10 Best AEW Matches Ever (According To The Internet)
7. Cody Rhodes Vs. Dustin Rhodes - Double Or Nothing 2019 (9.42)
The idea that AEW overuses blood is and isn't without merit.
Years after AEW had apparently diluted its effect, a claret-drenched Wheeler YUTA put himself on the map. Dr. Britt Baker created an iconic wrestling image when she pissed blood in her Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa. Ages after he had become a meme, Jon Moxley's blade job in his second match against Konosuke Takeshita, on the December 7, 2022 Rampage, did so much to advance Take's slow-burn breakthrough.
Still, it just doesn't feel the same way as it did when Dustin Rhodes wrestled as if he needed a transfusion during the first-ever Double Or Nothing.
In his match against brother Cody Rhodes, Dustin lost a lot of blood. A lot: the canvas looked like the floor of an abattoir. But, as a master understated craftsman, he worked it like he'd lost far more. In one great spot, one that barely qualifies as a "spot" in the modern sense, Dustin, on the verge of passing out, just lifted his shoulders off the mat, narrowly avoiding getting pinned when trapped in the figure-four. One barely perceptible movement generated a monster of a reaction in the MGM Grand. That was pro wrestling.
Cody played cult leader babyface in his entrance, a condescending heel pr*ck in the body of the match, and left the ring the saviour of wrestling having created an iconic blueprint of what his new company could achieve.
A level of danger, drama and emotion missing from wrestling in decades was conjured across its 22 spellbinding minutes.