It took until the waning moments, but AEW fans got their Jon Moxley moment.
The former Dean Ambrose debuted with aplomb at the conclusion of the inaugural AEW pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, after Chris Jericho’s surprise win over Kenny Omega in the main event.
OK, surprise. Adam Page had won the battle royal in the pre-show, earning himself a shot at the AEW world title in the process, and assuming that result would have stood, it made sense that you wouldn’t see a Page-Omega face-face match for the strap.
There was a thought that Page, who had been slated to face PAC, the former Neville in WWE, might face some sort of scenario in the main show where his title shot would be put on the line.
And, booking genius, that was teased, as Page was brought out for a spot introducing the AEW title belt, hosted by, shocker of shockers, newly-minted WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
Yes, Vince McMahon, he’s pissed, that he crowned Hart a month ago, and then Tony Khan wrote Hart a bigger check, mainly to get under Vince’s skin.
That segment, ultimately, was included to elevate MJF, the recent MLW champ, all of 23 years old, but, damn, the mic loves that kid.
Jericho going over Omega, after a grueling match, was a nice swerve, at the end of a week of swerves, amirite, GoT fans?
You assumed Omega was going over, because, best wrestler in the world, but, good on the booking committee at AEW.
Jericho grabbed the mic after his upset win, and berated the crowd – cheap heat alert.
It was a scene-setter, for Moxley to enter the ring, through the crowd – Shield-style – to attack Jericho, then the hapless referee, then Omega.
The two fought through the crowd, then Moxley did his Dirty Deeds DDT finisher atop gambling implements, before a fireman’s carry that deposited Omega to a platform below.
We ended the inaugural AEW show with Jericho-Page for the world title, Moxley-Omega in a grudge match, and Young Bucks vs. Cody and Dustin Rhodes, following their reconciliation after a five-star bloodfest.
Production values were WWE-quality. Jim Ross was the linchpin of the announce team, so, that was WWE-quality, actually, better than what you get these days from WWE.
I paid $49.95 to B/R Live to watch this. I feel like I owe them money.
Review by Chris Graham
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