AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 preview

Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast and 607 TWS on Twitch. For this edition, we’re taking one final look at All Elite Wrestling’s big pay-per-view event “Double Or Nothing.” AEW’s big night is live from Las Vegas Sunday May 29th, 8PM EST on Bleacher Report & traditional cable ppv outlets (international - Fite Tv).

This week has been a solid build up for the card with last minute additions happening on AEW Rampage Friday night. Factor in what Tony Khan made mention of during the media scrum that we attended and this card has the eyes of the pro wrestling world on it. With a HUGE AEW Dynamite in Los Angeles looming per Khan’s comments in the media scrum, AEW’s DoN has a lot of pressure riding on it to deliver on a 13 match card. Let’s take one last look and see where the card stands and give some predictions, shall we?

CM PUNK

Photo Credit All Elite Wrestling

AEW World Championship: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page (c)

The main event has arguably the most polarizing reaction out of AEW fans. On one side, you have CM Punk and since his return to pro wrestling last August, Punk has been in a honeymoon phase since. Only when he had a memorable feud with MJF did we finally see the “CM Punk” of lore. Now with a title shot forthcoming, Punk will prove if he’s back and still the “Best In The World” or if the honeymoon is truly over.

On the other side is Hangman Adam Page. The “Homegrown” AEW hero has had a long and winding road to the world title with a memorable win once he finally got there. However, the post-win feuds have been lackluster and forgettable. When the first title defense was a time limit draw, there were signs to watch. Now with Punk on the horizon, is it time to change hands with the belt?

PICK: CM PUNK. While it should stay with Page, Punk has looked more comfortable in their promos and seems like the comments of Khan and company lean that they’re ready for him to be the guy. Page’s run needs a big win over someone like Punk to justify a lot but I feel that window is closed for now. Get ready for the summer of Punk on AEW programming

Thunder Rosa

Photo Credit All Elite Wrestling

AEW Women’s World Championship: Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa (c)

Mark my words, if these 2 are given time, they won’t be the co-main event. They WILL be the main event. Easily, my pick for Match Of The Night stays locked in. Deeb has been a worthy contender after a top level feud with Hikaru Shida. It’s been only a matter of time until Deeb was in title talk. On the other side is Rosa, who’s win over Baker to win the title was an epic moment in the history of AEW. However, much like Page, Rosa’s run with the belt has disappointing due to the fact there’s only been 1 title defense and even less tv interview time. Seriously, how do they que the outro music during that promo?

Pick: THUNDER ROSA. Much like Page, Rosa needs the win here and WILL get it. Deeb could get the win but I feel that Rosa needs that big ppv win before handing the belt off. She will get that here and then (hopefully) gets some more time in a noteworthy feud before dropping the belt.The only thing that could mess those plans up is IF the stipulation for winning the Owen Hart Tourney is a title shot. IF that is the case, Rosa’s time as champion might be short lived which is a flat-out crime!

Eddie Kingston

Photo Credit All Elite Wrestling

Anarchy in the Arena: Blackpool Combat Club with Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs. (sigh) Jericho Appreciation Society

A new faction of “sports entertainers” for Chris Jericho leads to fallout vs. former members of AEW’s first group, the Inner Circle. Mix in the history of Eddie Kingston, the heart and soul of AEW, with the team FKA LAX and there’s an instant story here. It’s a good chance for 2.0 and Daniel Garcia to get some time but I don’t see this going any other way than pick: BCC/KINGSTON/SANTANA/ORTIZ

MJF vs. Wardlow

AEW’s best storyline of Wardlow breaking free from his contact under MJF finally gets it’s closure. Rehashing the Cody Rhodes/MJF from 2020 plays out the same way as Wardlow will have a star making moment much like Batista when he broke away and defeated Triple H. Pick: WARDLOW

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Britt Baker DMD vs. Ruby Soho

Both tourneys have had surprise opponents and excellent matches honoring the late Owen Hart. It hasn’t been clarified what the winner wins but it’s a safe bet to think title shot. That said, picks: BAKER & COLE. If Punk is champ, who else but Adam Cole (Bay Bay) to start off against? Samoa Joe could get that win here but guessing the ROH storylines will play a factor in this one and in Cole’s favor.

