Double or Nothing Discussion

AAA World Tag Team Championship
The Lucha Bros vs The Young Bucks:

Pentagon looks for The Fear Factor early, but Matt blocks, Pentagon blocks the Sharpshooter, Pentagon with the Cero Miedo right in Matt's face before bringing Fenix in, Fenix and Nick trade kicks, but they both duck it, both go for Dropkicks and neither connects, back in the ring, they trade Shoteis, Fenix with a Dropkick, Bros with The Brain Breaker, Pentagon with a Slingblade, Quesadora Splash on Nick for a near fall, Matt with a Gorilla Press on Fenix then a Spear on Pentagon, Nick goes for a Double Stomp, but Pentagon pulls Matt to take the impact, Monkey Flip Nick into Matt, Fenix with a Barrel Roll Ace Crusher on Matt for a near fall, Matt with the Locomotion Northern Lights Suplexes into the Sharpshooter, but Pentagon breaks the hold, Nick with a Slingshot Sit-Out Facebuster on Fenix then a Moonsault off the apron to the floor on Pentagon, Bucks with stereo Sharpshooters on the Bros, but Fenix makes it to the rope, Matt elevates Fenix on the rope and Nick with a 450 Splash, but Pentagon makes the save, Bucklebomb/Enzugiri Combo, Made in Detroit taken from the Motor City Machine Guns for a near fall, Superkick Party Started, and The Bros answer back with their own, Pentagon with a Destrcutor de Mexicano on Matt on the apron, Fenix with a Destructor de Mexicano on Nick for a near fall, Fenix with a Planca off the shoulders of Pentagon, he sends teh Bucks back in, Pentagon with a Fear Factor/Gory Bomb combo, Fenix with the Senton Atomico on Nick for a near fall, Pentagon wanted to take Nick's arm, but Matt stopped it with a Superkick, Half & Half on Pentagon, Fenix flies, but The Bucks with Stereo Superkicks, Matt with shades of El Generico with The Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!!, they follow with More Bang For Your Buck, but only gets a near fall, Spike Package Piledriver shades of their former Mt Rushmore stable mate Kevin Steen, Nick wipes out Fenix with a Tope con Hilo, but Matt only gets a near fall, Meltzer Driver blocked, Fenix wipes out Nick and leaves him at the top of the stage, Pentagon breaks Matt's arm with The Sacrifice then hits The Pentagon Driver, but only gets a near fall, Fenix with a Superkick then a Superkick to the arm, Matt with only one arm barely holds Fenix, Nick in position & The Bucks hit The Meltzer Driver to retain

I stayed up after a 16 hour shift yesterday to watch this on replay and my god. What a show and what a night of wrestling. Moxley was OVER and that is how you end a PPV. Dustin vs Cody was match of the night for me, Dustin has a few more years in the tank I think, great match.

The rise of AEW is thanks to one person, Vince McMahon. He set these wheels in motion 4 years ago with one decision and one statement as Dustin Rhodes himself recounted:

“They gave us Fastlane—and it was a stinker,” acknowledged Rhodes in a new interview with Sports Ilustrated. “You always want to have your WrestleMania moment, but we were denied that. We were told it wasn’t good enough to be on a WrestleMania."
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The die was cast right then and there and that set the wheels in motion, now that decision is coming back to haunt him

Terry Funk is rooting for All Elite Wrestling.

Despite battling an abdominal hernia, not to mention a broken heart, Funk’s passion for the business of professional wrestling still brings joy every time he discusses it. Funk loves talking wrestling, especially when the topic is the Rhodes family.

“Dusty would be ecstatic watching this,” said Funk, who turns 75 in June. “It was no easy thing for Dusty to get in the business, but he was always up for a challenge. His boys are the same way.”

Cody and Dustin Rhodes delivered a phenomenal match at Saturday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. But the part that resonated most with the legendary Funk was the aftermath. Following his emotional win, Cody returned to the battered and bloodied Dustin, and told him he did not need a tag team partner or a friend. Cody said he needed his brother.

If the scene sounds familiar, there is good reason.

Dustin shared a very similar moment with the late, great Dusty Rhodes, to set up a tag team match at WCW’s Clash of Champions in August 1994.

“You must be very creative in our business,” said Funk, who wrestled against Dusty and Dustin in that ’94 Clash of Champions tag match. “Creating in this business is making something new, but it is also touching on something old. That’s what Cody and Dustin sure did, and it was necessary for that moment to work.”

