AEW Double or Nothing is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established in 2019, it is held annually in May during Memorial Day weekend. The inaugural Double or Nothing was also the first PPV as well as the first event produced by AEW and is thus considered the promotion's marquee domestic event. It is also considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs for AEW, along with All In, All Out, Full Gear, and Revolution, the company's four biggest shows throughout the year.

AEW Double or Nothing
AEW Double or Nothing logo
PromotionsAll Elite Wrestling
First event2019
Signature matchStadium Stampede/Anarchy in the Arena

The name Double or Nothing was originally referenced in a promo that Cody Rhodes made immediately after the September 2018 All In event, which was an independently produced PPV that came as a result of a bet with wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. Rhodes, a key figure behind All In who would become a co-founder and wrestler for AEW from 2019 to 2022, said "I know when you make a bet, sometimes you go double or nothing"—AEW was then founded in January 2019 with Double or Nothing as its first event that May. The name is also a reference to its Las Vegas theme, with the event traditionally held at arenas on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The only exceptions to this were the 2020 and 2021 events, which were originally scheduled for Vegas but had to be held at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida due to the COVID-19 pandemic—after Florida loosened its COVID-19 protocols, the 2021 event was AEW's first PPV to have a full capacity crowd, as well as the final PPV held at Daily's Place before AEW resumed live touring in July that year.

Since the 2020 event, Double or Nothing has featured a specialized tornado tag team match between two multi-man teams as one of its marquee matches, oftentimes the main event. For 2020 and 2021, this was the Stadium Stampede match. To capitalize on the rise of cinematic matches during the pandemic, both year's events were headlined by the Stadium Stampede match, which was contested in both Daily's Place and the adjacent TIAA Bank Field stadium. With the return to Las Vegas beginning with the 2022 event, Stadium Stampede was replaced by Anarchy in the Arena with the wrestlers fighting all throughout the host venue.

History

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Double or Nothing takes on a Las Vegas theme and is traditionally held at venues on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada; the only exceptions are the 2020 and 2021 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic those years.

After the success of the September 2018 All In event, an independent professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that came as a result of a bet with wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer,[1] a group known as The Elite (Cody, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega), the driving forces behind the event, used the positive response from All In to pursue further events with backing of businessmen Shahid Khan and Tony Khan.[2][3] In a promo after All In, Cody said "I know when you make a bet, sometimes you go double or nothing".[4] On November 5, 2018, several trademarks were filed in Jacksonville, Florida, among them were "All Elite Wrestling" and "Double or Nothing", leading to speculation of the formation of a professional wrestling promotion and the name of its first event.[5][6][7]

On January 1, 2019, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was officially founded. Along with the announcement, the promotion's inaugural event, Double or Nothing, was scheduled to air on PPV during Memorial Day weekend on May 25, 2019, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, with the event taking on a Las Vegas theme.[8][9][10] Double or Nothing would become considered AEW's marquee domestic event,[11] with AEW president Tony Khan later referring to the event as being one of the promotion's "big four" PPVs, their four biggest shows domestic of the year produced quarterly, along with All Out, Full Gear, and Revolution.[12]

 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 events were held at AEW's home venue of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida; the 2021 event was subsequently AEW's final pay-per-view event held at Daily's Place as the company resumed live touring that July.

While AEW had planned to again host the 2020 event at the same location on May 23 that year, the venue canceled all events up through May 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In response, the promotion announced that the 2020 event would still proceed as planned (which occurred at Daily's Place and the TIAA Bank Field stadium in Jacksonville, Florida), while also confirming that a third Double or Nothing would emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 29, 2021.[14] However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 event was again held at Daily's Place and was moved back a day to May 30.[15][16] AEW resumed live touring in July, thus the 2021 Double or Nothing was the promotion's final PPV held at Daily's Place during the pandemic. It was also the company's first show to run at full venue capacity during the pandemic after Florida loosened its COVID-19 protocols.[17]

In December 2021, it was confirmed that the 2022 Double or Nothing would return the event to Las Vegas,[18] and it would be held at the T-Mobile Arena.[19] It was also announced that the event would host the finals of the inaugural Owen Hart Cup.[18] The 2023 event was also held at the same arena on May 28 that year.[20] On March 27, 2024, it was announced that after five years, the 2024 event would return Double or Nothing to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 26 that year.[21]

