The time has come!
All Elite Wrestling returns to pay-per-view this evening from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as AEW Double Or Nothing takes place this evening, Sunday, May 26, 2024.
On tap for tonight's show is Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage for the AEW title, The Elite vs. Team AEW in an Anarchy in the Arena match, Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone for the TBS title, "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb for the AEW Women's title, as well as Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takesh*ta in an IWGP title eliminator bout.
Also scheduled is Chris Jericho vs. HOOK vs. Katsuyori Shibata for the FTW title, Bullet Club Gold vs. Death Triangle for the Unified AEW Trios titles, Roderick Strong vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW International title, Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black for TNT title in Barbed Wire Cage match, Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy, as well as two pre-show bouts, with The Acclaimed vs. Cage Of Agony and Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo.
Featured below are complete AEW Double Or Nothing results from Sunday, May 26, 2024. The following report was written by Rajah.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 6:30pm EST. - 1:00am EST.
AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING RESULTS (5/26/2024)
We're officially off-and-running, as "The Buy-In" has started. Renee Paquette welcomes us to the show. She is joined by RJ City and Jeff Jarrett at a special table and desk set-up, similar to the WWE pre-shows, instead of standing up on the entrance ramp.
The trio talk about the history of AEW with this being five years and a day to the date of the first one, as well as the history of wrestling in Las Vegas. They begin talking about some of tonight's matches and an in-depth video package airs promoting the Barbed Wire Steel Cage TNT title match with Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black.
Lexy Nair does a random interview with Charlie to talk about the Barbed Wire Steel Cage itself and how it is built for destruction. Back to the panel, who shift gears and talk about the Unified AEW Trios Championship match, with Death Triangle challenging Bullet Club Gold for the titles. The pre-match video package for this one airs.
From there, we pick up the pace a bit and start going through the card a bit quicker. The pre-match package for the FTW Championship three-way with Chris Jericho defending against HOOK and Katsuyori Shibata airs. The panelists talk about the match and then send us into the package for the Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy bout.
Jeff Jarrett is delivering well again in this role on the pre-show. Excellent with the banter with Renee Paquette and in particular RJ City, and obviously good with match breakdowns, etc. The talk moves onto the AEW Women's title bout with "Timeless" Toni Storm defending against Serena Deeb. We see the pre-match package for that one.
The pre-match packages for several additional bouts on the card airs, and the panel weigh in with their thoughts on the matches. We see the road to the AEW Championship featured bout, which is one of three main events advertised for the show, with the full story leading up to tonight's Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage showdown.
We move on to the pre-match package for the highly-anticipated Anarchy in the Arena, prompting Paquette to send her thoughts and prayers to the poor MGM Grand Garden Arena for the abuse it is going to endure this evening.
Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo
From there, the talk moves on to the first of two pre-show matches scheduled for tonight. We see the pre-match package for the Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo bout. The package wraps up and Rosa makes her way out to the ring, followed by "The Virtuosa." The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.
Early on, Rosa is shot out of a canon and dominating the offensive action. Purrazzo takes over and motions kicking up dust on Rosa as she is down behind her. Purrazzo takes over with submission work on the mat, and elicitcs praise as being among the best ground talents in the women's division from the commentary team.
After some more back-and-forth action, we see Rosa shift the offensive momentum back in her favor. It looks like she is working her way towards victory, when Purrazzo gets a pin and holds onto the ropes to cheat for the win.
Winner: Deonna Purrazzo
2024 Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournament Announced
The ringside commentary duo of Excalibur and Tony Schiavone run down the lineup for tonight as the official match graphics flash across the screen. They get to the next pre-show match here on "The Buy-In," which features The Acclaimed & "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn taking on "The Machine" Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony.
Lexy Nair is backstage live with The Acclaimed and "Daddy Ass." Gunn talks first and then Max Caster, and then Anthony Bowens, who references being gay during his turn. Back inside the arena, Tony Khan and Dr. Martha Hart are introduced by Renee Paquette. Out they come and Hart makes the special Owen Hart Cup announcement.
The Owen Hart Memorial Foundation are celebrating their 25th anniversary. With that in mind, they have something special in mind for this year's tournament. She hands the mic to Khan to make the announcement. He talks about it being the third year for the tourney this year.
The winners of this years men's and women's tourneys will get world title shots. The finals will take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 10, 2024. The winners will get their world title shots at AEW ALL IN 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Acclaimed & "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn vs. "The Machine" Brian Cage & Gates Of Agony
It's time for our second pre-show match of the evening. The theme for Cage Of Agony, the collective name for the trio of "The Machine" Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony duo of Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.
The Acclaimed's tune plays and Max Caster raps about freak sex stuff and still not knowing the Gates of Agony's names. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. The Vegas Golden Knights mascot was introduced prior to the match. Caster rapped during his entrance and made a joke about the size of Cage’s penis. Bowens had his left thigh wrapped.
