Heydorn's Brass Ring Ratings - AEW Double or Nothing 2024

By: Zack Heydorn

AEW Double or Nothing 2024 is going to be remembered for one thing and one thing only. Fire.

The rest of the show had it’s moments — including the return of MJF — but, it’ll be Darby Allin setting Jack Perry on fire with a flamethrower as the milestone moment of the night that will imprint on the brains of the AEW fanbase.

Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it. Period.

Roderick Strong vs. Will Ospreay - AEW International Championship

A very good opener. Ospreay fending off the entire Undisputed Kingdom doesn’t bode well for that faction, but it’s a clear strong push for Ospreay as a super-babyface to get behind. Ospreay was wonderful as usual and Strong played off the offense well. Ospreay as International Champion is going to be polarizing and rightfully so.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 3/4

**MJF return**

MJF’s return to AEW went about as good as possible. MJF looked different and presented different, but found the MJF voice that alluded him at the end of his 2023 title run. With this promo, MJF addressed the meta and the story aspects of what happened with him at the end of last year. In doing so, he shed the stench of that era of his career. He’s back, Adam Cole was dealt with, and now MJF can carry on as a face of the company.

Bullet Club Gold vs. Death Triangle - AEW & ROH World Trios Championships

Your standard AEW six-man tag team match. This could have been a Collision main event and it would have fit just fine. Juice Robinson returning to Bullet Club Gold gives the group some added depth, but he’s a mid-card guy that will continue doing mid-card stuff on the show.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4

Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb - AEW Women’s World Championship

A good match, but one with totally backwards psychology. Deeb’s inability to pull the audience onto her back hurt virtually every designed dramatic moment in the match. Nobody bought them because nobody really thought Deeb was going to become champion. It’s time for Storm to embrace the audience’s love and work babyface. This not only will help her, but it’ll protect her opponents as well. The match was well worked throughout and old school with Deeb working many body parts. It just couldn’t get out of first gear due to the lack of investment on the part of the audience.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO

Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta

A good match, but also one that could have been a co-main match on a Dynamite. I liked the artistry of Cassidy walking out in black as opposed to the traditional white shirt — this signaled he’d go to a dark place in this personal rivalry match. They struck the right tone out of the gate with the big brawl, but in the end, it’s Trent and not enough people care about Trent in this story to make this more than it was.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4

Chris Jericho vs. Hook vs. Katsuyori Shibata - FTW Championship

The worst match on the card. Dice? Ehh. Look, this was a wild FTW style match, but it was sloppy and too silly. Shibata’s involvement didn’t help matters as the central issue was Jericho vs. Hook. A lot of moving parts, but not a lot connected in the end.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 3/4

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator

This was excellent. Brutal, but excellent nonetheless. Takeshita is a gem of a wrestler. The guy can adjust his style to his opponent and does it in a way that’s unique and fresh. We’ve all seen Jon Moxley matches before, but this had an added twist of intensity because of how Takeshita worked with Mox and the aggressiveness he struck back with when the match called for it. They beat the tar out of one another and it fit the show nicely.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO

Adam Copeland vs. Malaki Black - TNT Championship Cage Match

I guess I should have had Gangrel on my Double or Nothing Bingo card, but I didn’t. That special appearance worked as did the entire match — minus the silly fake turn by House of Black, of course. This match was the story of Copeland going to the dark parts of his mind like Black wanted and the violence in the bout itself mirrored that. Copeland, his ankles, and knees certainly are regretting that elbow drop from the top of the cage. Ouch.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4

Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone - TBS Championship

The match of the night. It took a few minutes for Mone to get rolling, but once she did she delivered a memorable match worthy of her reputation. The action was back and forth throughout and in the form of some dangerous looking bumps that made for intense moments. Nightingale was very impressive and wrestled her way to a bigger role within the company. Tony Khan has the trilogy match when he wants it and if the big fight feel at the start of this was any indication, that match will do good business for AEW.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/4

Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage - AEW World Championship

The exact match that these two needed to have. Cage was brilliant selling for Swerve and worked hard to get Strickland over in a major way. Swerve had a great entrance and looked the part of a top champion the entire way. Unlike other matches on the show, Cage’s work was able to generate some semblance of intrigue around the finish, even though there wasn’t really any there. Strickland getting the clean win was the only way for this to go.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/2

Team AEW (Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, & FTR) vs. The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, & Jack Perry - Anarchy in the Arena

Anarchy indeed. This was total madness. Changing the music back and forth at the top of the match energized the audience and the match went from there with the crowd hooked. This had tacks, tables, chairs, and all, but the spot that stands out is of course Darby Allin lighting Jack Perry on fire. It happened. AEW has to be better at producing these major spots in matches. Perry was late coming out of the tunnel for it, which left a crazed Darby all alone on the ramp, flamethrower and all. It sure worked though and the spot served as a strong way to differentiate the true craziness of Anarchy in the Arena opposite a traditional street fight. The Elite won, but won what? This needed stakes going in and though this landed well, it would have landed better if the win meant something specific ahead of Dynamite on Wednesday.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 3/4

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