AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING RESULTS
The "Buy-In" pre-show has officially started. You can watch the entire hour-long pre-show for free via the YouTube player embedded below.
It is announced that the six-man tag-team bout pitting SoCal Uncensored against The Strong Hearts will be the opening contest for tonight's PPV main card.
We are informed that there will be a special AEW World Championship presentation later in the show.
Casino Battle Royale
Right now, the 21-Man Casino Battle Royale is in progress inside the ring.
In an interesting note from the 21-Man Casino Battle Royale, "Hangman" Adam Page turned up as one of the three unannounced entrants to a big pop from the fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The finish in this one saw Hangman Page eliminate who he thought was the final participant, only for MJF, who everyone forgot about, to attack him from behind.
Unfortunately, MJF's sneaky tactics didn't work, as Hangman avoided being eliminated and blasted MJF with a Buckshot before sending him sailing over the top-rope. "Hangman" Adam Page wins the Casino Battle Royale.
With the victory, Page will now challenge the winner of the "Alpha vs. Omega II" main event tonight between Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega for the vacant AEW Championship in a future showdown to crown the promotion's first world champion.
Winner: "Hangman" Adam Page
Alicia Atout Interviews Kylie Rae
We shoot backstage where our roaming behind-the-scenes interviewer, Alicia Atout, is with Kylie Rae.
Rae discusses her Triple-Threat match against Britt Baker and and Nyla Rose until she is interrupted by The Librarian (Peter Avalon). The second Librarian interrupts as well. They keep "shushing" each other.
Kip Sabian vs. Sammy Guevara
The "Buy-In" pre-show continues in a moment with our second of two advertised matches, as Kip Sabian goes one-on-one against Sammy Guevara ... next.
This match was given some time, and boy did it deliver.
The fans loved the action delivered in this match, which was placed in a perfect spot on the card, as it was last impression fans had of action inside the ring before deciding whether or not to order the PPV to continue watching the show.
There was a lot of fast-paced, high-risk offense throughout this one. In an amazing spot, Guevara placed Sabian belly-first on the guard rail outside the ring. He then hit a crazy Shooting Star Press off the ring apron onto him.
Guevara later attempted the 630 Splash, however Sabian managed to get his knees up just in time. He follows that up by hitting his finisher on Guevara for the win.
Winner: Kip Sabian
Backstage Segments Wrap Up The "Buy-In" Pre-Show
After the match, we hear the Boomer-Sooner theme song from Oklahoma's finest, and out comes the lead play-by-play announcer for tonight's PPV broadcast, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross.
From there, we shoot to the parking lot where we see a limo pulling up. Out comes a dog, Brandi Rhodes and eventually, Cody Rhodes. Cody kisses Brandi and the two start walking towards the arena entrance.
We shoot backstage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and see Kenny Omega sitting on a laptop smiling. He gives a big thumbs up and heads out of the locker room he was in and starts walking down the hallway.
Finally, we see one of The Young Bucks backstage walking down the hallway. He runs into a Michael Nakazawa for a brief, awkward encounter. He keeps walking and runs into his brother.
The Young Bucks continue down the hallway until a security guard stops them and demands to see their media credentials. One of The Young Bucks hits the security guard with a super kick. He tells his brother, "Lets go start a pay-per-view!"
National Anthem Performance
The Jensen family are introduced to perform the National Anthem. As they sing, pyro goes off on the stage. After the performance, even more pyro explodes as it's time for All Elite Wrestling's inaugural pay-per-view event -- DOUBLE OR NOTHING.
A video package airs to get things started. J.R. joins Alex Marvez and The Excalibur at the announce desk.
Being The Elite In-Ring Promo Segment
The Being The Elite theme song plays and out comes Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks to open up the PPV broadcast. They cut a promo in the ring as the fans loudly chant "AEW! AEW! AEW!"
Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks jokes about their being double the amount of fans tonight compared to ALL IN, as 20,000 fans are inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena for tonight's show.
Cody corrects him, pointing out that the MGM Grand Garden Arena only seats 13,000 people. Matt said this is wrestling, so you always inflate the attendance figures. Cody agrees, and joins in on celebrating a sold-out arena of 20,000 AEW fans!
The fans again break out into loud "AEW! AEW! AEW!" chants.
SoCal Uncensored vs. The Strong Hearts (Six-Man Tag Match)
As announced at the top of the "Buy-In" pre-show, the six-man tag-team match between SoCal Uncensored and The Strong Hearts will be our first PPV match of the evening.
