We’ve got a new women’s champion!
Omega, Pac and Cassidy had one of the best triple threats of all time.
And Miro lobbed a snake in a bag!
We’re going to need a bigger boat.
I’m Oli Kawaii - kawaii, kawaii, kawaii - dressed like Make Itoh for your amusement,
as you all helped us pass 800,000 subscribers.
You legit voted for this.
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But until then, it’s time for my review of AEW Double or Nothing 2021… in about
10 minutes.
I thought I’d feel anxiety about seeing a wrestling crowd packed with non-socially
distanced fans in Daily’s Place for Double Or Nothing.
Turns out all I felt was jealousy.
So many times during this show I thought so hard, I wish I was there, I wish I was there,
I wish I was there.
Here’s a hot take: wrestling is much better with live fans.
I can’t believe I forgot how much of a difference a full crowd makes.
The Buy In saw a fantastic encounter between NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb defending
against Riho.
Using a load of submissions and a sunlight distractions, Deeb retained.
Page vs Cage opened the main card with Brian entering in his best Terminator cosplay.
Proving that wrestling Terminator outfits never look as cool as people think they will.
The match itself, however, was one of the best of the night, with Hangman and Cage clashing
in an excellent, non-stop back-and-forth fight - including an awesome deadlift suplex off
the bottom rope from Cage, which sent Hangman bouncing off the ramp, and both guys attempting
each others finishers.
It was all about the final sequence, though, with both guys bringing a lot of character
baggage along for the ride.
I was worried Hangman might self-sabotage to lose, to dodge his former best friend Kenny
Omega yet again.
But it was Brian Cage who succumbed to his pastl, rejecting Ricky Starks throwing him
the FTW title to cheat with, letting Page win with a Buckshot Lariat.
The crowd went wild, and Hangman cheersed a girl with a beer.
I WANT TO BE THAT GIRL.
Cage then had a brief post-match angle where he left Starks and Hook in the ring, presumably
leaving Team Taz for good.
Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston doing their entrance in front of a crowd made Moxley so
excited, he lobbed a chair into the stands.
And Eddie, oh my.
This guy has gotten over, signed to AEW, turned babyface all while fans weren’t there - and
his reception contained all that pent up positivity.
I wanted to make the nine hour flight to Florida just to cheer him alone.
They were up against the perfect heel champions in the Young Bucks in one of the night’s
best matches - complete with a presumably heelishly bad beard dye job from Nick Jackson,
which someone on our live reactions described as being like a bad WWE 2K20 render of Nick
Jackson.
The Elite got their compulsory five interference spots, with Brandon Cutler, Karl Anderson
and Doc Gallows getting taken out, but Mox and Kingston kept fighting back - even out
of a Shield Bomb attempt from the Bucks.
But even a Doomsday Device with the shoe - (who clotheslines with a shoe, honestly?) - wasn’t
enough, as a superkick party, and multiple BTE triggers meant the Bucks retained.
That could be a concussion storyline to write off Mox.
Christian entered AEW’s Casino Battle Royal in the number one spot.
The same year that Edge also returned at No. 1 and won the whole thing.
Which was also the same match Christian returned from almost a decade of retirement.
It’s been a long year already is what I’m trying to say.
The Casino Battle Royal concept has improved dramatically since its first inception, with
each wrestler getting their own entrance pop now, as opposed to entering in a group of
five.
It let people like Max Caster cut the excellent ‘Christian has lost his Edge’ line in
an opening rap, and provided fun pops for Pentagon dressed as Joker, Jungle Boy getting
his entrance music sung by a live crowd, and the really fun surprise spot for Lio Rush
- who was unfortunately eliminated relatively quickly.
After some historic interplay between Hardy and Christian, bringing the TLC vibes, the
final two came down to Cage vs Jungle Boy: the veteran vs the rookie.
And the crowd heavily sided with the latter.
They played into this terrifically, with Jungle Boy swinging round the ring post in an excellent
near elimination spot, but then throwing out Christian to win and get a future shot at
the AEW World Championship.
Which meant everyone got to sing the theme again.
This was a great example of AEW knowing what their fans wanted.
Unlike the next match!
In one of the pay-per-view’s only major missteps, Cody Rhodes beat the up-and-comer
Anthony Ogogo while dressed as Homelander from The Boys.
Seemingly unaware that the Homelander is a meta deconstruction of the American hero myth
and a massive bad guy.
After Cody beating QT Marshall on Dynamite, I think the latest chapter in the Nightmare
Family vs Nightmare Factory storyline works far better if Ogogo wins, and quickly.
Instead we got a ten minute match where Cody kicked out of Olympic boxer Ogogo’s punches
and then outboxed him - to win with not even his finisher in the Veterbreaker.
