AEW Double Or Nothing (2020) airs this Saturday night, May 23, available on B/R Live, FiteTV, and on pay-per-view. The show features an AEW World Championship match between Jon Moxley and The Exalted One Mr. Brodie Lee, the finals of the TNT Championship tournament with Mike Tyson presenting the winner, a “casino ladder match,” and much more. Come back to UPROXX on Saturday night for full results, an open discussion thread, and everything else you need to know. Here’s the full card as we know it.
AEW Double or Nothing Card:
1. AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Mr. Brodie Lee
2. Stadium Stampede Match: Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Hangman Adam Page, Broken Matt Hardy)
3. TNT Championship Tournament Final: Cody vs. Lance Archer
4. AEW Women’s Championship Match: Nyla Rose (c) vs. Hikaru Shida
5. Casino Ladder Match for a shot at the AEW Championship: Colt Cabana vs. Kip Sabian vs. Rey Fenix vs. Luchasaurus vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Darby Allin vs. TBA
6. Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Kris Statlander
7. MJF vs. Jungle Boy
8. Shawn Spears vs. Dustin Rhodes
9. (Buy-In) AEW Tag Team Championship Number One Contender Match: Private Party vs. Best Friends
As always, we’ve got your complete rundown of the card and analysis below, featuring predictions for all eight matches. Make sure to drop a comment and let us know who you think’s winning, and be here on Saturday night to see if you’re correct.
Here’s what we think will go down at AEW Double Or Nothing 2020.
(Buy-In) AEW Tag Team Championship Number One Contender Match: Private Party vs. Best Friends
What You Need To Know: All Elite Wrestling’s tag team division is currently being dominated by an anime nerd with unstoppable knee strikes and a cowboy who has been at home doing real cowboy shit. They’ve both got more important things to do, apparently — see the Stadium Stampede match below — so it’s a good idea to refocus the tag division post-total-quarantine and decide who’s getting the next shot. The top two challengers: Best Friends, who have been on TV a ton during the epidemic, and Private Party, who have not.
What Will Happen: The big question here is, do you give the next Tag Team Championship match to the team that’s actually been on TV for the past two months, or do you send out the Death Triangle to ruin it for them and give the win to a talented team that could really use some focus and momentum? Given that this is on the Buy-In, I think my prediction is that Death Triangle (or at least Fenix) shows up to attack Orange Cassidy on the outside, distracting the Friends and costing them the match. That way, you can have Best Friends and Death Triangle both get involved in the Casino Ladder Match, which already contains the connective tissue of Fenix and Orange Cassidy.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – This match should be a lot of fun, and I’m guessing Best Friends win because it’s a way to give the popular Orange-Chuck-Trent trio something more meaningful to do on Dynamite. Possibly this will start us down the road to Orange Cassidy vs. Michael Nakazawa.
Scott Heisel – Hey, Private Party is alive! The last time they were on Dynamite, the NBA was still in season. Cool to see them back on a bigger platform, but I don’t see how the Best Friends don’t take this. Maybe we’ll finally get to hear Chuck Taylor say “shit” on live TV — fingers crossed!
Raj Prashad – Best Friends have been on a roll recently and seem like the logical pick here to earn the No,. 1 contender spot in the tag division.
Elle Collins – The Best Friends have been real workhorses during the pandemic, and I think they’re going to get this win and the title shot that comes with it as a reward.
Shawn Spears vs. Dustin Rhodes
What You Need To Know: A few weeks ago, Shawn Spears happily clapped while Murderhawk Monster Lance Archer more or less murdered Dustin Rhodes to send a message to Cody. Spears hates Cody a lot, so he gets to live vicariously through the actions of a guy big and strong and mean enough to do something to somebody. With Dustin bordering on forced retirement, Spears decided to “rub it in” by ruthlessly mocking Dustin via CNN parody (?) and challenge him to what he assumes will be an easy match. And, because of Dustin’s almost certain injuries, he might get it.
