5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Double Or Nothing 2023

1. Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Elite

2022's Anarchy In The Arena set the bar so high for hardcore wrestling and arena brawling that Jon Moxley's promise of quality in the closing moments of Wednesday's Dynamite felt like it was setting up the multi-man blood feud up for failure.

Felt like, because would any wrestling fan doubt Jon Moxley about anything?

Yet again, the staging, arrangement and remarkable gifts of the core players involved cemented Double Or Nothing as the destination for multi-man brawls and Anarchy In The Arena as AEW's best signature gimmick. It's so hard to manufacture this type of carnage, but committing so hard to every spot that bumps into barbed wire and glass may be missed was part of the toll - Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley did just this, but Claudio Castagnoli was swinging Matt Jackson into a bin while Hangman Page and Bryan Danielson fought like lifetime enemies in the ring, so you'd be forgiven for missing it.

On and on this went until a) the live band blasting out Wild Thing were hilariously silenced at three plays via Young Bucks superkick and b) the bigger set-pieces needed the biggest spotlight on them. Matt Jackson hit an exploding superkick, was punished by having his shoe removed and bare foot dropped onto tacks, Omega and Page proved themselves the best double act in AEW history by overcoming 2-on-4 odds, and Don Callis' obsession with ending 'The Best Bout Machine' for good was manifested in the form of Konosuke Takeshita's heel turn.

That last act could have gone a little smoother, but it's an especially petty point to make in light of everything that had come before it. Smooth makes for WWE television magic, not the only North Amrican brand that could produce Anarchy In The Arena. At a time when the organisation needed it most, this main event was another celebration of what AEW was and is, rather than what content overload might one day make it become.