Well, today is one I thought would come eventually, I just never expected what the circumstances might be. In honor of the late Brodie Lee and their handling of his passing, it's time to begin my reviews of All Elite Wrestling, and I'm launching full boar into this. Since last Thursday, I have watched every episode of Being the Elite since their announcement of the formation of AEW, plus every Road To Double or Nothing video, save for the final one, which is designed to be watched after you see the event. If you want my thoughts on that experience, you'll have to wait for tomorrow when I review the pay-per-view itself, but it's safe to say I know my sh**.
I'm starting today with the Buy In for Double or Nothing, basically AEW's version of a pre-show, although this could reasonably stand on it's own, there's plenty to watch besides just plugs to get you to buy the show. I don't know if Buy Ins for future AEW shows will be getting their own reviews, but I thought there was too much to talk about with this one to combine it with the pay-per-view. We have two matches on tap, the latter being a straight singles match between Sammy Guevara and Kip Sabian, while the former is the first Casino Battle Royale. That's a mostly normal battle royal with some unique set-up, as wrestlers enter in groups of five according the suit of a playing card they drew. After the Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades have all entered, whomever drew the final card, the Joker, gets a big reveal as number 21, which is an obvious set up for a surprise return or debut. I like the concept, but the execution did leave a little to be desired, I'll talk more about that later. Let's get to it, what does AEW have to offer for the first hour of it's existence?
- Our commentary team for the pre-show is Sirius XM radio host Alex Marvez and retired wrestler Excalibur, who competed primarily in PWG and was also their lead play-by-play guy. I've heard good things about Excalibur's work in the booth, and he was very sharp here, putting over every character well and obviously has an extensive knowledge of wrestling moves which makes him sound like an absolute expert. Unfortunately, Marvez was a disaster, obviously not used to this setting and totally overwhelmed by Excalibur, who smoothly takes over the broadcast and doesn't seem to need a partner. From what I'm reading, it seems like they got Marvez out of the booth pretty quickly, which was definitely the right call, this isn't his scene.
- The Casino Battle Royale opens with the Clubs, who consist of bilateral amputee Dustin Thomas, the face painted Sunny Daze, close friend of the Young Bucks and a man who returned from a seven year wrestling hiatus Brandon Cutler, baby oil enthusiast Michael Nakazawa and the professional prick, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. This is just an excuse for MJF to heel on a bunch of lovable goofballs, and he, as always, is brilliant, wise well beyond his years. The match does get thrown off when the Diamonds enter, as the production crew struggles to find a proper balance between the work being done in the ring and the angles that quickly begin with the five new entrants. Next out is the Hearts, and it's here where the eliminations starting kicking off. Glacier uses his freezing breath to stun Daze, but quickly gets tossed out by MJF to a chorus of boos. The Spades then enter, and Luchasaurus dominates, eliminating both members of Private Party. Big Ace Romero takes out the smallest man in the match, Marko Stunt, before Jungle Boy tosses him out to a nice pop. Dustin Thomas hits a 619 and impressive springboard 450 splash before being taken out by MJF, though it was cool for him to get that spotlight on an international stage. Tommy Dreamer runs wild with weapons, but multiple staplegun attacks by Jimmy Havoc set him up for elimination. This match comes down to Havoc, Luchasaurus, MJF and the Joker, "Hangman" Adam Page. Page has had a very rocky ride to this night, which I'll get into in a second, but this is obviously set up for his victory. Indeed, Page, a member of The Elite, gets the win, though MJF came close, being knocked to the outside and sneaking up on a celebrating Page for a very close call. This match was flawed but fun, presenting a wide variety of interesting characters and giving everyone a chance to shine, which was nice but also meant there was a bit too much happening at times. Still, the main stars: Page, Luchasaurus and MJF all stood out, and the crowd had a good time.
- As mentioned, the build to this event for Adam Page was all over the place, which was unintentional on AEW's part. He was initially scheduled for a singles contest with PAC, the former Adrian Neville in WWE, and their confrontation had prompted Page to get in better shape. His "Full Gear Challenge" skits were pretty entertaining, but unfortunately the match had to be called off due to backstage chicanery. To keep it simple, PAC was the Open the Dream Gate champion in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate at the time, their top prize and also a promotion that he worked in for 5 years prior to signing with WWE. He was booked to defeat Page, before losing to Kenny Omega at All Out, which he objected to, believing it wasn't suitable for the top champion to lose in a different promotion. Instead, both men met in a match for British promotion Wrestle Gate Pro about a week beforehand that ended in a DQ, after which PAC assaulted Page, injured Adam's knee and declaring that his work was done. It was definitely an auspicious way for AEW to start out, with one of their more hyped matches falling apart, but fortunately it all worked out in the end. Page now gets a title shot against the winner of the main event, while PAC would drop the belt in Dragon Gate in July, eventually working a feud with Page in the fall.
- Main event time, at least for the Buy In, as Kip Sabian and Sammy Guevara square off. There's not been much build to this match, as most of Guevara's BTE appearances have been spent with him just annoying everyone he meets, though not really starting an actual feud with anyone. Guevara did add some heat to the encounter during their weigh in, hitting Kip with a low blow, setting up a more obvious face/heel dynamic. With no real story to work with, most of this match is just a spotfest, which allows Guevara to really shine as an athletic beast. He has a couple great spots, including a sequence where he just keeps trying to moonsault Sabian, finally hitting a Shooting Star Press. Guevara hits another SSP to Sabian, who is draped over the outside railing, which was insanely dangerous both in and out of kayfabe, and Sammy is obviously feeling the effects. He takes too long setting up a 630, as Kip gets the knees up and hits an inverted Death Valley Driver, known as the Deathly Hallows, nice Harry Potter reference, for the win. This was a good way for both men to show what they were capable of, and Guevara is an obvious breakout star, with an already established character flaw of being too arrogant and being ignorant due to his age, which is very appropriate given some of his real-life actions.
7/10
This show breaks new ground in the professional wrestling world, a brave first step for the fledgling AEW. While it's not anything close to perfect, with plenty of production issues, a poor night on commentary for Alex Marvez and a backstage skit with "The Librarians" Leva Bates and Peter Avalon that goes on way too long, it's clear that this is a pre-show with something to offer, a rarity these days. The entire hour just flew by, and I loved getting to see so many new and diverse characters, many of whom have never gotten a chance like this in their lives. The biggest strength of AEW is how personable it all feels, lacking the more detached, corporate feel of watching a WWE show, and I thought the Buy In capture that perfectly.
Next time: my review of AEW Double or Nothing 2019, featuring a titanic rematch between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, a tag team showdown between the Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers and a battle between brothers, as Cody and Dustin Rhodes leave it all in the ring. See you soon.
- Henry
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