"Daddy Ass" calls for Cage to tag in early on. Cage obliged and put Gunn down and posed. Gunn returned the favor by putting Cage down with a shoulder block before posing and delivering a crotch chop.
We see all six of the guys in the match brawl on the floor. Bowens was placed to straddle the ring steps and then Gunn was run into the steps. Bowens sold his thigh injury. The heels isolated Caster in the ring while his partners were down on the floor.
After some more back-and-forth action, we work our way to the finish of this one, which sees Cage grab a chair at ringside to a ton of boos. The mascot introduced at the top of the bout takes the chair from Cage for a big pop. In the ring, Gunn gets an inside cradle out of nowhere on Kaun for the pin fall victory. Gunn is slow to get up afterwards.
Winners: The Acclaimed & "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn
AEW International Championship
Roderick Strong (C) vs. Will Ospreay
After the casino-style cold open package wraps up, we shoot back inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena where Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and Taz welcome us to the show. The theme for Will Ospreay hits and out comes "The Aerial Assassin" for our first match of the evening.
Roderick Strong's theme hits and out comes The Undisputed Kingdom member for the latest defense of his AEW International Championship. Ospreay tries to blindside Strong with a Hidden Blade, but gets caught leading to a melee with the champ and his pals. The fight spills to the outside where Ospreay manages to dispatch the Kingdom, focusing his attention on the champ who charges at him only to be taken down.
Now both men are back in the ring, going at it until Strong sends Ospreay to the outside once more distracting the ref while Taven and Bennett set the challenger up, leading to a clothesline off the shoulders and to the floor! Strong takes advantage of this after the ref checks on Ospreay, and starts wearing the challenger down in the ring. Ospreay starts fighting back with some chops, but is sent to the corner by the champ for some hard right hands. Strong drops the challenger down hard and gets a nearfall, but bringing Ospreay back up to his feet turns to a jawbreaker on the champ instead.
A trade of strikes leads to Strong sending Ospreayto the corner, but the challenger catches him by surprise dropping the champ to the mat instead. Taven and Bennett hop onto the apron looking to get involved, distracting the ref long enough for Wardlow to run in but an attempt to hit a powerbomb goes awry when the ref catches him. He ejects Wardlow from the ring while Ospreay catches the champ with a Cheeky Nando’s, forcing Strogn to flee to the outside where he and the Kingdom get caught with a corkscrew moonsault from the Aerial Assassin.
Ospreay brings the champ back into the ring and gets a nearfall, before Strong gets to his feet for some strikes. Ospreay responds with a flurry of offense leading to a nearfall of his own. Ospreay heads up top, but is intercepted by the champ who climbs the turnbuckle himself only to be knocked down to the canvas before Ospreay leaps off. He lands on his feet as Roderick rolls away, but seems to have jammed his knee and the champ takes advantage, catching Ospreay with the Stronghold.
Ospreay tries to fight out of it, only for the champ to transition to a cloverleaf until Ospreay manages to grab the rope to survive. Ospreay starts to fight back and eventually hits an Os-Cutter for a close two-count. The crowd breaks out in a loud "This is Awesome!" chant. After stopping the action to check on Ospreay earlier, he stops it again to check on Strong now. Don Callis throws his head set down from special commentary and tells Ospreay to do the retired Tiger Driver move. Ospreay goes for it as the crowd goes wild.
He lifts Strong up but decides against it. The hesitation allows Strong to counter. Strong lands a big kick that knocks out Ospreay. He jumps on him for the cover, but Ospreay kicks out. A hurricanrana attempt to a pin attempt from Ospreay gets another close two-count for the challenger. Ospreay wipes out Strong with a trademark shot. He hits a Stormbreaker and covers him for the pin fall victory. We have a new AEW International Champion.
Winner and NEW AEW International Champion: Will Ospreay
MJF Returns, Gets Revenge On Adam Cole
After Ospreay wraps up his title celebration, out of nowhere, the lights go out. The theme for Adam Cole hits and out he comes. He is walking fine now. He gets on the mic and asks who is ready for story time with Adam Cole ... BAY-BAY. He pulls out 'The Devil' mask and talks about how when he's back, there will be hell to pay. The lights go out again.
We see a fancy video of MJF in a nice area with his back turned to the camera. The former AEW World Champion turns and his theme hits. The crowd goes absolutely insane. MJF comes to the ring and stands across from Adam Cole. The fans chant "You f*cked up!" at Cole. The two hug and the crowd boos. MJF backs up and low-blows Cole blatantly and smiles.
He leans down and asked if he kicked the little "BAY-BAY." He then talks about the friendship part of his life being over. He says now it's all about heat. He tells Cole to suck a bag of "Donkey D*cks." He says the stupid, goofy, grotesque mask that symbolizes the tail end of 2023 can go straight to hell. He does a Ric Flair and throws the mask down, hits the ropes and drops an elbow on it.
