10 Most Incredible Wrestling Moments Of 2019 (So Far)

2. Double Or Nothing's Success

Cody Dustin Rhodes Double or Nothing
AEW, James Musselwhite

Taste is subjective. If you found yourself put off by the Rhodes brothers' bloody theatrics, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega's inability to match their Wrestle Kingdom 12 banger, or the Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers' abundance of flippydoos, that's fine. There's no objective "good" or "bad" in this artform, and you're entitled to say that you didn't enjoy Double Or Nothing from an in-ring standpoint.

Buzz, however, is less subjective, and in delivering the exactly the kind of show its audience wanted while springboarding the nascent promotion into the zeitgeist's forefront, All Elite Wrestling's maiden pay-per-view voyage was a colossal success.

Double Or Nothing was a paradigm shift. While AEW weren't suddenly threatening WWE's business overnight, the mood coming out of it was largely one of rabid enthusiasm. There were faults, absolutely, but it felt like finally, after close to two decades, North American wrestling had been dealt a shockwave stronger than that generated by Cody's hammer on Triple H's throne.

All Out's excessive demand gives us a clear-as-daylight metric to point towards. As far as marketing and signposting the future go, Double Or Nothing was 2019's most successful wrestling pay-per-view.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.