AEW is starting off the summer right with the hottest pay-per-view event of the season – Double or Nothing 2022! Witness the finals for the men’s and women’s divisions in the first-ever Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Fan favorites Hookhausen look to take down Tony Nese and the dastardly “Smart” Mark Sterling. Chris Jerico has become a full-blown wizard, every AEW Championship is on the line, and we will finally see Wardlow get his hands on MJF!
Our panel of experts will take you through each match on the card with their predictions. The AEW Double or Nothing 2022 Buy-In pre-show starts at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be available for free through the B/R Live streaming service. The show proper begins at 8 p.m. EST and is available through the B/R Live streaming service at a cost of $49.99, and you can also watch the event via the traditional PPV cable provider service for the price of $49.99.
Hookhausen (Hook & Danhausen) vs. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling
AEW
Darius: Statistically, Hookhausen is interesting, with one member having an undefeated record in AEW and the other having a strictly “defeated” record. I would like to think Hook will raise Danhausen up, but it’s just as likely that Danhausen would drag Hook down against a technically sound team.
So, it’s a good thing Mark Sterling has never won an AEW match, either. Hook is going to stomp a mudhole in both men, and Danhausen is going to pour teeth into “Smart” Mark’s mouth.
Winner: Hookhausen
Shane; I see AEW kicking off Double or Nothing with a little bit of fan service here. I expect to see Hookhausen win handily in a fun opening contest.
Winner: Hookhausen
Jay: Hookhausen for several obvious reasons. Beyond the fact that it is on a pre-show which is always meant to get the crowd amped up, AEW’s clear intention to build Hook, and the huge upside towards making Danhausen more prominent – the other side has Tony Nese who never wins. Like, ever.
Winner: Hookhausen
Jade Cargill (c) (with Kiera Hogan & Red Velvet) vs. Anna Jay – singles match for TBS Championship
AEW
Darius: There’s a 99.999% chance we see Jade Cargill retain, but I’m going to predict something else: this match is going to be pretty sweet. Maybe it’s because the two of them have the same training background (QT Marshall’s House of Georgia Folks), but they had good chemistry last time they faced off. I can’t wait to see how hard Anna Jay pops off before getting hit with the Jaded.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Shane: There is no way that Jade Cargill is losing this march. Literally, no way. There’s been little to no build for this and it’s only happening to get Jade on the card. When she finally does lose the TBS championship, it’s going to be a much bigger deal than some off the cusp match with Anna Jay.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Jay: Yea, this is clearly lightwork for Jade to keep her busy and get her on the card. I’m sure it will be a great chance to show everyone how far Anna Jay has come as well but the prime directive here is to keep Jade’s momentum going strong.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Death Triangle (Pac, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fénix) (with Alex Abrahantes) vs. The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King)
AEW
Darius: The House of Black need a big win to establish themselves, but I don’t know if it’s going to come at the price of Fenix’s comeback from injury. This is a weird feud because no one should really lose right now — PAC is an attraction due to his rarity, Penta just got a new gimmick, Fenix just got back from injury, and the House of Black are still barely established. But if someone has to win, I guess they can use Fenix’s injury to feed him to Murphy and the Kings of the Black Throne. This match will be crazy, especially since I’m only a little certain of its winner.
Winners: The House of Black
Shane: This match is going to be straight fire. I can’t wait to see how these six men are going to tear the house down. I do have to agree with Darius though, as this is one of those cases where both groups kinda need a big win here. I’m also going to side with House of Black, even though this could easily go the other way.
Winner: The House of Black
Jay: This match is going to exceed our already very high expectations. This feud has been well incubated and is packed with 6, must-see, delightfully iconoclastic talents. Malakai is gonna be a menace, Pac and Buddy are gonna stiff the hell out of each other, Brody is gonna be a juggernaut, Penta is gonna do his taunt, and Rey is gonna jump the **** off of something. I can’t wait but, yea, House of Black is taking this. The need to s*** or get off the pot with Malakai and his spoopy nonsense and I think House of Black will use this as a signature win to get to where they need to go.
