9 Match Star Ratings For AEW Double Or Nothing 2020

8. Casino Ladder Match For A Shot At The AEW World Championship

Stadium Stampede
AEW

The sort of match that makes you appreciate just how elegantly the WWE Money In The Bank matches are laid out - not the one with the sh*t f*cking Doink, obviously - this was flabby and contrived when it wasn't demented and thrilling. It was 50/50 on that split, too, which didn't help - nor did its excessive length.

Elements of the match were great.

Orange Cassidy was amazing patter standing horizontally on a ladder and barely bothering to reach for the chip. He took a tremendous bump on a giant prop version under Joey Janela's death valley driver, too. Debutant and winner Brian Cage showed his jaw-dropping freak strength by powerbombing Luchasaurus onto a ladder; Darby Allin took a reckless, innovative, in-character bump with a skateboard; Jimmy Havoc in a cameo took a grisly bump on a ladder to build a match with SCU.

But these were only elements, barely connected, the gaps between which revealed incriminating stalling and contrived ring positioning that broke the spell of immersion that was barely cast to begin with. And then the production crew missed Brian Cage's big moment, in which be broke free from the pile of debris to ostensibly get him over as a freak of nature.

Like the match itself, it only half-worked.

Star Rating: ★★★

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!