All Elite Wrestling is the true x-factor of wrestling in 2019. The brainchild of Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega, the promotion will soon be getting its own prime time slot on TNT. The first official show for the promotion will be the PPV event AEW Double or Nothing.
Of course, the September PPV All In deserves mention for being the prototype for AEW. Cody and the rest put together a big four-hour PPV with one-hour pre-show that brought in big names from the indies, as well as showcasing people from Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and even IMPACT. The show was a massive success and now they’re moving forward.
The future will show how everything pans out, but this initial push is going strong as the event sold out in a mere four minutes. Fantastic news for any wrestling fan who wants a promising mainstream alternative to WWE, which hasn’t exactly been running on all cylinders lately. Plus Lucha Underground doesn’t seem to be coming back any time soon and daddy needs his Pentagon Jr. fix!
AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING RESULTS
CASINO BATTLE ROYALE
Winner becomes finalist in deciding the first AEW Champion
Results: The rules of the Casino Battle Royale are fairly simple: it’s a 21-man Royal Rumble match where the entrances are five wrestlers at a time with a final entry coming out alone as #21. The first group was MJF, Dustin Thomas, Sunny Daze, Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa. The second group was Brian Pillman Jr., Isiah Kassidy, Joey Janela, Jimmy Havoc and Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger). The third group was Billy Gunn, Glacier, Jungle Boy, Ace Romero, and Private Party. The fourth group was Sonny Kiss, Marko Stunt, Tommy Dreamer, and Luchasaurus. The 21st and final entry went to “Hangman” Adam Page, whose match against PAC was cancelled and was competing with a bad leg.
The final four were MJF, Jimmy Havoc, Luchasaurus, and Adam Page. Everyone teamed up on MJF, leading to him falling out of the ring. Luchasaurus booted out Havoc and later ran full steam at Page. He missed, causing him to fall over the top and to the floor. MJF reentered the ring in an attempt to eliminate Page, but didn’t get it done. Page ended up recovering and clotheslined MJF to the outside.
read more: Royal Rumble: Battles From Outside of WWE
KIP SABIAN VS. SAMMY GUEVARA
Results: The first singles match of AEW ended with Sabian finishing off Guevara with the Deathly Hallows, a variation of the Burning Hammer.
SCU VS. STRONG HEARTS
Results: SCU picked up the victory after putting away Lindaman via a double-team of a Tombstone mixed with a top-rope moonsault.
read more: AEW will begin airing a weekly show on TNT later this year
BRITT BAKER VS. NYLA ROSE VS. KYLIE RAE VS. AWESOME KONG
Results: Originally, this was set to be Baker vs. Rose vs. Rae. Before the match started, Brandi Rhodes admitted that she told each competitor beforehand that she thought they would win. She said that she wanted the match to not just be great, but “awesome,” and introduced Awesome Kong into the match as a huge surprise.
In the end, Rose speared Kong into the steel steps, taking both of them out of the match. Rae couldn’t quite finish off Baker and ended up eating a superkick so hard that it changed Rae’s hairstyle. After a knee-to-face slam move, Britt Baker pinned her to win.
BEST FRIENDS VS. ANGELICO AND JACK EVANS
Results: Trent held Evans down his back for a piledriver variant while Chuck Taylor spiked Evans with a stomp from the top rope. Best Friends won and after the match, Angelico and Evans offered a hug. Right before it could happen, the lights went out. When they turned back on, the Super Smash Bros. (they’ll probably need to change that name for AEW) Evil Uno and Stupefied were in the ring. The lights went out again and when they turned back on, the duo was joined with an army of masked goons. They beat down the two tag teams and posed until the lights turned out once more. The crowd didn’t know what to make of them.
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AJA KONG, YUKA SAKAZAKI, AND EMI SAKURA VS. HIKARU SHIDA, RIHO ABE, AND RYO MIZUNAMI
Results: With the former team the teachers and the latter team the students, it looked like the teachers had it as there was a nearfall so close that they even rang the bell for it, only for the ref to deliver a death stare and show two fingers. Shida ended up knocking out Sakura with a Shining Wizard to win.
CODY VS. DUSTIN
Results: Cody’s entrance had him pick up a sledgehammer and destroy a throne covered with skulls and an iron cross as a big middle finger to Triple H. Coincidentally, Dustin’s attire was Stardust-based as a way to mess with his brother.
A very gruesome affair that had Dustin bleeding all over the place. The two exchanged finishers until Cody kept Dustin down with Cross Rhodes. Cody then asked Dustin not to retire just yet and, in a promo reminiscent of their father’s “view never changes” classic, asked him to be his partner against the Young Bucks at the next AEW PPV. Dustin accepted and the two hugged it out in the ring.
Bret “The Hitman” Hart showed up with the AEW Championship belt in a sack. He asked possible future champion Adam Page to come out. When Page arrived, so did MJF, who verbally railed on Page and Hart and claimed that he should be the champion. Jungle Boy and Jimmy Havoc walked out and joined Page in beating MJF through the crowd. With MJF shut up, Bret showed off the massive new title belt.
THE YOUNG BUCKS VS. THE LUCHA BROS
AAA Tag Team Championship
Results: After a crazy amount of nearfalls and huge spots, the Young Bucks finally put Fenix away with the Meltzer Driver to retain.
CHRIS JERICHO VS. KENNY OMEGA
Results: While a fantastic match, the end got a bit sloppy and the setup for the finish had to be redone. Jericho escaped the One-Winged Angel with a DDT, then put Omega down with the Judas Effect. After winning, Jericho cut a promo about how he was the reason AEW was a success and demanded everyone thank him.
Soon everyone in the crowd started to look in a different direction as Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) stormed through the crowed, entered the ring, and surprised Jericho with Dirty Deeds. He then hit the ref with Dirty Deeds as well. He picked up the bloody Omega, who fought back and the two started brawling throughout the arena. This led to them fighting on top of a giant stack of poker chips display. Moxley got the better of Omega and hit Dirty Deeds on top of the chips. Then he Attitude Adjusted him off the pile and onto the stage, which shattered. The show ended with Moxley perched up on the stack of chips.
read more: All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Officially Launches
Gavin Jasper wants to see the AEW roster do a remake of Suicide Kings starring Chris Jericho in the Christopher Walken role. Read more of his articles here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L