MJF says he's been betting on himself since day one. He's ALL IN and is going Double Or Nothing. He says if it's not obvious about his AEW contract status, he tells the camera man to zoom. We see a tattoo on him that reads, "Bet on yourself." He says when it comes to MJF in AEW, you can call him "The Wolf of Wrestling" because he's not f*cking leaving. His theme hits again to end the wild segment.
Unified AEW Trios Championships
Bullet Club Gold (C) vs. Death Triangle
It's time for our second bout of the PPV portion of the show, and we're going two for two, as another title is on-the-line. The Unified AEW Trios Championships will be defended as the Bang-Bang Gang trio of Bullet Club Gold defend against the reunited Death Triangle team.
Each team makes their equally bad-ass ring entrances, and then we get ready for our next match of the evening. The bell sounds and off we go. PAC and Jay White kick things off for their respective teams. Colten Gunn instantly tags in. Colten charges at PAC, but gets takend own with a hip toss instead. Colten tries to fight back but gets caught with another hip toss before tagging in Austin who gets caught with a flurry of offense by PAC, leading to a hip toss that ends up sending Austin out of the ring.
Colten and White try to intervene but that leads to Death Triangle confronting them in the ring. Austin gets back in, just as Penta tags in for a flurry of offense on Austin before Fenix tags himself in for a wheelbarrow slam and a nearfall. Colten tags in but is soon met with a triple attack from Death Triangle. Austin runs in but is beaten down by the trio as well while Jay tags himself in, leading to chaos that spills to the outside while PAC gets caught by Jay for a Blade Runner attempt. Jay goes for a DDT instead and that seems to do some damage on PAC’s neck, the ref checking on him before Jay hits a neckbreaker for a nearfall.
The tag is made to Austin, who continues to target the injured neck of PAC as he brings him to the corner for a tag right back to the Switchblade. Chop by Jay who drops PAC to the mat for a nearfall. Jay stays on the attack however, catching PAC on the bottom rope with a slingshot and a nearfall before transitioning to a single leg crab to keep him isolated from the corner. Tag to Colten, but PAC kicks him away for a tag to Austin, but the Gunns cant’ stop PAC from making the tag to Penta.
Penta goes off on the Gunns, leading to a Lucha Bros double team…but the pin is broken up by the Switchblade! Jay tags himself in but is met with a double team by the Lucha Bros, ending with a spinning driver to the mat by Penta for a nearfall. The tag is made to PAC as chaos ensues between all six men, with Penta hitting a destroyer on Colten and Jay hitting a uranage on Fenix. PAC in the corner and takes Colten down before hitting a snap German suplex on Austin.
After that, a triple team attack connects on Jay White after, leading to a stomp and Fear Factor combo. The Gunns grab the golden bat from ringside, distracting the ref as PAC goes up top only to be intercepted by a returning Juice Robinson! Juice drops him off the turnbuckle, leading to a Blade Runner that gets the champs the pin and the win to retain the Unified AEW Trios Championships in an excellent match.
Winners and STILL Unified AEW Trios Champions: Bullet Club Gold
AEW Women's Championship
"Timeless" Toni Storm (C) vs. Serena Deeb
Another title match is up in our next pay-per-view bout of the evening, as it's time to find out who will leave "Sin City" with the AEW Women's Championship. The theme for Serena Deeb hits and out she comes for her big title opportunity. The camera shot goes black-and-white and out comes the reigning, defending AEW Women's Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm for her latest title defense. The bell sounds and off we go.
The challenger is quick to go on the attack, tying up the champ with holds before hitting a dropkick on the booty of "Timeless" Toni. From there, Storm is sent to the corner, but just as quickly fights back before sending the challenger to the outside. The champ brings Deeb back into the ring but is distracted on the apron, leading to a dragon screw from Serena that sends Toni down to the floor! Deeb follows up on the outside before bringing the champ back in the ring for a nearfall.
Deeb is back on her feet now, going for a flying octopus hold on the champ, who steps over to the ring, and with her arms tied up she grabs the rope with her teeth to force a break. Deeb is quick to reset however, getting an abdominal stretch until Storm manages to fight out.
Storm is driven to the mat with another dragon screw by the challenger. After some interference from Mariah May and Luther at ringside, we see Storm get the win to retain the AEW Women's Championship in another good match. She has her post-match black-and-white dramatic actress celebration and we move on.
Winner and STILL AEW Women's Champion: "Timeless" Toni Storm
Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta
The pre-match video package airs for our next match of the evening, which is a battle of former "Best Friends" turned enemies. The full story leading up to tonight's Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta bout is shown and then we return inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The theme for Trent Beretta hits and out he comes.
He settles in the ring to a ton of boos and his music dies down. Orange Cassidy's theme hits but no one comes out. The music stops. Orange Cassidy's old theme music plays and out comes "The Freshly Squeezed" one as Don Callis is introduced on special guest commentary. The commentators point out Cassidy is wearing a black t-shirt for the first time ever. The bell sounds and off we go.