What Will Happen: I think the most interesting story to tell here is Dustin’s lingering injuries and, for lack of more tactful phrasing, PTSD following Archer’s attack. Dustin should be able to beat Shawn Spears 9 times out of 10, but if Archer’s got him truly shook, he’ll have to defeat HIMSELF before he even gets there. Spears callously and opportunistically running up the score on an injured man is some A+ heeling, and would absolutely set him up as a motivated first challenger for Cody’s TNT Championship run. Especially if Archer kills Cody after the match, too.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – Nothing on this card makes up for the no-fans atmosphere enough for Double or Nothing to be worth the $50 PPV price tag, but this match is the least worth the $50 PPV price tag. At least Shawn doesn’t have an on-screen wife for Dustin to assault during this match, I guess.
Scott Heisel – I feel like this match solely exists to torment Brandon. I’ll pick Spears for the win, too — it’s gonna be a bad night for the Rhodes boys…
Raj Prashad – This one seems a bit thrown together with two guys who have no clear path forward. I’ve got Spears winning this one with the expectation that AEW plays up the ‘maybe it’s time to retire’ angle for Rhodes.
Elle Collins – We haven’t even seen Dustin since Archer demolished him. He’ll luck like a million bucks just by showing up and being able to compete. Then he’ll lose to Spears.
MJF vs. Jungle Boy
What You Need To Know: What happens when a rich kid who’s not really a rich kid faces an actual rich kid who never acts like a rich kid? We’ll find out when MJF, who has been sidelined for two months with a severe hangnail injury, takes on Jungle Jack Perry (™ Jim Ross), who hopes to avenge the humiliation of his child-sized friend and continue equating minimalist jungle living with sportsmanship and fair play.
What Will Happen: MJF cheating his way to another victory seems too easy. The part of my brain that’s never right makes me think the story is Jungle Boy surprising him with a roll-up, getting thrown around by Wardlow afterward, and being a catalyst for the eventual Luchasaurus vs. Wardlow match. Although we teased a Luchasaurus vs. Jake Hager match in this way for what felt like months and it never materialized, so … maybe MJF just cheats and wins?
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – Jungle Boy will defeat MJF in this match booked for all twink-enthusiasts and/or people who like to say “the future of the business.”
Scott Heisel – MJF has been *so* cocky about this that I think he’s going to lose to a flash pin when he drops his guard down ala Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid, which will then cause Wardlow to come in and destroy Jungle Boy, thus finally leading us to Wardlow/Luchasaurus like we all want.
Raj Prashad – After picking up the win over Marko Stunt, picking MJF to earn the win over Jungle Boy and eventually look for the trifecta with a tilt against Luchasaurus.
Elle Collins – I don’t think anybody wins this match, really. There will be Wardlow/Luchasaurus shenanigans, and they can set up whatever’s coming next.
Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Kris Statlander
What You Need To Know: A dentist is fighting an alien.
What Will Happen: The only problem: Britt might be seriously injured following Monday’s tag team match, so there’s no guarantee the match will happen at all. If it does, this seems like a really easy way to pivot from Nyla Rose vs. Indeterminate Challenger Of The Season to Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker for the title going forward. No disrespect to Nyla necessarily, Britt’s just been one of the show’s MVPs in 2020 and Shida’s been number one contender since we were born.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – Since I’m guessing Shida wins the women’s title at DON, I’ll say Baker beats Statlander here, which puts her on a path to challenging for the title soon.
Scott Heisel – The odds of this match happening as advertised seem significantly lower after Dynamite, as it looked like Baker injured her right knee after that Nyla Rose corner spot. If it actually does happen, either with Baker or a substitute (Penelope Ford, probably), expect Statlander to win.
Raj Prashad – Hopefully Baker wasn’t too seriously injured Wednesday night and is able to compete. Should she go through with this one, it’s one of the more compelling matches on the card, with both fighting for the next contender spot for the women’s belt. I’ve got Statlander picking up the win and moving into title contention.
Elle Collins – I’m just hoping this match still happens, after the Doctor injured her knee on Dynamite. Assuming it does, I’d like to see Kris get a big win here, to start building her back up toward the title scene, but considering all the effort AEW has been putting into Britt Baker as a character, I’m guessing she takes it.
