Latest news with #DoubleOrNothing
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AEW Double or Nothing takeaways: Hangman Adam Page spoils the Will Ospreay party
AEW Double or Nothing 2025 delivered a packed show on Sunday from the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. It also set the main event picture for July's All In, the biggest AEW show of the year. Mercedes Moné and Hangman Adam Page showed they're both ready to lead AEW into the next phase of the promotion's journey. Anarchy in the Arena also provided the expected chaos, plus Toni Storm continued her world championship run. With just a few months to go before All In, here are our five biggest takeaways from AEW Double or Nothing 2025. Will Ospreay and Hangman Adam Page gave us everything we expected in this one. Page, a former champion who lost it all, went a bit deranged and now is on a journey back to the top. Ospreay, the fresh star who hasn't had his taste of world championship gold just yet, came in hungry for his first opportunity. All of that background made for a really compelling match and the continuation of stories not quite at their conclusion. The drama and the stakes for both men built perfectly across the span of the match. At the end, it was Page clearing his redemption arc with a chance to win the promotion's biggest prize, while Ospreay is now left searching for answers yet again. Anarchy in the Arena was fun, chaotic and a brutal mess. The match was full of surprises and big moments, and the spotlight continues to follow Swerve Strickland in everything he does. He's a massive star for the AEW promotion, and it feels almost wrong that he didn't walk out of Dynasty a month ago as World Champion. Whether that's something that happens in the next month or next year, it's almost unquestionable that he'll continue to be the face of the company with or without the title. More than two years removed from what could have been a career-ending ankle injury, Mercedes Moné is on an incredible run. With her feet firmly back underneath her, Moné is taking on all challengers in organizations around the world and claiming as much championship gold as she can handle. Her showdown against Jaime Hayter may have been one of her best since joining AEW, with a blend of physicality and ring smarts. After doing essentially everything else she can do in AEW, Moné is next in line for an AEW Women's World Championship title shot at the biggest show of the year, All In. Toni Storm is one of the best gimmicks in all of wrestling right now, but it's hard to connect with what's going on in the world championship picture recently. Since winning the belt back from Mariah May in one of the promotion's best-ever rivalries, everything has felt a bit rushed. From Megan Bayne to now Mina Shirakawa, Storm has moved quickly through challengers that felt like they should have had more runway for a program. Now she'll face off against Moné at All In — and that at least should be a memorable one. When Ricochet joined AEW, there were questions about which version of the high-flyer we'd get. He appeared complacent at times in his run with WWE, and his arrival in AEW immediately looked pretty similar to what we'd seen in recent years. Since leaning into his baldness and a corresponding heel turn, Ricochet has been an unhinged nightmare in the absolute best way possible. His match with Mark Briscoe was violent and brutal. It provided another step forward in his evolution in AEW. It feels like Ricochet is finding unique ways to stand out, and that's significant for what's become an increasingly stacked roster.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AEW won the wrestling weekend and has the momentum. Could this be a vintage year for Tony Khan?
Wrestling fans were well fed this past weekend, with three big events across the two major promotions and a TNA pay-per-view to boot. With Sunday's AEW Double or Nothing being cited as an instant classic and WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) delivering its best outing since its revival in late 2024, there was plenty to digest from more than two dozen matches. Here are my big takeaways: 1. We called it wrong on Will Ospreay… For all my rhapsodizing on Friday about how the stars were aligned for Ospreay, Tony Khan had other plans. Was Hangman Adam Page winning the wrong call? Perhaps not — in his review, our own Drake Riggs makes a persuasive case that Hangman's pivotal role in AEW makes him the ideal contender to dethrone Moxley and restore glory to the world title. Still, the surprise outcome begs the question of what's next for Ospreay, who has spent two years diligently building himself up as the company's king babyface. Advertisement As for AEW's creative future, we're working from the assumption here that Hangman is actually winning at July's All In showcase. If that's not the case, there will be hell to pay. 2. Are things looking up for AEW? It's been received wisdom for years that AEW knows how to deliver big events, and this weekend's Double or Nothing was the perfect demonstration of that maxim. Sure, we can pick holes if we're being pedantic — putting the last-minute trios match after an absolutely bonkers Anarchy in the Arena match was a bad move, for example — but they don't detract from the fact that this was the best AEW event in many moons. Even Mercedes Moné pulled out all the stops to deliver a stellar performance. Advertisement With "Collision" on a hot streak at the moment, the consensus seems to be that AEW has the momentum right now. Whisper it, but could we be in the middle of a vintage year for Tony Khan? Let's come back to that question in December but, right now, things at least appear to be pointing in the right direction. 