AEW Double or Nothing preview: Grief & gratitude

Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the writer and not of our website.

The hardest part of writing these previews is the beginning. It’s usually the piece I write last. I bang out some thoughts on the matches and those kind of inform what the lede is going to be. In a way, the column starts to structure itself.

This time, even though I knew right away what I was going to write about, I still left it for last because it was the hardest one yet.

I had to say goodbye to my best friend two weeks ago. For seven wonderful, irreplaceable years, Lenny The Dog was the true, loving constant in my life. Six years ago, I sold my house in New Hampshire and moved to Boston, setting off a wild series of events that led me to where I am now. Len was happily with me through all of it: three jobs, three apartments, and everything in between. This summer, when it was time to move again, he barely raised an ear before finding the spot with the most sun in the new place. He was unbothered by any and everything as long as he was getting head scratches and ear rubs.

All he ever asked for was affection and cheese.

He had been sick for a while and I knew the end was coming, and sooner than I would ever want, he took a drastic turn on a Friday. The following Thursday, he let me know it was time to go. On an otherwise idyllic May afternoon, I took him for one more car ride with the windows down, his favorite, and said goodbye.

I miss my medium-sized dude every single day, but I especially miss him on Wednesday nights. Every episode of Dynamite that I watched at home, I watched with him. He was my wrestling companion and I bounced more of my ideas off of him than anyone else. He wasn’t the most vocal cheerleader or critic, but he always listened and he was always there. I still find myself looking for him curled up on his favorite cushion and anticipate his nails frantically click-clacking on the floor as he tries to scarf up some food I didn’t even know that I had dropped. My grief was, and still is, beyond anything I could have imagined; a deep and profound sadness that exists right where I begin. It is a void that I can’t imagine filling. But if this pain is the price to pay to get to experience such a deep love, I will gladly pay it every time.

There is AEW this weekend and I am thankful. I am thankful for an escape that so fondly reminds me of my pal and thankful for an incredibly supportive family, girlfriend, and group of friends that have made something that can feel so isolating feel anything but. Our grief is entirely our own and it’s easy to get lost in it. But knowing I am not alone through my grief is something for which I am forever grateful. Writing this has been cathartic, in a way, and I’m beyond thankful for the platform. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Thank you for indulging a man in his grief, and please tell your pets you love them.

Let’s talk Double or Nothing.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe 

The transition of Samoa Joe into the angry old man stage of his career is going to absolutely rule. Calling him an elder statesman sounds weird and wrong so I’m super not doing that (even though he is). This is a world-traveled athlete that carried multiple companies and proved time and again he could do anything. He paved the way by doing his own thing, his own way. It worked in ROH, it worked in TNA, it worked in NXT (twice!), it worked on Raw and Smackdown. There’s nothing he couldn’t do and as he enters what is probably the final stage of his career, doubting him would only serve to make fools of us all.

I don’t have an elegant transition here, but I’ve found myself wondering if we have reached critical mass with Adam Cole. He’s been doing essentially the same gimmick and wrestling the same types of matches for quite some time now. I’m at the point where if I’ve seen one Adam Cole match, I’ve seen them all. We had reached a similar point with Johnny Gargano, but at least he was able to switch up his character work and do something totally different. There doesn’t seem to be a dramatic change on the horizon – he’s still massively over – but everything in wrestling has a shelf life.

Maybe Cole’s something different is formally aligning with his IRL girlfriend after they each lose their respective sides of the Owen. It gives them both a fresh, new direction to go, and pulls Cole out of any Bullet Club/Elite/Undisputed whatever related storylines for a little while and let’s him breathe on his own.

Prediction: Samoa Joe

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final: Ruby Soho vs. Britt Baker 

As great as Britt Baker is, I can’t help but wonder if someone else would make more sense here. Wouldn’t it have made sense to give the newly debuted Toni Storm the PPV rub? Britt is the person associated with the women’s division — it’s hard for her star to get any brighter. Using the Owen as an opportunity to make a new star and to attempt to bring someone up to her level seems like a better use of the tournament, and the TV time. But hey, I don’t write the shows!

If Ruby Soho doesn’t win here, what is the point of anything. She’s been getting a bit more TV time recently and hopefully this is the start of something big with her. Britt is still the biggest thing in the division, and a win over her means almost as much as winning a title. There is plenty of history between the two of them, making a win by Ruby feel big.

Prediction: Ruby Soho

Darby Allin vs. Kyle O’Reilly

I am thrilled that still Kool Kyle gets a solo match on the big show, but am much less thrilled that it is the THIRTEENTH(?!?!?) match on the card. I am 36 and staying up late is hard! Even if all the matches are ten minutes bell-to-bell, that is over two hours without counting entrances, promo packages, and all the other extras. Tony Khan’s comment about not wanting to run the main event against Game 7 is all well and good, but by the time the main event happens, the crowd is going to be completely exhausted.

Anyway, it’s gonna be a good match that Allin wins.

