AEW celebrated its fifth anniversary in style.
Double or Nothing returned to where it all began, the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, for a massive return, two title changes, a brutal cage match, some great wrestling and an insane main event on Sunday night.
All of this has fueled the rise of AEW.
Here are five takeaways from the show:
Arena Madness
Anarchy in the Arena is as insane as you’d expect, maybe even a little too much.
This match had it all, with Jack Perry pinning Bryan Danielson to give The Elite a win over Team AEW.
This included Danielson interrupting the Bucks’ theme to play “The Final Countdown” throughout the first half of the match, before Matt Jackson interrupted him to complain about how much it was costing AEW to acquire their licenses.
Darby Allin hit a Coffin Drop off the balcony, Kazuchika Okada hit a Rainmaker with thumb tacks, and The Young Bucks kicked Allin while he was tied up and hanging. Allin stayed there long enough for Danielson to dive in and attack The Bucks, and the crowd chanted “Let’s go see what Darby does.” Danielson also received a Tony Khan Driver with a giant poker chip.
The real mayhem took place outside between Allin and Perry, who appeared to run over his opponent with “Scapegoat’s” van, only to be knocked unconscious on impact.
When Allin returned, he was dropped from the EVP lift and returned with a flamethrower, and as Perry grabbed Tony Khan from backstage and returned to the arena, Allin set Perry’s legs on fire, but the Bucks quickly put it out.
After some technically impressive matches in Japan, it was fun to see Kazuchika Okaka dominate in this type of match, where The Elite were rightfully victorious. It will likely be a while before Team AEW tries to beat them again, so their reign of terror is likely to continue for a long time to come.
Monet Maker
Mercedes Monet is the new TBS champion, but I don’t think her AEW debut match against Willow Nightingale is the most interesting story.
Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander distracted the referee to give Nightingale time to catch her breath, seemingly giving Monet time to fight back with a Doctor Bomb, but continued to draw the attention of Aubrey Edwards, which prevented her from counting the pin immediately after it was hit.
Monet dodged Nightingale’s next Doctor Bomb attempt and countered with a Crossface and then an STF, the champion reached the ropes to break the hold, Monet went to the top turnbuckle and blasted Nightingale twice before flipping her over with the Monetmaker to win her first AEW championship.
The Las Vegas crowd cheered her on in that moment, but as a heel in this match, she didn’t get the boos she’d hoped for, and she has some work to do after failing to connect with the AEW crowd early on.
Though not perfect, Monet showed why she excels in the ring, with every move having a purpose and her sales and leaps showing a tenacious side to Nightingale that was impressive.
Hathaway then berated Nightingale and Statlander appeared to defend her, but as the two walked down the ramp, Statlander turned heel and attacked his friend with a clothesline, to the dismay of the crowd and delight of Hathaway.
This will see Statlander get a fresh start as a heel, Nightingale become the bigger babyface, and Monet face off against a still-unidentified attacker.
Biggest return
MJF looked like his old self after making a surprise return to AEW to face off against Adam Cole, who showed up unannounced after Roderick Strong lost the International Championship to Will Ospreay.
MJF lured him in for a hug, then kicked his traitorous friend in the groin and hit a suplex.
The former AEW World Champion, who was recently seen on video wearing a Batman-like suit, has not been seen since his loss to Samoa Joe at AEW World’s End in December, when he left the match to treat an injury.
MJF came out wearing the same jean jacket that The Game wore at MSG when he returned from a quad injury in 2002, making an allusion to Triple H.
In a lengthy promo, he makes it clear that the sweet, vulnerable persona he was known for while working with Cole is gone, and his old, arguably more focused self is back. Gone are the laughs, the friendships, the hard kicks and the bullshit. He’s back, driven by “hate, hate, hate.”
“He didn’t beat MJF, he just got him up,” MJF said.
He added: “You don’t need New Japan Pro Wrestling or Vince McMahon to create MJF. MJF created MJF.”
The Long Island native also commented on his contract situation, said he’s “the wolf of wrestling” and “I’m never quitting,” and showed off the AEW tattoo on his ankle.
