11 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Double Or Nothing 2022
1. CM Punk vs. 'Hangman' Adam Page
The choices made through the build to 'Hangman' Adam Page and CM Punk's World Title fight were discussed to death on the road to Double Or Nothing, but while the creative wasn't perfect, AEW at least deserves credit for building a legitimately unpredictable main event.
Most of this promotion's World Title matches can be telegraphed. Not this one. Even if you subscribe to the idea that Page's anger comes from his own insecurity, as he tries to convince himself of the validity of his own words, it would have been difficult for even his most ardent supporters to say he was definitely going to win.
Whatever your subjective thoughts on the build, it worked for the live crowd. Las Vegas was hot. As loud as ever even four hours into the pay-per-view, that they were so engaged and energised, capturing the fabled "big fight feel" demonstrates that the characters, their motivations, and their stories objectively connected.
Things were nasty from the first few moments. A starchy Page forearm lit Punk up. Both chests were reddened with stinging chops soon afterwards, bringing a real, tangible sense of animosity to proceedings. Page fought like a man who was trying to defend AEW from CM Punk; CM Punk fought like a man AEW needed to be protected from after Dynamite's cheap shot.
The work here was a cut above everything else on the show. For long, long, stretches, nothing was a single millimetre out of place. Page and Punk conducted the audience like master politicians, laced each shot with thunder, and deployed bigger, more dramatic spots only when required. Punk's early superplex felt colossal as a result - and Page's Orihara Moonsault monumental.
It wasn't perfect. Punk and Page saved the former's slip on his first Buckshot Lariat attempt expertly, though Punk's execution on the second was as sloppy as the time he tried the move on Dynamite. That's a nitpick, but work of this depth demands such scrutiny. These two wrestlers should be held to the absolute highest standards.
Page jamming his knee on the aforementioned Moonsault came back to haunt him when he tried to use the same joint on a Go To Sleep. The challenger attacked it viciously thereafter, slowing Hangman and sapping much of his trademark explosiveness. After this, the World Champion had had enough, frustratedly bundling his challenger over the timekeeper's face, frothing with rage as he screamed Punk would never have the title. Page lost his head in that moment. With referee Paul Turner downed, he went for the belt with murder on his mind.
Then hesitated.
Went for the Buckshot
Missed.
Go To Sleep. 1, 2, 3. New World Champion.
Page's second World Title reign will be better than his first, which started slowly, heated up, and was ultimately crowded out. Nonetheless, an excellent, story-driven match to close a great pay-per-view on, despite its flaws.