AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2025
MAY 25, 2025
DESERT DIAMOND ARENA
GLENDALE, ARIZONA
Watch: Amazon / YouTube / Triller (Non-US) / PPV.com
Audio Review: Instant Reaction LIVE
Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Women’s Tournament Final Match
Mercedes Mone def. Jamie Hayter
The return of Jamie Hayter has been an uneven one. She came back with a new weird retro look on a preshow and hasn’t really been given much of a chance to get back to where she was before injury. This was her biggest match since returning. Mercedes has also had an uneven AEW run. Sometimes she has lived up to her billing as one of the greatest US women wrestlers ever. Other times, she comes up short. With major stakes in this match (the winner went on to challenge for the Women’s Title at All In), there was a lot of pressure to deliver.
Immediately, there were dueling chants. Going in, I wasn’t sure if the recent Hayter push was working, but it appears to have stuck. They settled into some back and forth matwork. The first big spot of the match was Mone delivering a Meteroa from the apron to a hanging Hayter. This looked very cool. Mercedes then took control, working over Jamie’s neck and back for a while. Mone hit another Meteora, but again Hayter kicked out. The pacing at this point was fine; the crowd was engaged but not losing their minds, either.
Mone often has an issue where she can look pretty sloppy and not very crisp. She was locked in here. So was Hayter. She delivered John Woo dropkicks and corner knees with razor precision. The crowd began to build against Mone; boos began to ring out while Mone hit the Three Amigos. Hayter then attempted her own version, beginning with a superplex, but Mone countered with a backstabber. However, seconds later Hayter returned with a devastating lariat that sent both down for a while.
They went to the outside. Hayter shot Mone into the barrier and tried to jump off the stairs into a lariat, but stumbled while doing so. However, instead of the move falling part, it made the whole sequence feel more real and brutal. It was a good recovery. Returning to the ring, Mone hit three more backstabbers into the Statement Maker. After more back and forth, both ascended to the top rope, with Mercedes going for the Mone Maker. Hayter countered, but Mone countered with a version of the Meterora that was almost more of a hip thrust than knees. Mone then attempted an O’Conor roll into a bridge that got countered into a sleeper by Hayter to a huge reaction. The action picked up here, with lots of back and forth counter and pinning sequences, right into another Statement Maker. Hayter almost got to the ropes, but Hayter rolled out and was able to lift Mone up and stand right into a sort of reverse GTS right into a lariat for a big two count.
This is where the match really kicked into gear. The lariat was Hayter’s bread and butter in the match, but Mone finally saw them coming and kept blocking them, into a tombstone. Hayter reversed that one into her own and signaled for another big lariat. Mone countered into a cradle ddt that spiked Hayter’s head right into the mat, got the win and sprinted out of the ring to her newly won trophy and eventual match for the women’s title at All In.
This was a very good, well-executed, well-paced opener. At one point, I was thinking, this is good, but not great. Then, seconds later, I said, yeah, this is great. Mone wasn’t hindered by any of the awkwardness or sloppiness that can hinder her matches. Hayter also looked better than she has since her long layoff. A great return to form. I hope that this will be a kickstart to her regaining a prominent spot in the division. A good start to the show. ****
FTR def. Daniel Garcia & Nigel McGuinness
FTR has felt revitalized since their heel turn. They started right out of the gate here; Cash threatened to attack a fan. Unfortuatenly, Nigel didn’t enter to Fuck In The Bushes here, I guess it was too much money this time.
“Ohhhhh, Nigel McGuinness” chants rang out, but Garcia started the match. Garcia is in a weird place in AEW. He just had a TNT title reign that already feels forgotten and now feels like a stepping stone for FTR here. He is usually good, but has seldom been great over the past year or so. FTR is way more natural as heels, bumping around like maniacs and selling for the faces.
Nigel’s return has been a good feel-good story in AEW. Any match we get is playing with house money at this point. I never have major expectations for one of his matches, but I’m always happy to see him wrestling. He’s not as honed in as he used to be, but he still looks good and lets his opponent lay in. Dax laid in some real hard hitting chop, putting a handprint on McGuinness’ chest early. After some crisp running European Uppercuts, FTR slammed McGunness into the announcer table and took control.
They built the hot tag, cutting off Nigel whenever they could. FTR thwarted the slingshot lariat and Cash hit his own Tower of London to Nigel off of the apron. After a few minutes of FTR domination, Nigel was able to hit a big version of the Lariat to Wilder and, after a Wheeler cutoff was thwarted, got the tag into Garcia.
