5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Double Or Nothing 2023

All Elite Wrestling offers all-timer action hand-in-hand with all the same recent creative concerns.

by Michael Hamflett
Matt Jackson Exploding Superkick
AEW

Is it possible for there to be an outright bad AEW pay-per-view in 2023, or for that matter at all?

That was the (admittedly generous) question being asked ahead of the fourth edition of AEW's tentpole Las Vegas supercard, thanks to yet another wildly uneven build and yet another card that promised - literally in the case of Anarchy In The Arena after Jon Moxley's go-home Dynamite promo - at least one match to be in conversation for the best of the year.

Double Or Nothing 2023's card was stipulation-heavy but otherwise disciplined on paper, but could The Blackpool Combat Club, The Elite, and especially The Four Pillars use their collected years of main event poise and experience to ensure the show's biggest offerings were etched into memory as fans left the T-Mobile Arena?

And to at very least cast an eye at the elephant in the room if not quite acknowledge it, could those 12 men in particular - those with the biggest spots, facing the biggest acclaim for things going well and loudest complaints for if and when they haven't - silence the constant whispers about a 13th that stands to walk back in and be the subject of every single conversation for the next few weeks?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett