All Elite Wrestling’s first pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, was supposed to feature a match between “Hangman” Adam Page and Pac at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, news broke out over the weekend that due to “creative differences” Pac would not be appearing at the show and that the match was canceled. In order to give fans a slice of what was promised the two wrestled at the WrestleGate Pro event in Nottingham, England over the weekend.
AEW premiered the full match on the company’s YouTube channel on Tuesday. You can check out the full match in the video above.
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Late in the bout Page looked to be closing in on the win when he set up for his Buckshot Lariet finisher. But Pac nailed the referee with a low blow just before Page nailed him with the move, resulting in a disqualification even though Page had Pac’s shoulders down for a three count.
Pac attacked him with a steel chair afterwards and repeatedly targeted one of Page’s knees. He then grabbed a mic and explained the only reason he was coming to AEW was to hurt Page. And since he’s already done that, he stated he won’t be going to Vegas.
Wrestling Observer‘s Dave Meltzer stated in a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that the reported creative differences centered around Pac wanting to keep the winning streak he’s built up since returning to independent wrestling alive.
“This was not about not doing a job for Adam Page,” Meltzer said. “The reality is he was going to beat Page, but there was a way he was going to win which was going to set up a program with Kenny Omega.”
He added that Pac is still under contract with AEW, but likely won’t be used by the promotion for a while. Meltzer also mentioned that AEW has a backup plan for the scrapped story regarding Pac, Page and Omega and that fans will likely see it play out at Double or Nothing. With the match canceled, the show will go on with two free matches on “The Buy In” kickoff show and seven matches on pay-per-view and the B/R Live streaming service. The top matches on the card include Omega vs. Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros. and Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes.
It was implied during the build between Page and Pac that their match would have som ramifications regarding the yet-to-be-revealed AEW World Championship. The only other match that pertains to the title (as of now) is the 21-man Casino Battle Royale match, where the winner will get a future shot at the championship.