We see the two charge and meet in the middle of the ring, where they trade shots back-and-forth in vicious fashion. Trent sends Cassidy to the corner with some hard strikes laying him out. Trent continues the attack until Orange turns things around, sending him into the turnbuckle and then to the outside for a big dive through the ropes driving his former pal into the barricade. Cassidy sends Trent onto a chair at ringside.
He fires away with punches but Trent goes back on the attack, catching him by the throat at the ring post. Trent wears him down as the crowd let him know what they think, drawing a smirk from Beretta as he rains down some punches. Trent follows up with a suplex twice over, really wearing Cassidy down as he looks for a third, but Cassidy fights back. He gets sent to the corner where he hits a boot on Trent, but that is followed by a big suplex by Beretta, driving Cassidy down hard.
Trent continues the attack, sending Orange to the corner as he lays in some more punches as Cassidy is sent to the corner once more, but he responds to this by putting his hands in his pockets. Trent is not pleased by this as he lays in some chops, but Cassidy manages to fight back and drops Beretta to the mat. Cassidy with a series of stomps into a running dropkick, and Trent tries to escape the corner as Orange goes up top, only for Trent to head to the apron.
Cassidy goes after him, and takes a piledriver to the apron for his troubles. Cassidy’s barely moving on the floor as Trent heads out, setting up the steel steps for a repeat of a couple weeks ago, only to get his arm caught by Cassidy, who hits him with a Beach Break to the floor. The ref begins the count as both men slowly make their way to the ring, ending up in opposite corner as Orange reaches out his arms like he wants a hug, but as Trent charges at him, Cassidy drops him down to the mat.
Trent is already back up and looking for a suplex, but it gets countered, but the Stundog Millionaire is blocked as well. They go at it again, and this time Trent catches him with a piledriver for a two count. Trent goes to the corner, mocking Orange with his hands out this time, only to be met with a right hand by Cassidy.
Cassidy hits him with a Beach Break for the cover. Trent kicks out and fights back. He goes for a big move, but ends up in a pin by Cassidy, who gets the three to end this one out of nowhere. After the match, Paquette tries to interview Trent, but he says he isn't doing this anymore and walks off through the crowd.
Winner: Orange Cassidy
FTW Championship
"The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho (C) vs. HOOK vs. Katsuyori Shibata
It's time for more championship action, as "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho makes the latest defense of his "For The World" Championship. The theme for HOOK hits after his bat symbol flashes on the ceiling. He heads to the ring to the sounds of Action Bronson and a big crowd reaction from the fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The theme for Katsuyori Shibata and out comes "The Wrestler" with his trademark towel.
"The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho theme hits and out comes the longest-reigning "For The World" Champion of all-time. He has a big old smile on his face, as always, and is waving to the people like a beauty queen. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. HOOK blasts Jericho with chops and Shibata hits a back suplex on "The Learning Tree." HOOK hits a suplex of his own and goes under the ring to pull out a table.
He does and sets it up. Back in the ring, we see some more big spots and then a sack is pulled out from under the ring. What is in it? Probably thumb tacks, right? Maybe broken glass? Nope. They're in Las Vegas, so it's a bunch of dice! Ouch! Collectively that can't feel good getting slammed on. Everyone gets a turn in the fun, too. Big Bill runs in for a blatant attack on HOOK as he had Jericho dead to rights.
HOOK fights back and hits an absolutely insane t-bone suplex on the much larger man from the ring apron through the table on the floor. Perfectly. One inch to the right, and Big Bill was going right into the big sturdy steel leg of the table. Yikes. Back inside the ring, we see some more back-and-forth action and interference from "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith leading to a Judas Effect from Jericho to retain. HOOK goes after him afterwards. Jericho security runs out. HOOK suplexes them all as Jericho scurries away.
Winner and STILL FTW Champion: "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Eliminator
Jon Moxley (C) vs. Konosuke Takesh*ta
The pre-match video package airs to get us ready for our next match of the evening, which is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship Eliminator bout. Don Callis Family member "The Alpha" Konosuke Takesh*ta makes his way out to the ring as we return live. He settles inside the squared circle and his entrance tune dies down. "Wild Thing" plays and out through the crowd is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley.
Mox goes on the attack early, sending Takesh*ta to the corner for some chops before Konosuke turns it around. Takesh*ta takes to the ropes now, taking Mox down hard before focusing on the injured arm of the champ. Mox gets sent to the corner, pulling off tape to keep the damage before bringing him to the center for a hammerlock slam. Mox is soon able to turn things around, sending Takesh*ta to the apron, only for the Alpha to drop him down hard instead.