3. WWE is sticking to its guns on John Cena Grumbles about John Cena's heel turn have been gathering pace in recent weeks, not helped by the champion's absence from the weekly shows. Just in case you had any doubts (or perhaps even hopes) that WWE might change course, this past Saturday's event confirmed what most of us suspected: That the company remains absolutely resolute in its commitment to dark Cena. Cena's two appearances — defeating R-Truth and then reappearing later to try to screw Jey Uso out of the world title — weren't bad by any means, but they were a reiteration of the same playbook we've seen twice now, right down to the dirty low-blow finish. (Incidentally, it didn't go unnoticed that TNA's Trick Williams vs. Joe Hendry championship match had a much more imaginative heel finish, despite working with exactly the same tools). Advertisement Whether you're sold on him or not, heel Cena is here to stay. Next stop: Money in the Bank on June 7, as the Universal Champion teams with Logan Paul to square off against Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso. 4. TKO's events strategy is taking shape For all the chaos around the switcheroo for next year's WrestleMania 42, this weekend looks like a successful test case for TKO's events strategy. Admittedly, we don't know how much Tampa paid for the privilege of its WWE takeover, but to have three full arena audiences (SNME, Battleground, and Monday's episode of 'WWE Raw') on back-to-back-to-back nights is no mean feat. Advertisement Wrestling obsessives can be as sniffy as they like about SNME being a glorified house show, but the fact remains that WWE still managed to deliver John Cena, Logan Paul and Cody Rhodes and a big TV audience. That's the sort of thing that host cities are going to want to see before they start shelling out these nine-figure sums to bring WWE in for the weekend. We also had the news that WWE intends to run a similar takeover in Atlanta in July, with NXT's Great American Bash running alongside the next installment of SNME. In terms of big names, the latter is rumored to include Goldberg's retirement match. From a wrestling perspective, though, perhaps the real winners are the NXT talents, who will benefit from their PLEs feeling like a much bigger deal with these arena shows. 5. … as is the WWE/TNA partnership (kind of) WWE pulled a big rabbit out of the hat back in January, with the announcement of its TNA partnership. In truth, it's still not clear exactly how the collaboration is intended to work on a business and creative level, but this past Sunday's Battleground event saw the boldest crossover yet, with the aforementioned Trick Williams winning the TNA world championship from TNA golden boy Joe Hendry. Advertisement Does the former NXT champion now take a secondment over to Nashville to defend his prize against the TNA regulars and thus cement himself as the first cross-company heel? That would seem like the most logical step. And does that mean WWE gets a claim on Joe Hendry, who was one of the big winners (in the big picture sense at least) of this year's WrestleMania 41 weekend? Up until now, WWE vs. TNA matches have largely been cameo moments, with title matches in particular being a foregone conclusion. After Sunday night, all bets are off the table.
Fox News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Adam Page, Mercedes Moné earn AEW title shots at Double or Nothing; Toni Storm seals win with kiss
Adam Page and Mercedes Moné won their respective Owen Hart Foundation Tournaments and earned shots at their respective All Elite Wrestling world championships at Double or Nothing on Sunday. The stakes were high for both intense battles. "Hangman" Page picked up the victory over Will Ospreay in what may have been the match of the night between the AEW stars. Page and Ospreay gave it their all. Page hit Ospreay with several moves in his bag to try to put Ospreay away, but the English wrestler would not relent. It took both of them going through a collapsed table and one huge Buckshot Lariat for Page to finally pin Ospreay. Before Page celebrated with the tournament belt and trophy, he walked back down the ramp and picked a downtrodden Ospreay up onto his feet and shook his hand. It was the ultimate show of respect between the two wrestlers after a grueling tournament. Page defeated Josh Alexander and Kyle Fletcher to get to the finals. Ospreay topped Kevin Knight and Konosuke Takeshita. On the women's side, it was Moné who got the best of Jamie Hayter to earn her shot at the AEW Women's Championship. She attacked Hayter's back consistently with backstabber after backstabber to keep Hayter down. Hayter did everything she could to try to get Moné down for the count, but Moné showed why she is the current AEW TBS champion and the Revolution Pro Wrestling undisputed British women's champion. She countered Hayter's elbow attack and put both of her arms behind her back before she rolled her up for the pinfall. Now, Page and Moné will get title shots at All In: Texas on July 12. Page will square off against Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, and Moné will square off against Toni Storm for the AEW Women's World Championship. Storm defended her title against Mina Shirakawa, who recently signed with AEW as a full-time competitor. The two longtime competitors appeared to put their rivalry to rest after the match. The "Timeless" one sealed the win with a kiss to Shirakawa. Moxley was on the team that lost an Anarchy in the Arena match earlier in the night. The team of Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata and Willow Nightingale defeated Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta, Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson. Elsewhere on the card, the Hurt Syndicate of Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin defended the AEW World Tag Team Championship against Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara, and Kazuchika Okada defended the AEW Continental Championship against "Speedball" Mike Bailey. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AEW Double or Nothing 2025 results, awards, analysis: Hangman Adam Page, Mercedes Mone win Owen Hart Tournaments