Casino Ladder Match for a shot at the AEW Championship: Colt Cabana vs. Kip Sabian vs. Rey Fenix vs. Luchasaurus vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Darby Allin vs. TBA
What You Need To Know: The number one contender to the AEW World Championship will be determined in the CASINO LADDER MATCH, in which wrestlers will start at the ground floor of a casino and battle their way to the roof, where they will have to climb a ladder and pull down a briefcase containing a contract, which — [checks notes] wait, I’ve got my notes all mixed up.
What Will Happen: The only winner that makes any sense here is Darby Allin, unless AEW randomly wants to run a Jon Moxley vs. SUPABAD Kip Sabian main event on the next show. Can Darby grind a ladder? I expect a ton of shenanigans — maybe some Best Friends vs. Death Triangle content as mentioned earlier, or even a throwback to the SCU vs. entry level Dark Order minions rivalry — but barring PAC barging his way into the match and winning, Moxley taking his turn at putting Darby over without actually losing to him seems most likely. I just want everyone to get through this without permanent spinal injury.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – With all this match’s weird stipulations, I think it’ll be a mess, but a potentially-fun spot-festy one as long as you can get past them doing this stuff without an audience. I feel like I’m wrong, but I’ll predict Rey Fenix wins because I want to send him some good vibes.
Scott Heisel – They’ve promised a surprise ninth entrant for this match, but don’t expect it to be Rusev, Zack Ryder or any other of WWE’s recently released talents — they’re all still under a non-compete clause for an additional two months. However, Drew Gulak’s contract recently ran out, meaning he is *not* under those same restrictions, so it could be him — but is that really a big enough surprise? I don’t think so. Maybe we get another Jeff Cobb one-off, but in all honesty, it’ll probably be something kinda obvious like Joey Janela or Jimmy Havoc. Either way, I’m picking Darby for the duke, and I’m already drooling at Darby/Mox II.
Raj Prashad – With Darby Allin cracking the top five in AEW’s championship rankings, he’s my pick to win and who I’d imagine has to be the favorite going in.
Elle Collins – Assuming he’s not hurt too badly from Wednesday’s fall, I think Fenix looks really good to win this. And if so, his title match against Moxley will be amazing.
AEW Women’s Championship Match: Nyla Rose (c) vs. Hikaru Shida
What You Need To Know: The number one contender to the AEW Women’s Championship for the past 12 weeks or so has been Hikaru Shida, a workhorse who will hit you with a running knee or a kendo stick, depending on which is easiest. She finally gets her one-on-one match against the champion, who hasn’t defended the championship much because of These Uncertain Times but is otherwise completely dominant and way too prone to licking the palm of her own hand. DURING A PANDEMIC.
What Will Happen: This should be hard-hitting and borderline dangerous at times, but as I think more than one of us has mentioned multiple times already in this preview, Rose hasn’t been able to compete much and Shida’s been number one contender forever. If she sits at the top of the division every week but can’t close the deal and become champion, what does that mean for her? I say give it to Shida, keep building up Britt Baker as the next big opponent (unless her injury is so serious she won’t be wrestling again any time soon), and finally, finally start giving the top of the women’s division some character-based stories.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – We don’t know much more about Hikaru Shida as a character than we did at the first Double or Nothing a year ago, but basically everybody likes her now and she’s shown she can have good matches with pretty much everybody, so I think she wins the title here.
Scott Heisel – Nyla’s only defended the championship once since winning it way back in February, which is a byproduct of AEW only having quarterly pay-per-views and of Rose being grounded from travel due to the pandemic. It would be weird to end her reign here, though I’d be way into Shida as the champ — she connects with me in a way Riho never did. This one is almost a coin flip for me, but I’ll pick Shida for the victory.
Raj Prashad – Rose has seemed relatively unstoppable of late and even though AEW tried to put some doubt in our minds with the table spot Wednesday night, I’ve got the champ retaining.
