The 2023 Double or Nothing was the fifth annual Double or Nothing professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place during Memorial Day weekend on May 28, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada for the second consecutive year.
Eleven matches were contested at the event, including one on The Buy In pre-show. In the event's final match, which was promoted as part of a double main event, Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta) defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and "Hangman" Adam Page) in an Anarchy in the Arena match. The other main event, which was the penultimate match, saw MJF defeat Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry in a four-way match to retain the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches, Wardlow defeated Christian Cage in a Ladder match to retain the AEW TNT Championship, and in the opening bout, Orange Cassidy won the 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal to retain the AEW International Championship. The event also saw the return of Kris Statlander, who answered Jade Cargill's open challenge and defeated her to win the AEW TBS Championship, ending Cargill's undefeated streak and record reign at 508 days. This was also Cargill's final appearance on an AEW pay-per-view event, as she did not appear on another AEW pay-per-view before her contract expired in September and she subsequently signed with WWE.
Double or Nothing was held on the same day as NXT Battleground, a premium live event produced by WWE for its developmental brand, NXT. This marked the first time since April 1989 that two major promotions produced major events head-to-head, after WWE's WrestleMania V and World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Clash of the Champions VI.
Production Background
Double or Nothing is considered All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) marquee event, having first been held in 2019, which was the promotion's first professional wrestling event and first pay-per-view (PPV) produced. It is held annually in May during Memorial Day weekend and is one of AEW's "Big Four" PPVs, which includes All Out, Full Gear, and Revolution, their four biggest domestic shows produced quarterly. The event's name is a reference to its Las Vegas theme and it is traditionally held in the Las Vegas area in Paradise, Nevada. Exceptions from this norm occurred in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that were in place at the time, but they maintained the Vegas theme.
On March 5, 2023, during the Revolution Zero Hour pre-show, it was announced that the fifth Double or Nothing event would take place on May 28 at the T-Mobile Arena, marking the second Double or Nothing held here, after the previous year's event. It was also announced that during Double or Nothing week, both Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage would air live from the nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena—the location of the inaugural Double or Nothing—on May 24 and May 26, respectively. However, due to a potential TNT broadcast scheduling conflict, Rampage was rescheduled to air on tape delay as a special Saturday Night Rampage on May 27, with the event being taped immediately after the live broadcast of Dynamite, but this conflict ended up not happening, thus Rampage aired in its regular Friday time slot. Tickets for the events went on sale on March 17.
The event went head-to-head with NXT Battleground, a premium live event produced by WWE for its developmental brand, NXT. This marked the first time since 1989 that two major promotions produced major events head-to-head, after WWE's WrestleMania V (airing on PPV) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Clash of the Champions VI (airing on TBS). According to WWE executive Shawn Michaels, the scheduling was not intended for WWE to go head-to-head with AEW, but that it was just due to the holiday that weekend as he said WWE events had always done well on holidays.
Storylines Double or Nothing featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Rampage.
On the April 19 episode of Dynamite, a Four Pillars Tournament was announced, with the winner challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing. The participants of the tournament were revealed as Sammy Guevara, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry, and Darby Allin—these three plus MJF had long been regarded as the "four pillars" of AEW. Guevara defeated Perry by countout with assistance from MJF in the semi-final match, while Allin received a bye to the final. The following week in the final, Guevara would again win with assistance from MJF, this time defeating Darby via disqualification, however, Tony Khan stated that the singles match between MJF and Guevara at Double or Nothing would only go ahead if they could beat Perry and Darby in a tag team match; if Perry and Allin won, the World Championship match at Double or Nothing would be a four-way match between MJF, Guevara, Perry, and Allin. On the May 3 episode, Perry and Allin won.
In October 2022, "Hangman" Adam Page began a feud with Jon Moxley of the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC). This culminated in a Texas Death match at Revolution that Page won. Page thought he was done with Moxley until Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli attacked Page's friends John Silver and Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order, prompting Page to come to their aid, with BCC turning heel. BCC (Moxley, Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, and Wheeler Yuta) then defeated Page and The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson). Throughout that episode, the teams fought throughout the backstage area until Page was left alone until his former friends-turned-enemies The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) got involved. While The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick) wanted to mend things with Page, Omega was still hesitant until the May 17 episode of Dynamite, when Page officially rejoined The Elite with Omega's approval. The Elite then challenged BCC (Moxley, Castagnoli, Danielson, Yuta) to an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing, which was accepted.