Prediction: Darby Allin

MJF vs. Wardlow for Wardlow’s contract freedom

Whatever MJF’s contract number is, it’s far too low. It took some time for me to buy all the way in on young Maxwell, but he’s proved time and time again that he is appointment viewing whenever he’s on our screens. He still leans a little too much into corny name calling and his hands are way too tan, but those are the only real nits to pick. This is a fully formed and fully realized star among stars who will be underpaid the minute he signs his next contract.

The reason, dear readers, he will be underpaid is because of programs like this: a slow burn that turned an anonymous heavy into someone who gets s-tier reactions without a theme song. Wardlow went from the replaceable muscle to someone the crowd just can’t get enough of. He’s consistently getting the biggest pops and most of that is because of MJF. MJF is so loathsome and so hateable that all Wardlow has to do is show up with his natural physical charisma and he’s over like rover, baby. The pop he’s going to get when he finally gets to touch MJF is going to be so loud that even Nick Papagiorgio will hear it.

I’m excited to see what happens to Wardlow after this when he “finally” signs his contract, gets his music back, and gets away from MJF. AEW messed around and created another star, I just hope they keep treating him like one.

Prediction: Wardlow

The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks

The actual Hardy cosplay on Rampage was amazing. The whole presentation was as funny as anything can actually be in pro wrestling. Nick and Matt looked like they were having the time of their lives.

This is the easiest story in the world to tell. AEW could have run this match anytime, anywhere and it would be great. These are two legendary tag teams getting to share the ring on a properly massive stage. This match has happened before in other places when the teams were in different stages of their careers. The current form of the Young Bucks is one of my favorites, and The Hardys look like they have one more run in them. A match that requires nothing to grab our attention surely will do just that on Sunday.

Prediction: The Hardys

Anarchy in the Arena: Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, and Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley) (w/ William Regal)

Keeping your top talent out of the ring is actually good. Stick with me here. We are all delighted to see Bryan Danielson on TV as much as possible. I think we are all equally as happy to see him taking it relatively easy. What he’s doing now is a great way to preserve his body. He’s not grinding out grueling 15+ minute matches every week. Asking him to have a consistent run of matches like he did when he first joined AEW isn’t sustainable, especially for someone who has admitted that his in-ring time is winding down. 

But keeping him on TV and front of mind is perfect. It allows AEW to heat him up whenever they need to, and we don’t have to remember where he’s been. The same goes for Mox, Kenny Omega, or any other wrestler, honestly. Dave Shoemaker used to talk about the idea of a wrestling offseason that would allow wrestlers to rest and save their bodies for bigger matches and moments. Look at how few matches MJF actually has. He’s a fixture on our TV, but wrestles infrequently. By not having their top talent wrestle week in and week out actually allows them to wrestle longer, and better, while making the matches that much more important.

All of those words make me feel better saying that this whole match is kind of dumb and a waste of time. The Jericho Appreciation Society as a whole is nowhere near the caliber of its opponents. Whatever the matchup, JAS is on the losing end. I can always count on ol’ Jake Hager to make me not care about, well, anything he’s involved in. It takes a lot to make me not care about a Danielson match in 2022, but nevertheless, here we are. Against my better judgement, Jericho calling himself a wizard does make me laugh.

Prediction: Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz and Blackpool Combat Club

House of Black vs. Death Triangle (w/ Alex Abrahantes)

This is a PWG All Star Weekend main event-level match. Whoever wins should immediately given the non-existent, but for sure existent, AEW Trios titles that Tony Khan is saving for a rainy day. He’s said he doesn’t want to debut the belts until Kenny Omega returns, but if not now, when? What trios match could possibly be better than this? What better opportunity will there be? The Elite doesn’t need to be involved in something to make it matter. Things can exist outside of their sphere of influence and do just fine – see Baker, Britt and Cargill, Jade for example. Big Tone, please surprise us all with some new belts on Sunday

I’m a huge fan of how SpOoKY these two teams are. I have no idea what House of Black is saying or doing most of the time, but I don’t care. I’m all in. All three of them bring something different and special to the group and the presentation is special without being over the top. Death Triangle is a skeleton man, his brother who can’t die, and a terrifying wrestling gollum and somehow it all works. (Wow, did I just accidentally reboot Lucha Underground?)

Death Triangle has quite a few stops and starts because of injuries and other reasons not entirely in their control, and the House of Black could use an establishing win in their first real feud as a unit.

Prediction: House of Black

Sammy Guevara, Frankie Kazarian & Tay Conti vs Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & Paige VanZant

Why is this still happening? This unwanted, neverending feud continues to soldier on, undaunted. It will not go quietly into the good night even though the crowd doesn’t like either side! Throw this on a special edition of Rampage or something.

This match does put the spotlight on one of the biggest problems with AEW. Dan Lambert, supreme heat magnet that he is, needs to stop taking digs at Tay Conti for just having sex. The wh**ehausen thing is bad at best and seriously problematic. Sammy Guevara is having the exact same amount of sex that she does but is not being publicly shamed for it. We can do better than this.

