11 Match Star Ratings From AEW Double Or Nothing 2023

1. The Elite Vs. Blackpool Combat Club - Anarchy In The Arena

Kenny Omega Bryan Danielson
AEW

I had enormous expectations for Anarchy In The Arena, and gauging by the deranged sounds I made in the T-Mobile, it exceeded them.

This was a masterpiece: in Anarchy In The Arena, Tony Khan has created a gimmick match that stands up to the very, very best. Somehow engineering an organic sense of chaos, the genre is perfect for the modern scene. The form enables dives, brawling, emotional set-pieces when the action converges in the ring. It folds in Attitude Era-style brawls backstage. It's as if you're playing every game mode at the same time: the greatest fan service vehicle in the age of the nonexistent attention span.

Claudio Castagnoli was a monster here. Everything you thought he could be in WWE, Matt Jackson sold for that vision. Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley furthered their rivalry in the top star show-down thread, which bettered Mox and Jericho's effort from last year. If you watched a Nick Jackson dive, you missed Omega smashing Mox with a barricade.

This is a feature and not a bug of the genre: the impossible to track action creates the idea that the hatred between the teams is such that they don't even care if you see them fight. When you do see it, though, it is beyond exhilarating. It at once doesn't feel like a "performance" and is the most entertaining spectacle in wrestling, all at the same time. This just ruled so hard.

Rick Knox being the first to blade was an hilarious sight gag. Matt Jackson took the swing on a concrete floor, and then returned to the ring with a secret explosive attached to his f*cking shoe, which he aimed at Jon Moxley's face. What a spot. A secret explosion spot! How good do you have to be to come up with that?

Excruciating bumps, like when Matt lost his sneaker and was slammed sole-first into tacks.

Incredible near-fall exchanges, in which some of the best wrestlers of all time, having protected their finishes to unprecedented degrees, generated heart-stopping reactions for what felt like every 5 seconds during a particularly furious sequence towards the finish.

Kenny Omega and Hangman Page teaming together again in a life-affirming moment before the opposite emotional side of that extreme was achieved through the Konosuke Takeshita heel turn.

This match lacked absolutely f*cking nothing: emotion, violence, comedy, exhilaration, shock, awe.

It was wonderful. A maelstrom of genius.

Star Rating: ★★★★★

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!