All Elite Wrestling: Double or Nothing (2020 TV Special) User Reviews

All Elite Wrestling: Double or Nothing once again score a touchdown! It was a very entertaining show!

[ironhorse_iv · 8/10 · 27 May 2020]

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, large crowds were not able to attended the event, in fear of getting the dangerous virus. Because of that AEW could not held the event at the original scheduled place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Instead it was moved to the Jacksonville Jaguars complex in Jacksonville, Florida, with most matches taking place in Daily's Place, an amphitheater adjacent to TIAA Bank Field with only rosters members & backstage employees in attended ringside. As for the Stadium Stampede main event. The vast amounts of empty seats are a little more apparent. There was no way to hide that, but just think how cool the match would had been if a limited amount of wrestling fans were allow around in key areas of the football venue. It could had added a lot. Hopefully one day they can use the venue to the fullest and have a huge 'WrestleMania' pay per view like astrosphere. Regardless, All Elite has always done a good job in making their shows not seem too awkwardly quiet by allowing the employees to chant, cheer and boo the wrestlers during the matches. It's something that WWE really should had been pick up early for their shows; instead of having death silence for most of their filming during this coronavirus crisis. Although tonight crowd doesn't really play too much of a factor in improving this show like the others. For a show called 'Double or Nothing' we didn't get shots of people gambling or setting up bets. Nevertheless, I did dig the Casino Vegas entrance way setup despite being a bit jarring in a football venue in Florida. The digital slot machine video screen and giant poker chips on the entrance way were a nice touch even if parts of the sets like large wooden playing cards laziness put on the floor looks very cheap looking. It was far better than the bland looking early 2020 'Revolution' pay per view recycled parts setup. Anyways that brings us to the first part on the card between Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) & Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent) for the No. 1 contender for the World Tag Team Championship during the preshow. Compare to last year '21-men Casino Royale' opening. This was nothing really that meaningful. There was hardly any built on the feud on television for this. To add onto that, the series of noticeable slipups and a lack of chemistry between the two teams kept this match from being truly great despite some nail biting near falls. Somewhat forgettable. Thank goodness the Casino Ladder Match for a Future World Championship Match was a lot more memorable. While this contest also had a lot of botches mostly involving Darby Allin doing crazy spots. The mystery competitor was a huge surprised. I love all the scenes involving him getting buried in the set by Colt Cabana & Scorpio Sky and Joey Janela replacing an injury Rey Fenix doing a Death Valley driver on Orange Cassidy onto that said pile. That was crazy! As for the comedic spots, I was not really a fan of it. At one point in the match Luchasaurus and Frankie Kazarian nearly killed each other with a botch trying to pull one off. Then the 'Royal Rumble' entering style got really convoluted as allies of Kip Sabian, Jurassic Express and Orange came into the match to interfere. It was really hard to figure out who is in the match and who wasn't. Nevertheless, it was wild enjoyable affair. MJF (with Wardlow) versus Jungle Boy was next. It was a solid contest as both prove without a doubt that they're the future of this promotion as great heels and babyfaces. Cody (with Arn Anderson) vs Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) for the tournament final for the Inaugural TNT Championship was also very good. I just wish that Mike Tyson play more of a part in the match. He should punch somebody. Sadly, the next two contests were not any better. Kris Statlander facing off the injury Britt Baker replacement Penelope Ford was decent. While Dustin Rhodes fighting with Shawn Spears was probably one of the worst matches in this young promotion to date. Playing it off as badly done short comedy was not the direction I was hoping for. Especially how menacing Spears was nearly a year ago with his match with Cody. As for the No Disqualification Women Championship match between champion Nyla Rose and challenger Hikaru Shida. It was fine for the most part. Then there was World Championship brawl between title holder Jon Moxley and The Exalted One Brodie Lee; which surprisingly mirror the woman championship match quite well. Both were decent to watch. Nevertheless, it was the main event that takes the ball and run with it. While I'm not a huge fan of silly over the top cinematic shot style matches that Matt Hardy help make famous that been popping up all year. I have to say this is by far one of my favorites. Everybody involved ranging from the pool area shot involving Kenny Omega, Hardy, Santana and Ortiz to Adam Page riding a horse to chase down Sammy Guevara to Matt Jackson jumping off a field goal post to hit Chris Jericho and Jake Hager was entertaining. Overall: Even without spectators, All Elite Wrestling did a good job of making sure the event lively. While not as good as last year. It was indeed one worth the watch. AEW truly played their cards right.

Double or Nothing

[bobcobb301 · 8/10 · 25 May 2020]

Overall the show was not great and featured wrestling no different than a typical Dynamite.

But the main event was great. I would have cut some things, but most of the comedy worked and it got across the characters of all the wrestlers involved. Well-done.

Another fantastic PPV

[rcdoubletree · 10/10 · 10 June 2020]

After their inaugural year of awesome entertainment, AEW continued their streak of delivering ONLY top-notch Pro Wrestling. Stadium Stampede was a match for the ages, and just a great example of their creative approach to keep things fresh.

AEW double or nothing 2020

[jackDee-56565 · 10/10 · 19 March 2021]

It was a step up from Revolution, I enjoyed most of the matches except for spears vs Dustin that was god awful, most matches i gave 3.5 to 4.0 stars, the MOX vs brodie Lee (RIP) is a 4.5 hikura vs nyla rose is 4.5 casino battle royale is 4.5 and the stadium stampede match between the inner circle and the elilte is a 5.0 star match

Solid but not great

[a-shouvik · 6/10 · 24 May 2020]

I do understand that putting up a great show is almost near to impossible without the spectators. However, top-notch in-ring actions can subdue that. What I thought of DoN is the in-ring actions and the storytelling was somehow lacking to give the viewers that wholesome experience. My ratings of the individual matches are as follows.

Best Friends vs Private Party: 1. AEW got a packed tag-team roster. I guess Private Party is probably the weakest link in their tag-team division. PP got a huge potential, but right now they are not ready. As usual, they relied solely on the spots and this time, unfortunately, they botched through the whole match.

Casino Ladder Match: 2.50. I thought this one will be the show-stealer. Darby getting injured (probably) right after coming to the ring hurt the match huge. It had some moments but that's almost it. Apart from the surprise debut of a former world champion, Orange Cassidy's comic timing and a brief moment of Joey Janela madness the match was stale.

MJF vs Jungle Boy: 3.50. I was not expecting much from this match. But it really did surprise me in a positive way. Both the youngsters told a great story and had one of the best matches of the night. I can't believe how much MJF has improved since joining AEW! I thoroughly enjoyed this back and forth match,

Cody vs Lance Archer: 3.00 Cody never misses telling great stories through his matches. It was a very match with an over-dramatic finish. If the finish was better then it would have been a four-star match I guess.

Kris Statlander vs Penelope Ford: 2.50. A decent match with nothing to get from it. Statlander looked strong and was booked strong as well.

Dustin Rhodes vs Shawn Spears: 0.50. The only good thing about the match was it was short, otherwise, I hated the match. Moving to AEW did not change Shawn Spears booking at all,

Hikaru Shida vs Nyla Rose: 3.75 To me, it was the best women's match of AEW so far. Such a hard-fought bout between the two female wrestlers. The David vs Goliath story was told to its perfection. Loved the match and the winner.

Jon Moxley vs Mr. Brodie Lee: 3.50. A solid match. Both the wrestlers looked strong. The outcome was anticipated still it looked like the match could have gone either way.

Stadium Stampede match: 3.00. I am not a fan of these so-called 'cinematic' matches. I liked it more than other matches of this kind as this match contained wrestling as well.