Konosuke starts pulling off the bandages as he continues to focus on the shoulder after that nasty looking attack, before Mox turns it around and starts laying in punches and taking a bite out of Takesh*ta on the barricade. Takesh*ta turns it around now, trapping Mox’s arm in a chair against the barricade before stomping away at it. Mox gets to his feet but is driven into the steel steps by Takesh*ta, who brings the champ back into the ring to wear him down even more.
Mox starts to fight back but is hoisted up by Konosuke for a brainbuster, before trapping the arm for a crossface hold, but the champ pulls his nose, building up an opening to get to his feet. The two trade strikes now, with Mox starting to get the upper hand, but not for long as Takesh*ta hits him with a boot, sending him to the ropes. Mox is able to respond with a cutter, driving the Alpha down to the mat.
Mox gets back to his feet, looking for a piledriver, but Takesh*ta counters out, getting an armbar on the champ instead. Mox fights out, getting a triangle hold on Takesh*ta in the process, but Konosuke counters with a powerbomb before going for the armbar again. Mox struggles, but is able to get to the ropes as Takesh*ta breaks the hold, only to go after the face of the champ. Mox sends him out of the ring before hitting the ropes, diving onto the Alpha to send him to the floor.
Mox rises to his feet as he goes back on the attack, sending Takesh*ta back into the ring, but the Alpha is back to his feet, rushing toward the champ. Mox catches him with a lariat instead, but Takesh*ta responds with a piledriver and a wheelbarrow suplex for good measure. Takesh*ta in the corner for a running knee strike, but Mox catches him with the Paradigm Shift instead. The two fight to a vertical base with headbutts and other strikes, finally getting to their feet.
Forearm strikes back and forth until Takesh*ta wrings the champ’s arm for added damage, followed by a hard right hand to the head. Takesh*ta back in the corner and he hits a Power Drive Knee. Cover by Takesh*ta, but the champ manages to kick out! Mox gets the bulldog choke on Takesh*ta, but the appearance of the bandage makes the ref intervene. Mox goes for a Death Rider but is sent into the corner by Takesh*ta instead, who drops him with a nasty kick before hitting a Death Rider of his own on the champ. Mox survives and fights back with another Death Rider for the win. No title shot for the Alpha.
Winner: Jon Moxley
TNT Championship (Barbed Wire Steel Cage)
Adam Copeland (C) vs. Malakai Black
The pre-match package for the Barbed Wire Steel Cage match for the TNT Championship airs. Adam Copeland defends against Malakai Black next. If Malakai wins, he's the TNT Champion and Copeland must bend the knee to The House of Black. The package wraps up and we return inside the arena.
After the lights go out, the theme for The House of Black plays and out comes Malakai Black for our next match of the evening. He settles in the ring after a cool entrance. The theme for his opponent plays, but it's not the usual "On this day ..." tune. It's a more sinister tune. We see a dark arena with dark red lights as Adam Copeland emerges through the ground at the top of the ramp like the devil.
He settles in the ring and we waste no time, this Barbed Wire Steel Cage match for the TNT Championship is officially off-and-running. The ring is also filled with tables and chairs and other goodies. These two immediately get after it and almost immediately we see blood drawn, as Copeland smashes Malakai's hand into the barbed wire on the cage wall. Copeland wraps the barbed wire around the turnbuckle pad.
After some back-and-forth teases with that spot, we finally see both get face-first smashed into it. Both are a bloody mess pretty early on. A table is set up in the ring covered in barbed wire. Black takes over and beats down a bloody Malakai for a prolonged run in the offensive lead. Copeland fights back, puts Black on the barbed wire table, and climbs to the top of the barbed wire cage, leaping off and putting him through it. Wow.
We work our way to the finish, which sees Copeland and Malakai end up on the floor outside of the cage. We hear fans barking and the commentators point out that can only mean one thing. Out comes Brody King and Buddy Matthews next to a bloody Malakai. They stop and turn and walk over to Copeland as Malakai looks shocked and the crowd roars. They end up clotheslining Copeland down and beating him up.
Back inside the barbed wire cage, The House of Black have Copeland on his knees and they put a barbed wire crown over his head with his arms pulled to each side like a crucifiction. The crowd gasps at that. Before they can do anything, the lights go out and turn dark red like during Copeland's entrance. Music plays. Up through the ring pops Gangrel, David Heath. He spits blood at The House of Black guys and hits Impalers on anything that moves.
The House of Black guys end up knocking Gangrel down and Copeland takes over. He gets the barbed wire thorn crown off his face, nearly ripping his eyes out in the process. He puts it on Malakai and uses it as he stretches him with his submission finisher cross-face for the win. He and Gangrel have a cool moment as Copeland's regular "On this day ..." theme plays. Very cool moment. Copeland is still your TNT Champion.
Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Adam Copeland
TBS Women's Championship
Willow Nightingale (C) vs. Mercedes Mone
It's main event time ... part one of three!