Garcia came in like a house on fire and cleared house. He locked in the Dragon Tamer against Dax, but Cash cut off with a lariat. McGuinness regained himself by now and was able to save Garcia. The first big nearfall came when McGuinness and Garcia hit a cool two-man Tower of London, with Garcia holding Dax and Nigel hitinning the neck breaker. Nigel and Garcia hit parellel submissions on FTR. Stokely Hathoway tried to break it up, but Daddy Magic stopped him. The build to this match focused around FTR disrespecting Tony Shiavone. Nigel forced Cash to apologize to him, but then when Cash got back in control, he took back the apology because his fingers were crossed.
The match broke down a bit and the action picked up. Garcia dragged Dax to the top rope for a superplex. After the first, he dragged him up to the next turnbuckle for another. After that, he then went for a third. However, that was reversed into a sort of spinning suplex of his own, followed by a Cash splash. Moments later, Nigel was taken out of the match for good with a Shatter Machine on the floor.
Schiavone tried to check on McGuinness. FTR took advantage and cornered him by the announcer’s table. However, intimidation was enough here; they put their focus back on Garcia. Garcia responded valiantly, taking on both men alone. However, it was eventually too much. Dax hit a piledriver for a nearfall. FTR followed up with a stuff piledriver, which felt like the end. Garcia got his foot on the ropes. Still the end was inevitable here. Wheeler locked in a sharpshooter. Daddy Magic tried to climb to the apron but was taken out by a diving Cash. McGuinness almost regained enough to make the save, but he didn’t have it in the tank. Garcia tapped.
This was a very good, well-worked match. The crowd was generally engaged, although it wasn’t electric throughout. They most likely could have shaved a few minutes off to really hit the sweet spot, but this was still enjoyable. It’s a real treat to watch Nigel McGuinness wrestle a few times a year now. ***¾
Stretcher Match
Ricochet def. Mark Briscoe
Stretcher matches are a weird stipulation. My assumption is that this match was created as a tribute to the late Sabu. However, it feels impossible for them not to devolve into the WWE stretcher trope of a goofily loading an opponent on a stretcher and pushing him to a finish line. In this version, the stretcher must be loaded into an ambulance. Two stretchers were initially in the match – one in the ring, another already at the end of the ambulance.
The match immediately revolved around the stretchers. There were bumpts into the stretcher, around the stretcher, teases of diving onto the stretcher, teases of the match ending early by the stretcher already attached to the ambulance. Ricochet even attempted a shooting star press from the apron onto Mark on the stretcher, but Briscoe moved away. He then hit his long-teased Cactus Elbow form the apron onto Ricochet, sending him spilling from the stretcher.
Briscoe started throwing chairs at Ricochet’s head Sabu style. Of course, you can’t have a Sabu tribute without tables, and Mark slid one from under the ring. Ricochet, though, was not one to appease the fans and slid it right back under.
Mark brought some levity to the match by brinfining out some cleaning supplies and buffing up Ricochet’s bald head. As a bald guy myself, I take great offesnse to the mockery. More Sabu spots followed, with Mark setting up a chair for a triple jump moonsault and pointing to the ceiling. Usually, the moment at the top of the ropes was a very tense one for Sabu: would he fall? Would he land it? This time, there wasn’t that pause – Ricochet threw a chair right into Mark’s face immediately.
Mark busted open to Muta scale levels. Ricochet ripped the padding off the stretcher and bashed and mashed Briscoes forehead all over it, blood coating the yellow gurney. The stretcher was wheeled towards the ambulance. Mark was loaded in, one door closed, but then the second was blocked by a crutch. Briscoe emptied to contents of a fire extinguisher into Richocet’s face – one weapon that can really take me out of a match.
They returned to the ring. Mark’s entire head was stained red. It was nasty and beautiful. He quickly hit a Jay Driller and brought the table back out. Briscoe scaled the top rope and hit a massive Froggy Bow onto a prone Ricochet on the table. The table exploded. The spot looked awesome.
Eventually, Ricochet found his trusty scissors and began carving up Mark’s forehead. However, the tables turned quickly and Briscoe gained control of them. Ricochet retrueated to the ambulance, where he apparently was able to plant another pair. After a Spirit Gun lariat, Ricochet loaded Mark into the ambulance.
