Fansided

AEW Double or Nothing: Complete preview and predictions

By Matt Black

via Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) on Twitter and courtesy All Elite Wrestling
via Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) on Twitter and courtesy All Elite Wrestling /
facebooktwitterreddit

AEW’s first show ever, Double or Nothing comes to us live on Saturday night, May 25, from the MGM Grand. Let’s preview the show and predict what will happen in Las Vegas.

Last week, All Elite Wrestling announced that they will be airing their weekly show this fall on TNT, the former home of World Championship Wrestling, giving the pro wrestling landscape its first true alternative to WWE in almost two decades. But before we get there, we need to get to Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. That’s when AEW will have its first-ever show, Double or Nothing.

A big match had to be altered a week out from the event, with “Hangman” Adam Page no longer facing PAC on Saturday due to what is being called “creative differences.” Now more than ever, AEW will need to hit a grand slam this Saturday night to deliver a show that the fans are expecting and also live up to their relatively steep $50 pay-per-view price point in 2019.

Here is your complete AEW Double or Nothing preview, complete with predictions for every match. Let’s start off with the “Buy-In” pre-show …

Kip Sabian vs. Sammy Guevara

This match was announced out of nowhere with little to no fanfare. At one time, Kip Sabian was announced for the Casino Battle Royale but obviously, plans changed. We would imagine that Sammy Guevara was going to be featured in that match as well, but since there are so many unknowns for that match right now we have to believe AEW has quite a few surprises to reveal in the other match on Buy-In pre-show. Regardless of build, this should be a fun wrestling match to kick off the show and gives fans a taste of what to expect throughout the rest of the evening.

More from AEW

Prediction: Guevara has been featured constantly on Being the Elite in 2019. Sabian, beyond a featurette in episode 4 of The Road to Double or Nothing, hasn’t really been mentioned. It seems they are investing in Guevara and he will most likely pick up the win here.

The Casino Battle Royale

Names including Joey Janela, Brandon Cutler, Shawn Spears, Dustin Thomas, Private Party, Billy Gunn, Sonny Kiss, Ace Romero, Glacier, Brian Pillman Jr., Jungle Boy, MJF, Jimmy Havoc, Luchasaurus, Michael Nakazawa, Sunny Daze and more!

Formerly known as the Over the Budget Battle Royale, the Casino Battle Royale will feature a unique set of rules and 21 participants. Five competitors will start in the ring and five more will be introduced every three minutes until 20 enter. Whoever draws the Joker card out of the deck will receive the final entrance into the match. The winner of this match will receive a title shot at the winner of Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega.

Prediction: Given the prize to the winner of this matchup, whoever wins this has to be a big name. While we believe no one that is currently announced will be the winner, although MJF or Janela could be dark horses. We believe lucky entrant 21, the Joker card — whoever that might be — will be the winner of this battle royal.

The Best Friends vs. Angelico and Jack Evans

We have watched this match up build over the last few weeks on Being the Elite as the Best Friends, Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor were not pleased about being put into the Casino Battle Royale. After much shenanigans, the Young Bucks put them on the main card in tag team action against the newly-signed tag team of Angelico and Jack Evans. This should be a great match and it would be our suggestion to start the show.

Prediction: Beretta and Taylor are more of an established tag team already in the grand scheme of AEW. They have been featured quite a bit on Being the Elite over the year last and should be known by a majority of the viewers. We think Angelico and Jack Evans get the win here to establish themselves immediately to the viewer as a tag team you should keep your eye on.

https://twitter.com/KennyOmegamanX/status/1128002559841640448

Six-Woman Tag:

Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki, and Emi Sakura vs. Hikaru Shida, Riho, and Ryo Mizunami

It seems like if Kenny Omega has any say, Joshi wrestling will be represented in a big way within All Elite Wrestling. This six-woman tag is a showcase of that as it has a wide range of talent from various Joshi promotions across Japan, mixing talent old and new, to give us what should be an incredible match. While six-women tags in other wrestling promotions might be viewed as throw-aways they are anything but in Japan, and if given time this match has a legitimate shot at stealing the entire show.

Prediction: With Hikaru Shida being a heavily-touted signing for All Elite Wrestling earlier this year, the smart money is on her team to pick up the big win in this match on Saturday. While you can’t discount Aja Kong’s team, we feel Shida’s announcement seemed much more impactful which should be a hint to the team that will be winning this match.

