively scheduled for the pay-per-view and that is probably where they would do it.”
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter including the latest on the Sasha Banks and Naomi situation within WWE as well as Stephanie McMahon taking a leave of absence.
In addition, we talked about Raw and Dynamite’s competition when it comes to the NBA Playoffs as well as Valerie Loureda training for pro wrestling.
Lastly we took a look at the current card for Double or Nothing.
Three new matches have been announced for the Sunday, May 29 AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
During Friday’s Rampage episode, The Young Bucks vs. The Hardys was officially announced for the pay-per-view. The bout has been teased on Being The Elite and AEW programming for months, and is now set.
Also announced, Jade Cargill will defend the TBS Championship against Anna Jay at Double or Nothing. Cargill previously defended the TBS title against Jay on the January 21 Rampage episode.
Additionally, House of Black vs. Death Triangle in a trios match was announced for the pay-per-view. Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, and Brody King will take on PAC, Penta Oscuro, and Rey Fenix in the six-man.
The stipulation for the Jericho Appreciation Society match at the pay-per-view was also named, as Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager will face Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz in an Anarchy in the Arena match.
Here is the updated Double or Nothing card:
AEW Double or Nothing, Sunday, May 29 —
AEW World Championship: Hangman Page (c) vs. CM Punk
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Serena Deeb
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Anna Jay
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe or Kyle O’Reilly
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament finals: Britt Baker or Toni Storm vs. Ruby Soho or Kris Statlander
Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
Anarchy in the Arena match: Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager vs. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz
Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix
Pre-show match: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & Mark Sterling
Two new bouts appear to be set for AEW Double or Nothing o May 29.
Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are set to defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship in a three-way against Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, and Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs.
That bout was set up on this week’s Dynamite when Lee and Strickland defeated The WorkHorsemen, cementing their spot in the top five tag team rankings. Starks and Hobbs then confronted Strickland and Lee, then Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy appeared, with Cage issuing the pay-per-view challenge to both teams.
In a 10-man tag match with a yet to be announced set of rules or absence of rules, Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, and Jeff Parker of Jericho Appreciation Society will take on Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz at Double or Nothing.
Jericho Appreciation Society challenged Moxley, Danielson, Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz to a Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing on this week’s Dynamite, but Moxley declined that challenge, saying that the Stadium Stampede was from a different era. Instead, he proposed a match with no rules.
Neither new bout was officially announced by AEW on Dynamite, but appear to be set for the show.
The tentative lineup to this point:
AEW Double or Nothing, Sunday, May 29 —
AEW World Championship: Hangman Page (c) vs. CM Punk
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Serena Deeb
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament final: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe or Kyle O’Reilly
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament final: Toni Storm or Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho or Red Velvet or Kris Statlander
Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Jeff Parker vs. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz
Pre-show: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & Mark Sterling
MJF vs. Wardlow is official for AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday, May 29.
The contract for the bout was signed during this week’s AEW Dynamite episode after Wardlow agreed to adhere to a set of stipulations before the match.
MJF said that Wardlow must agree to receive ten lashes in a callback to MJF’s AEW feud with Cody Rhodes, who MJF mentioned by name. Wardlow must then face Shawn Spears in a steel cage match, with MJF serving as guest referee, presumably on an upcoming AEW Dynamite, though no date was announced. In an added twist, if Wardlow loses at Double or Nothing, he can never sign an AEW contract.
Wardlow agreed to the stipulations, signed the contract, then attacked the security in the ring. Before he could deliver a powerbomb to MJF, Mark Sterling jumped on Wardlow, allowing MJF to escape.
Five matches are now set for the Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Here is the announced lineup to this point:
AEW Double or Nothing, Sunday, May 29 —
AEW World Championship: Hangman Page (c) vs. CM Punk
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Serena Deeb
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament finals
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament finals
MJF vs. Wardlow *If Wardlow loses, he can never sign an AEW contract*
Heads up, it’s Wednesday which means it’s time for AEW DYNAMITE! Join Denise Salcedo on Speak Now Pro Wrestling as she does an honest, in-depth recap of the show while sharing her analysis on stories and matches. She also engages with the live audience! Tune in for a good time.
Some of the items talked about on the show include lots of Owen Hart Cup talk, AEW Double or Nothing build up, Wardlow facing W. Morrissey, did Hangman Adam Page turn heel, Julia Hart’s storyline, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes Martinez, and more!
A loaded episode of AEW DYNAMITE with lots to cover! Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo as she breaks down the April 27th edition of Dynamite.
Tonight’s show included: Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler, Wardlow vs. Lance Archer, a Philly Street Fight, a TNT Championship ladder match, and more! Tune in for a very fun and lively discussion!
CM Punk will challenge for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing on Sunday, May 29 in Las Vegas.
Punk vs. AEW World Champion Hangman Page at Double or Nothing was announced during this week’s Dynamite.
After serving as guest commentator for a Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler match, Punk took the microphone and addressed the audience. He said that he will not guarantee a win against Page, but that every match since he joined AEW has been warming up to this, and he promised to “fight until the wheels come off.”
The Punk vs. Hangman match was teased in a brief face-to-face staredown between the two on last week’s Dynamite episode.
Page has held the AEW World title since defeating Kenny Omega at Full Gear in November 2021.
The match at Double or Nothing will be Punk’s first World title bout since a July 2013 WWE World Heavyweight title match against Alberto Del Rio at a house show in Atlanta, a match that Punk won by disqualification.
AEW Double or Nothing is returning to Las Vegas, Nevada.
The pay-per-view event will be held in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, May 29.
Additionally, Las Vegas will host Dynamite and Rampage in the week leading up to the event. Dynamite will be held at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Wednesday, May 25, while Rampage will also take place at Mandalay Bay on Friday, May 27.
Tickets for all three events will go on sale Friday, March 4 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
The first Double or Nothing, the inaugural AEW event, was held in Las Vegas in 2019. The show was moved to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega headlined Double or Nothing in 2019, the first Stadium Stampede match was the main event in 2020, and another Stadium Stampede closed the 2021 edition of the show.