Elle Collins – I’d kind of like to see Shida win here. She’s such a good wrestler and has such star potential, I think she’d make a great champ. But Nyla’s only had the belt for a little while, especially if you don’t count the time she missed due to the pandemic, so I don’t think she’s dropping it yet.
TNT Championship Tournament Final: Cody vs. Lance Archer
What You Need To Know: WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson will present the brand new title belt to the winner of the TNT Championship Tournament finals. It’ll either be Cody Rhodes, the EVP who thrives in a high stakes environment dripping with classic southern wrestling pathos, or Lance Archer, the murderhakwed monster who is beyond ready to cause crimson masks and dramatic, dying crawls to the ropes. They’ll be accompanied to the ring by a coach with a tire iron and a belligerent snake-handler, respectively.
What Will Happen: Mike Tyson will show up in an Elite shirt, only to knock out Cody and tear it off, revealing the Suzuki-gun shirt underneath.
Seriously though, if this follows the trend of Cody’s other big pay-per-view matches, there should be a great story attached to all the blood and injury. Archer’s out to prove a point, and while I don’t necessarily think he’ll get the formal win and the championship, I think whatever win Cody manages to get will result in him being clawed and chokeslammed within an inch of his life. Does Lance Archer care about a TV title, or is the tournament just a means to an end to get the match he asked for in the first place? And if Cody had just granted him the match then, would this violent delight have had such a violent end?
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – The type of storylines Cody has are a lot more justifiable in a sports-based wrestling promotion if he has a title and he can’t win the world title, so he’ll win this title. This match could be fine or it could be bad; I just don’t want to see the senior citizens involved in this feud anywhere near wrestling and I don’t want to see any of this wife-assaulting stuff AEW seems to think is fun to have on their shows.
Scott Heisel – Cody should never win a championship in AEW ever. Murderhawk beats the ever-loving shit out of the son of a son of a plumber and even comes out on the winning end of a shoving match with Mike Tyson after the fact. Make him a star, Cody! (Just don’t let Jake The Snake and Arn Anderson actually fight, we don’t want to give the crown prince of Saudi Arabia any ideas.)
Raj Prashad – This one’s difficult. Cody can’t compete for the world title, so conventional wisdom would say he earns the secondary belt. But Archer is being billed as a monster heel and it would be stunning if AEW did anything to slow that build. Going with Archer to pick up the win.
Elle Collins – This is going to be one of those Rhodes Family drama bombs. Cody’s going to give it his all, but I think he’s going to lose. Mox is playing the hero with the top title, so it just makes sense for a monster like Lance Archer to hold the midcard belt.
Stadium Stampede Match: Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Hangman Adam Page, Broken Matt Hardy)
What You Need To Know: We were supposed to have a big, classic War Games match between the Inner Circle and the Elite, but can’t do it any time soon because of a variety of real-life reasons and sympathies. So instead we’re getting the “Stadium Stampede,” which is a falls count anywhere match in an empty NLF stadium; the kind of match you can do when your bosses own a football franchise and you’ve got unfettered use of an 82,000 seat building.
What Will Happen: They wouldn’t be doing a 10-man match inside an empty football stadium if they didn’t have a bunch of great spot ideas already planned, would they? It’s like how Kevin Owens saw the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium and was like, “I want to jump off of that.” Give me Sammy Guevara doing a shooting star press off the scoreboard or something. Give me Matt Hardy teleportation gags turned up to 11. I want Matt falling into sinkholes and emerging as Genghis Khan. Let’s go balls out crazy here and make it as unforgettable as a real War Games match would’ve been. Also, bonus points if Jaxson de Ville catches a Judas Effect.
As for a formal pick, I think The Elite could really use this. The Inner Circle feels like they’re almost always coming out ahead in these fights, and nothing’s really on the line here but pride. Recommended finish: a swarm of nanobots flies into the stadium and avenges the death of Vanguard-1 with extreme prejudice. You don’t want to see Chris Jericho trying to hit a robot plane with a back elbow strike at the top of an NFL stadium while a plush Jaguar Man lay dead at his feet?
