AEW Double or Nothing 2023 preview: This has to be wildest, most violent match in company history

All Elite Wrestling returns to pay-per-view tonight (Sun., May 28) with Double or Nothing 2023. The show comes our way from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event starts at 8 pm ET and can be purchased on Bleacher Report (and traditional PPV) in the U.S. & Canada, PPV.com in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. & Ireland, or in all international markets on Fite.

Anarchy in the Arena has to be the wildest, most violent match in AEW history

The most intriguing match on tonight’s card is Anarchy in the Arena, where The Elite (Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Hangman Page) will go to war against Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli).

Danielson has called out the entire AEW roster for being filled with a bunch of amateurs, including The Elite, and he’s now obsessed with stabbing people in the face with a screwdriver. Hangman Page and Konosuke Takeshita are two such victims, which is why Page now wears an eye patch.

Don Callis recently turned on Kenny Omega, stabbing him in the head with a screwdriver during a steel cage match against Mox. Callis is not aligned with BCC, but he does have a relationship with Takeshita. Will Callis and/or Takeshita ultimately make the difference in the outcome of this fight?

In his go-home promo, Moxley made the following promise:

“Anarchy in the Arena will be the wildest, most violent match in the history of All Elite Wrestling because we will not accept anything less. If you think the BCC have gone too far, if you’ve been offended, if you’re squeamish at the sight of blood, buckle your god damn seat belt, ‘cause you haven’t seen anything yet!”

That’s a lofty bar to set, but it could very well happen. Keep in mind this is the same gimmick match from last year that saw a blood-soaked Eddie Kingston’s memorable zombie walk down to the ring holding a gas can with the intention to set his opponent on fire.

The sequel is going to be absolute madness.

The rest of the main card

These nine matches are also currently advertised for tonight at Double or Nothing:

MJF (c) vs. Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy vs. Sammy Guevara for the AEW world championship

MJF didn’t want anything to do with having an honest championship defense against any of these men, so he tried to rig a Four Pillars tournament for Sammy to win, with the idea that he would then pay Guevara to lay down for him in tonight’s main event. Tony Khan didn’t play ball with MJF’s scheme, and Tay Melo talked some sense into Sammy. The end result is that MJF is now forced to defend the top prize in AEW in this four way match.

This match is being advertised as the main event for tonight’s card, even though just about everyone knows MJF will win, and the talking segments have made it clear that none of these guys are at his level.

Jamie Hayter (c) vs. Toni Storm for the AEW women’s world championship

What’s going on with Jamie Hayter? She pulled out of a tag team match a couple weeks ago due to injury and was then attacked by The Outcasts just a couple nights ago on Rampage. Can she even be medically cleared in time to defend her belt tonight against the former champion?

FTR (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal for the AEW world tag team titles

Mark Briscoe will be the special referee for this title fight. Lethal has exploited his friendship with Briscoe to try to turn him against FTR, to some degree of success. Dax Harwood accidentally hit a piledriver on Briscoe after his eyes were briefly blinded by the heels. Things got even wackier when Karen Jarrett showed up in AEW to join her husband’s side. Lethal and Jarrett keep pressuring Mark to “do the right thing” during this match, so they expect that he will help them win the belts.

Wardlow (c) vs. Christian Cage in a ladder match for the TNT championship

After being buried alive by Jungle Boy earlier this year, Christian Cage is back in AEW and he wants to win the TNT title. Cage still has Luchasaurus by his side, whereas Wardlow has joined up with Arn Anderson. Christian has a ton of experience in ladder matches, so Wardlow has his work cut out for him here.

Jade Cargill (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie for the TBS championship

Taya Valkyrie lost her first title match against Cargill because her Road to Valhalla finisher was banned. This time there are no such restrictions, so the undefeated champion will have to do whatever she can to avoid the maneuver if she plans to hold onto her streak and belt.

House of Black (c) vs. TBA in an Open House Open Challenge for the AEW world trios titles

Malakai Black’s faction has created their own set of Open House rules for their trios title defenses, which includes the challengers being able to select one of the rules for the fight. The champs are adding even more uncertainty to the mix by making tonight’s defense an open challenge. Daddy Ass & The Acclaimed made it clear that they intend to answer the challenge, but what if another team beats them to the punch?

21-Man Blackjack Battle Royal for Orange Cassidy’s AEW International championship

Nobody can beat Orange Cassidy for the title in a singles match, but what about a Battle Royal? The 20 men who will try to toss him over the top rope include The Blade, Butcher, Bandido, Komander, Lee Moriarty, Big Bill, Ari Daivari, Tony Nese, Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, Kip Sabian, Fenix, Pentagon, Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Ricky Starks, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Keith Lee, and Dustin Rhodes. In order to retain the gold, Freshly Squeezed might need to rely on several of the wrestlers in ongoing feuds to eliminate each other, such as Keith Lee / Dustin Rhodes and Swerve Strickland / Brian Cage taking each other out.

Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned match

Chris Jericho’s faction handcuffed Adam Cole to the ropes and forced him to watch The Outcasts put a brutal beating on his girlfriend, Britt Baker. Cole has been out for revenge ever since then, to the point where AEW doesn’t want to be liable for whatever these two men do to each other tonight. Roderick Strong has recently joined up with Cole. That still isn’t enough manpower to counteract all the cronies in the Jericho Appreciation Society, so Adam brought ECW legend Sabu in to AEW to keep Jericho’s lackeys at bay.

The Hardys & HOOK vs. Ethan Page & The Gunns (pre-show)

The Hardys, HOOK, and Brother Zay deleted The Firm at the Hardy Compound. Ethan Page refused to let this feud end there, so how he is partnering up with The Gunns to prevent Matt and Jeff from moving up the ladder in AEW. If Matt wins this match, he will control Ethan’s contract. The heels recently injured Brother Zay, but do they have an answer for the undefeated FTW champion?

Summary

AEW almost always delivers a great card on pay-per-view, and this one should be no different. Anarchy in the Arena is the main attraction here, and expectations are as high as possible with names like Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Hangman Page, and the Young Bucks involved. MJF’s match is billed as the main event, but it pales in comparison to Anarchy in the Arena.

What will you be looking for at Double or Nothing?