AEW Double or Nothing

Overall rating: ★★★●★☆☆

That rating doesn't feel accurate though. There was a really bad match and one I skipped entirely, and a few matches that were just ok, but I really mostly enjoyed the show and there were some absolutely great matches in there. I guess the biggest problem with the show is just how long it was. Nothing can be consistently good for four-and-a-half hours.

1. Singles (MJF vs. Wardlow)
   ★★★●★☆☆
   I'm only giving this a positive score because of how good MJF is even when he has literally nothing to work with. I know this was supposed to be a cathartic easy victory for Wardlow, but it looked like MJF had absolutely no plan and that just doesn't make sense. He's the one who made this happen. Why would he get into the ring for a fair fight with Wardlow?
2. 2-on-2 Tag (The Hardys vs. Young Bucks)
   ★★★●★★☆
   Every moment of this match was great, but unfortunately I don't think the sum was greater than its parts - or even as good as. The over all story just didn't really hold together. It was a series of cool things that happened, and that's ok, but it could have been so much better.
3. TBS Championship (Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay)
   ★★★●★☆☆
   I had absolutely no expectations for this match, and it still doesn't make any sense to me that Anna Jay was somehow the #1 contender, but it was fine. And a whole bunch of other people came out during and after the match, so that was a little interesting.
4. 3-on-3 Tag (House of Black vs. Death Triangle)
   ★★★●★★★
   Rey Fénix made Buddy Matthews powerbomb his own teammate. Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. I love these two factions. I love them separately and all the members individually and this story they're involved in. And the match was great as well. Rey Fénix made Buddy Matthews powerbomb his own teammate!
5. Owen Hart Men's Tournament Final (Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole)
   ★★★●★★☆
   A little slow, but neither of these men is capable of putting on a bad match.
6. Owen Hart women's Tournament Final (Ruby Soho vs. Dr Britt Baker DMD)
   ★★★●★☆☆
   So, Britt comes out first, and there's this guy playing guitar along to her theme song. He's not playing the song, he's just playing guitar while it plays. Who is he? Turns out, the guitarist from Fozzy (Chris Jericho's band). It's weird and very (unintentionally) funny.
   And then Ruby Soho has Rancid play her entrance theme live. I don't think they were very good, but the contrast was hysterical.
   "Ruby's getting Rancid to play her theme live. Who can we get to play Britt's? Hey Chris, is Fozzy available?"
   "No, but maybe the guitarist would be up for it."
   "Good enough."
7. 3-on-3 Mixed Tag (American Top Team vs. Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti)
   ★★☆○☆☆☆
   This match was bad. American Top Team are bad. The "people hate Sammy and Tay now so let's lean into that and make them super obnoxious" angle is bad. This feud is bad. Everything about this sucked.
8. Darby Allin - ★☆☆○☆☆☆
9. Women's Championship (Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa)
   ★★★●★★☆
   Not the most spectacular match, but very good.
10. Arena Anarchy (Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club, Santana, Ortiz & Eddie Kingston)
    ★★★●★★★
    A big, dumb, chaotic spectacle. These 5-on-5 matches AEW does, where they wander all around the arena to various set pieces, somehow work every time. Maybe the secret ingredient is Chris Jericho. He is a wizard, after all.
11. Tag Championship (Team Taz vs. Swerve in Our Glory vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus)
    ★★★●★★☆
    Very entertaining, but a bit confusing at times. I'm not sure if the referee knew or cared who was legal, and the teams seemed to just give up on bothering with the rules at several points.
    And none of the teams really feel like dedicated tag teams. Team Taz is more of a faction, which I like, but I want the top tag teams to be actual tag teams not just two guys who are friends. Swerve in Our Glory, despite their extremely bad name, do have some good coordination, but I can't see them staying in the tag division for long because they're each too big in their own right.
    And apparently Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus don't even have a tag name now, they're just two individuals who happen to have been tag champions now for a weirdly long time, given how little attention they get week to week. And I don't know what Christian Cage's role actually is, he's just always hanging out with them.
    But it's super weird to think that you've got FTR, the Hardys, the Young Bucks, Uno and Grayson, 2.0, Best Friends, Lucha Bros, Private Party, Varsity Blondes, Santana & Ortiz, etc. and yet it's these three sort-of-teams in the championship match.
12. Men's Championship ("Hangman" Adam Page vs. CM Punk)
    ★★★●★★★
    I don't get CM Punk. I don't know why I'm supposed to like him. They didn't put in the work to make me like him. He just showed up and they went "here he is, that guy everyone loves" and I'm like "I heard he once gave a really popular promo in WWE?" But he hasn't done anything here. He hasn't done anything while I've been watching.
    That said, Page is fantastic and he alone was enough for me to care about this match, which was really tense and came down to the absolute wire. Loved it.