Backstage, Lexy Nair talks to Don Callis for an interview. He says he's got a scoop for her. He will be presenting a contract for The Don Callis Family on this coming week's post-Double Or Nothing 2024 episode of AEW Dynamite on TBS. Back inside the arena, Excalibur hypes out triple main event. The slot machine hits and we find out that the first of our three main events tonight will be the TBS Women's Championship contest.
The elaborate pre-match video package airs to set the stage for our next bout, which features Willow Nightingale defending her TBS Women's Championship against the woman she injured the last time they met for the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship, Mercedes Mone. The package wraps up and a long entrance video intro plays for "The CEO," who emerges looking Vegas-fabulous as Vegas drummers and dancers play her out.
Mone settles inside the ring for her long-awaited AEW in-ring debut. Her music dies down and the theme for her opponent plays. Nothing too fancy, just a new white jacket for her ring walk, and Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway by her side as she heads to the ring. The two are in the ring and ready to rock and roll. The ring announcer wraps up the formal pre-match ring introductions for the champion and the challenger and the bell sounds.
This one gets off to a hot start, with these two immediately getting after it as the crowd goes wild in the background inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Willow starts in the offensive lead, but Mercedes fights back, immediately leaving the ring for a breather until the champ gives chase, only to be intercepted by the challenger upon returning to the ring.
Mercedes takes advantage of this for a rollup but only gets a nearfall. Mone continues the attack but is soon stopped by the champ, who sends Mercedes to the ropes for a series of strikes. Willow charges toward the challenger, but is hung up and sent to the outside instead by Mone. Mercedes continues before heading back to the ring and takes to the ropes, only to be intercepted by the champ, who ends up hitting a gut-wrench powerbomb driving Mone onto the apron instead.
Willow brings the challenger back into the ring for a suplex, but only gets a nearfall as Mercedes then gets to her feet. She fights the champ off before climbing up, but gets caught on the shoulders of the champ, who sends Mone down hard to the mat. Willow sets her up on the turnbuckle for an elevated gut-wrench powerbomb, but Mercedes turns it around and goes after Willow’s ankle in the tree of woe.
Willow drops to the canvas, heading to the middle of the ring before the challenger goes right back after the ankle, wearing the champ down before catching her with a kneebar. Willow starts fighting out of it with punches on Mercedes, who fights back with a boot to keep her down. The hold ends up being broken as the champ gets back to her feet, only to be taken down with a dragon screw by Mone.
The challenger catches a modified ankle lock on Nightingale, who manages to power out of it sending Mercedes to the mat. Willow back up, only to be caught with a backstabber by the challenger who makes the cover, but the champ kicks out! Short arm lariat by Willow gets dodged, and Mone goes for a flying octopus hold on Nightingale.
Willow finally breaks out of it, catching the challenger with an ankle lock of her own as Mercedes manages to get out, and the impact sends the champ into the corner. Mone hits the ropes, but is intercepted with a massive Pounce by the champ that sends her down to the canvas hard. Mercedes gets to her feet in the corner but is met with a big splash from Willow, only for Mone’ to fight her off before leaping off the turnbuckle, and into a spinebuster by the champ.
Both women slowly get to their feet as Willow looks for a gut-wrench powerbomb, but Mercedes counters out, only to be rolled up for a nearfall, and then sent to the mat with a shoulder bomb. Champ follows up with a fisherman’s suplex, but only gets a nearfall. In the end, "The CEO" Mercedes Mone captures the TBS Women's Championship with a win in an excellent, hard-earned match after hitting her Mone-Maker finisher for the pin fall victory.
After the match, Mone celebrates as Statlander and Stokely re-enter the ring to check on Willow. Kris is concerned. Stokely is scolding her. Kris shoves Stokely on his ass. Outside of the ring, Kris and Willow leave together. Kris stops and knocks Willow out. She tears the bracelet she gave her off and knocks her out again.
Winner and NEW TBS Women's Champion: Mercedes Mone
AEW World Championship
Swerve Strickland (C) vs. Christian Cage
It's main event time ... part two of three!
The theme for Christian Cage hits in the arena after the elaborate pre-match video package to build up our second of three main events wraps up. The leader of "The Patriarchy" makes his way to the ring for his big title opportunity. After he settles inside the ring, a special intro video for Swerve Strickland's ring entrance plays. We hear bottles clanging and someone saying "Swerve, come out to play-ay!" like from the famous scene in "The Warriors" movie.
From there, we transition into the regular theme for the reigning, defending AEW World Champion and for the first time in a while, out comes Prince Nana to do the always entertaining goofy-ass(ed) swerve dance to bring him out. The two head to the ring together for our second-to-last match of the evening. It's time to find out who is leaving "Sin City" with the AEW World Championship in our last title bout of the evening. Prince Nana leads fans in a "Who's House?" chant.
