It had seemed possible that House Of Black's new formula was just to kick ass first and worry later when it came to angles, storylines and plot twists. The obvious in-built support base, the immense satisfaction of getting to watch them work live and the fact that they'd beaten The Elite with almost no story back at Revolution validated the theory to an extent...
...until they had a match that bordered on boring with the red hot Acclaimed.
On those terms, this proof of concept match was a dismal failure, even if it had its occasional in-ring highs. But those same highs are there all the time in AEW because the company has worked extremely hard to raise the bar beyond any expectations that might once have been held. There'll always be great wrestling matches, but the crowd reactions at Double Or Nothing were a stark reminder that they simply aren't enough.
The match lacked flow, proper out-and-out heel/babyface drama, and both teams and the belts felt too trivial as a result. The House Rules gimmick still has legs, but otherwise it's less "back to the drawing board" and more "actually use it for the first time".
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