Baker never leaves the title scene and is so OVER with the crowd, it feels as if AEW is getting antsy to get her back as champion. Granted, Baker and Rosa is a great feud, but we’ve seen this play out before. Soho would be a great challenger and I’m hoping I’m wrong here, but it senses like Baker’s got this one locked up and poised to make another run for the gold.

Swerve Strickland

Photo Credit All Elite Wrestling

AEW World Tag Team Championship: Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jurassic Express (c) w/ Christian Cage

Why FTR isn’t in on this match is beyond me BUT take nothing away from this match. 6 very talented people are gonna go hard to steal the show in this one. Jurassic Express has been champs for a while and it’s time to switch things up. Plus, Christian Cage has been teasing that heel turn for a while now. What better time than to cost the champs the belt? Pick: SWERVE AND LEE

TBS Championship: Anna Jay vs. Jade Cargill (c)

Cargill is becoming a star before our eyes. Her run with the TBS championship isn’t slowing down anytime soon. No real builds here other than to showcase Cargill and nothing wrong with that. Pick: CARGILL

House of Black (M. Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Fenix & Penta)

Expect some wild-ass action going down. Both factions are making a claim for the best trios team in AEW. With Fenix back to full strength, this is gonna be a fun one to watch. Can’t wait to see him match up with Matthews. End of the night, Never bet against the house. Pick: HOUSE OF BLACK

“Young Hardys”

Photo Credit All Elite Wrestling

Matt & Jeff Hardy vs. The Young Bucks

If this was 2018, this would have been main event. There has been a quick build for this based off the names involved. No real story here and going in with an extremely low bar. IMO, the Hardys haven’t looked like the Hardys of old since re-uniting in AEW. This will entertain but not much else. Picks: YOUNG BUCKS

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

So this match was made on Rampage for “reasons”? Never mad to see “Cool” Kyle on TV but fearing this is leading to a match with ReDRagon vs. Darby and STING. Plus Darby is prolly gonna take a foolish bump here when they should just have a great wrestling match. Pick: DARBY (only to build for the tag match)

Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, and Paige Van Zandt vs. Tay Conti, Sammy Guevara and Frankie Kazarian

Disappointed that the TNT title isn’t being defended but the most controversial couple in AEW now brings in Frankie into their story. PVZ is going to bring some eyes to the match being a former UFC name but expecting the “faces” going over on this one, Picks: SAMMY, TAY AND FRANKIE

Pre-Show Buy in: HOOKHausen vs. Tony Nese and “Smart” Mark Sterling

Its the era of HookHausen and we live in it. expect AEW’s “Rock And Sock Connection” to get a win to start their story and the night off right for AEW fans. Pick: HOOKHAUSEN

The action goes down Sunday May 29th with an extremely impoirtant AEW Dynamite live from LA this week. Hit me up on Twitter and give me your predicyions for the monster AEW card!

As always, Thanks for reading and supporting the ODPH & 607TWS!

FTR keeps rolling/WHEELER YUTA/MLW Kings of Colosseum

Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast and 607TWS on Twitch (& in podcast form). For this edition, it’s the post Wrestlemania hangover but some other promotions have picked up some steam as of late. When the fans aren’t talking about Tony Khan and “BotGate”, All Elite Wrestling has had some moments that should be the talk of their promotion. Let’s dive in on those, shall we?

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

The biggest story fans should be talking about is the long overdue ascension of FTR in the AEW tag team ranks. No tag team in the business has been putting on absolute classic matches with the Young Bucks and Briscoes quite like Cash & Dax. Since debuting in AEW, they made a big splash early & had the “dream match” with the Young Bucks at Full Gear in November 2020. After that, they seemed to have become lost in a very large roster and almost an after thought. Sure, they were paired in MJF’s “Pinnacle” faction but what has really stood out from them during their time there? Other than defeating the Lucha Bros for the AAA titles, there’s very little highlights imo.

Fast forward to December 2021: after taking to social media to build their feud (the right way) with the Briscoes in Ring Of Honor (to the point of crashing the party at ROH Final Battle), FTR has finally gotten back to being the benchmark of tag team wrestling. Hardcore fans have known this for years but for casuals, it’s all about what has been done lately. Within a weeks time, They’ve been putting on incredible matches & winning against 2 of the best teams in the business.