Juice Robinson also returned later in the show.
Cope’s (potentially) expensive leap
Adam Copeland may have had his best game tonight, but he may have paid a heavy price for it.
During a bloody barbed wire cage match with Malachi Black, Copeland jumped from the top of the cage and attempted an elbow drop on Black, who was lying on a table.
Copeland seemed to hesitate, jumped a little short, landed awkwardly and injured his knee, and was limping badly when he finished.
Copeland showed off a fresh Brood persona with a fiery appearance from under the stage and the return of the faction leader, Gangrel appeared under the ring just as the House of Black overpowered him and Black appeared close to winning the TNT Championship.
With help from Gangrel, Copeland, still covered in barbed wire, performed a Spear and then applied an STF using the barbed wire to take the challenger down for good.
The match also had some cool moments, like when Buddy Matthews and Brody King turned their backs on Black and attacked Copeland.
The Storm is Coming
Toni Storm continued to put on a great match, with Serena Deeb’s wrestling acumen allowing the champion to showcase her flair with numerous counters and limb isolations.
The most significant event was when the protégé Mariah May was ready to throw in the towel like Storm did to her before. Luther stopped her, but when the Champion showed up, she thought the Deacon was going to do it. This could be the beginning of May’s final break.
After Storm, who actually had the crowd’s support, kicked out of Deeb’s finisher, the challenger made a rare climb to the top and paid the price.
Storm hit an Avalanche Piledriver followed by a Storm Zero for the win.
Other matches
Strickland defeats Christian to retain the AEW World Championship
Nick Wayne nearly took the title from Strickland, but the champion kicked Christian’s Killswitch. Prince Nana chased Wayne away. Strickland countered the Killswitch with a standing stomp on the announce table. Back in the ring, he delivered two House Calls and a vicious Swerve Stomp for the champion’s victory. After the match, Strickland had a major moment celebrating with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Will Ospreay defeats Roderick Strong to win the AEW International Championship
Don Callis pleaded with Ospreay to finish Strong off with a Tiger Drive 91 before he retired. Ospreay eventually gave up, his hesitation nearly dooming him, but he managed to hit a Stormbreaker and a Hidden Blade for the win.
Chris Jericho defeated Hook and Shibata to retain the FTW title.
Jericho may have added a new member to his learning tree, as Brian Keith appeared with a mask on his back and attacked Shibota and Hook with a trash can, putting the champion in danger of submitting and losing the title. Jericho hit Hook with the Judas Effect, but instead of pinning him, he pinned Shibota. With Big Bill intervening early in the match, Hook may need to enlist the help of Samoa Joe to get the belt back.
Jon Moxley defeats Konosuke Takeshita to advance to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match
Don Callis told Takeshita to bring another chair into the ring, but it backfired, and Moxley quickly stomped Takeshita on the chair and hit a Death Rider DDT for the win as Takeshita was in control of the match with no momentum whatsoever.
Orange Cassidy defeats Trent Beretta
Trent tried to get Orange Cassidy into a hand-to-hand wrestling match, but ended up losing. After landing some serious blows on his former friend, Beretta went for a shin submission. Cassidy flipped Beretta over and locked him in a shoulder lock. Beretta never made peace with the situation after that.
Bang Bang Gang defeated Death Triangle to retain the Unified Trios Championship
The match appeared to be won, but Juice Robinson returned and knocked PAC over the top rope, allowing Jay White to hit the Blade Runner for the pinfall and successfully retain the title.
Deonna Purrazzo defeats Thunder Rosa
Rosa dominated Purrazzo for most of the match, but was outmaneuvered and cheated at the end: she worked Puzzaro into a submission and tried to push her off using the ropes, but Purrazzo used them to press Rosa’s shoulders to the mat and grabbed the bottom rope for leverage.
The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn talk Cage of Agony
Billy Gunn won the match with a roll-up while Bishop Cowne was distracted by Golden Knights mascot Chance stealing a chair from Brian Cage.
Biggest winners: Will Ospreay
Biggest loser: Konosuke Takeshita
Best Match: Adam Copeland vs. Malachi Black
School year: B+
