9 Match Star Ratings For AEW Double Or Nothing 2020

2. Jon Moxley Vs. Mr. Brodie Lee - AEW World Championship Match

Stadium Stampede
FITE TV

Tony Schiavone didn't say it here, but usually, when he's just called a damn war that speaks to the visceral ghoul inside, he says "That was an ass-kicking match".

This was an ass-kicking match, one with a sense of craft that belied its gruesome physicality.

Old business minds rave about Brodie Lee - Arn Anderson in particular - and his advanced ring IQ. Those reverent tones were at odds with a Vince McMahon parody character that had failed to connect, but 'Mr.' Brodie Lee got over here. Usually, when AEW veers towards ECW in its loose rule enforcement, JR has a (justifiable) whinge. Here, he didn't give a toss - very unusual - because the story of the match, and its stakes, demanded no meddling. These were two men with outsize badass auras, immune to any and all pleas for sportsmanship, nailing one another in a pounding bomb blitz, graduating in intensity from C4 to the thermonuclear blast that was the Paradigm Shift stage wreckage spot. That invoked a high-pitched yelp, and informed the finish beautifully.

This was never going to end in a pin, and it didn't. Lee emerged from the hole in the earth done for, in a trance, relying only on the fading embers of his killer instinct to kick out of another Paradigm shift. Moxley smelled the blood and choked him out, somehow contriving to pull off a finish so convenient that few have managed to do it convincingly.

An outstanding bit of business.

Star Rating: ★★★★¼

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!