10 Best Wrestling Pay-Per-Views Of 2019 (So Far)

1. AEW Double Or Nothing

Cody Dustin Rhodes
James Musselwhite/AEW

There was something ironic - and certainly divisive - about the various shots fired in WWE's direction at AEW's first pay-per-view.

In a very different, distinctive way, the upstart company borrowed inspiration from the evil empire's greatest triumph: WrestleMania X-Seven. Double Or Nothing was an incredibly diverse (and thus incredibly watchable) show. The genre showcases read like an impassioned and beautifully-written love letter to the art form, one the rampant crowd was evidently enamoured with. Head-spinning puro-lucha, vicious-yet-charming joshi, athletically and narratively advanced tag team wrestling, and an unvarnished big fight main event worked with pure, rare animosity: Double Or Nothing was a frontier-destroying, interstellar journey through the wrestling universe.

Cody Vs. Dustin Rhodes was the sun: scorching in heat, and so timeless and vital that every fan watching orbited around its life-affirming brilliance, the match was a blood-soaked reminder of how powerful this thing of ours is. The 'Mania X-Seven analogy extends to Double Or Nothing's momentous show-closing angle, in which Jon Moxley disrupted this new world just as we'd first walked on to it. But, where the WWF killed an era in Houston, AEW shifted a paradigm in Las Vegas on a show as special as any company has ever presented.

That it was AEW's first-ever effort inspired genuine hope for fundamental change.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!