DOUBLE or NOTHING

HELL YEAH.

SoCal Uncensored vs. Strong Hearts

AEW's first ever (main card) match is a big hit! The company is off to a good start with it for sure, as SCU & Strong Hearts put on a super fun match with good high energy action from bell to bell. Everybody got time to shine, and everybody looked good; I wasn't familiar w/ El Lindaman & T-Hawk other than having seen their names, and both were pretty impressive here. El Lindaman in particular was really good. ***1/2

Awesome Kong vs. Britt Baker vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose

The weakest match on the main card, but still a good one. Started off a bit awkward, with it feeling pretty heatless & not having much of a good flow, but as it went on, it got better, and by the end it was real good. Awesome Kong was a nice surprise addition, and all of her times on the offense were very nice, Kylie was pretty great w/ all of her big spots & awesome selling - probably the MVP of the thing, Baker looked solid, even though she easily was the most forgettable performer in the match + Nyla Rose had a couple of good spots - I liked what I saw from her here in my first time watching her wrestle. ***

Angelico & Jack Evans vs. Best Friends

Jack Evans, or actually Jack F'N Evans if I may correct myself, is just amazing. He was his usual timeless self here w/ that freaky athleticism & the man sure doesn't stop running his mouth, which is just the best. Was my first time seeing him in like 3-4 years I think, and I had almost forgotten how great he is. Also while his tag partner Angelico has never really done anything for me, I was quite surprised by how GREAT he was here - all of his strikes looked viciously awesome, and he busted out some neat submissions too. Excalibur informing the viewers that he has done some training under Negro Navarro certainly made those even more neat. Best Friends were excellent as well, especially Trent who reminded why is one of the current FIP greats in wrestling. He sure took a damned beating - that one sequence where Angelico counters his running attack w/ a brutal knee, which then lead to Angelico crucifix bombing him into the corner was just superb. Terrific match! ****

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

A really good joshi showcase tag. Fun characters in a hard hitting & intense bout with a fast pace all the way through. Enjoyed it very much. ***1/2

Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes

Dustin having a big singles match was easily my most awaited thing on the whole show, and he sure worked his magic here, to say the least. You just can't fake this kind of magic & emotion - everything felt organic & real. I already got a bit emotional when the brothers were staring each other down & the crowd was chanting their fathers name very loudly, but in the end, with the "I need my older brother" line, I MIGHT'VE shed a tear or two. Those bastards. Was certainly worth the wait to see them FINALLY get the big singles match between 'em - I remember back in like 2011 posting on other wrestling boards about wanting to see the match at Mania, and that continued for years, every Mania-season. Now it finally happened & it sure was something special. Everything from the atmosphere, to Dustin's all-time great babyface work, to Cody being an asshole, to the bladejob - which is one of the most disgustingly effective & awesome ones I've EVER seen, to the CODE RED, to the post-match. Pure magic. Pure damn magic. Rhodes Forever! ****1/2

The Lucha Brothers vs. The Young Bucks

I feel like I've seen this match a thousand times before, so I wasn't very interested by it, and then I read that they went 25 minutes & that sure made me even more skeptical of the thing, BUT they had an absolutely awesome spotfest, for 25-damn-minutes indeed. Crazy scenes! Pure madness from start to finish with no downtime whatsoever. LOVED the nods to Steenerico & MCMG by the Bucks. Quality stuff & the fact that they had THIS kind of a match and made it compelling for nearly a half hour is a HUGE testament to their abilities. ***1/2

Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

Almost on the level of their Tokyo Dome meeting. This was a fantastic all around performance by Omega; dude was sellin' n' bumpin' his ass off for Jericho, making all of Jericho's very forgettable offense look amazing in the process. That all wrapped up very nicely as he made Jericho's new finisher look like an absolute killshot. Of course Kenny himself is great on the offense, and I loved the table-stuff - some good callbacks to that Dome meeting of theirs, and overall it was a pretty creative use of the prop, I thought. Really good match & GREAT post-match. Double or Nothing ends on a high note. ***1/2