Winner: House of Black
The Hardys (Matt & Jeff) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (with Brandon Cutler)
AEW
Darius: If the FTR storyline going into Full Gear 2020 taught me anything, it’s that the Young Bucks have no problem booking themselves to go over the incoming team in a dream match scenario. That being said, FTR were at least tag team champions already going into that show; the Hardys are still decently new to AEW (or, at least, Jeff is), and I think coming in and getting a big win over the Young Bucks will make it easier for them to be slotted into tag team championship matches in the near future. The Hardys are about to speedrun this last tag run, and I think it’s going to start with a big win here.
Winners: The Hardys
Shane: I think it is time for the proverbial torch to officially be passed- and this will happen with a Young Bucks victory. Matt and Jeff are great, we all know it. They are one of the best tag teams in the history of this sport. They have literally done it all. But, I really can’t see them beating the Young Bucks at Double or Nothing. The Bucks beating the Hardy’s will give a much stronger ‘moment’ than the Hardy’s beating the Young Bucks. The time has come for the Hardy’s to settle into their new roles of putting over new teams and it’s starting here.
Winners: The Young Bucks
Jay: Woof. This is one hell of a dream match and it’s going to be a banger. Jeff appears focused and rejuvenated since coming to AE-DUB. A focused, unleashed Matt Hardy is a force of nature. And The Young Bucks are The Young Bucks who despite taking a break from the spotlight, are still the ones who helped superkick AEW into existence. This is nothing short of a generational dream match as The Hardyz helped inspire The Bucks who, reciprocally, helped to reinvigorate The Hardyz. Who wins? The Bucks because it sets the table for a rematch and hopefully the catalyst for Jeff and Matt to revert to their Broken Personas.
Winners: The Young Bucks who will later be classified as obsolete.
The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager) vs. Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz & The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley) (with William Regal) – Anarchy in the Arena match
AEW
Darius: Unlike the House of Black, who is still being established and give me pause when predicting them to lose, I think the Jericho Appreciation Society is going to end up being one of the shorter-lived stables in AEW. The sports entertainer thing has a short shelf life, their name is purposefully trashy — which can only get you so far for so long — and the Blackpool Combat Club rivalry that I assumed was late-game for the group is already happening. I don’t see how they break up, and I’m not even sure it’ll be this pay-per-view cycle, but I feel like Blackpool Combat Club, Santana & Ortiz, and Eddie Kingston would all benefit more from this win than the JAS would. Though predicting Jericho to lose yet another PPV match is bold.
Winners: The New York Combat Club
Shane: A few things here- first, there is no way I’m going to pick Mox and Danielson to lose their first PPV match as a team. Second, Kingston is on fire and gets more over each and every week. Third, I want to see the Jericho Appreciation Society get their asses handed to them. And finally, I just don’t like Jake Hagar. So for those scientific reasons, The New York Combat Club will win.
Winners: The New York Combat Club
Jay: Jericho and, by extension, his crew get strangers with every defeat so he’s going to lose this fight. Like Shane said, no way Mox and Danielson lose their first high-profile outing and AEW seems committed to building Kingston and Santana & Ortiz so I fully expect them to take it.
Winners: Blackpool Combat Club, Kingston, and Santana & Ortiz
MJF vs. Wardlow – If Wardlow wins, he will be granted his release from his contract with MJF. If MJF wins, Wardlow will be permanently banned from signing with AEW
AEW
Darius: Waaardlow. Waaaardlow. Waaaaardlow.
Winner: Waaaaaardlow.
Shane: One word- Wardlow.