Mark Briscoe is consistently one of the best performers in AEW. He makes the most of every opportunity. He’s the perfect opponent for anyone who needs a stop gap feud/pay-per-view match. He’s going to delivery every single time. He did it once again here. However, it’s time to stop using him as that stop gap. We need to start to build to a big Mark Briscoe win asap. He is due. What’s stopping him from a TNT or International title run? The man deserves it.
This match ended up being a lot of fun. It was bogged down by the stipulation at points, and there were absolutely some hookey parts. However, Mark carried the match, Ricochet held up his side and there was some real violence. The camera focused on a pool of blood surrounding the pair of scissors in a great visual to end the match. ****
AEW World Tag Team Title Match
The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (c) def. The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara)
I’ve been intrigued by the ongoing Hurt Syndicate/MJF storyline. However, not really enough to care about this match. My expectation going in is that MJF would interfere to give the Syndacate an easy win. Therefore, investment ahead of this was limited.
Lashley and Dustin stared each other down to start, which was cool. The pace of this match was pretty quick. Not so much as far as the action, but there were quick tags and short segments, which was a nice change to the show since everything had been pretty lengthy to this point.
Everyone looked decent to start, if not perfunctory, even Sammy. Finally, Lashley slammed Sammy with a Dominator and grinded the match to a slog. MJF’s presence kept the crowd into the match. The match turned into an extended beatdown of Sammy, a wrestler who is impossible to care about or sympathize with in 2025. Dustin is one of the best hot tags ever and came through here with all of his trademark stuff, even a Code Red. The crowd was into Dustin but not much else here.
Finally, MJF distracted the ref, but Dustin was able to hit a low blow on Shelton during the distraction. Dustin and Sammy then hit a combo Shooting Star to the outside/Crossrhodes inside the ring (I’ll let you decide who did what) but that wasn’t enough. Shelton hit his armdrag from the top to a two-count. MJF got fed up with how long the match was taking and tried to give Shelton the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Lashley wasn’t having it. The distraction caused the Sons of Texas to briefly comeback. Lashley hit a spear that seemed like the end. Dustin pulled Shelton off the pin. MJF gouged Dustin’s eyes and again was going to use the ring. Lashly pulled him off but then…. They smiled at each other and Lashley speared Dustin through the barricade. MJF and Lashley then celebrated together – they are on the same side afterall.
Sammy was trying to hit a dive on MJF and Lashley that was supposed to get cut off by Shelton. It was a bit awkward. Shelton then hit a superkick on Sammy and that was it.
There is a major disconnect between the Hurt Syndicate and their actual matches. I generally have liked the MJF segments and storylines. However, the matches are usually slow and boring, and now there is an MJF hookiness thrown in, too. This was somehow a combo of boring, all over the place, and overbooked. Why was Lashley against MJF until… he wasn’t? It was all just weird and didn’t work. **
AEW Continental Title Match
Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Mike Bailey
Speedball’s run has been good in AEW. He comes off as legitimate and a real threat. However, he also feels like he’s already hit his ceiling. Now, of course I know this isn’t true – he could still do a lot in AEW and ascend to win some sort of title and have a long run. But, still, it already FEELS like he has hit where his is going to be in AEW, and that is it. This was a big match to change that narrative to me. Everyone knows that Okada’s AEW run has been uneven at best. It’s hard to tell when he will take any match seriously and lock in. PPVs are usually a safe bet but still aren’t guaranteed.
The match started with an Okada slow-paced feeling out process. As per usual, he underestimated his smaller opponent a bit, mocking Bailey but getting outmatched at first. Bailey tried to kick Okada on the outside, but instead kicked the stairs with his bare foot. It sounded nasty. Okada thought he outsmarted Bailey, but Speedball turned holding his foot in pain into a crane kick that led to a moonsault from the top. It was a great sequence.
The leg became the focus of the match. Okada started to work it over as Speedball grimaced and started limping. Okada began dominating as Bailey started to bump around like crazy for him. Speedball began chopping Okada, but this only ramped up Okada himself. Quickly, it felt like Okada was game to have a great match and make Speedball look great. An early highlight was Bailey countering an Okada dive seuqnece into an impressive moonsault from the middle rope.
Speedball’s strikes all looked legitimate and nasty here. Generally, I think he is a very good wrestler who is rarely great. However, this match was structured perfectly to let Bailey get his stuff in, but also not do too much, too early. It breathed. Then, when he countered Okada flipping him off with a kick and rolling elbow, it worked. Sadly, it was followed up with a Shooting Star countered by Okada’s knees to the stomach, halting Bailey’s momentum.
