AEW Double or Nothing 2023 Match Ratings and Commentary
Kris Statlander (Credit-AEW)
Here’s how we rated AEW Double or Nothing from Vegas. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Double or Nothing 2023
Orange Cassidy won the Blackjack Battle Royal to retain the AEW International Championship: ★★
Adam Cole def. Chris Jericho: ★
FTR def. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship: ★★
Wardlow def. Christian Cage to retain the AEW TNT Championship: ★★
Toni Storm def. Jamie Hayter to win the AEW Women’s World Championship: ★
The House of Black def. The Acclaimed to retain the AEW World Trios Championship: ★★
Kris Statlander def. Jade Cargill to win the AEW TBS Championship after Jade Cargill def. Taya Valkyrie
MJF def. Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry to retain the AEW World Championship: ★★★★ 3/4
The Blackpool Combat Club def. The Elite: ★★★★ 3/4
4 Pillars (Credit-AEW)
Show Highlight—
Kris Statlander. A surprise turn that was the feel good moment of the show. Double or Nothing ’23 was by no means AEW’s worst PPV, but it felt weird and weirdly off in its decision making and execution. It’s not like an AEW PPV to run for 2.5 hours and you feel like you didn’t see a great match nor even a wholly satisfying bout. My star ratings may seem a bit harsh, but ask yourself honestly, are you ever, ever going to watch those first 2.5 hours again?
Anyway, Statlander’s return was totally under the radar for me and unexpected and seemed to get the crowd visibly invested once she answered the challenge. Before Statlander got injured, she was someone who was seemingly just this close from breaking out before another visit to the disabled list. AEW fans love their originals, and even though Jade is an original herself, she’s been backed by the office so in that weird, AEW hardcore fan logic, Statlander is, what’s the word, more pure, I guess?
What Worked—
Orange Cassidy. As stated dozens of times, I don’t care for modern battle royals, but this had a wonderful ending. After a back and forth and a suggestion that some crazy shit would have to be landed to knock out Swerve, OC did the most OC thing and lazily kicked Swerve’s hand to win. The outcome surprised me, as I thought they’d do the ol’ protection route and have him lose the battle royal as a means to getting the title off him.
4 Pillars match. As with battle royals, I don’t like multi-person matches without eliminations, but this was the best four-way of all time, etching out even WWE Final Four 1997’s Bret vs. Taker vs. Austin vs. Vader match. MJF carried the match too, and his PPV performances in 2023 keep him in contention for wrestler of the year. Fun spots and sequences were non stop here—the rotation of hitting their mentor’s finishes, the four-way submission spot, all the casual swearing by MJF, and best of all, no overabundance of spots where guys are napping only to pop up to give or take a finisher.
Anarchy in the Arena 2. You know how we have that rubric for what justifies our match ratings, never did I think a cover band wearing blackface would be what precluded a five star match. Nothing was going to beat the visual of Eddie Kingston with the gas tank, but the exploding Nike shoe was great fun as well. For my tastes, that was the best 8 to 10 man hardcore clusterfuck AEW has ever produced.
What Didn’t Work—
Las Vegas vs. Sound. That crowd did seem dead. I don’t blame Vegas for having confused or unenthused reactions. Wrestling Twitter shit on the crowd non-stop, with fans in the arena saying the sound wasn’t being captured well, fearing AEW will not host DON there next time around.
I’m not one to think a wrestling company needs to punish a crowd and thus a city by not returning there for a PPV, as it’s a wrestling war and the competition is going to happily step in. That being said, the idea that one show is permanently in one location is asinine especially with where AEW is growth-wise. Gambling is legal everywhere now anyways.
FTR vs. TNA. The trolling has gone on long enough. The Karen Angle inclusion was just overkill of The Simpsons clip of Homer as Krusty killing the Krusty Burglar. I know FTR loves them some Harts, so while it’s unfair to compare Cash to Neidhart, like that team though, there’s a clear talent gap between the two and Dax couldn’t even save the match after the extended heat segment on Cash.
Wardlow vs. Christian Cage. Too much outside interference, again, and too many gimmick matches already. The focus completely came off Wardlow when Arn took the cannibal route.
Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter. This felt so bait and switch-y. I get why they did it, considering the pro’s and con’s. The pro is eventually having Jamie heel up to take the belt back at Wembley, and with Mercedes Mone’s health up in the air, Mercedes won’t be able to fulfill the dream match slot in London, either. The downside to the execution here, is fans are paying for the show—myself included—expecting to see Jamie put on a probably four star match here. They could have always pulled an audible and announced something here instead for the vacant belt, especially if they knew she wouldn’t be able to wrestle in advance. It’s not like the card was concrete 2 weeks ago. Also, the other drawback to the execution here, is it gives credence to something Punk intimated; if you’re too injured and not cleared to work a full match, why should you be cleared at all?
Show Cringe—
Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho. This was a bad cover version of Jericho’s goofy weapons matches against Dean Ambrose in WWE. It had none of the energy and frenetic feel of Jericho’s match just previously against Roderick Strong. The finish fell flat where it was clearly done to justify ANOTHER match as opposed to ensuring Adam Cole was ready for MJF. Jericho’s self-image of being an elevator of talent needing to get over the next hump is getting a brutal reality check this year; except Jericho seems to not be paying attention or just stridently leaning into it.
Wardlow (Credit-AEW)
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