This one was given a little over ten minutes, and featured some great action. The finish in this one saw Daniels and Kazarian hit the Best Meltzer Driver for the pin fall victory.
Winners: SoCal Uncensored
Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose vs. Britt Baker
Our first-ever AEW PPV match is followed up by the first-ever AEW PPV women's bout, as our Women's Triple-Threat Match is up next. Allie joins the trio at the announce table for guest commentary of this one.
In the ring, Justin Roberts gets things started on the microphone by introducing Kylie Rae, followed by Nyla Rose and Britt Baker. Well, apparently there is one final introduction remaining.
Brandi Rhodes comes to the ring and announces that this match is being changed to a Fatal-4-Way match. The fourth participant in the contest is a familiar face to pro wrestling fans.
Awesome Kong is introduced and out she comes to a big pop from the fans in attendance, as well as an awesome reaction by "Good Ole' J.R." on commentary.
Our first-ever Women's AEW PPV bout, a Fatal-4-Way match, is now underway as the bell sounds to get this one started.
All three women initially gang up on Kong, however she still managed to not only hold her own, but dominate much of the early action until she missed a big splash in the corner and then another on the ropes that sent her crashing out to the floor.
Rae hits a suicide dive onto the floor. The action resumes in the ring.
In a high-spot, Rose climbed to the top rope, but Baker cut her off. Kong then gave Baker and Rae a double-powerbomb as they suplexed Rose. The crowd popped huge for this spot. Moments later, Baker blasts Rae with a super kick and hits her finisher for the win.
Winner: Britt Baker
Best Friends vs. Angelico & Jack Evans
We return to the ring for our third PPV match of the evening, this time in the men's tag-team division. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta) go up against the duo of Angelico and Jack Evans ... next. Stay tuned.
In the first part of the match, Taylor and Baretta were firmly in control. While in a comfortable lead, the Best Friends go to hug, however Angelico and Evans break it up. The fans boo the two for breaking up the hug.
Angelico flips Evans into a standing shooting star press a few moments later in a really cool spot for a near fall. In the next part of the match, Angelico and Evans isolate Baretta on their side of the ring and utilize a lot of tags to keep a fresh man on their beaten down foe.
Finally, Barretta makes the hot tag to Chuck Taylor, who comes in like a ball of fire. He hits the Falcon Arrow for a near fall a few moments later. Taylor hits a standing sliced bread on the floor on Angelico.
Finally, with both of their opponents down, The Best Friends hug as the crowd goes wild.
After that, we get a series of wild double-team high-spots with Taylor and Baretta taking the brunt of the damage. Most of the spots were far too elaborate and involved to describe properly. Just trust that they were awesome. Evans hit the 630 and goes for the pin, but Taylor breaks it up.
The fans are filling the arena with thunderous "AEW! AEW! AEW!" and "This Is Awesome!" chants now as the finish feels to be drawing close.
That's exactly what happened, too.
Angelico misses a big dive spot from the ring to the floor. Taylor followed up with a dive of his own. Back in the ring, Best Friends Trent Baretta and Chuck Taylor hit the Crusher/Stomp Combo to score the "W."
Winner: Best Friends
After The Match: Mystery Masked Man Attack!
After the match, Best Friends hugged Angelico and Jack Evans. Then, the lights in the MGM Grand Garden Arena go out. When they come back on, The Super Smash Brothers are in the ring. Additionally, there were what appeared to be nine other masked men all around the ring.
They end up attacking Best Friends, as well as Angelico and Jack Evans, cleaning house in dominant fashion. The nine masked guys join The Super Smash Brothers in the ring to pose to end the segment.
ALL OUT Coming To Chicago In August
A commercial ad airs promoting an upcoming pay-per-view on Saturday, August 31, 2019. The PPV is dubbed, ALL OUT, and will emanate from the Sears Center in Chicago, Illinois. Tickets for the show will go on sale to the general public starting Friday, June 14th.
Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki & Emi Sakura vs. Hikaru Shida, Riho & Ryo Mizunami
Our second of two women's matches scheduled for tonight's PPV card is up next, as the advertised six-woman tag-team match pitting the team of Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki and Emi Sakura against the trio of Hikaru Shida, Riho and Ryo Mizunami.
