All Elite Wrestling announces first match
The newest promotion adds its very first bout to May's Double or Nothing card.
It's official. The very first match gracing the highly anticipated card for AEW's revolutionary Pay-Per-View, Double or Nothing, will be Adam "Hangman" Page vs. Pac (formerly Neville).
Stemming from an altercation at AEW's inaugural press conference back in January, this feud once again took center stage last night as Pac made an unprecedented appearance via satellite to berate and belittle The Elite's Hangman, ending with both men agreeing to go toe-to-toe on May 25th.
The appearances were part of All Elite's ticket presale announcement, which also featured the formal introduction of their latest talent/management acquisition, Kenny Omega. While Omega does not yet have an official match lined up for the event, more seeds were planted as pro-wrestling icon Chris Jericho joined the foray, and attacked Omega.
Signs are certainly pointing to the two headlining the show in some capacity, but only the Pac vs. Page match has been made "official."
Double or Nothing will air live on Pay-Per-View May 25th, 2019 from the MGM Grand Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Editor's notes:
While Pac vs. Page and Omega vs. Jericho are good matches on paper, it's not the big boom that most wrestling fans were looking for. The ticket announcement party was largely a confirmation of what we've already known.
Considering May will be the "kickoff" show for the company, maybe it's too early to put too much stock in the less than bombastic roster that AEW has acquired to date. Apart from Omega, Cody, Jericho and the Young Bucks, the outfit is lacking serious fire power when it comes to household names. Even the live crowd in attendance had a hard time cheering for several of the company's newest, relatively unknown signings.
Pitting top-stars Jericho against Omega also seems like a move out of necessity rather than a carte blanche wrestling dream card, which is what most fans had in mind. A rematch of a New Japan run isn't exactly what the doctor ordered, but it's still enough to sell some tickets. Rumors of the company going after the likes of CM Punk, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bill Goldberg, Sting, Randy Orton and even The Undertaker helped fuel huge interest in the event, and with a seemingly endless budget, the wrestling throng had high expectations.
Unfortunately for the masses, it appears that none of these high profile names will be included on Double or Nothing. It's understood that the company needs to spread out the big bombs over time to help keep interest in their product, but for the time being, The Elite + OWE + AAA are not necessarily a recipe that will beat WWE out of the gate.
It should be noted that Cody Rhodes doesn't seem to have an opponent for the event quite yet. It will be interesting to see how The Elite manage to book and perform in their own shows without obvious favoritism playing a part, but I'd imagine Cody will be in or around the title picture in the early goings.
As May approaches, we'll expect lots of news regarding the event, and more matches to pile up, but in the meantime, our early card feels a little light.