The night is here as the women of AEW placed their bets in Las Vegas at Double or Nothing, with gold and their pride on the line.
On the kickoff show, it’s a rematch as Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo go head to head to settle their differences once and for all.
The two lockup and are pretty even on the early goings of the match. The two end up going outside as Rosa hits a dropkick through the ropes, but is caught when Purrazzo hits a Big Boot, turning the match around in her favor.
Purrazzo takes control of the match, and Rosa tries to power through with her technicality. Rosa attempts to go for a Cobra Clutch but cannot seem to lock it in as the two continuously reverse their offense. Unfortunately for Rosa, Purazzo rolls her up with some leverage from the bottom rope to steal the win.
Next, the AEW Women’s World Championship is on the line as “Timeless” Toni Storm looks to defend her title against Serena Deeb. “The Professor” has had a one-up on Storm for the past few weeks, but Storm has taken some personal shots toward her as well.
Deeb with the technicality advantage finds ways to tie up Storm for her own good. Yet, Storm has some “unique” offense of her own as the two keep each other disoriented. The two go back and forth, but meet each other with a headbutt.
Deeb counters for an armbar, but Storm ends up powering through and locking a Cloverleaf against her. Deeb manages to fire up and make a comeback and it seems that Storm is having difficulty reversing her.
The match is all in Deeb’s favor, and Mariah May is about to throw in the towel for Storm until Luther tries to stop her. Storm snags the the towel from Luther thinking he was about to forfeit the match, and gets back in the ring to hit a Storm Zero on Deeb. Deeb miraculously kicks out and follows up with a Deebtox. But to Deeb’s surprise, Storm kicks out of her finisher as well. The two end up on the top rope, and Storm hits an Avalanche Storm Zero and follows up with another Storm Zero to retain her title.
After over a year-long injury, Mercedes Moné is back in action as she challenges current TBS Champion Willow Nightingale for her title. Moné and Nightingale have been at odds since Moné’s AEW debut at Big Business. And since their last clash for the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship, Moné blames Nightingale for causing her heel injury and almost taking the one thing she loves most, “wrestling,” away from her. Tonight is the night that these two come full circle.
Moné of course arrives in style to the beat of a drumline, and the Champion Nightingale arrives with Stokeley Hathaway and Kris Statlander in tow.
At the start of the bell, Nightingale immediately charges at her challenger and Moné tries to make a bail for it. Moné attempts to use her quickness to her advantage, but Nightingale uses her size and strength advantage to slow her down. The two make it out of the ring and Nightingale hits a Babe with the Powerbomb onto the apron.
Nightingale takes control over the match for a while, but Moné plays her dirty tricks and clips the knee of Nightingale on the corner ropes. Moné targets the left knee throughout the match, but Nightingale finds an opening to wear down Moné with an ankle lock and hits her patented Pounce.
Nightingale is back in control and sets up Moné to the top rope. Unfortunately for her, Moné slips out and manages to hit a powerbomb off the top. Nightingale rolls out to the apron, and Moné makes the mistake of missing a double stomp with Nightingale retargeting the injured heel. But, Moné plays it smart by getting out of the way from a whiffed cannon in the corner. Moné hits her Meteora to the outside and pushes Statlander out of the way.
While Statlander is busy with the referee, Nightingale hits Babe with a Powerbomb with no one to count. Moné tries to make a familiar statement, but Nightingale powers through. In the corner, Moné sunsets over Nightingale to set up the Moné Maker and hits it to become the new TBS Champion.
Post-match, Hathaway is irate at this loss and Statlander pushes him down seemingly annoyed. It is then that Statlander turns on Nightingale on the ramp and rips off her friendship bracelet in tandem. Hathaway is still in the ring with a giant smirk on his face.
What did you think of tonight’s Double or Nothing? What did you think of Moné’s return match? And where will Nightingale and Statlander’s friendship go from here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
