What more can I say about All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that hasn’t been said about their debut show, Double or Nothing? They have delivered the hype that had surrounded the promotion since the announcement of AEW. But, did they get it right?
What AEW got right:
Story telling within the match – This is something that has been lacking in the WWE for quite sometime now. Even some of their bigger matches lack a solid story within the match. Nearly every match in Double or Nothing told a good to amazing story within the timeframe. Yes, at times there were moments where it was just a spot fest, but hell, if it helps progress the story a bit I am fine with that. The match between Dustin and Cody, for instance — My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time and I did shed a few tears because of how emotional it was.
Adding big name Pro-Wrestlers – If you kept up with AEW through their social media and YouTube channel, you knew who was gonna end up at the promotion and at Double or Nothing. But that didn’t stop the organizers from getting big name talents into the company/show as surprises. After the Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho match, Jericho cut a promo stating how AEW is going to be a success because of him. And he wanted the crowd to thank him for it. All of the sudden, Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose, came out from the crowd and enter the ring, and hit his signature finisher on Jericho, a poor Ref and later Kenny Omega. Soon afterwards it was announced that Jon Moxley has signed a multi-year deal with AEW. Also, the surprise addition of Awesome Kong was amazing. I marked out hard!
The AEW Championship Title – The title was clearly inspired by New Japan Pro Wrestling’s IWGP Title belt. However it looked like a real title, not cheap or toyish. One of the biggest surprises of the night was having Bret “The Hitman” Hart come out and unveil the belt. If they ever decide to sell some sort of replica, I will find a way to buy one.
What AEW need to work on:
Show Production – I am not going to kill them for this one, but there were moments where you can notice that they were switching cameras a bit too much. It was almost like they didn’t know which camera they needed to be at. I know they will improve on this in the next show. I may sound a bit nitpicking at this point but during the Bret Hart Title unveil, they could’ve had a cameraman actually *in* the ring. What I am grateful about is that at least they do not do the WWE quick zoom-in impact. I wished WWE knew how annoying that is.
Don’t always put The Elite over – I know Kenny Omega did not win his match with Chris Jericho, but The Young Bucks won, Cody won and Adam “Hangman” Page won. If you want you can count SoCal Uncensored (SCU)’s win too. But please for the love of God, do not do what the klique did at World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was to put over talent that no one had heard of. Build a roster that can be greater than the WWE. Have a consistent story line from top to bottom. Give everyone a story that works for everyone and keep it consistent. One of the main things that sets me off about the WWE is the lack of consistency with their storytelling.
AEW: Double or Nothing was a 5 hour show that didn’t feel like a 5 hour show. It was fantastic from beginning to end. A few hiccups here and there but what show doesn’t have any? I’m going to put my fanboy hat on for a second and say that the last time I had this much fun watching a PPV from start to finish was WrestleKingdom 13. Well done, AEW.
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