Strikes were exchanged; punches, kicks, chops, karate kicks, dropkicks.
It led eventually to Bailey gaining control on the apron and hitting a kneedrop moonsault on the apron, followed shortly with another in the ring. Bailey went for a Time Adventure kick, but Okada countered it with a dropkick and tried a Rainmaker that was countered by a nifty kick. Bailey then hit the Timed Adventure, but Okada grabbed the rope exactly at the count of three. The crowd was a bit thrown off ad aggravated by this and lost a little steam.
Okada is great at coming up with great Rainmaker counters and finishing stretches, and that happened here over and over too. Finally, Speedball went for a 450 that was countered by a dropkick in midair. Okada hit the dropkick and it was over.
This was exactly the type of match you want Okada to have in AEW. His chest was welted and bleeding after. Speedball had a level-up type of performance. It all worked well here and makes you wonder why we can’t see this from Okada more often. ****¼
AEW Women’s World Title Match
Toni Storm (c) def. Mina Shirakawa
After Mercedes won earlier, the winner to this match was never in doubt. Despite dueling chants to start, the crowd settled in pretty quick. This match itself just felt like a standard AEW women’s television match. Mina worked over Toni’s leg to work towards a ringpost Figure Four. There was a bunch of rudimentary back and forth here, but not much resonated.
Eventually, Luther in front of a Mina attack. She attacked him, then used his body as a springboard into a cool twisting splash. She then hit a crossbody to Luther from the corner. She went back to attacking the leg for the Figure Four.
The point of this match was to present Mina as a credible addition to the women’s division. She went toe-to-toe with Toni, exchanging strikes and suplexes but always looking like a threat to win. Toni’s knee finally gave out as she was attempting her hip attack in the corner. She was met with a dropkick to the knee as a reward.
The crowd never bought into Mina winning. She would lock in submissions, but it never felt like the outcome was in doubt. This greatly hurt the match, even as Shirakawa continued to pike on offense. Mina hit the Glorious to her biggest nearfall.
After some more back and forth and submission attempts, there was a back and forth cradle sequence that led to Toni hitting the Storm Zero for the win.
This was fine enough. There was nothing really wrong with the work, but I also never engaged or thought Toni was losing. That hurt it a lot. It got going towards the end, but still I didn’t feel like there was much on the bone here. Then they made out. Toni will face Mercedes Mone at All In. ***1/4
Anarchy In The Arena Match
Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, The Opps (Katsuyori Shibata, Powerhouse Hobbs & Samoa Joe) & Willow Nightingale def. Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta) & The Young Bucks
The first Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing 2022 is one of the landmark AEW matches. Since then, there’s been diminishing returns. Usually they are good but too long and too over the top.
Samoa Joe was absent with the Opps as they entered to ring, leading Swerve to question it. The Cosplay was strong with Team AEW – Swerve came dressed as the Predator and Kenny Omega had a trashcan painted like the Captain America shield. The Death Riders separated as they entered the arena, coming in from different angles. The Young Bucks came out like they were marching on the Valley Forge fields in the American Revolution, complete with fife music and an elaborate Justin Roberts speech looking like George Washington, as they are… the Founding Fathers. Finally, the Team AEW had enough and attacked the Bucks. Joe then came through the concourse and attacked Claudio from behind. The match was on. The music gimmick this year was the drum and fife Young Bucks theme playing over the action. Kenny eventually changed the music to “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. The match started to go off the rails quickly.
