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Review, match grades and more for 2024

editor2 months ago030 mins

At times, it was closer to “nothing” than it was “double” but AEW Double or Nothing 2024 finished with a string of quality matches.

Swerve Strickland remains your AEW World Champion in an excellent match with Christian Cage. What’s next is a bit murky, however: With high-stakes players all involved in the Elite vs. AEW feud, there may be another microwave storyline next up for Strickland.

Speaking of the Elite, their Anarchy in the Arena showdown with Team AEW delivered on all of the chaos it promised. The question now is: What’s next? The Elite have cemented their status as the most hated faction on the program and now took out several of their bitter rivals in one fell swoop.

Well, maybe if a flamethrower couldn’t get the job done, a couple of Machine Guns could?

In all, Double or Nothing was one of AEW’s more enigmatic shows in recent memory. There were more downs than ups on the card, but as is the case with some PPVs for the company, the last hour of the show had enough juice to drown out the bad stuff on the card.

USA TODAY Sports covered all things Double or Nothing, including results, match grades, highlights and more below.

AEW Double or Nothing 2024 results

Here’s the complete list of results for Double or Nothing 2024:

Deonna Purrazzo defeats Thunder Rosa via pinfall (Buy In)
The Acclaimed defeat Cage of Agony via pinfall (Buy In)
Will Ospreay defeats Roderick Strong for the AEW International Championship via pinfall
The Bang Bang Gang defeats Death Triangle to retain the Trios Championships via pinfall
Toni Storm retains the AEW Women’s Championship vs. Serena Deeb via pinfall
Orange Cassidy defeats old best friend Trent Beretta via pinfall
Chris Jericho defeats HOOK and Katsuyori Shibata via pinfall
Jon Moxley defeats Konosuke Takeshita via pinfall
Adam Copeland defeats Malakai Black in a barbed wire steel cage match via TKO
Mercedes Moné defeats Willow Nightingale to become new TBS Champion via pinfall
Swerve Strickland defeats Christian Cage to retain the AEW World Championship via pinfall
The Elite defeat Team AEW (FTR, Bryan Danielson and Darby Allin) via pinfall

For more detailed notes and analysis for each match, read below.

The Elite vs. Team AEW

Well….it certainly hit the fan.

Anarchy in the Arena matches have had a tendency of living up to their namesake, and the latest installment was no different.

Jack Perry was literally set on fire. That should tell you everything you need to know about how insane this entire match was, start to finish. From “The Final Countdown” to Darby Allin suspended above the ring, it delivered anarchy.

Now, whether or not “anarchy” is for you is for you to decide. The problem with these matches is that they are utterly chaotic and the ending salvo can feel rushed and disjointed. All things considered, this one stayed on the tracks.

The Elite’s reign of terror is beginning, and if they can’t be topped by some of their most bitter rivals in a no-holds-barred match, then who will save the day?

Match grade: B

Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage

Outside of Will Ospreay, there probably haven’t been two better signings in AEW than Christian Cage and Swerve Strickland.

Strickland was cast aside in WWE despite boasting massive, main event potential while in NXT. His ability to connect with crowds and put on quality matches have come through during his meteoric rise in AEW, leading to his blossoming run with the AEW World Championship.

Christian Cage is putting together some of the best work of his career as a heel at the top of the Patriarchy, and that’s no surprise to anyone who’s watched weekly AEW shows for a while now. While Cage’s sleazy persona is still on the level of shock jock, it works, and it’s a staple of any of their programming now.

So it should come as no surprise that these two put out a tremendously quality, microwaved feud that resulted in one of the best matches on the show.

While Cage doesn’t provide as perfect a foil for Swerve as Adam Page, Cage comes close. Hopefully they have a few more matches with one another in the coming months and years.

Match grade: A-

Mercedes Moné vs. Willow Nightingale

The long-awaited in-ring debut for Moné was well worth it. The two women’s stars have excellent chemistry with one another and Moné looks as though she hasn’t missed a step.

While you can argue the booking logic and psychology of a wrestler winning a championship in their first match back and after an injury, Moné winning the TBS Championship adds a lot of legitimacy to it. It also adds a top heel to the title picture now, and whoever wins that title from her will get a major rub on the way up.

The question is: Who will that be? That young face star might not be around right now, but AEW has time to figure that out.

