AEW Double or Nothing 2025 Discussion

[LaGoosh]

3 hours ago, organizedkaos said:

do believe the character of Hangman wants redemption but to win the world championship as his redemption? Nah bruv, that's not how it works. 

Yeah I'm with you here. His redemption is through Swerve, not the title, and that's why I think we're gonna see an Ospreay win.

Incredible story they've managed to tell here in just a few weeks. Not only are the stakes huge for winning but also for losing too. How will either man react to failure at such a critical point of both their careers? Will Hangman be able to keep it professional and on the level or will desperation mean he let's that darkness back in? Will his anger and madness cost him the match? Can Will keep it professional or will he need to draw deep and find some inner darkness himself to survive Hangman's onslaught? They can go so many ways with it.

One little touch they added that I loved was Ospreay bringing up that Hangman is one of the very few who has managed to defeat Moxley in singles competition in AEW and Ospreay wants to learn by fighting Hangman what it takes to beat Mox. Really cool.

It's also interesting how in all of wrestling history when someone retires another wrestler it's used as a brag but in this story it's actually used as a moment of deep shame for Hangman. 

Brilliant storytelling going on. Hangman is the best.

[RedTwoster]

6 hours ago, organizedkaos said:

I do believe the character of Hangman wants redemption but to win the world championship as his redemption? Nah bruv, that's not how it works. 

Yeah, this is kind of how I feel. Hangman is one of my favourite wrestlers ever, and it’ll feel great to see him win the world title again…eventually. But not now. It’s Ospreay’s time. He’s the right person to defeat Moxley - not Darby, not Swerve, not Hangman and not even Eddie Kingston. It took my a while to get to that viewpoint, but I’ve become more and more convinced that they’re doing the right thing as each story has progressed. The potential card at All In - if Tony Khan can restrain himself and keep it from being overly long - could end up being their best PPV ever.

Edited May 24, 2025 by RedTwoster

[Guest]

Yeah, it would be typical pro wrestling but beneath hangman to win the title and everything be fine again. That's why he needs to lose so that easy option slips away and the only thing left is to confront himself. He's changed. He won't go back to who he was, but he needs to be able to look himself in the mirror.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Just got round to seeing the Hangman/Ospreay promo....i wanna sit up and watch it live now! Brilliant promo that so many in pro wrestling should spend time watching and just the little nuances and facial expression changes that keep the story so real. Even when Hangman brought up Christmas Day and talking about wanting his kids to be proud of him and to look up to him, Will was nodding along in a 'dad to dad I get it bruv' way. Just those little things that make a big difference 

[Kamran]

Final Card:

MATCHES

• Men's Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament Final: Will Ospreay vs. "Hangman" Adam Page (The winner earns an AEW World Championship match at All In)    
• Women's Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament Final: Mercedes Moné vs. Jamie Hayter (The winner earns an AEW Women's World Championship match at All In)
• Anarchy in the Arena: Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata) vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta and The Young Bucks 
  AEW Continental Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
• AEW Women's World Championship: "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa
• FTR vs. Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness
• Paragon (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Josh Alexander)
• AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate (c) vs. The Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara)
• Stretcher match: Ricochet vs. Mark Briscoe

Buy-In

• Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay and Harley Cameron
• RPG Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta) and CRU (Action Andretti and Lio Rush) vs. Bandido, AR Fox, and Los Titanes del Aire (Hologram and Komander)

You can watch The Buy In from 11.30pm below:

 

[Supremo]

I never stopped believing in him.

[MPDTT]

Well that absolutely ruled. Superb show. The last 10 mins of the main event....everyone was on their feet. And its only 10pm here, so plenty of the night left!

[RedTwoster]

I’m absolutely shocked by the result of that main event, I didn’t see it coming at all. It was a proper ‘Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30’ style result for me, I didn’t quite believe it even as it happened. I’d kind of convinced myself that this would be the wrong result beforehand, after originally feeling very invested in a Hangman win and now I don’t know how to feel!

It was a great show, but far too long. If Tony Khan was to trim a few matches from each show, AEW would regularly be running PPVs that you could make a case for being the best ever. As it stands, it’s hard to recommend an entire show to a lot of people as opposed to individual matches.

Whatever the case - the show opened with another fantastic Mercedes Mone match - and I really hope we get a rematch down the line as the two worked so well together. And - short of any unexpected twist - we’re getting Storm/Mone at All In!! I can’t wait. 

Ricochet continues to be a revelation as a heel. I’m starting to wonder if the plan might be for Hangman to win the belt from Moxley, drop it to Ricochet and then Ricochet drops the title to Ospreay? 

