Anarchy In The Arena II - AEW Double Or Nothing (28/5/23)

While I didn't think this was as great a match as the original, this still rocked and was the best thing on the PPV, mirroring the feud being the best thing on Dynamite this last quarter.  

For a chaotic match, lets do a chaotic style review.

What ruled:

• The effort on show.  All 8 guys busted their asses in the match
• Bryan finally wrestling for the first time in 3 months 
• The Elite hitting 4 Terminator suicide dives at the same time.
• So much blood.
• Hangman getting a pop for removing an eyepatch
• Matt doing the northern lights suplexes all the way down the ramp
• The Claudio/Matt sequence was a great showcase of Claudio being a beast with the giant swing into the bin and the piledriver onto the pick up truck.  
• I like how Omega and Mox was a pairing that was a through line during the match given all their history.  
• Matt Jackson getting the barefoot thumbtacks spot was bonkers and had me wincing
• Omega using the trash can lid as a shield and then Claudio swatting it out his hand
• The leafblower
• Bryan ordering Justin Roberts to give him his jacket and remembering the time Bryan got fired for choking Roberts out with his tie
• EXPLODING SUPERKICK TO MOX
• Bryan hitting both Omega and Page with the Busaiku Knees
• Mox telling Matt to fuck off like he's Logan Roy when he tried to break up his BCC elbows 
• Matt eating thumbtacks and then having them uppercuttered out.
• Omega and Hangman teaming up again and remembering their great tag team back in AEW's early years
• Wheeler Yuta getting the decisive pinfall and then being hoisted on Claudio's shoulders in celebration.  Despite teaming with three established stars, Yuta no longer feels like the young boy on his team.  

What prevented this from being as great as the original:

• Wild Thing on a loop was a fantastic addition to the first match.  The live band playing it a bunch of times didn't land as well this time.  Maybe if the band was better it wouldn't have been as bad.  
• There was a stronger babyface/heel dynamic last year.  You wanted to see The Jericho Appreciation Society get their asses kicked last year.  This year, BCC are playing the heels but they're too cool to hate. 
• It ends in a Don Callis interference angle.  Given how dominate and brutal BCC were all match, it's a bit of a weak finish.  

All things considered here, the pros outweight the cons and this was a really enjoyable main event that saved the show.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List