Kenny took the mic and luckily the song stopped as everyone brawled around the building. But then… he directed the back to play “Bodies” by Drowning Pool. CZW vibes reigned supreme as the crowd screamed the lyrics and the brawls raged on
It’s not going to be worth it to do any real play-by-play here. Here is a list of some crazy/cool/funny stuff that happened, in no order:
- Marina suplexed Willow right onto the barricade
- Claudio went through a merch stand table
- Mox carved up Hobbes with a fork
- Hobbes threw Yuta off of a balcony onto security guards below, followed by a Kenny moonsault into the pile
- Hobbs spinebustered Moxley through a table
- Swerve hit the Griddy to the intro of one of the play through of Bodies
- Shibata hit a barbed wire penalty kick onto a seated Yuta
- Cladio swung Swerve into the sound system to stop the music, then Hobbes speared him through more cases
- Willow busted Marina open with a bottle to the face
- The Bucks draped Kenny over the ropes, hit him with a double stomp from the top. Kenny flipped over the ropes right into being caught for a powerbomb through a table
- Willow’s ear was attached to the ring post by lock and chain through the plug hole in her earlobe
- Nick hit a Senton from the top of the entrance videoboard through Hobbes on a table
- Swerve came out on a lift and hit the Swerve Stomp on both Bucks
- Hobbs no-sold the stable gun, looking badass
- Swerve stabled Moxley in the neck, then countered Claudio’s popup uppercut with a staple to the head. Unfortunately for him, he took a staple to the tongue later
As the match picked up, Hobbs and Willow both got a lot of shine and looked like complete badasses. Marina also had the performance of her career – looking like a badass when she needed to, and showing ass when she needed too, taking a huge dragon suplex from Kenny for her troubles. The Bucks took out everyone with superkicks including Rick Knox and Willow. As they were going to give her the Meltzer driver, Swerve sent Nick through a table. They hit their own version onto Matt. Everyone did a good job of tempering down the goofiness once the meat of the match started. A man in an orange hoodie drawn around his face like Kenny from South Park, with… Kenny from South Park on the front attacked Claudio with a golf club, revealing himself to be Hook. However, he shook his head at Joe and left. Gabe Kidd then interviewed on behalf of Death Riders.
Kenny ate an EVP trigger with thumbtacks in his mouth, then got giant swung into a wheeler kick. The entire team ganged up on him until Joe was able to make the save. Kidd was going to get something from the ambulance (which reappeared for this match), but a bloodied Mark Briscoe returned and hit a dive from the ramp, evening the odds again.
The Death Riders were all locked into the ambulance, leaving the Young Bucks, Swerve, and Kenny alone in the ring. They hit a syncronized V-Trgger/House Call on both. Earlier in the show, there was a commercial for the new Swerve Answer Reebok shoe. We should have realized this would lead to a thumbtacked appearance of the shoe during this match. Kenny the One Winged Angel on Matt off the ramp through an exploding table, and Swerve hit a tacked Swerve stomp right onto Nick’s face for the win.
This was fun and crazy and what you’d expect. The organicness of the match is gone – they have to hit some of the same beats every time (Bodies played 4 times). Still, there was a lot of cool stuff happening all the time, stuff I’ve never seen before, and violence all over the place. Hobbes looked like a million bucks. The Bucks got their comeuppance. It was disjointed at points and over the top at others, but more streamlined than some of the other recent incarcerations. The last third of the match, the most important part, mostly took place in the ring and was focused on violence, not over-the-top gimmicks. The match delivered exactly what it was expected to be. ****1/2
The Don Callis Family (Josh Alexander, Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher) def. Paragon
These guys were fighting uphill immediately following Anarchy in the Arena. It didn’t help that Paragon and especially Adam Cole are very cold. We’ve been seeing some form of this team for almost 15 years at this point.
It was hard to really pay attention during this one. It was a pretty basic tv match. The heels took over for a while. Then Paragon came back. The crowd didn’t care.
Finally, business picked up a bit. O’Riley hit his big dropkick to a seated opponent in the barrier corner. Roddy backbreakered someone over the railing. Cole hit the Panama Sunrise launching from the apron to the outside. Eventually, O’Riley had a guillotine on Fletcher. Takeshita elbowed O’Riley and Fletcher hit a Brainbuster for the win. ***
The fight continued after the bell. RPG Vice joined in the beatdown. Then, Brody King’s music played. They were soon joined by THE ACE Hiroshi Tanahashi right as the build to Forbidden Door begins. Tanahashi could barely walk to the ring, but still hit the Sling Blade on Fletcher. Cole then planted the Boom on Fletcher. I’d think we will get Fletcher vs. Cole for the TNT title soon.
Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament Final Match
Hangman Page def. Will Ospreay
Going in, this felt like the biggest AEW match in at least a few PPV cycles. The entrances fed into that. Both felt huge. The Owen Hart tournament felt like a slog and afterthought at different times in AEW history. Last year, the addition of the title shot at a stadium show really helped establish stakes and importance to the tournament. Now, it feels bigger than any title match in the company has this year.
There was a bell pop immediately. Both men stared each other down intently before locking up. Dueling chants started – the crowd seemed pretty evenly split to start. The lighting in the arena for this was different than the rest of the show – a blue hue spread over the arena. This was a cool touch that didn’t feel too overdone.
