It's Memorial Day weekend, and instead of heading down the shore to pump my fist, I'm getting ready to be the King of Queens. AEW is holding their annual holiday weekend pay-per-view, for the first time, from a sold-out Louis Armstrong Stadium in the shadows of Citi Field. This will be the eighth Double or Nothing, the show that officially marked the debut of All Elite Wrestling in May of 2019. This will mark AEW's return to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, holding Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium from 2021-2024.
The main card has 9 official matches, including the kickoff of the Owen Hart Cup, Stadium Stampede, an I Quit Tag Title match, and a hair vs title main event. Let's get right into the rundown.
MJF vs Darby Allin
Title vs Hair
Darby Allin became the 10th wrestler to hold the prestigious AEW World Championship on April 15th by defeating an "unprepared" MJF in just 2:14 after earning his shot by beating Andrade at Dynasty. He's since gone on to defend the title seven times on TV over the past month during his unique championship reign. As an AEW original, it was great seeing Allin win, and his underdog story has been fun to follow.
MJF, whined his way into a rematch by putting his beloved new-found head of hair on the line, and is looking to become only the second 3-time title holder.
This will be the third singles match between these two with the first happening at Full Gear 2021, in addition to a 4 Way at Double or Nothing in 2023 for the AEW title that included Sammy Guevara and Jack Perry. They have great chemistry in the ring, and I expect this one to be no different.
While I think Darby's run as champion will be for good time not a long time, I'm not sure what direction they're going in as AEW heads onto the road to All In at Wembley in August. Tony Khan has shown he's not afraid to hot potato the title more recently and keep the top of the card fresh. Usually when you tease a hair stip against a heel you deliver, but MJF plays the chickenshit character so well it can be another feather in his cap. I'm going with Darby to retain with an assist from a returning Hangman.
Thekla vs Hikaru Shida vs Jamie Hayter vs Kris Statlander
Women's World Championship
While I've really enjoyed The Toxic Spider's championship run, the women's division seems to be spinning it's wheel recently. Shida and Stat have been teaming together, but don't get along, and Hayter is back in the title picture after losing to Thekla at Dynasty. The match itself should be good, but I don't see Thekla's run ending yet. I feel like Mercedes Mone returns soon to give a boost to the division, which is really missing Toni Storm, to win the title at All In.
Kazuchika Okada vs Konosuke Takeshita
AEW International Championship
The Alpha and The Rainmaker finally get a blowoff to their feud that started before All Out in September of last year. Don Callis tried to keep his stablemates on the same page, but has backfired in multiple tag team or trios matches. Okada and Takeshita had their first singles match at World's End in a Continental Classic semi-final match that saw Okada cheat to win, hitting Take with a screwdriver to win.
Callis tried to get them on the same page in a tag match against the Young Bucks at Dynasty with the stipulation being if they got along he'd let them wrestle at DoN. Takeshita finally had enough and let go of Nick Jackson's leg allowing him tto hit Okada with the Meltzer Driver for the win. Kaz finally had enough and demanded the match.
After such a long wait, Okada wasn't available to be on TV the past few weeks for a final angle and thus this match really feels cold. Takeshita has to win this and get catapulted into a top of the card player, and maybe opens Okada up to be a World Title contender after losing the International Title.
Stadium Stampede
Stadium Stampede / Anarchy in the Arena have become a staple of Double or Nothing and they're always a highlight for me with the wrestlers brawling all over the arena in an anything goes match. The talent always let their creativity run wild and this will be no different.
Usually these matches are between warring factions, but this year's iteration is just a thrown together mish-mosh with no real stakes. Usually the babyfaces win these, so I'll go with the Elite Jericho Syndicate.
FTR vs Cope and Christian
I Quit Match for the AEW Tag Titles
FTR are 2-0 against Christian and Cope in this bloody feud, and now C&C won't be able to tag together again if they lose here. I still think we're headed to a 3-way TLC match between these teams and the Young Bucks at All In, so we'll get new champs here.
Jon Moxley vs Kyle O'Reilly
No Time Limit Match for the Continental Championship
After surviving the 20-minute time in a match with Mox on Wednesday, O'Reilly gets another crack at him on the PPV. This is the fifth singles match between them and Mox has yet to defeat Kyle, losing by DQ and in a No Holds Barred Match at Full Gear. This should be another technical wrestling masterpiece here and Mox retains.
Bandido vs Swerve Strickland
Will Ospreay vs Samoa Joe
Athena vs Mina Shirakawa
The Owen Hart cup kicks off with 2 matches in the Men's Bracket and one in the Women's. I feel like the Men's side is leading to an Ospreay vs Swerve final, while the Women's side is more open after Willow had to bow out due to an injury.
The Knicks are just two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. After a sweep of Philly where they won by an average of 22 points per game, they looked a little rusty in Game 1 after not playing for nine days.
Down 93-71 with just 7:52 left in the game the Knicks mounted a once-in-a-lifetime comeback led by Jalen Brunson scoring 15 in the fourth quarter, and OG Anunoby tacking on 9 in overtime to lock up the 11 point victory.
The Knickerbockers followed that up by going on an 18-0 run in just under five minutes in the third quarter of Game 2 to take the lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
New York has looked unstoppable winning nine straight since losing back-to-back against the Hawks in the first round.
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