The MJF/Lashley stuff was a bit Russo-esque. I didn’t like it at all, and I’m not particularly enjoying the direction they’ve taken with this story so far. I’d actually like to see MJF move to WWE when his contract comes up. It’s not that I think they’ll use him better - I’ve no idea what they’ll do - I just think he’s run out of steam, and seems incapable of getting back to where he once was. He’s dragging The Hurt Syndicate down as opposed to them making him feel refreshed.

Anarchy in the Arena was mad but fun, and I really don’t know where they’re going with Swerve from here. I was fully expecting the Hangman/Swerve team-up at All In, but that isn’t going to happen now. Does he help Hangman win the title, perhaps? I’m looking forward to seeing where Dynamite takes us.

[Chili]

No Eddie Kingston so it's probably the worst PPV they've ever done. Minus 5 stars. I'll give them six months. 

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Chili said:

No Eddie Kingston so it's probably the worst PPV they've ever done. Minus 5 stars. I'll give them six months. 

No, but Mark Briscoe did a tribute, so I'll take it.

The Americans might get more shows than us, and they get to watch it live, but that means they have to watch it all. I got to sit in my jimjams with a mug of tea and skip the Paragon. Who's the real winner?

I skipped Paragon and the Family, Okada vs Bailey, most of the Hurts and most of Mina vs Toni. I'll happily watch those as my own personal Collision, but it made the whole show miles better.

I LOVED Anarchy in the Arena. I didn't love Justin Roberts still trying to get himself over. Did loads for Hobbs in particular, and it was great to see Willow get to shine too. 

I want Willow anh Hobbs, Team Big Black and Jacked, belted immediately. Willow can spear Lashley for the win. Book it Tony, you coward.

 

Look, I still think it's Osprey's time, and he needs to be belted ASAP. But if it's not going to be him, I'm seriously excited for Hangman and Mox. He's going to finish the story, and it's going to be amazing.

Sasha and Hayter was fantastic and Ricochet and Briscoe was better that it had any right to be with the lack of build. 

I'd forgotten FTR vs Garcia and Nige happened until I went and checked. That probably should tell you what you need to know. Really enjoyed Cash apologising to Tony though. Top heeling.

Edited May 26, 2025 by Duke

[RedTwoster]

10 minutes ago, Duke said:

Look, I still think it's Osprey's time, and he needs to be belted ASAP. But if it's not going to be him, I'm seriously excited for Hangman and Mox. He's going to finish the story, and it's going to be amazing.

I really hope they’re not either planning to have Hangman lose only for Ospreay to beat Moxley at Forbidden Door - or for Hangman to win, only to drop the title there. All In should be the end for the Death Riders, and if Hangman beats them he should have a proper run with the belt.

Edited May 26, 2025 by RedTwoster

[2Xtreme_lives]

29 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I really hope they’re not either planning to have Hangman lose only for Ospreay to beat Moxley at Forbidden Door - or for Hangman to win, only to drop the title there. All In should be the end for the Death Riders, and if Hangman beats them he should have a proper run with the belt.

I do sadly feel like though ospreay winning the belt in London will be the way it'll go 

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I really hope they’re not either planning to have Hangman lose only for Ospreay to beat Moxley at Forbidden Door - or for Hangman to win, only to drop the title there. All In should be the end for the Death Riders, and if Hangman beats them he should have a proper run with the belt.

I feel the fear, but I think it's really unlikely. Why sacrifice your big show for the secondary one?

[westlondonmist]

Surely Forbidden Door is Osprey vs Okada or Omega, gives him a win for a belt in England and either seem like a feasible main events. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

Enjoyed that show a lot. I zoned out for FTR and for Paragon, but everything else had my full attention. Tag title match was fine, Okada/Bailey and Ricochet/Briscoe were good fun, Storm/Shirakawa was great, Hangman/Ospreay and Mone/Hayter were excellent (and for the men’s match I had no idea who might win until the moment it actually ended - and now I wonder what they’re thinking for Ospreay in Texas).

Anarchy in the Arena was my favourite match of the night, though. It was chaos and it was brilliant. Founding Fathers was ace, I loved the way Claudio stopped the bodies hitting the floor, Swerve is the man, Hobbs was a star, Willow was treated like the superstar she is (and she had better get on the All In card after this). The only thing that stopped it being a full 10/10 experience was @Supremo putting the thought in my head that Eddie Kingston was showing up. I kept waiting for it and waiting for it and it didn’t happen, and I wanted it so much.

You can’t have everything, I guess. But if I can have Main Event Willow Nightingale and Hangman Page back where he belongs then that’s okay.