This one was a pretty decent bout, with some great spots here and there. Late in the match, Aja Kong hit Shida with a foreign object, knocking her down. She then executed a superplex on Sakura and had the pin fall victory in the bag, however it was broken up before the count of three.
A few moments later, Sakura seemed to have the pin on Shida. However, referee Aubrey Edwards ruled it a two count even though the timekeeper rang the bell. The fans in the MGM Grand Garden Arena jumped all over this in merciless fashion.
The action resumed, with Kong going for a spinning back-fist, but accidentally hitting her own partner. This led to Shida blasting Sakura with a running knee for the 1-2-3 and the victory.
Winners: Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki & Emi Sakura
Final Hype For First Of Three Main Events
After the six-woman tag-team contest wrapped up, we shot to the announce desk where Jim Ross, Alex Marvez and The Excalibur spoke about the match a lifetime in the making between brothers Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes. Our "Nightmare vs. Natural" co-main event is up next.
The awesome video package for this match airs now as the energy in the arena clearly picks up a level.
Cody vs. Dustin (Nightmare vs. Natural)
The lights go out and when they come back on, there was an empty throne with skulls on it that looked similar to something Triple H would use for one of his trademark elaborate WrestleMania ring entrances. Finally, Cody's theme music plays and out he comes with his wife and AEW Chief Brand Officer, Brandi Rhodes.
The two approach the throne and examine it, looking it over before finally making their way down to the ring.
Some pyro explodes on stage. Brandi goes under the ring and pulls out a sledgehammer, which she hands to Cody. Cody then goes to the stage and slammed the sledgehammer onto the aforementioned vacant throne. Some pyro exploded once the sledgehammer made contact with the throne, which was cool.
The symbolism in that one wasn't hard to figure out. What a bad-ass ring entrance.
Justin Roberts is back on the ring introductions, announcing that there will be a 30-minute time limit for this match.
Dustin Rhodes is then introduced to a nice pop from the Vegas audience. Dustin comes out with red-and-black face paint on one side of his face. The other side of his face was clear. He is wearing red-and-black ring gear as well, which covers everything except his arms.
The final pre-match introductions are given and then the bell sounds to start this one off. Earl Hebner will be the referee for this match.
Here we go. The bell sounds to start this one off. Fans break out into "Dusty!" chants, as well as "This Is Awesome" chants before anything even really happens.
The two trade strikes and holds before the first big spot, which sees Cody hit a suicide dive onto Dustin. A few moments later, Dustin returns the favor with a cannonball senton from the ring apron onto Cody on the floor. The fans chant "You Still Got It!" to Dustin.
While Earl Hebner wasn't looking, Brandi gets involved by throwing a drink at Dustin. The distraction allowed Cody to take the offensive control of the match, which he would keep for several minutes thanks to the momentum-shifting-assist from his better-half.
Dustin exposes the middle turnbuckle and sets Cody up for his trademark low-blow kick. Instead, while charging at Cody, Cody escapes and trips Dustin, who falls face-first with tons of momentum into the exposed steel. This leads to Dustin's face becoming a crimson mask.
Brandi slaps Dustin while Cody distracts Hebner. Then she follows up with a spear, which Hebner catches. He ejects Brandi from ringside. Brandi jaws at Hebner, leading to Diamond Dallas Page coming out and carrying her over his shoulders to the backstage area.
After some more back-and-forth action, tons of blood, near falls and multiple 'Fight Forever" chants from the crowd, we get to the finish. Dustin slaps Cody, who powered him up and performed his Din's Fire move. Hebner starts to count both guys down until finally Cody gets up and stops him. He hits the CrossRhodes on Dustin for the 1-2-3 at about the 23-minute mark.
Winner: Cody
After The Match: Emotional Request From Little Brother
After the match, Cody asks the fans to hold on as they chant "Thank You, Dustin!" to his older brother. Cody says, "You don't get to retire here. You don't get to do that because I have to ask you a favor in front of God and the whole world," said Cody.
Cody talks about having a match against The Young Bucks with a partner of his choosing at the AEW: Fight For The Fallen event in Jacksonville, Florida on July 13th. He said he doesn't need a partner or a friend. As his voice cracks with emotion, he says, "I need my older brother."
The two hug in the ring while the fans erupted with cheers. Another "Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!" chant breaks out. The two head to the backstage area arm-and-arm.