AEW was in the desert Sunday night for Double or Nothing 2025, with all of the promotion's biggest stars gathered inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament winners were crowned — and chaos was had. Lots and lots of chaos. There's almost too much to talk about after that absolute home run of a showcase for the company, but we'll start with the obvious. The men's Owen Hart finals match occupied the main-event spotlight as two-time AEW International Champion Will Ospreay was upset by former AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page. As expected by anyone with a functioning brain and even the slightest amount of vision, the match was a guaranteed instant classic. These two delivered sequences, spots and near-falls that only worked with their unique move sets and styles. Advertisement Ultimately, it was a relatively big surprise to see the ultra-talented Ospreay not get his big showcase opportunity to become a world champion. Hangman essentially has been the story in AEW, though. He's the DNA of what has made the company so successful, and his overall story and run has legitimately been one of the best in wrestling history. Having him dethrone the super-villain reigning champion Jon Moxley makes a lot more historical sense for AEW lore, despite how phenomenal Ospreay is. As for Moxley, this year's Anarchy in the Arena match was undeniably one of the most fun and entertaining wrestling matches of all time. The overwhelming amount of envy I have for that Arizona crowd is immeasurable, as they witnessed The Death Riders and Young Bucks fall short to Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale and The Opps. If you want to see the beauty of AEW and how impossibly creative wrestling can be, then look no further. If you missed this match, watch it immediately. Advertisement Returning to the Owen Hart Foundation Cup, the women's finals between TBS Champion Mercedes Moné and former AEW Women's Champion Jamie Hayter was as sensational an opener as could be expected. Unlike Ospreay, Moné followed through on her status as the favorite to win, but not without some great scares from the equally incredible Hayter. Moné's win carries her into a monster champion vs. champion clash with AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm at July's All In event. Storm retained her title later in the night in a very fun defense against Mina Shirakawa, setting up the massive blockbuster match. That was one of three title matches at Double or Nothing, immediately following AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada's defeat of "Speedball" Mike Bailey. AEW Tag-Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate also held off their challengers, The Sons Of Texas. AEW Double or Nothing 2025 was the best pay-per-view/premium live event of the year. AEW's premiere events can sometimes feel like a drag with the timing, but this was one nonstop magnet of attention-grabbing wrestling brilliance. It won't soon be forgotten, and as much I want to pull a Dave Meltzer and break our own scale here at Uncrowned, I'll refrain. (For now.) I give AEW Double or Nothing 2025 a crown score of: 👑 10/10. 👑 AEW Double or Nothing 2025 Uncrowned Nightly Award Winners: MVP: Powerhouse Hobbs If you followed along with the live blog, you'll know exactly why Powerhouse Hobbs gets the potentially surprising MVP nod on this night. There are a handful of options you can go with here, and none of them are wrong, but with Hobbs, the guy was treated about as superhuman as I've seen in who knows how many years. I dare say Bray Wyatt's Fiend at its peak? Hobbs felt like a movie character you see in an action flick that just will not die, no matter what crazy violence is bestowed upon him. That can be a blessing and a curse in wrestling, because by that logic, he should never lose again unless someone drowns him in a lake or something absolutely bewildering. Advertisement Uncrowned Gem of the Night: Willow Nightingale Besides Hobbs, Nightingale was the other piece on the winning Anarchy team who helped achieve victory more than anyone else. Nightingale has always been stunningly talented and athletic, deserving of bigger pushes than she's gotten so far. But the big thing about this match — and this feud in general — was that it helped expand her somewhat stale, smiley, boring character that felt like AEW's Bayley when Bayley first rose through WWE. Plus, she had some great spots against the men in the match. Nightingale is awesome. She wasn't booked as strongly as Hobbs, but she needs a major program of her own in pursuit of a title. Match of the Night: The Death Riders & The Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale & The Opps You should be able to tell by now that I was in love with Anarchy in the Arena. What can I say? As an entire unit or construction of a match, it technically could not have been the best, right? I don't know. It's all about perspective, and in wrestling, that's as subjective as it gets. This match elicited the most reactions and emotions while delivering unbound creative entertainment. It was the ultimate "this is pro wrestling" match. It had a little of everything and then some. Don't get me wrong, all of the singles matches at Double or Nothing were excellent. But if you give me the greatest versions of entertaining things that are very rarely — if ever — seen before, that's what I'm all about. Advertisement Best Spot(s) of the Night: Kazuchika Okada's mid-air dropkick to Rainmaker and the Will Ospreay-Hangman vs. Adam Page Hidden Blade-Buckshot showdown This is usually the hardest award to hand out for any AEW pay-per-view, and I kind of hate that only one can win the best