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – The Inner Circle wins, which kicks the intra-Elite strife back into gear now that Nick and Hangman are back.
Scott Heisel – This one is gonna be all sorts of ridiculous, and I’m thankful Hangman is finally back on our TV screens for the first time in two months. It seems like this match is more or less replacing the Blood And Guts match originally scheduled for March, so I’m assuming whatever character beats were planned for that one will be rolled into this one. The Elite will finally turn on Hangman, but not before he finds himself a beer stand in the stadium and has his fair share of cold ones. Inner Circle wins via Chris Jericho taking some home-run cuts on Matt Hardy’s body. (But wait! Who’s that coming down in a helicopter on the 50-yard line brandishing a bat of his own? It’s… It’s… It’s gotta be STING!)
Raj Prashad – This one should be a blast with plenty of options for the Inner Circle and The Elite to put together some unique spots throughout the football stadium. After months of torment, I’ve gotta go with The Elite picking up the win.
Elle Collins – The only thing we know for sure is that this is going to be bananas. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Inner Circle win here, only to get their comeuppance when it’s finally time for Blood & Guts. That’s my prediction, but it could go either way.
AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Mr. Brodie Lee
What You Need To Know: Mr. Brodie Lee went from being a swampbilly cultist and a woodland hammer enthusiast to being a thieving Vince McMahon parody in charge of a multi-level market scheme of incelibates. Life comes at you fast. He attempted to establish dominance over the AEW World Champion by attacking him and stealing the championship, and even the champ breaking Lee’s prized henchman’s arm wouldn’t get him to give it back. So now they’re going to wrestle about it, Jon Moxley’s going to have to fight off Brodie and an army of Marko Stunt-sized masked guys at the same time, and the champ’s getting his belt back, one way or another.
What Will Happen: If this is anywhere near as good as those old Shield vs. Wyatt Family matches, this could be Moxley’s best AEW match so far. I can’t imagine a world in which Brodie Lee becomes AEW Champion in his first match against a real opponent, but I think he’ll take the champ to the limit in an engaging loss. Brodie Lee is a massive upgrade from Jake Hager in every way, and a motivated Mox deserves some equally hungry challengers to make his first title run something special.
Staff Picks
Emily Pratt – The Mr. Brodie Lee gimmick is whack but Brodie Lee the wrestler is cool, so I expect this match to be one of the strongest on the show. Moxley retains because he’s great at being champion and hasn’t been champion for that long yet.
Scott Heisel – I don’t know if I’m in the minority on this or not, Brodie Lee as the Exalted One still doesn’t make any sense from a visual perspective. His ring gear is unappealing, and his weird insistence on wearing suits outside the ring but still having a terribly unkempt beard and hairstyle just doesn’t work for me. Either go full-on corporate slimeball or dirty yourself up again. The middle-ground isn’t working. Lee just isn’t world champion material to me. Mox retains.
Raj Prashad – Moxley has been on a tear in 2020, but Lee offers his biggest challenge since winning the belt. Despite Lee looking to establish the Dark Order as AEW’s top stable, I’ve got Moxley picking up the win.
Elle Collins – I think this is going to be a really fun match. Some people complain about ex-WWE guys being at the top of the AEW card, but honestly Jon Moxley versus Brodie Lee feels like something I’ve never seen before, even though I have seen Dean Ambrose versus Luke Harper. These are two guys finally getting to live up to their potential, and that’s exciting. All of that said, there’s no way Mox is dropping the belt. Brodie stole it weeks ago, and this is where Mox takes it back.
There you have it, that’s what we think will go down at Double or Nothing 2020. Agree? Disagree? Want to hit us in the head with a brick for liking a thing you don’t like or NOT liking a thing you do? Drop down into our comments section below to let us know about it, and make sure you’re here on Saturday for our open discussion thread, results, breakouts, and more.
Then make sure you’re here on Wednesday when Brodie Lee’s AEW Champion, Kip Sabian’s the number one contender, Arn Anderson is somehow the TNT Champion, and we’re like, “wow, sorry, we got ALL of that wrong.”