Six-Man Tag:

SoCal Uncensored vs. Strong Hearts (Cima, T-Hawk, and El Lindaman)

When the Young Bucks announced the company’s partnership with China-based Oriental Wrestling Entertainment in January, a lot of people didn’t know what to expect. But as more people familiarized themselves with the company the more excited people became. SoCal Uncensored issued a challenge to Cima and two partners of his choosing back in February, and the Strong Hearts were later revealed to be his partners.

Prediction: This should be a really good match — fun and entertaining and something new and fresh that a lot of people have never witnessed live before. The result of this match will be very telling on how much OWE talent will be used in AEW going forward. Since we think they will be featured heavily, we pick the Strong Hearts to pick up what some might think is a major upset at Double or Nothing.

Britt Baker vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose

AEW will feature a strong women’s division, which was made clear in their January rally in Jacksonville, Florida. And the first announced women’s match for Double or Nothing featured some of the earliest announced signings to the company, as well. There will be a lot of pressure on these women to live up to the amazing fatal four-way that we saw last year at All In, and Britt Baker (who was in said match) will no doubt be looking to prove herself once again at Double or Nothing.

Prediction: Brandi Rhodes recently told Baker on a recent episode of Being the Elite that she was the favorite to win this matchup, which normally is a red flag that tips off that she probably won’t be picking up the win this Saturday night. The winner of this match is most likely a coin flip of sorts between Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae but we will go with Rae for our pick.

“The American Nightmare” Cody vs. “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes

Cody’s opponent for Double or Nothing has been teased for months until it was was finally revealed to be his older brother, Dustin Rhodes. While the response to the match announcement has been decidedly mixed, both brothers’ promos on each other on the Road to Double or Nothing has won a good portion of the fan base over, proving that good promo work to sell a match should never be overlooked.

Prediction: We don’t know Dustin’s long term plans with AEW. This is his first match since double knee surgery last year. Smart money is on this being a one-and-done for the Natural and Cody gets the win here. Dustin would serve very well as a coach for the company going forward, but we don’t think he’s expecting a lengthy return to the ring.

“Hangman” Adam Page vs. A Mystery Opponent

Well, there isn’t a whole lot to say about this, unfortunately. Beyond the fact that we know,Page will compete on Saturday we don’t have much else to go on about who his opponent could be. The company really needs to make good here. The mystery opponent has to be a great surprise and the two have to put on a fantastic match, we hope AEW will deliver on both aspects.

Prediction: Since we know PAC isn’t competing on Saturday due to not being willing to lose, it’s pretty obvious that no matter who Hangman faces he’s going to win. Not that it’s a bad thing, but we should expect Page to win regardless of who he faces on Saturday night.

AAA World Tag Team Championship Match:

The Lucha Bros vs. The Young Bucks (c)

Tag team wrestling is said to be a major focus for All Elite Wrestling and as of this writing, it’s the only match on the pay-per-view with a championship on the line. This match has had a great build over the last couple of months. From the Lucha Bros attacking the Young Bucks in February at the Double or Nothing Ticket Rally in Vegas to the Young Bucks traveling the globe costing the duo matches in response. The Bucks went on to capture the AAA World Tag Team titles from the Lucha Bros in Mexico, which led to this match at Double or Nothing being for those belts.

Prediction: We really think this show is going to be a celebration of all things Elite. It just makes sense for the Bucks to retain the titles here. While we don’t think they will hold them for much longer, it would be more believable to see them drop the titles back in Mexico in a few weeks’ time instead of at AEW’s debut show.

Main Event:

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

If you all saw their first match at Wrestle Kingdom 12, you know you’re in for a real treat. If you haven’t seen it yet, we promise that you won’t be disappointed. This is the first match Chris Jericho has wrestled inside of the United States, not inside a WWE ring, in 20 years. It’s going to be something special. Jericho thinks everyone in AEW owes him a thank you for signing with the company and making it legitimate, but Kenny Omega is out to try and humble the wrestling legend once and for all.

Prediction: Jericho is Teflon man — he can lose a dozen matches in a row and it’s not going to hurt him one bit. This is Omega’s match to win. It’s also an opportunity for a bunch of wrestling fans who have never seen Omega before to witness him getting a definitive win against one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling. There’s little doubt this won’t be a great match.

And that concludes our complete preview for AEW’s Double or Nothing. Are you excited for this show? Will you be ordering it or attending live, or will you be skipping out on AEW’s first show? Let us know by sounding off in the comments section below!

Home/AEW