Winner: Wardlow
Jay: Wardlow is the best build monster-hoss since Goldberg and Batista and with that said, there is no way Wardlow loses this match. Will the feud continue? Probably but yea, Wardlow is taking this
Winner: Wardlow
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Ruby Soho – Women’s Owen Hart Cup tournament final
Darius: I just can’t force myself to say it’ll be Baker and Cole. It’ll be one of them, maybe neither of them, but I just can’t bring myself to envision this women’s final going to Britt Baker despite years of Tony Khan booking screaming that she’s going to get the win again. It has to be a long-con, though — a Long Khan, if you will. Britt has already beaten both of these women in high-profile matches, one of which I was in the arena for. I don’t see Soho losing to Britt again, but my heart is behind Statlander. If the men’s finalist isn’t going to be a homegrown AEW babyface, then I hope the women’s finalist will be.
Winner: Kris Statlander
Shane- I kinda feel the same way about a Britt Baker DMD victory as Darius does (even though I will be proudly wearing her T-shirt at Double or Nothing), it just doesn’t seem right. I do, however, feel it will be Ruby Soho instead of Kris Statlander. Soho came in hot and has since been lost in the shuffle, so a victory in the finals of the tournament seems like the right move to me. Perhaps, Soho will be built up after this as the one to end Jade Cargil’s title reign.
Winner- Ruby Soho
Jay: Ruby Soho. I don’t think AEW has had a big signing so mismanaged the way Soho has. We have, somehow, seeing her less utilized than she was in WWE which is less forgivable considering just how shallow the women’s AEW roster is. She needs this win just to get back to where she was when she first showed up in September. Furthermore, it works well with the brewing Baker/Hayter feud that has been simmering for, like, 6 months now that, we swear, are all excited about so let’s just get that ball rolling.
Winner: Ruby Soho
Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole – Men’s Owen Hart Cup tournament final
AEW
Darius: Neither of these were my pick to win in the finals — in fact, my winner, Jungle Boy, lost in the qualifiers, and my second and third picks just lost in the semi-finals. If forced to choose between these two, I’d have to go with the huge Shawn Michaels fan just because I think it’s the funnier option. Joe is great, but he’s got a thing already in the form of the ROH TV Championship, so I can see this being something that Adam Cole uses to legitimize himself after two losses to Hangman Page.
Winner: Adam Cole BAYBAY!
Shane- I hope Adam Cole and Samoa Joe tear each other to pieces and put on the kind of match that makes Vince McMahon regret ever letting these two go. I am stoked to see these two go at it and put on a classic. Because of everything surrounding the ROH Title and Adam Cole having REDragon in his corner, I’m going to give Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) the much-needed victory.
Winner: Adam Cole
Jay: This is the hardest match on the card for me to pick but I’m gonna go Adam Cole. This match will be a banger and it’s crazy that these two have yet to face off but I think Cole needs the win more and can get more mileage out of being able to brag that he won the tournament. Where he goes from here, I really don’t know but this will be a good platform for Cole.
Winner: Adam Cole
Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) (with Christian Cage) vs. Team Taz (Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs) (with Taz) vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland – Three-way tag team match for AEW Tag Team Championship
AEW
Darius: My early pick for match of the night, I think we’re going to hear huge crowd pops multiple times over as the crowd believes JUST for a moment that we have new tag team champions. And, in the end, I think we might! This match is weird because Starks & Hobbs and Lee & Strickland haven’t been regular tag teams despite the former team being in the same stable, but I think it’s time for two things: 1) Team Taz is legitimized with real AEW gold, and 2) we get some transitional champions in here. I don’t know who Team Taz is transitioning the belts too, but I think giving them a brief run just to get Ricky 2 Belts on our screens could make for a good time.
Winner: Team Taz
Shane: Ricky Starks is my favorite performer in AEW and I want him to win. That’s it. That’s my prediction. This match is going to be excellent though, even if my boy Ricky Starks wins or not.
Winners: Team Taz
Jay: Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus via shenanigans from Christian. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus have put on great defenses since winning the titles and they, unfortunately, have been put on the backburner and I hope that this match changes that. And the while Swerve/Lee and Team Taz have beef with each other, Christian has been teasing a heel turn and this is a good time to get that in motion. I picture Christian helping Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus win via cheating which ticks off the champs and blah, blah, blah the feud writes itself.