Events

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No. Event[22] Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Double or Nothing (2019) May 25, 2019 Paradise, Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega to determine who would challenge for the inaugural AEW World Championship at All Out [23][24]
2 Double or Nothing (2020) May 23, 2020 Jacksonville, Florida Daily's Place
TIAA Bank Field
Matt Hardy and The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz) in a Stadium Stampede match [25]
3 Double or Nothing (2021) May 30, 2021 The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz) vs. The Pinnacle (MJF, Shawn Spears, Wardlow, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Harwood) in a Stadium Stampede match [14][15]
4 Double or Nothing (2022) May 29, 2022 Paradise, Nevada T-Mobile Arena "Hangman" Adam Page (c) vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Championship [18][19]
5 Double or Nothing (2023) May 28, 2023 Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and "Hangman" Adam Page) in an Anarchy in the Arena match [26]
6 Double or Nothing (2024) May 26, 2024 MGM Grand Garden Arena The Elite (Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, Kazuchika Okada, and Jack Perry) vs. Team AEW (Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler) in an Anarchy in the Arena match [21]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Howard, Brandon (May 12, 2018). "7 things to know about 'All In' – the huge indie wrestling show coming to the Chicago area". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Joyner, KC (January 8, 2019). "Jaguars owners backing new wrestling venture". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  3. ^ Nason, Josh (January 8, 2019). "Shad Khan confirmed as lead investor in All Elite Wrestling". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  4. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (September 2, 2018). "Cody and Young Bucks Tease Another All In". 411Mania. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Nason, John (November 21, 2018). "Trademarks filed in Florida for All Elite Wrestling, All Out, and more". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  6. ^ Fernandes, Steven (November 11, 2018). "NEW TRADEMARKS POINT TO ELITE PROMOTION, NEXT STEP FOR BUCKS AND CODY". PWInsider. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  7. ^ Radican, Sean (November 21, 2018). "All Elite Wrestling trademarks filed, startup promotion linked to Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Omega, and cast of Being the Elite (w/Radican's Analysis)". PWTorch. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  8. ^ Ghosh, Pratyay (January 2, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling News: AEW officially announced, Cody Rhodes confirms his role". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Pratt, Emily (January 1, 2019). "The Young Bucks And Cody Officially Announced All Elite Wrestling And Released Some Details". Uproxx. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Fritz, Brian (January 8, 2019). "Shad and Tony Khan comment on launch of All Elite Wrestling". Sportingnews. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  11. ^ Powell, Jason (February 5, 2020). "AEW Double Or Nothing 2020 date and location revealed". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  12. ^ Defelice, Robert (November 8, 2020). "Tony Khan Likes AEW's 'Big Four' Pay-Per-View Schedule, Announces 'Beach Break' Special For January". Fightful. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (April 9, 2020). "AEW Double Or Nothing Venue Shut Down Until Further Notice". 411Mania. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  14. ^ a b AEW Staff (April 14, 2020). "Update On AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  15. ^ a b @AEW (March 7, 2021). ".@AEW Double or Nothing will take place Sunday, May 30 at @DailysPlace in Jacksonville, FL. Ticketing on-sale info will be released at a later date. #AEWDoN" (Tweet). Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (March 7, 2021). "AEW Double Or Nothing 2021 Date And Location Announced". Fightful. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  17. ^ Powell, Jason (May 30, 2021). "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Pac for the AEW Championship, Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker for the AEW Women's Title, Miro vs. Lance Archer for the TNT Title, The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston for the AEW Tag Titles, The Pinnacle vs. The Inner Circle in a Stadium Stampede match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c Lambert, Jeremy (December 27, 2021). "Tony Khan Explains Why Owen Hart Cup Will Conclude At AEW Double Or Nothing". Fightful. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Guzzo, Gisberto (February 23, 2022). "AEW Confirms Date Of Double Or Nothing 2022, Three Live Shows Set For Las Vegas". Fightful. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  20. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (March 5, 2023). "AEW Double Or Nothing 2023 Confirmed For May 28 In Las Vegas". Fightful. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Russell, Skylar (March 27, 2024). "AEW Returning To Las Vegas For Collision On May 25, Double Or Nothing On May 26". Fightful. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  22. ^ "All Elite Wrestling Event Results". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  23. ^ Currier, Joseph (May 22, 2019). "AEW to decide two top World title contenders at Double or Nothing". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  24. ^ Martinez, Philip (January 8, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling Press Conference: Everything Announced". Newsweek.com. Newsweek. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  25. ^ Barrasso, Justin (February 5, 2020). "AEW's 'Double or Nothing' Pay-Per-View Returning to Las Vegas in May". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  26. ^ Powell, Jason (May 28, 2023). "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of MJF vs. Darby Allin vs. Jack Perry vs. Sammy Guevara in a four-way for the AEW World Championship, The Elite vs. BCC in Anarchy in the Arena, Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie for the TBS Title, Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho in an unsanctioned match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
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