PREVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2023

Welcome to The Wrestling Estate’s AEW Double or Nothing preview!

I’m Russ Good, and I’ll be walking you through all the announced matches on All Elite Wrestling’s big spring show, and I’ll share my picks along the way. We’ll have a few laughs, and we’ll probably disagree on the outcomes of some of these matches, but as long as we have a good time I’m fine with that.

Let’s get this party started!

Ethan Page and The Gunns vs. The Hardy Party

In the never-ending saga that is Matt Hardy versus contract law, we’ve somehow landed on Ethan Page’s contract at stake as the All-E-Gunns face off with the Hardys and honorary third brother Isiah Kassidy. This Firm-adjacent storyline feels like it’s been going on since time itself began, but the appeal of the Hardys cannot be denied. That music hits and all the collective fatigue kinda goes out the window for a bit.

I feel like the Hardys win here, although I realize that just means this storyline will continue forever. However, with Jeff alluding to one last title run before the Hardys call it a career, maybe I’m being too pessimistic. Maybe they bring Page – no stranger to weird stuff himself – into the Hardy Compound after they control his contract, and he and Kassidy back the Hardys and train them to title contention. I think this is a Zero-Hour match – and rightfully so – as I haven’t seen any match graphics for this one.

Unsanctioned Match — Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho

The end result of AEW’s All Access show watched by dozens of fans was Adam Cole’s return to All Elite Wrestling, and that led nicely into Chris Jericho getting jealous of the attention Cole was receiving. I think Jericho has really done a great job with this feud, pulling both Cole’s lady friend, Britt Baker, and the Outcasts into the orbit of what was already a solid one-on-one matchup. Cole gaining some buddies in Keith Lee and Roddy Strong will go a long way in fighting off the Jericho Appreciation Society, too.

Jericho will be down a man with Sammy Guevara in the championship picture, but he’s still got Daniel Garcia (who was the catalyst for this whole rivalry), Jake Hager, Angelo Parker, and Matt Menard, not to mention Anna Jay if Britt gets involved. That still gives Le Champion a man advantage after the shocking addition of SABU into the match as a special enforcer. Maybe Kyle O’Reilly returns to lend a hand, but with the ECW legend involved, the scales already feel balanced.

It seems like Jericho eats pay-per-view losses so often it’s a cliché, but this is an instance where the returning hero should probably get the win. There’s no reason to continue this feud any longer, and Cole should be headed to championship-level matches sooner rather than later.

Anarchy in the Arena — Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Elite

With the shocking (?) return of a one-eyed Adam Page, The Elite seem poised to take out the group that’s been plaguing them since the BCC turned heel. The Blackpool Combat Club has become increasingly aggressive, though part of that is likely Moxley’s contractual obligation to spill a pint of blood in the ring every month.

Bryan Danielson seemed to be relegated to a commentary role lately, but Jon Moxley, Claudio Castignoli, and Wheeler Yuta are gonna need him to balance things out against the Young Bucks, a recently-betrayed Kenny Omega, and “Hangman” Page. The only other solution I can see is the vile Don Callis replacing Danielson with a young, confused Konosuke Takeshita as a jab at Omega. If that’s the case, maybe BCC goes over, but my money is still on the Elite.

Either outcome is okay by me, as we’re gonna get a great match regardless. These Anarchy matches are some of the best original ideas AEW has come up with, and they always feature a bunch of memorable spots. And with this group of talent on both sides, there’s bound to be some really great wrestling in the middle of the mayhem as well. And the rivalry is bound to continue, as the story they’ve been telling seems to barely be reaching a middle – especially with Blood and Guts looming.

AEW International Championship — 21-Man Blackjack Battle Royal

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, “The King of Sloth Style,” has been killing it as the Intercontinental Champion. With apologies to Sheamus, the man has been putting on banger after banger after banger against world-class talent – which is kind of the point of the title, isn’t it? He’s selling his mounting injuries well, and the wins are looking more and more like Cassidy is just scraping by.

Looking at the graphic above, it’s hard to say what direction this battle royal goes. I’d wager that several of these guys might become Collision talent, as that show is going to need a respectable title and a good variety of talent if AEW decides to go with a full roster split.

I could see Cassidy hanging on to the championship here only to be forced to defend it at the first Collision against whoever is in the ring last with him. I’d lean towards Jay White or even Juice Robinson if that’s the case. That would bring an existing rivalry with Ricky Starks over to the new program, and let Cassidy take a well-earned break before a heroic return.

TNT Championship Ladder Match — Wardlow vs. Christian Cage

The build for this one has been a little rough because of, well, a bunch of stuff. Cage getting injured was the reason for his and Jungle Boy’s feud to get dragged out. Then the mask lawsuit had Luchasaurus off television for a bit. But things settled down and Wardlow is going to get a nice, straightforward ladder match with Christian Cage.

