Andrew Zarian is out this week but I invited Kyle Ross from Top Rope Nation to join me to talk about Double Or Nothing weekend.
Kyle was in Las Vegas all weekend. We talked about AEW Rampage, the F4W Convention, including him finally meeting Dave Meltzer at the suite party, what he thought about the T-Mobile Center, and then we talked about the AEW Double Or Nothing Card.
We talked about the MFJ situation as well as what is next for Wardlow, the length of the show, and how Jon Moxley stood right beside me during his entrance.
Enjoy the latest We’re Live, Pal in podcast form below or on YouTube above.
AEW president Tony Khan says that Double or Nothing 2022 was the most commercially successful edition of the show to date, and that the show’s length helped with that.
Speaking at a post-show media scrum, Khan balked at the idea that the show, which ended after 12:30 a.m. Eastern time was too long, stating that he added more matches than he had originally planned to counter-program the NBA playoffs game going head-to-head.
“It was a little bit different. I ended up adding a little bit to the length of the show to help the show commercially and help the show make money,” Khan said. “I think it made, if not a seven-figure difference, at least a six-figure difference.”
Khan said that without the Celtics vs. Heat Eastern Conference Finals Game 7, “I probably would have ended the show the same time they always end. We’ve done a lot of the best pay-per-views anyone’s ever done, they’ve all ended between 11:40 and 11:55-ish, 11:56, 11:57 on the east coast.”
Khan said that he will listen to fans who thought that the show was too long, though.
“I will listen to the feedback of the fans. Revolution had pretty good response and commercially the show was really successful, and had similar length bell to bell… But like I said, I’ll listen to the feedback. This was a unique circumstance,” said Khan.
Khan’s full comments can be seen in the scrum below.
AAA star and former ROH World Champion Rush made his AEW debut in a taped segment at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Sunday night.
Rush was introduced as Andrade El Idolo’s new business partner in a promo video shot in a conference room. Andrade said that he was tired of losing in AEW, tired of the Andrade Family Office, and he wanted a new ally. Jose the Assistant then produced a contract and Rush walked into the room, then did the Los Ingobernables pose with Andrade, a callback to their time together in the Los Ingobernables faction in CMLL.
Rush wrestled for CMLL from 2009 to 2019. He appeared in the United States for MLW in 2018 and 2019, and in ROH from 2018 to 2021, capturing that promotion’s World title twice. Rush joined AAA in 2019 at Triplemania Regia.
Andrade joined AEW in 2021 following a six year run in NXT and WWE. He and WWE wrestler Charlotte Flair were married on Friday in a ceremony in Mexico.
Athena and Stokely Hathaway, formerly Ember Moon and Malcolm Bivens in WWE, made their AEW debuts at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
Both debuting talents were given the customary All Elite graphic on social media by Tony Khan, the company’s traditional way of announcing full-time signings.
Both Athena and Hathaway debuted in the same segment at the PPV. Hathaway provided a distraction for Jade Cargill to allow her to pin Anna Jay in the TBS Championship match. Athena came to the ring to side with Jay and Kris Statlander as the three squared off with Cargill, Red Velvet, and Kiera Hogan.
Bivens was released by WWE in April after turning down a contract extension offer. He had served as exclusively as a manager on the NXT brand since debuting in 2019, and was most recently aligned with the Diamond Mine stable.
As Ember Moon, Athena wrestled in NXT from 2015 to 2018, capturing the NXT Women’s Championship once. She had a main roster WWE run from 2018 to 2020, then returned to the NXT brand in October 2020, where she would go on to capture the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles with Shotzi Blackheart. Athena was released by WWE in November 2021.She has made sporadic appearances on the indie scene since, and currently holds the Warrior Wrestling Women’s title.
Ruby Soho is headed to the finals of the women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Soho booked her spot in the finals by defeating Kris Statlander on tonight’s episode of Rampage. The winner of the tournament will be determined when Soho faces Britt Baker at Double or Nothing this Sunday.
Baker made her way out to the stage after Soho’s win. Soho said Baker has had a receipt coming since their match at Arthur Ashe Stadium last year — and Soho is cashing in that receipt on Sunday.
Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole in the men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament finals is also set for Double or Nothing. Dr. Martha Hart, the widow of Owen Hart, will present the Owen Hart Cup to both tournament winners.
The updated card for Double or Nothing is listed below:
AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against CM Punk
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa defends against Serena Deeb
Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole
Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
MJF vs. Wardlow
Anarchy in the Arena match: Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker) vs. Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson
AEW Tag Team Champions Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus defend against Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs and Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland in a triple threat match
The Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
Darby Allin vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Mixed tag match: Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & Paige VanZant vs. Sammy Guevara, Frankie Kazarian & Tay Conti
The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix)
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Anna Jay
Pre-show: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling
On this edition of Wrestling Weekly, we look at the card and make our predictions for Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view. We also discuss a couple of WWE topics, including Randy Orton and Money in the Bank.
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
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 has achieved a new milestone, crossing $1 million in ticket sales for a single show for the first time.
In a tweet on Friday, Tony Khan announced that this year’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view is the company’s first million-dollar gate. A ticket pre-sale for Double or Nothing began yesterday, with tickets officially going on sale to the general public today.
“It’s Friday, you know what that means: #AEWRampage Live TONIGHT on @TNTdrama on the Road to Revolution this Sunday, and tonight we’re celebrating a milestone because today #DoubleOrNothing 1st day sales just gave us our 1st EVER $1 Million gate! Let’s celebrate tonight @ Rampage!,” Khan tweeted.
Double or Nothing is being held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 29. The company previously used the MGM Grand Garden Arena when it ran Las Vegas.
The pre-Double or Nothing episodes of Dynamite and Rampage are set for Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena.
“AEW just hit the $1 million mark in ticket sales for Double or Nothing on day one,” Dave Meltzer tweeted. “WWE has done this before many times. Aside from WWE, no wrestling company did this as quickly and only NJPW/ROH ever hit the number in the U.S. aside from WWE.”
More details on the Owen Hart Cup tournament have been revealed.
On tonight’s Rampage, it was announced that the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Cup tournaments will take place in May. The finals will take place at Double or Nothing. Hart’s widow, Dr. Martha Hart, will be at Double or Nothing to award the cups to the two tournament winners. Further details will be announced on next Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Tony Khan announced on Busted Open Radio on Friday that more information would be announced on tonight’s show. Both will be singles tournaments. It was announced in September that AEW was partnering with the Owen Hart Foundation for the tournaments.
“This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as ‘The Owen,’ as well as the production and distribution of unique and original Owen Hart merchandise, including specified retail goods as well as the upcoming AEW console video game,” the company announced at the time.