Winner: Jungle Boy and Luchasauraus
Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Serena Deeb – singles match for AEW Women’s World Championship
AEW
Darius: No shot Deeb takes this belt off of Rosa, if only because of the crowd’s reactions to any time Deeb is on screen. Deeb actually had some compelling talking points in the last few weeks of this feud, but the crowd gave her nothing, and the segments have not been showcased in such a way to even let us suspend our disbelief. Rosa and Deeb running back their NWA rivalry should have been a slam dunk, but here we are.
Thunder Rosa is going to get a win here, and I hope her next rivalry is something to write home about. Geez, Louise.
Winner: Thunder Rosa
Shane: I’m going to go with Thunder Rosa here based strictly on the track record AEW has with their Women’s Champions. AEW tends to enjoy lengthy rifle reigns and Thunder Rosa is too early in her reign to lose. Much like Jade Cargil’s reign, I see Thunder losing the title being a much bigger deal than what we are being presented here.
Winner: Thunder Rosa
Jay: Thunder Rosa. She just won the belt and Thunder Rosa is having the obligatory old-rival title defense that is a hallmark of new title reigns. Deeb and Rosa feuded over the NWA Women’s championship back during the summer of 2020 and Deeb, to my recollection as holy shitake mushrooms has life changed since the summer of 2020, but I think Deeb dethroned Rosa as champion. So yea, this feud makes sense but Rosa is going to get her win back.
Winner: Thunder Rosa
“Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. CM Punk – Singles match for AEW World Championship
AEW
Darius: The biggest question of the weekend: who does AEW need as champion more? If you had asked me around the time this match started being teased, I’d say Hangman is holding that belt for the long haul. Then, I thought about Punk entering Chicago as champion in June. Then, Hangman defending the championship against a top NJPW star. Then, Punk ends the reign now so Hangman can have a better reign later. Then, Hangman winning simply because he’s my favorite wrestler.
I’ve been back and forth on this for a long time, but I think I’ve finally come to a conclusion: Punk is going to win this belt and then TERRORIZE AEW. Kingston called it out, Hangman just called it out — even MJF thinks Punk is a snake. The way Punk was playing Hangman on Dynamite, getting the cowboy riled up and playing dumb when Hangman was heated enough to punch him. Hangman’s going to lose himself, his title, and AEW itself when he gets in the ring with Punk on Sunday, and I’m going to be very sad.
Winner: CM Punk
Shane: I will be PISSED if CM Punk doesn’t win the AEW Title on Sunday. I am going to be at Double or Nothing and I want nothing more than to be there when CM Punk defeats Hangman Adam Page to become world champion, again. I can feel it in my bones and I cannot wait.
Winner: CM Punk
Jay: This feud didn’t click for me to till Hangman’s and Punk’s promo this past Wednesday. Punk is going to turn heel and win. I could never figure out why Hangman was so pissed off at Punk as they had never interacted, like, ever. So I, like most of us, was like wtf but then I remembered that one of Hangman’s defining traits is his anxiety. And as someone who has anxiety, what does someone with anxiety do when confronted with a new challenge? Demonize the s*** out of it which is what Hangman is doing. Why is Punk turning heel then? Because he knows exactly how to push Hangman’s buttons and is playing him. He has been far, far too nice during this whole affair, playing the babyface with a s*** eating grin, and went as far as to spend the entire promo segment with his hands literally behind his back to virtue signal just how non-threatening he is pretending to be – and Hangman took the bait and slugged him. Punk has successfully unbalanced Hangman and it’s, unfortunately, a foregone conclusion at this point as it was when Hangman and Omega lost the tag titles.
This match will be excellent from a storytelling standpoint. I fully expect Hangman to beat the snot out of Charles Montgomery Punk till his anxiety gets the best of him, he makes a mistake, and Punk puts him to sleep to take the title. Cue the comeback montage that Hangman does so well and we have a sizzling feud that will take us to All Out.
Winner: You stupid old man, Punk is just a snake.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.