This should be short, brutal, and decisive. AEW missed a golden opportunity to push Wardlow to the moon, and they’ve been trying to play catchup since. I’m sure Luchasaurus will be involved, but that should just make Wardlow look even more dominant when he’s able to overcome both baddies as he stands tall over them with the TNT Championship after the match.

AEW World Tag Team Championship — FTR vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal

I will admit that I’ve fully come around on Jeff Jarrett. Planet Jarrett is a fun comedy group that still gets it done in the ring, and Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt are great as the giant and the heater, respectively. The inclusion of Mark Briscoe in this matchup as special guest referee was a surprising call, but there’s bound to be some shenanigans. Mark will be one step ahead, and that should lead to some funny spots.

This is yet another match that looks good on paper, and FTR and Planet Jarrett should be able to have a good, solid match with plenty of distractions before Dax and Cash hit the Big Rig. I can’t imagine we’re gonna hear bree-woos after the match, but it’s been a fun battle between FTR and the Planet, and I hope some more serious challengers for FTR’s tag team championships are waiting in the wings. The tag division could use a little revival (no pun intended), and dragging this feud out any longer won’t do it any favors.

AEW Women’s World Championship — Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm

Since she defeated Toni Storm at Full Gear last year, Jamie Hayter has only defended her AEW Women’s Championship three times – once against Hikaru Shida on Dynamite, once at Full Gear in a triple-threat that saw Ruby Soho turn heel and join the Outcasts, and once in a great match against the first AEW Women’s champ, Riho. The women’s division always feels like an afterthought in AEW, which is a shame because of the great talent they’ve signed. I’m really enjoying the Outcasts versus homegrown talent thing, and not just because it means more than two women get to be featured on Dynamite any given week. It has, however, overshadowed the women’s champ and the title a bit, and I don’t think that changes with this match.

Storm lost the belt to Hayter and hasn’t done enough to win it back – this isn’t a straight-up rivalry, and despite the terrifying hip attack Storm utilizes, she hasn’t really had definitive wins that put her in the championship conversation. I think she’ll hold the belt again someday, but Hayter is doing great in the role of powerhouse babyface, and for now, I believe Hayter retains despite the many shenanigans that will take place.

I’m really hoping this is building to a Blood and Guts match between these two factions, as that would be fun as hell; most of the women involved have shown that they can work a great hardcore match already. Maybe a singles feud with Saraya blossoms out of that, which can culminate in a title match at All In.

TBS Championship — Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie

I hate to say Jade Cargill’s whole act has gotten stale, but it has. The streak isn’t that impressive, her victories haven’t been great, and her in-ring development seems to have plateaued. And that sucks! Jade’s statuesque, powerful, and committed to learning the craft of pro wrestling. More than anything else, I’d like to see her continue to improve and one day challenge for the AEW Women’s Championship.

Taya Valkyrie might not be the woman to take the TBS Championship off of Jade, but she should be able to get a decent match out of the longtime champ, and that will go a long way in revitalizing Jade’s image. Online chatter seems to be leaning towards Jade retaining and a returning Kris Statlander challenging for the title afterward. I think that would be cool, especially since Stat was on a great run before her injury.

Barring that, Taya would be a great pick to break the streak despite the short build in this feud.  She could defend for a while, maybe taking on Jade in a rematch, and then face Stat at one of the many big events AEW has coming up. It’s not like Valkyrie has been presented as the “good guy” in this build, just a comparable badass. I’ll go with Taya for the sake of “having a take,” though, and not just because I’ve always thought she looks like a jacked version of Starbuck from the Battlestar Galactica reboot.

AEW World Championship — MJF vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin

Well, I’ll start by saying that anyone who claims this is an “obvious pick” just doesn’t like fun – or chaos. Tony Khan’s golden boys are all talented in the ring (mic work is a different story) and putting all four kids in a match is an exciting culmination of the “pillars” label they’ve used since MJF coined the phrase in a September 2021 promo.

It’s hard to imagine Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, or even “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry coming out of this match with the title, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it happened. At some point, someone will take the title off Max. If it’s a wrestler who developed in AEW, that would do a lot to put over the homegrown talent that has improved since the company’s inception. And sure, maybe now isn’t the time to do it – we saw the chasm in mic skills between the four pillars a few weeks ago – but the in-ring ability of these four can’t be denied, and they’re stylistically different enough that anyone could plausibly win.

Sure, MJF is the favorite – as most champs are – but it would be interesting to see what direction all four guys would go if one of the challengers were to come out on top. For that reason, I’m gonna go with Sammy Guevara as my dark horse. He’s the best talker of the group (non-Maxwell division) and he’s done a lot to refresh his image after the whole Tay Conti thing blew up. He’s also still enough of a tweener that he’d be able to segue into a full-on rivalry with MJF as the good guy, and if need be revert back to his heelish ways if he were to retain the championship afterward and feud with another pillar.

You can follow The Wrestling Estate on Twitter @thewrestlingest and Russ Good at @ElOsoPequeno.

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