Now the bell sounds and off we go with this one. Cage and Strickland stare each other down before the challenger turns his attention to the crowd, yelling at them before Swerve locks up with him back in the middle of the ring. They both end up on the mat, still locked up until Cage takes the champ to the corner. Swerve takes the fight to the challenger now, sending him to the corner this time before faking him out. Action moves back to the center of the ring as both men look for an opening, which quickly leads to the two trading blows.
This ends with Swerve getting a side headlock on the challenger, who fights out of it only to be taken down with a shoulder tackle by Strickland, who stomps Cage’s back right after. Christian finally turns things around on him however, laying in some mounted punches before the ref intervenes. Cage goes up top for a diving headbutt, but Swerve rolls away before going after the challenger’s arm until Cage grabs the ropes and escapes. Swerve goes out to slam Cage against the barricade, re-entering the ring to go up top, but Cage gets out of the way, turning things around.
He lays in some chops and forearms. Right hand leads to Cage sending Swerve back into the ring, posing to a wave of boos before attacking the champ against the ropes. Swerve tries to turn it around on the challenger now, but Christian takes him down before hitting a frog splash off the top turnbuckle for a nearfall. Cage continues the attack with his Patriarchy watching from ringside, but the champ fights back sending Cage down hard! The challenger takes it right back to Swerve however, setting up for a spear before Strickland catches him with a gutwrench into a slam to the mat.
Swerve keeps the challenger at bay, driving him back into the canvas before Cage gets back to his feet, only to get caught with a snapmare and a neckbreaker combination. He takes Cage to the ropes now, hanging him up on the middle rope with another neckbreaker as Cage falls to the floor, and as he gets to his feet, the challenger is met with a big dive from Strickland. Cage brought back into the ring as Swerve goes up top for a frog splash of his own, but that only gets the champ a nearfall. Cage evades a House Call, locking in the Sharpshooter instead.
Swerve is struggling here as he inches toward the ropes, but Cage pulls him back into the middle of the ring. Swerve manages to get to his back, opening up for a small package that gets a nearfall. Mama Wayne grabs the AEW World Championship and approaches the ring, only to be intercepted by Prince Nana who pulls the title away, which gives Nick Wayne an idea, drawing the ref’s attention to Nana holding the belt. The ref ejects Nana from ringside to a “Ref you suck” chant from the crowd, and Cage sends Swerve out of the ring before distracting the ref even further as Killswitch and Nick Wayne attack the champ on the outside.
Killswitch looks to go after Strickland, but hits Cage instead before getting laid out by the champ. Strickland gets back into the ring, but is caught by Cage who gets a nearfall in the process. Nick Wayne distracts the ref while Killshot tries to go after the champ now, but the ref catches him, and makes the call to eject the Patriarchy from ringside. The crowd sings them goodbye as Swerve gets to his feet in the ring, hitting a knee on Cage followed by a flatliner for a close nearfall on the challenger. The action now spills to the outside, where Strickland sets up the steel steps as the ref tries to talk some sense into him.
Christian gets to the apron but is spotted by the champ, who tries to send him into the steps to no avail, but does hit a Swerve Stomp before sending the challenger back into the ring. He sets Cage up on the ropes now before going for a spearm but Cage evades, forcing the champ to dive right onto the steps instead. Cage goes back into the ring, looking to undo the turnbuckle pad. The ref intervenes, which keeps him from seeing Nick Wayne hit a cutter on the champ from the steps to the floor. Swerve sent back in the ring as Cage hits a Killswitch for the cover, but Strickland kicks out.
Cage brings him out of the ring, clearing off the top fo the announce table as he looks for a Killswitch onto the table, but the champ reverses, dropping Cage into the table with a Swerve Stomp instead. Both men are barely moving as the ref begins the count, with Cage getting in and Swerve barely making it before the count of ten. Cage gets a nearfall before looking for a spear, but is dropped with the House Call. He heads back to the top and hits another Swerve Stomp for the pin fall victory. With the win, Swerve Strickland retains the AEW World Championship in an excellent match.
Winner and STILL AEW World Champion: Swerve Strickland
Anarchy In The Arena
The Elite vs. Team AEW
It's main event time ... part three of three!
After the pre-match video package airs to set the stage, we get ready for the ring entrances for our third and final main event as part of tonight's triple-header. The Elite's entrances begin, as The Young Bucks tune plays and out comes Nicholas and Matthew Jackson in colorful boxing-style robes as their new Reebok pumps are plugged. We hear the coin drop and out comes "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada to join them. "The Scapegoat" Jack Perry is out next and now The Elite team settle in at ringside. As they get close to the ringside area, they are ambushed by members of the Team AEW group.
Bryan Danielson and FTR attack without any entrances and the Anarchy in the Arena fight is officially off-and-running early. Darby Allin's theme hits and out comes the replacement member for Eddie Kingston on Team AEW with a hat with barbed wire on it. He joins in on the brawl-style fight at ringside as his music keeps playing for quite a while. The Bucks fight back and get on the mic and demand a cool banger of a theme play. Their music plays again as they continue to fight. Danielson fights back into the lead and demands that crappy music be cut off and asks for the best theme ever to play. "The Final Countdown" plays.