I love Cody, but I found this booking overly nationalistic, and makes him increasingly
difficult to defend.
His real life wife Brandi tweeted in celebration: “You had a nice run internet.
But live crowds are back now.”
Forgetting the Internet is still very much there - where Triple H started to trend on
Twitter.
Not because Triple H to AEW confirmed.
But because so many people were comparing Cody to him for not putting people over.
I disagree overall, as Cody has lost plenty of pay-per-view matches, but I do think this
was the wrong result.
What do you think about Cody in AEW right now?
Let me know in the comments because I’ll be replying to people FROM OUTTA NOWHERE for
the first 30 minutes after this video goes live.
Thankfully Miro then came along to lob a snake in a bag up a ramp.
Miro and Lance Archer had a fantastic meat slapping match with tables and belly-to-belly
suplexes into the crowd, topped off my Miro grabbing Jake Roberts’ Snake, and then throwing
it down the ramp.
Miro made Archer pass out in a grapevine Game Over variation for a very fun match… presumably
so the foreign heel can then drop the belt to Cody.
AEW announced All Out will be in Chicago on September 5th.
Hikaru Shida’s year long reign as AEW Women’s Champion came to an end next, dropping the
belt to the fantastic Britt Baker.
The match went a very decent 15 minutes plus, and had a great back and forth sequence near
the end.
This felt more like the start of a Baker reign, and the end of a lengthy transitional reign
for Shida.
The shot of Tony Schivaone hugging Baker post-victory made for a very rare unironic face embracing
a heel relationship.
So turns out Sting can still wrestle.
Those expecting a t-shirt wearing, minimal bump taking Sting, of which I was one, were
very pleasantly surprised in his first in-ring match in front of fans for over five years
- as he somehow looked like the Sting of old, with crossbodies, Stinger splashes, and the
classic Sting outfit.
This was the best kind of fan service, with nostalgia and future all rolled up excitingly
into one.
Sting wore Darby facepaint back at Revolution, so Darby wore Sting facepaint here.
And Page and Sky were obviously just very happy to be bumping around like madmen for
Sting’s offence, including one terrific no-sell spot with Scorpio near the start.
Sting got the win and, again, I wanted to be there live.
But even with all the great stuff on this show, it was Kenny Omega vs Pac vs Orange
Cassidy that I would’ve wanted to see in person most.
This wasn’t only match of the night, it was one of the best triple threats I’ve
ever seen, with character, action and booking all perfectly working in tandem.
To be that technically good as an athletic in-ring wrestling match, as well as layers
of twists and storytelling turns, is unparalleled.
The final third took on an extra level of character drama, where PAC locked in the Brutalister
on Cassidy, but wouldn’t let go even when Kenny was hitting him, so Omega took out the
referee.
This created an opening where Kenny could use title belt after title belt to lay out
his opponents.
Even then, Cassidy nearly won before Omega reversed the pin to retain.
An absolutely sublime way to book a heel victory.
Mark Henry is signed with AEW now!
Tony Schiavone abruptly announced he’ll be an analyst for the promotion’s new Rampage
show, and a backstage coach in yet another big veteran ambassador name leaving WWE.
They also announced Full Gear will take place on Saturday 6th Nov in St Louis.
And the main event saw the Inner Circle take on the Pinnacle in a Stadium Stampede match.
The majority of people appeared to love this match.
Unfortunately I wasn’t one of them.
I can’t see how a promoter looks at your first show back with live fans in attendance,
which was quite foreseeably the greatest thing about the pay-per-view and goes… let’s
have the event closing match as a pre-tape that doesn’t take place in front of them.
The Inner Circle and Pinnacle paired off in their respective feuds and saw: Wardlow and
Hager fight in a freezer, Santana and Ortiz vs FTR in a nightclub, MJF and Jericho brawl
in a boardroom, and, eventually, Sammy Gueverra pin Shawn Spears in the only part of the 30
minute plus match that happened in front of the crowd.
I don’t understand why AEW stuck to a lockdown format in what was, until this match, their
first very exciting non-lockdown show.
And to take a more storyline approach, I think the feud should’ve ended with a Pinnacle
win at Blood and Guts anyway.
What did you think of AEW Double or Nothing?
Let me know in the comments down below because I’ll be replying to as many people as I
can for the first 30 minutes after this video goes live.
73% of you voted for I LOVE WRESTLING SHOWS WITH FANS!!!
I thought Double or Nothing wasn’t only a great show for wrestling matches.
I thought it was a historic, milestone show for the wrestling business as it emerges groggy
eyed from the pandemic.
I wasn’t a fan at all of the main event or Cody matches, but the opener, tag match,
three way and all the Sting were excellent.
Double or Nothing 2021 was 4 out of 5.