Funk was forced to cancel his appearance at Starrcast, which took place over the Double or Nothing weekend in Las Vegas, due to the pain from an abdominal hernia. He is also suffering from a broken heart, following the death of his wife Vicki in March.

A proud founding father of hardcore wrestling, Funk is also a romantic when the subject is his wife.

“I loved her so deeply, and vice versa, for a lifetime,” said Funk, with the pain still audible in his trademark voice. “It’s been rough.

“We were buddies when we met in the fifth grade. We started dating in the ninth grade. Her and I, we were never involved in something we couldn’t get the best of, until now. She was the most wonderful person I ever knew.”

The Funks married in August 1965, proud parents to two daughters and grandparents to three. (“One grandson carries a 4.0 GPA, he’s never made anything but an A,” said Funk, beaming with pride. He’s a wonderful boy, all of them are wonderful.”)

Funk abhors saying farewell to his loved ones, but noted that he cherishes the memories in lieu of the conversations.

“I’ll tell you more about Dusty,” said Funk. “He tried to break into the business in Amarillo, but we wouldn’t let Dusty in. Back then you needed to earn it, so he traveled around to prove himself.

“Dusty would go to the arena every Thursday night with Dick Murdoch and Bobby Duncum. When they were in school, they’d go to the arena, buy a ticket, sit in the stands, and watch the matches. And they loved it. That love grew when they were able to walk into the dressing room and become a part of it. They were fans before they were wrestlers, they loved it.

“Dusty had his first match trying to prove himself. He was at a show in the northeast, and one of the guys didn’t show up. Dusty told the promoter, ‘I’m Dusty Rhodes, and I wrestled them Funk boys in Amarillo.’ That wasn’t true, of course. But Dusty, who’d never wrestled before, talked his way into it. After the match, the promoter quickly realized Dusty wasn’t smartened up.”

Dusty Rhodes worked for and competed against Vince McMahon, which youngest son Cody is now doing as an Executive Vice President for All Elite Wrestling.

“Dusty had no fear against Vince because he was so very sharp,” explained Funk. “He knew his profession. Dusty would love everything about what his boys are doing. And they needed him to get here.

“I really mean this, they couldn’t have done this without Dusty. Without their father’s genes, they couldn’t be doing something so special. He also went down the road with them and taught them to respect the business. Those boys are smart, just like their pop.”

Competing against the WWE seems like an impossible task. But Funk believes the time is ripe for a new challenger to Vince McMahon’s throne.

“Vince and WWE, they’re not fresh,” said Funk. “Yes, Vince does big business. They have the best talent in the world, but they have no fresh ideas. They should be selling out every arena. Vince thinks he’s fresh, he thinks he’s the best. That’s when you get knocked on your ass.”

In addition to a talented array of professional wrestlers, Funk believes that All Elite Wrestling will succeed for two specific reasons.

“They’re going to do something special,” said Funk. “They got the TV deal, plus they have Jim Ross.”

Ross was the lead voice of Double or Nothing, adding decades worth of experience, legitimacy, and fame to the new promotion.

“Jim Ross has such compassion for the fans,” said Funk. “That’s because this is natural for him, it’s a love, just like the love Gordon Solie had for the business. Jim is following what he loves and doing a god-damned good job. He’s the greatest announcer ever.

“Jim could make chicken soup from chicken s---. And these wrestlers are great. He adds quality, believability, and gives them everything they need. There is nobody else like him. He’s what they need.”

In order for AEW to succeed, especially once the show begins broadcasting live every week this fall, Funk stressed that one variable is necessary above all.

“They need believability,” said Funk. “They must believe in what they’re doing, they must believe in wrestling.

“I thought I could beat the s--- out of anybody in the world when I was wrestling. That’s how they need to think to run this new promotion. They’ve got to be smart about it, but after that show, they have it rolling.”

Few possess more insight or knowledge about the business of professional wrestling than Amarillo’s own Terry Funk. And as long as he still has air to breathe and eyes to see, so long will he give love to pro wrestling.

“Once you’re involved with it, you’re in love with it,” said Funk. “I’m still nuts about this stuff. I want to see the talent dictate who is the best and who is not. It’s my love and my life, it’s everything to me.”

I am not surprised so many former WCW staff are involved backstage. They are just as hungry as they’ve been stagnant since WCW closed. Also, it has to be said that the show felt VERY much like a HD version of WCW with better booking. I feel like this is the reincarnation of WCW, but in a good way.