The crowd knew this one would take a little while to get going. It paced themselves at first. However, Ospreay began his patenting early match finisher tease sequence, and they came alive. After they settled, they continued to build the match at a deliberate pace, slowly ramping up. Page nearly knocked Ospreay out with a tight elbow shot. The crowd was a bit subdued – I don’t think they were tired, but they knew the match was going to kick into another gear eventually.
Soon enough, Ospreay rallied the crowd, leading to a crossbody over the ropes to the outside. Hangman caught it and slammed him right into the barricade. Hangman controlled the next segment of the match. Hangman started to lay in more kicks. Ospreay welcomed them. He wasn’t backing down.
Hangman continued to control most of the match, but Ospreay wasn’t backing down. Hangman became increasingly agitated with Will’s resilience. He backed him into a corner. He laid the shots on harder. Ospreay kept going. The action picked up, trading powerbomb attempts, lariats, hook kicks and Spanish Flys. The crowd was waiting for their cue and came alive.
The damage took its toll on Ospreay. He took longer to execute moves. He had to slap himself to regain his focus. Hangman eventually took advantage, hitting a Buckshot from the turnbuckle but failing on his second follow up. He was rewarded with a moonsault as his body draped over the rope.
The pace picked up and the counters started. Hangman used an Angel’s Wings, an homage to Christopher Daniels, a man whose career he ended. He then attempted a Best Moonsault Ever. He messed it up – jumping on the second turnbuckle twice, mispositioning himself quickly. Ospreay capitalized with a Hidden Blade after the BME attempt.
The action spilled to the apron. Ospreay powerbombed Hangman, then hit a Styles Clash from the apron to the floor. Hangman’s forehead planted right on the floor. After a count-out tease, Hangman entered the ring at 9, right into an Oscutter followed by a Hidden Blade. Hangman kicked out. The crowd began to stir with chants of “Cowboy Shit.”
The roles reversed here. Ospreay began to lose his cool. His strikes got stiffer and sloppier. He let the ref distract him. Hangman was curled up in front of the announce table. The vicious side came out as the boos began. Ospreay slammed Hangman’s head repeatedly into the announce table. He pulled Hangman on top of the table and teased a Tiger Driver or Stormbreaker. However, as he tried, Hangman tried to counter with a Deadeye. Unfortunately, the table collapsed early, which killed momentum. After taking a moment, Hangman recovered and hit another Deadeye into the table remnants.
Ospreay returned to the ring. Hangman set up the Buckshot. They stared at each other as Ospreay removed the elbowpad. Hangman followed suit. There was a staredown – who would hit their opponent first?
Hangman.
Will, mostly out of instinct, kicked out. Regaining composure, Ospreys strikes became more unhinged. Hangman went for the Buckshot again. This time, Ospreay got it. Stormbreaker.
Kickout.
Ospreay went for the Hidden Blade from behind. Hangman ducked. The crowd was all in at this point. This was the match they knew they would get.
Ospreay then pointed his fingers in a handgun formation at Hangman’s head. Just like Kenny Omega. The crowd booed a bit. He planted Hangman with a V Trigger. However, Hangman countered with the move of his own rival Swerve – Big Pressure.
Another Buckshot was countered by Will. But Hangman didn’t give up and hit another right away.
Hangman wins. He will meet Jon Moxley at All In. The show ends with Hangman extending a handshake to Will. This won’t be the last time we see this match
This was immediately a canonized, legendary AEW match. Even though Hangman has been with AEW from the beginning, it felt like a new chapter in the company has begun. Ospreay gets yet another big loss. His time isn’t here. They need to pull the trigger on him soon, but I am fine with waiting still. He is now getting frustrated, sloppy and emotional, which is leading to these losses. Overcoming that will work out in the long run for everyone. A lot will be made about the decision to have Will lose. I think it will be fine – it worked for Naito and it will work here. We may have seen the first match of a generational rivalry that could extend through the company for years. This was merely Chapter 1. *****
Final Thoughts
This was a slam dunk show. It did suffer what most AEW PPVs do – it was too long (4 ½ hours, 5 ½ if you count the Buy-In). Even so, a show with the caliber main event this one had can never be a bad one. Add on an Anarchy in the Arena match that delivered on the format and three other matches that I considered ****+, and this is a show of the year contender.
