11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Double Or Nothing 2020

9. Cody Survives The Murderhawk

Cody TNT Championship
AEW

If the AEW TNT Championship was complete it'd be a Down. The belt doesn't look good in its current form, but, as explained by Tony Schiavone, gold plating is still to be attached to it, with the ongoing global health crisis preventing its completion. We'll pass final judgment - Up or Down - on what the final product looks like.

Anyway, Cody vs. Lance Archer. There was plenty wrong with this. The overbooked finish saw Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and Arn Anderson both get sent to the back, Mike Tyson chase Roberts off when he returned with the snake, then 'Iron Mike' distracting Archer to facilitate Cody's victory. The babyface's big theatre melodrama didn't hit in a near-empty Daily's Place and some might argue, too, that his win was a mistake. Also, it was about five minutes too long.

What saves it is the quality of the individual performances and the opening two acts, which were excellent. There were shades of Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 as Archer pummeled 'The American Nightmare' all around ringside and Cody entered an excellent babyface showing, bumping like a lunatic for Lance's crazy offense. The rivals emptied their tanks, told a heated story consistent with the build, and deserve the match edging into the Ups side of this column. They earned it.

Every big loss is taken as a "burial" in this era of atomised entertainment and kneejerk reactions, though AEW has shown great aptitude in rehabbing defeats so far. Archer will be fine coming out of this. Besides, Cody had to win one of his big matches someday: his last pay-per-view win was nine months ago.

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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.