Match grade: A-

Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black

It may be hard to live up to the words “barbed wire steel cage” but Copeland and Black did their best to make sure that happened.

In a grueling, gruesome and bloody matchup, Copeland outlasted Black despite interference from the House of Black.

Copeland continues to push the envelope on his body during his AEW run, highlighted by a cage jump where he awkwardly landed on his feet while attempting to deliver an elbow drop to a table-laid Black.

Copeland won after Gangrel (yes, Gangrel) evened the odds, allowing Copeland to spear Black for the 3-count.

Match grade: B-

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita

At this point, the crowd was pretty out of the show for one reason or another: the Triple Threat match following Orange Cassidy and Trent didn’t do any favors for Mox vs. Takeshita. On top of that, Mox was working an injury angle heading into this match, so Takeshita spent a good bit of the match working over the arm.

For a match that features two fan favorites, they could carry any momentum throughout. Takeshita held most of the offense throughout, with Moxley winning after a curb stomp onto a chair followed by a Death Rider for the win. Solid match, but nothing spectacular here.

Match grade: B-

Chris Jericho vs. HOOK vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Chris Jericho’s ability to reinvent himself is a hallmark of his career. His “Learning Tree” gimmick has worked, and the numbers bear that out.

That said, Jericho’s in-ring work has taken a noticeable step back, even while his character work has always been top level. No one can outrun father time, and that much is apparent with the veteran. It takes a lot out of a fan when you know a feud, no matter how hot it is, will end with a clunker of a match.

The Triple Threat match for the FTW Championship was no different. Not one of Jericho, Shibata or HOOK shined in this match, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. It just was off.

In the end, Jericho retained with help of “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith. It wasn’t quite a train wreck, but it wasn’t one anyone would keep the highlight reel for.

Match grade: D+

Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta

The match started with a welcome surprise, as Orange Cassidy came out to “Where Is My Mind” instead of “Jane,” which has always worked better for his character (even if “Jane” has deeper connection to it).

Trent has consistently been one of AEW’s better midcard workers, and to this day, it’s a bit sad to know Best Friends never got the tag title run they deserved. Still, Beretta has an opportunity to showcase his talents, this time as a singles heel, a different feel from everything else he’s done in AEW.

This felt more like a typical Wednesday night match than it did a PPV match, and maybe that’s because both OC and Trent are used to wrestling gimmick matches on the weekly shows. It was a solid match, but unspectacular, and Cassidy got the pin after reversing a gogoplata attempt.

Match grade: C+

Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb

The best thing that has happened to Toni Storm while using the “Timeless” gimmick is to stop using the gimmick as a crutch in her matches and just go back to wrestling as Toni Storm. That held true on Sunday, when her and Deeb had one of the best AEW women’s matches of the year.

Deeb is a technical wizard and consistently has quality matches with the right opponent. That much was proof on Sunday. While her mic work isn’t always going to grab crowds, her matches do, and she should get a shot again at gold sooner rather than later.

Storm picked up the win after a top rope Storm Zero and another Storm Zero.

Match grade: B+

Bang Bang Gang vs. Death Triangle

Now here was a fun party match.

Lots of ado has been made of Jay White seemingly floating in the ether alongside the Gunns as part of the Bang Bang Gang (formerly? Bullet Club Club). That was until the reuniting of Death Triangle, and it feels like a truly worthwhile feud for both sides.

When Death Triangle is right, they’re the most entertaining trio in the company. Pair them up against the ever-improving unit of the Bang Bang Gang, then you have a rivalry that just feels right.

Bang Bang Gang ultimately got the win thanks to a returning Juice Robinson, so the group is whole once again. Following the match, the camera caught a very sad PAC once again, which will certainly sew the seeds for….something.

Match grade: B

MJF returns at AEW Double or Nothing, solidifies contract status

It’s been almost five months since we last saw MJF, and he came back in a very familiar way. And in more ways than one.

Following a brief promo from Adam Cole, MJF’s music hit, leading to Friedman taking the ring and taking out Cole. MJF then cut a promo detailing his absence and saying, in so many words, that he’s back and he’s not going anywhere.

Oh, and MJF wore attire very similar to that of Triple H when he returned in 2002 from his quad injuries. The man’s a student of the game. And “The Game.”