Where do they go from here? Simple: Keep them in the spotlight and featured on AEW programming. For having one of the deepest tag divisions, FTR has a lot of suitors to start some storylines with (ReDRagon and Santana/Ortiz are top of my list). FTR has worked their way to the top by putting the work in. Now, it’s time to let them do what they do and remind fans on how GOOD tag team wrestling can be each week! #FTRFTW!

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

FTR isn’t the only ones making a big splash this week. Wheeler Yuta has now become a made man in a lot of fans’ eyes. Yuta defeated Josh Woods for the ROH Pure title and had an absolute star-making performance on AEW Rampage with a loss to Jon Moxley. Why he needed to bleed during that match idk. Maybe its a weird sign of initiation to the Blackpool Combat Club with Moxley, Bryan Danielson, & William Regal. There’s been an odd “Fight Club” feel to Yuta trying to join BCC. It’s similar to Jared Leto’s character trying to join Brad Pitt’s group from that movie.

Regardless of the influence, Yuta broke thru with that match. It was excellent & gave the young star a win in defeat. Since he’s been with AEW, Yuta is another talent lost in the shuffle. Paired with Best Friends is still something but never went anywhere. It finally looks like his time is now and he couldn’t be in better company. Hopefully when ROH gets rolling, Yuta can maintain that momentum with the Pure title. Give me Yuta v. Lee Moriarty asap for the belt!

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Speaking of Ring Of Honor, it has been announced that Samoa Joe will be facing Minoru Suzuki on AEW Dynamite for the ROH TV Title. As mentioned on last week’s blog, Suzuki wasn’t going to be holding the belt long and Joe makes sense to take the belt from him.

Joe is a star to build the new ROH around and depending on what that will be, having him as TV champ works. Guessing we’re going to see him vs. CM Punk in the Owen Hart tourney finals for the belt as well. Nothing is certain for ROH until they get on TV but everyhting is up in the air with the Discovery Plus purchase of Warner Media. Until then, fans will have to wait and see how Joe’s time as TV champ all plays out. Don’t miss this match on Wednesday!

Credit: Major League Wrestling

Major League Wrestling has announced a big show planned for the 2300 Arena: Kings of Colosseum 2022. In the main event, Richard Holliday challenges Hammerstone for the heavyweight championship. This should be a great match. For more info on this card, Check out MLW2300.com

Credit: Super B

Last bit of news for this week:

As heard on #607podcasts this week, Super B had a big match and WIN at Xcite Wrestling on Saturday Night. Post match, B called out Sean Carr for May 7th! Super B’s links are now in the Friends of the show section of ODPHpodcast.com. Make sure you’re following and don’t miss the match vs Carr on May 7th.

Unfortunately, Cerin Rahne suffered an injury during the Xcite show on Saturday night. If you are able to, support him by picking up some merch. Positive thoughts & energy for a speedy recovery #HopeDealer

THUNDER ROSA WINS!!! / BRISCOES VS. FTR / CIRCLE 6

Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast & 607TWS on Twitch. For this edition, it’s been a relatively quieter week than usual. Arguably the biggest story is multiple reports of Cody Rhodes signing to the WWE. This really has been an interesting topic to watch. However, until we see him in a WWE ring, fans won’t see the real reaction until that moment. If/whgen it happens, I’ll deep dive into my thoughts on the Rhodeslander’s landing spot. If you’re an AEW fan, I’m sure you have feelings about it as well, but there’s a lot to be excited about with All Elite Wrestling that SHOULD be where the attention needs to be focused on.

Photo Credit: ALL ELITE WRESTLING

On Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite”, Thunder Rosa FINALLY captured the Women’s World title from Britt Baker in a Steel Cage Match. Their match is almost 1 year to the date of their epic St, Patrick’s Street Fight which was a Match Of The Year Candidate in 2021. The story line to make this happen was a bit confusing as Rosa lost to Baker at AEW Revolution only to get the 3rd match after winning a world title eliminator bout 3 days after.