On the May 17 episode of Dynamite, Orange Cassidy said that anyone who wanted to challenge him for the AEW International Championship could talk to AEW president Tony Khan to try and get a match as he would defend the title against anyone. It was later revealed that several wrestlers tried talking to Khan, and it was decided that Cassidy would defend the International Championship in a 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal at Double or Nothing.
On the March 15 episode of Dynamite, Taya Valkyrie made her AEW debut and began going after Jade Cargill and her AEW TBS Championship. The two had a match for the title on the April 26 episode in which Valkyrie was banned from using her finisher; Cargill won the match. A frustrated Valkyrie put her hands on referee Aubrey Edwards and was subsequently suspended. On the May 19 episode of Rampage, Cargill held an open challenge for her title. After defeating two challengers back-to-back, Valkyrie then made her return from suspension and attacked Cargill. She subsequently challenged Cargill for the TBS Championship at Double or Nothing, which was made official.
At Full Gear in November 2022, Jamie Hayter defeated Toni Storm to become the interim AEW Women's World Champion; she subsequently became the official champion after Thunder Rosa relinquished the lineal championship due to injury. In the weeks to come, Storm turned heel and allied with Saraya and Ruby Soho, dubbing themselves the Outcasts as they were not AEW originals. After several more weeks of feuding, on the May 17 episode of Dynamite, Storm challenged Hayter to a match for the AEW Women's World Championship at Double or Nothing, which was accepted. That same episode, it was reported that Hayter was injured, but Tony Khan said that despite not being medically cleared, Hayter still wanted to do the match so the match would proceed as planned.
After winning his third AEW TNT Championship on the April 19 episode of Dynamite, Wardlow was confronted by Christian Cage and Luchasaurus. Cage subsequently made his intentions clear that he wanted the TNT Championship. After weeks of feuding, on the May 17 episode of Dynamite, Wardlow challenged Cage to a match at Double or Nothing. Cage and Luchasaurus attacked Wardlow, putting him through a ladder, and Cage accepted, with the match scheduled as a ladder match.
After a long absence due to injury, Adam Cole made his return in early 2023 with his first match scheduled for the March 29 episode of Dynamite. A week prior, he delivered a promo, questioning who his first opponent would be, only to be interrupted by the Jericho Appreciation Society's (JAS) Daniel Garcia, which led to Cole challenging Garcia to be his first opponent since his return. The following week, Cole defeated Garcia, celebrating with his partner Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. following the match. The celebration was interrupted by JAS leader Chris Jericho, who entered ringside and helped stablemate Garcia to the back. On the April 12 episode, Cole interrupted Jericho's celebration with Garcia after he had defeated Keith Lee, helping his former rival Lee to the back. The following week, Cole and Jericho met in the ring attempting to talk out their problems, however, this led to a brawl and a brutal assault on Cole and Baker. Cole's outnumbered feud with the JAS eventually led to the AEW debut of Roderick Strong, a former teammate of Cole's in NXT. After more feuding, an unsanctioned match between Cole and Jericho was scheduled for Double or Nothing, with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) alumnus Sabu named the special guest enforcer.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRoleNameCommentatorsExcalibur Jim Ross Tony Schiavone Taz Don Callis Ring announcerJustin RobertsRefereesAubrey EdwardsBryce RemsburgMark BriscoePaul TurnerRick KnoxStephon SmithInterviewerAlex MarvezPre-show panelRenee PaquetteKazeem FamiyudePaul WightStokely Hathaway
Pre-show There was only one match that took place on The Buy In pre-show, which saw The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) and Hook (accompanied by Isiah Kassidy) face Ethan Page and The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn), where if The Hardys and Hook won, Matt would gain control of Page's contract. In the closing stages, The Gunns delivered the 3:10 to Yuma to Matt, but Jeff broke up the pin with a Swanton Bomb. The Hardys then delivered stereo Twists of Fate to The Gunns and Page. Hook then locked in the Redrum on Page, forcing him to submit, thus Page became Matt's employee.
Preliminary matches The pay-per-view opened with Orange Cassidy defending the AEW International Championship in a 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal. The end came down to Big Bill, Penta El Zero Miedo, Swerve Strickland, and Cassidy as the final four participants. Bill delivered a lariat to Penta, thus eliminating him. As Bill attempted a chokeslam on Cassidy, Strickland snuck up from behind and eliminated Bill. Cassidy performed a Stundog Millionaire, followed by a pump kick by Strickland. Cassidy then hit the Orange Punch, but Strickland held onto the ropes. Cassidy kicked Strickland's hands off the ropes, thus eliminating him and retaining the title.