Danielson focuses on Okada as we cut to Dax fighting Matthew in the concession area. The action cuts back to another part of the crowd where Darby leaps off the overhang onto Jack Perry. Okada and Danielson continue to go at it while Cash goes after Nicholas. Somewhere in the crowd, Matthew grabs a mic to cut the music once again, saying it's costing them $100,000 a minute, is too expensive and they can’t keep playing it. Perry and Darby take to somewhere backstage as Matthew takes Dax down through the stairs. Okada and Danielson have joined Cash and Nicholas at ringside, and they in turn are joined by Dax and Matthew.
The crowd start chanting for the music to come back as Okada starts to turn things around, knocking Danielson out with a Rainmaker Drive sign. We cut to the parking lot where Darby and Perry are still going at it, and Perry gets sent into an ice bath. The fight ends up near a pile of debris, where Perry grabs a pipe to deal more damage to Darby as we cut back to the ring. The Bucks turn things around before hitting Dax with the Shatter Machine, but only get a nearfall! Young Bucks try to double-team Danielson, but take out Okada instead. The Elite head to the outside as Danielson goes for a dive.
Danielson dives but is caught with a chair by Okada who continues the attack as we cut back to the parking lot, where Jack Perry drives a charter bus into the pile of debris. It’s unclear if Darby was in the pile but it’s clear the impact had an effect on the Scapegoat as we cut back to ringside, where FTR catch Nicholas with a spike piledriver onto the apron. Matthew gets sent down with a Power & Glory by FTR, but Okada breaks up the pin that follows before taking Dax down with a dropkick. He fights off Cash as we see Danielson is busted open on the outside. Okada continues the attack, mocking the crowd before Cash takes a bite out of his middle finger.
Okada responds with a tombstone piledriver, sending Cash down hard before looking for a Rainmaker lariat, but Darby makes his way limping down the ramp for the save. The two go at it until Darby hits a Code Red, but Okada kicks out and the action continues. Darby doesn’t get to follow up as he is pulled out of the ring by the Bucks, who take him out with a powerbomb onto a stack of chairs. They bring Darby up the ramp, calling for the slot machine LED board to go up as they take him into the elevator that brought Copeland up earlier. They call for that to come down as well as the board as Danielson intervenes, only to be sent into a stack of giant poker chips.
They follow up with a TK Driver sending the American Dragon onto the stack, going after Cash now as Nicholas looks to take him into the LED board, but Wheeler sends him crashing into it instead. Dax goes after Matthew, who sends him flying with a superkick, only for Cash to hit one of his own on Matthew. Wheeler grabs a table from nearby, setting it up before Okada intercepts. Nicholas moves the table as Okada props Wheeler onto it, and Nicholas climbs up the side of the entrance tunnel while Okada gets driven away, only for Nicholas to fly off the tunnel, driving Dax through the table on the stage. We shoot backstage where Perry is finally making his return from the parking lot.
Perry grabs Tony Khan from his desk before bringing him toward the ringside area. We see Darby come back to ringside once again, this time brandishing the flamethrower he had on Dynamite as Jack Perry takes to the stage with Tony Khan in hand, only to be shoved away by the AEW President, allowing Darby to light the Scapegoat on fire. Perry’s legs are ablaze for just a moment before the Bucks rush in with fire extinguishers, stopping the fire on Perry and cutting off the flamethrower in the process. The insanity ends up making its way back to ringside as the Bucks intercept Darby with a BTE Trigger, but Darby manages to kick out.
The Elite go back on the attack as the Bucks call for something, and we see a cable and hook come down to the ring. Okada grabs a cable from ringside, and they start tying Darby up to the hook. FTR helps out and hits Shatter Machine, but Okada breaks up the subsequent pin attempt. We see an exploding chair spot next and while Darby is still tied up, Jackson hits Cash Wheeler with a super kick. Okada has some type of a thumbtack-filled arm sleeve. He puts it on his Rainmaker arm. He hits it. While tied up, Darby is hung upside down in the middle of the ring like a title in a ladder match, but a little lower.
The Bucks take turns hitting him with super kicks like Joshua Fabia training a hung upside down Diego Sanchez for a UFC fight late in his career. Poor Diego. Danielson fights back for Team AEW with "Yes!" kicks to any-and-everything that moves. He hits his running knee finisher for can't end it on that. The Bucks hit an EVP Trigger on Danielson as Jack Perry somehow drags himself back into the ring. Fans loudly chant "We want Darby!" Seconds later, The Elite finish this one off with Jack Perry picking up the pin for his team. All of the bloody members of The Elite celebrate as Excalibur and Tony Schiavone talk about what an eventful night it has been, and a historic past five years for AEW. That's how the show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winners: The Elite