AEW World Championship Presentation With BRET HART
From there, we go to the announce table where J.R., Marvez and Excalibur recap "Hangman" Adam Page winning the Casino Battle Royale earlier in the evening, earning a future match against the winner of tonight's Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho bout that will decide the first-ever AEW World Champion.
With that in mind, actor and comedian Jack Whitehall, who is in the ring, introduces Bret Hart. "The Hitman" comes out for the promised AEW World Championship presentation. He makes his way to the ring with the AEW World Championship belt in a bag.
He hands the title to Whitehall once he gets in the ring. He takes the microphone and thanks the fans, who chant "Holy Sh*t" in response to seeing the WWE Hall Of Famer at the show. Hart introduces Hangman Page, who comes down to the ring.
Page comes out. Out moments later was Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF). MJF gets a strong heel reaction from the crowd. He takes a shot at Bret Hart, warning him that "a fan is coming at you!" Hart smiled at the reference to the fan attack from this year's WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony.
Finally, we get to a physical part of the segment, as Jungle Boy and Jimmy Havoc come out and MJF is beaten up and thrown over the barricade. Meanwhile, in the ring, Bret Hart holds up the AEW World Championship one final time before heading to the back.
Final Hype For Second Of Three Main Events
Our AAA Tag-Team Championship co-main event is up next, as the video package airs for The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) vs. The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix).
The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros (AAA Tag-Team Titles)
After the video airs, we see Justin Roberts standing in the ring. He does the formal pre-match introductions and announces there will be a 60-minute time limit.
Rick Knox will be the referee for this match. The bell sounds and here we go with our second-to-last bout of the evening.
This one was given about a half of an hour to develop and progress, and they not only kept the fans throughout the entire duration, but they had them screaming and jumping out of their seats way too many times to count.
The tag-team co-main event had almost every high-spot and cool series of moves you could envision, and then some. When the match started getting close to the finish, somehow the already fast-paced and brutally offensive contest went to a whole other level.
Fenix hits a Canadian Destroyer on Nick Jackson on the ring apron in a sick spot, which was followed up by Fenix hitting a suicide dive off of Pentagon Jr. onto the floor. He then hit a swanton bomb on Nick for a near fall.
After that, Fenix leaped off the top for another high-risk move, however The Young Bucks caught him coming down with double super kicks to shift the momentum in the match.
In one of the craziest spots, Matt Jackson gave Fenix a brainbuster on the top turnbuckle. The Young Bucks then hit More Bang For Your Buck for a close two count. They hit The Assisted Piledriver for another close near fall. They go for The Meltzer Driver, but Fenix breaks it up.
Pentagon Jr. snaps Matt's arm before hitting him with a Pentagon Driver for a two count. Fenix then charged at Matt but got caught in the Tombstone position. Matt holds him up with one arm and then Nick joins him in blasting him with The Meltzer Driver for the victory.
Winners and STILL AAA Tag-Team Champions: The Young Bucks
Final Hype For Third Of Three Main Events
After the co-main event ends, Jim Ross, Alex Marvez and The Excalibur recap some of the insane highlights from the match before turning their attention to tonight's main event -- ALPHA vs. OMEGA 2.
The announce team reminds us that Hangman Page won the Casino Battle Royale in the "Buy-In" pre-show earlier in the evening, and with the win, is standing in the wings waiting to challenge the winner of tonight's main event at a future AEW event to determine the first-ever AEW World Champion.
"Good Ole' J.R." explains why he thinks this match is a "must-win" for Chris Jericho and because of that, he feels the wrestling legend will find a way to do just that. On that note, the elaborate video package for our main event of the evening airs.
Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega (ALPHA vs. OMEGA 2)
The lights go out and when they come back on, we see "Lionheart" appearing on the big screen as a man with a look similar to Chris Jericho's younger days stands at the top of the entrance ramp with his back to the crowd and his arms extended out in trademark Y2J fashion.
The lights go out again. This time when they come back on, we see a Jericho look-alike holding up "The List." The lights go out again and the next guy was a look-alike wearing the light-up jacket. Finally, the Fozzy single "Judas" plays as the real Chris Jericho makes his way down to the ring wearing a leather jacket and hat.
Now it's time for Kenny Omega's ring entrance.
The lights go out and when they come back on, a trippy video wall followed by his name appears on the two giant screens hanging above the entrance stage. Pyro explodes for Omega on the stage as he makes his way out slapping hands with fans around the ring before heading up the ring steps and entering the squared circle.