Prediction: I don’t care

TBS Champion Jade Cargill (w/ Kiera Hogan & Red Velvet) defends against Anna Jay

I’ll keep this one short because otherwise it’s just going to be a whole ass thesaurus of words about how great Jade Cargill is. There is not enough praise or flowery adjectives to throw her way. She is everything, everywhere, all at once. There is no talent in the AEW locker room that has as high of a ceiling as she does. Every moment she chooses to grace us with her presence in a wrestling ring on in a pre-tape is a blessing. She’s a star that is too big for wrestling, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures that out as well.

I’m not entirely sure how this match happened as all of a sudden it was on the card. Seems like bad news for Anna Jay!

Prediction: Jade Cargill

AEW Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express (w/ Christian Cage) defend against Team Taz (Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs) and Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland

Another PPV, another chance to talk about my favorite thing in AEW: Ricky Starks dragging Keith Lee. And big Rick never misses his chance either. The Acclaimed telling Lee to go back to the renaissance faire will be tough to beat, but Starkman could soon top that. Do you think Lee gets mad at the Duolingo owl because he won’t teach him how to talk like he’s reading Shakespeare? God bless that big goof and God bless him for chucking all of these dudes around and taking all of this in relative stride.

One of the challenges with Jurassic Express is their presentation. Because of how they are presented and some of the microphone-based shortcomings of its two members, getting a hot program out of them is challenging. I guess that’s not really the point — the crowd loves them and they shine in matches like this — but there is a ceiling to an act built that way. Only one of them ever speaks and he is still sort of figuring out how to do that. You can be the best tag team in the world without saying you are the best tag team in the world, meaning it, and having the audience believe it at the same time.

This is a good spot for a title change. The seeds have been planted for a Jungle Boy/Christian program, and maybe that starts here. Jurassic Express can drop the belts to Swerve and Lee (two great talents meshing unexpectedly well) and maybe that lets them move towards that singles program. Both Jungle Boy and Christian can use something meaty and serious right now.

Prediction: Swerve and Lee

AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa defends against Serena Deeb

The little air that existed in this feud has been totally sucked out of it over the past few weeks and it’s puzzling! I just don’t get it! Thunder Rosa was scorching hot during her run up to the title. Now she’s lukewarm at best. Her momentum is gone. I don’t know it seems like only having your champion wrestle on TV once since mid-March is actually bad. Curious! This match has been built to with mediocre promos and almost no in-ring action.

I believe in Rosa and I believe she can have a really good match with Serena Deeb. This feud did no favors to anyone. Rosa’s connection comes from her fire and passion and we got to see very little of that. Deeb, while excellent in the ring, is significantly worse on a live mic. Rarely can I say AEW played into the weaknesses of their performers, but that’s exactly what happened here.

Prediction: Thunder Rosa

AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page defends against CM Punk

I love this. Neither of these guys are faces and neither of them are heels. Traditional alignments are kind of out the window because neither of these guys are going to get fully booed. Life exists on a spectrum, operating mostly in shades of gray. More feuds should lean into that. Let the individual audience members choose who they want to cheer and who they want to boo. The crowd on Wednesday was probably 65/35 in favor of Punk but it vacillated depending on who was talking and what was being said. There is nothing wrong with dueling crowds. It’s a totally different dynamic than everyone pulling for the face and booing the heel. This allows both sides of the crowd the chance to be vocal and to go back and forth. More of this, please.

Hangman really needed something like this. He needed something to bring the best out of him. Because if we’re being honest, his title reign has just been okay. Other than his matches with Danielson, what has really stood out about his run on top? Not everything has to be a five star classic, but I shouldn’t have to look up his title defense history to be reminded. His matches with Adam Cole were mostly empty calories. Was his death match with Lance Archer really memorable or did you have to look it up on Cagematch like I did? Unmemorable doesn’t equal bad, but it sure doesn’t equal good. 

The whole point of *gestures to the 3000 other words in the column* this is to experience something memorable, because isn’t that the point of life? To have experiences and make memories? There is plenty of room on team #SmellTheRoses (shouts to Adam Levitan) and we are a very welcoming bunch.

Page’s mic work the last few weeks has been the best of his career, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s because of who his dance partner is. He might not be The Best In The World anymore, but very few are better when it comes to building something big and telling an actual story than CM Punk. The rust might show in the ring, but performers at his level don’t just forget how to talk. That’s innate to who he is. 

While the quality of the mic work has been good all around, the content and messaging has been a bit confusing. When Page said he’s protecting AEW from Punk, what does that really mean? He alluded to seeing thing happening off camera, but what things? The announcers were all torqued up about Page hitting Punk at the end of the segment, and saying Punk got in his head…but Punk pushed him first? These are, admittedly, small things. The quality in performance has elevated this feud a bit.

I’m not sure what the outcome of this match will be, but I am pretty certain Hangman is going to beat on Punk bad. He might not win, but this is a different version of Hangman – one that seems out for literal blood. I think that’s enough for him to retain.

Prediction: Adam Page