16 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Double Or Nothing 2019
All Elite Wrestling hits HUGE home run on maiden PPV voyage.
Spread the word: mainstream American wrestling is great again.
Double Or Nothing was an absolute triumph of a pay-per-view from start to finish, with only a handful of minor hitches detracting from the overall experience. It was, in short, everything it needed to be, and while not every match swung for five stars, the night's lows were so trivial that pointing them out almost seems petty.
There were surprises aplenty, as Jon Moxley debuted, Hangman Page took the Casino Battle Royale, Awesome Kong returned from the wilderness, and Bret Hart showed up to unveil the AEW World Title. Only CM Punk's impossible appearance could've raised the stakes in this department. The bell-to-bell delivered, with one particularly bloody bout exceeding expectations to an unthinkable degree, and MJF's mid-show promo will go down as one of 2019's finest.
The Elite did it. While Brandi Rhodes' claims that this would be the "best wrestling pay-per-view ever" weren't met (of course they weren't), they delivered five hours of rich, varied entertainment, and it flew by. Double Or Nothing was a long show, but it didn't feel like one. That might be its greatest triumph on the night.
Fans should be very, very excited if this is the quality we can expect from AEW going forward...