spot, especially for this show. I make the rules, though, so there won't be just one winner. Sorry, not sorry. Glance back at what I just said about the Anarchy match, and we'll apply that to Hangman and Ospreay trying to connect their finishers at the exact same time. It was goofy, dramatic, amazing nonsense in the best way possible. Again, pro wrestling at its pro wrestling-est. As for Okada's finish to Bailey, that was a magnificent utilization of each's style to close the chapter of their in-ring story throughout the match. Each of their unique athleticisms fully on display, colliding at the same time. It was somewhat similar to its counterpart in the Hangman-Ospreay match. Too good, folks. Too good. AEW Double or Nothing 2025 full card results and highlights: Men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Hangman Adam Page def. Will Ospreay The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander) def. Paragon (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong) Anarchy in the Arena Match: Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale & The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata) def. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & Marina Shafir) & The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) AEW Women's World Championship: (C) Toni Storm def. Mina Shirakawa AEW Continental Championship Match: (C) Kazuchika Okada def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey AEW World Tag Team Championship: (C) The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) def. Sons Of Texas (Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes) Stretcher Match: Ricochet def. Mark Briscoe FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) def. Nigel McGuinness & Daniel Garcia Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Mercedes Moné def. Jamie Hayter Bandido, AR Fox & Los Titanes Del Aire def. RPG Vice & Cru Harley Cameron & Anna Jay def. Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford Recap of AEW Double or Nothing 2025 with Uncrowned's live blog below:
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AEW Double or Nothing takeaways: Hangman Adam Page spoils the Will Ospreay party
AEW Double or Nothing 2025 delivered a packed show on Sunday from the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. It also set the main event picture for July's All In, the biggest AEW show of the year. Mercedes Moné and Hangman Adam Page showed they're both ready to lead AEW into the next phase of the promotion's journey. Anarchy in the Arena also provided the expected chaos, plus Toni Storm continued her world championship run. Advertisement With just a few months to go before All In, here are our five biggest takeaways from AEW Double or Nothing 2025. 1. Welcome back to the main event, Hangman Page Will Ospreay and Hangman Adam Page gave us everything we expected in this one. Page, a former champion who lost it all, went a bit deranged and now is on a journey back to the top. Ospreay, the fresh star who hasn't had his taste of world championship gold just yet, came in hungry for his first opportunity. All of that background made for a really compelling match and the continuation of stories not quite at their conclusion. The drama and the stakes for both men built perfectly across the span of the match. At the end, it was Page clearing his redemption arc with a chance to win the promotion's biggest prize, while Ospreay is now left searching for answers yet again. 2. Swerve is the people's champion Anarchy in the Arena was fun, chaotic and a brutal mess. The match was full of surprises and big moments, and the spotlight continues to follow Swerve Strickland in everything he does. Advertisement He's a massive star for the AEW promotion, and it feels almost wrong that he didn't walk out of Dynasty a month ago as World Champion. Whether that's something that happens in the next month or next year, it's almost unquestionable that he'll continue to be the face of the company with or without the title. 3. Mercedes Moné is the belt collector More than two years removed from what could have been a career-ending ankle injury, Mercedes Moné is on an incredible run. With her feet firmly back underneath her, Moné is taking on all challengers in organizations around the world and claiming as much championship gold as she can handle. Advertisement Her showdown against Jaime Hayter may have been one of her best since joining AEW, with a blend of physicality and ring smarts. After doing essentially everything else she can do in AEW, Moné is next in line for an AEW Women's World Championship title shot at the biggest show of the year, All In. 4. Toni Storm's program with Mariah May program spoiled us Toni Storm is one of the best gimmicks in all of wrestling right now, but it's hard to connect with what's going on in the world championship picture recently. Since winning the belt back from Mariah May in one of the promotion's best-ever rivalries, everything has felt a bit rushed. From Megan Bayne to now Mina Shirakawa, Storm has moved quickly through challengers that felt like they should have had more runway for a program. Now she'll face off against Moné at All In — and that at least should be a memorable one. 5. Ricochet has his fire again When Ricochet joined AEW, there were questions about which version of the high-flyer we'd get. He appeared complacent at times in his run with WWE, and his arrival in AEW immediately looked pretty similar to what we'd seen in recent years. Since leaning into his baldness and a corresponding heel turn, Ricochet has been an unhinged nightmare in the absolute best way possible. His match with Mark Briscoe was violent and brutal. It provided another step forward in his evolution in AEW. It feels like Ricochet is finding unique ways to stand out, and that's significant for what's become an increasingly stacked roster.
