AEW Double or Nothing was once again headlined by a multi-man arena-wide brawl. Just as 2020 and 2021’s editions of the event saw Stadium Stampede close the show, this year’s AEW Double or Nothing was main-evented by The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club in Anarchy in the Arena. While the match featured over half a dozen of AEW’s biggest stars, many questioned why this match went on last instead of the AEW World Title match between champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman and challengers “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry, Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara.ย
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Speaking during the AEW Double or Nothing post-show press conference, MJF noted that the reasoning for the match order was due to not wanting a bout to take place within the fallout of Anarchy in the Arena.
“Why the f–k would I want to roll around in Jon Moxley’s blood?” MJF said. “I’m f–king good. No thanks. I’d rather not run around in all that mid-blood. It’s f–king disgusting.”
Beyond that, Friedman added that he believes the idea of a world championship needing to close big events is a thing of the past.
“Also, realistically, whether it’s this company or WWE, the World Title, ‘having to go on last,’ kind of is dead in wrestling,” MJF continued. “How times has the World Title not gone on last in this company?”
Most AEW pay-per-views do conclude with a world title match. Every edition of AEW Revolution and AEW All Out has been headlined by the AEW World Championship while AEW Double or Nothing has had just one world title main event, which came in 2022 when CM Punk defeated Hangman Page for the gold. Only the first edition of AEW Full Gear did not have a world title main event, as Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega’s Lights Out Match closed that Fall 2019 show.
This is the first pay-per-view of MJF’s title reign that he did not end the show. He dethroned Moxley for the prize in the final match of AEW Full Gear 2022 and successfully defended it against Bryan Danielson in an Iron Man Match in the closing bout of AEW Revolution this past March.
It’s unclear as to when MJF’s next defense will be. Given that he rarely wrestles on television, fans may not see him put the title up for grabs until AEW All Out in September. Both AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door and AEW ALL IN: London are sooner special events, but MJF has expressed distaste at competing on either.