No matter how we got here, the fact is we got here! Fans finally got #ANDNEW! For Rosa, who’s one of the best on the planet, defeating Baker in San Antonio (her current home base) & that crowd’s reaction was worth the wait. The match was solid and now the door is open for some new matches for the belt. With Baker being so dominant in her title reign, most challengers were one and done in a title program. Rosa as champion opens up quite a few possibilities of programs to run.

One rumored idea floated around was Rosa against TBS Champion Jade Cargill, but I don’t see that happening. It’s way too early for “Champ vs. Champ.” For where I think we’re going is into a program with a new version of Kris Statlander. With the new vignettes, it appears Statlander might be turning heel which would make for a great opponent for Rosa to start her reign against.

Another long shot idea would be setting up Rosa for a Match of The Year candidate against Ring Of Honor champion Deanna Purrazzo. Since AEW & ROH now have the same owner, the idea isn’t out of possibility. This could be something to watch out for at Supercard of Honor, but there’s already one dream match made there. Not sure if we will have this one made there too. Regardless of that, the Thunder Rosa era with the title has begun. With all the hard work and excitement that Rosa has added to that division, giving her the belt is long overdue and now a new chapter in AEW starts….

Photo Credit: ALL ELITE WRESTLING

Wednesday also brought back the much hyped return of Matt & Jeff, The Hardys to tag team action. Their match with Private Party went as expected (along with an assist from Darby Allin & Sting post match) & has now set up for an 8 man Tag team match on the next AEW Dynamite against the rest of the AFO. At first glance, teaming with Darby & Sting is fun for a quick second, but hopefully not leading to another faction. After this match, Matt & Jeff need to get something going against another tag team or we’re looking at a “Stadium Stampede” type blow off match down the road.

While this makes sense short term, stretching this story line out long term isn’t helping anyone out imo. The Hardys should start working up the rankings for a title shot ASAP. Darby & Sting are….. Darby & Sting. It is what it is there. Plus, Andrade just took over the HFO. Let him build that up in his vision and go from there. No matter what, Matt & Jeff need to strike while the buzz is there and get a program started for a run at the belts. Anything else is just wasting time at this stage.

Photo Credit: ALL ELITE WRESTLING

Speaking of time wasting, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS) segment this week. For dismantling the Inner Circle, AEW’s first faction, only to roll it out as whatever this is going to be just didn’t click. 2.0 & Daniel Garcia now are in a prime story for them to grow. That’s a plus, especially for Garcia but the whole “I Am a sports entertainer” skit just made this new group feel like a reset of someone else’s character taking shots at a certain other federation. Maybe it was a subtle jab at the Cody stories? Either way, not the best first impression to make with “Inner Circle 2.0”

Photo Credit: RING OF HONOR WRESTLING

This past week, Ring Of Honor finally made an announcement that fans have been waiting to hear. After weeks of back and forth along with an encounter at “Final Battle”, the match has been made! BRISCOES VS. FTR is set for April 1st at Supercard of Honor! Expect fireworks and a lot of buzz coming from this match. Two of the best tag teams on the planet are finally squaring off. What, if anyhting, this means for Ring Of Honor moving forward is anyone’s guess but this card just brought some new eyes onto the product in April. Make sure to save that date if you haven’t already. For more info: ROHWrestling.com.

Photo Credit: Circle 6

Lastly, On Saturday night, Circle 6 ran their first ever show: Circle 6 Skewered on Twitch. This was the new promotion that Atticus Cogar was connected with revolving around his fallout with GCW. New company, new set of rules and a very stacked lineup for free on Twitch? No way I was missing that. Initial reaction is the in-ring work was great. Christopher Daniels vs. RSP & Biff Busick vs. Brody King really stand out. Unfortunately, it was over shadowed by a delay in starting & multiple stream crashes. Being on the east coast, I didn’t check the chance to watch after intermission (it started around 1:30am).

Eventually, the show stream went off Twitch (reasons) but from what I saw, I was very happy with the product. There are many things production wise (imo) that need to be fixed before next show: Streaming, audio, etc. but if you get the chance to check this product out, do it. Keep an eye on their social media for more news on further events.

That’s all for this week. Hit me up on Twitter and let me know what wrestling you’ve been checking out.

As always, thanks for reading and supporting 607 Podcasts & the ODPH!