Justin Roberts finishes up his official pre-match introductions for the ALPHA vs. OMEGA 2 main event between Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. Paul Turner will be the referee for this, our final bout of the evening. The bell sounds and here we go. Jericho pushes Omega into the ropes, so Omega slaps him. Alex Marvez informs us on commentary that AEW is trending number one on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Jericho and Omega trade chops back-and-forth until the action spills out to the floor. Omega slams Jericho on the timekeepers table at ringside. Jericho fires back with punches. Omega goes to do a flying move off of the top of the barricade, however Jericho ended up shoving him crashing into the fans in the front row instead.
While feeling in control now, Jericho picks up a camera and films Omega, who spits water at the camera and then blasts Jericho with a springboard kick off the barricade that he successfully executed this time. Finally, the action re-enters the ring.
Omega hits a rolling senton and a moonsault on Jericho for a near fall. Jericho starts fighting back, targeting his attack on the right eye of Omega. Jericho executes a missile dropkick off the middle rope onto Omega for a two count. The two exchange strikes in the ring before Jericho turns Omega inside-out with a huge clothesline for another two count.
Jericho gets up from the failed pin attempt flipping off the crowd and talking smack as they chanted for something that was going on off-camera inside the arena.
Meanwhile, we see Omega is bleeding from the nose. He looks down at the blood on his hands and then struck the pose while the fans did the Terminator clap. Jericho is out on the floor pulling a table out from under the ring. Omega runs and dropkicks the table into Jericho before following up with a flip-dive onto Jericho and the table from the ring to the floor for a nice pop from the fans.
The announcers sell the fact that the table landed on the left arm of Jericho, which could affect the planned "Judas Effect" spinning back-elbow finishing move he promised to unveil tonight. Omega picks the table up and drops it onto Jericho. He then goes up top and performs a springboard double-stomp onto the table, which was on top of Jericho, for another nice crowd reaction.
We start nearing the finish now, as Jericho locks Omega in the Walls of Jericho in the ring. Omega powered his way toward the ropes, but Jericho pulled him back into the ring and countered into the Liontamer. Omega rolled and eventually kicked his way free.
Omega and Jericho exchange stiff strikes and then Omega hits a V Trigger. Omega pulls Jericho up for the One Winged Angel, however Jericho counters to avoid it. He appeared to be going for a DDT, but Omega landed awkwardly on his head. Jim Ross called that an "ugly DDT."
Omega goes to pin Jericho but only gets two. Jericho hits Omega with an enzuigir and then blasts him with a knee to the head while he was grounded. Jericho goes for another Lionsault, but Omega catches him coming down and goes for his finisher. Jericho managed to escape, however, and blasts Omega with a DDT. This one wasn't as ugly, and was twice as effective.
Jericho hits Omega with a Codebreaker and both guys are down. Finally, the two get back to their feet and Jericho throws his brand new finishing move, The Judas Effect spinning-back-elbow, which connects flush with the face of Omega. Jericho covers him and gets the 1-2-3. The ALPHA vs. OMEGA series is now even, with each guy holding a victory over the other.
Winner: Chris Jericho
After The Match: JON MOXLEY STRIKES!
After the match, Jericho cuts a promo. As noted, with the win, Jericho moves on to face "Hangman" Adam Page in a future showdown that will determine the first-ever AEW World Champion. Jericho talks about beating Omega by the skin of his teeth before remembering that he would demand a "thank you."
Before he could get one, Jon Moxley, a.k.a. former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose, runs through the crowd and hits the ring. He stares at Jericho as the fans go absolutely bonkers inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Jericho tries talking smack to Moxley, who blasts him with his Dirty Deeds DDT-finisher. Moxley then hit referee Paul Turner with a Dirty Deeds DDT for good measure.
From there, Moxley turns his attention to Omega. Moxley kneels down next to Omega and says something to him. Omega then gets back to his feet. Moxley kicks Omega, looking to blast him with a Dirty Deeds DDT as well, however Omega tackles him and the two go crashing through the ring ropes and onto a broken table.
The two fight into the crowd, where the battle continues all the way up to the top of the entrance ramp. Omega bashes Moxley's head into part of the set. Moxley fights back and gets on the set structure at the top of the ramp, hitting Omega with his Dirty Deeds DDT finisher on it. Moxley picks Omega up and knees him in the face before performing a crazy Death Valley Driver that sent Omega crashing down off of the set structure.
A fired up Jim Ross closes the show on that note.
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