A sold-out AEW Double or Nothing is this Sunday. Here’s the card as it stands:
1P. Divine Dominion vs. Zayda Steel and Viva Van in a five-minute eliminator for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship
2. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW International Championship
3. FTR (c) vs. Cage and Cope in an “I Quit” match for the AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championships
4. Jericho, The Hurt Syndicate, and The Elite vs. The Demand, The Don Callis Family, and The Dogs
5. Theka (c) vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Kris Statlander for the AEW Women’s World Championship
6. Samoa Joe vs. Will Ospreay in Men’s Owen Quarterfinal
7. Bandido vs. Swerve Strickland in Men’s Owen Quarterfinal
8. Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa in Women’s Owen Quarterfinal
9. Jon Moxley (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly with no time limit for the AEW Continental Championship
10.. Darby Allin (c) vs. MJF in a Title vs. Hair match
Thursday afternoon, Tony Khan spoke with the media about the card. Here’s a summation of his words.
Khan opens the call by iterating his excitement for the original AEW show, Double or Nothing. He brings up how stellar 2025’s edition of the event was and hopes 2026’s iteration exceeds last year’s.
As should be common knowledge now, Mick “Cactus Jack” Foley will be returning to TBS as he will co-host the Buy-In with Renee Paquette. Khan has always been a Cactus Jack fan, since seeing him as a WCW villain. Foley is great friends with Paquette so the chemistry should be palpable. Khan wants Foley to feel comfortable if he were to be physically involved in a match. Khan would only ask Foley to do that if he feels comfortable with it. Foley’s role in AEW could potentially grow beyond Double or Nothing but that is undetermined as of now.
AEW has a run with running more unique, interesting venues. The latest example was Collision: Fairway to Hell on an actual golf course. Wrestling doesn’t have to happen exclusively inside a squared circle! The creativity and fun that ensues is something Khan enjoys about these unconventional venues.
Willow Nightingale’s injury not only excludes her from the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament, but also forces her to relinquish the TBS Championship. Khan, like everyone else, is deflated by her not being cleared to compete in her own backyard. Nightingale’s “Comeback Killer” arc was going so well but Khan will have to adapt to the injury. The injury has changed a lot of Khan’s plans after Revolution. Khan is sure that someone will step up in Nightingale’s absence as both AEW and RoH have a ton of talented women that could be the next TBS Champion.
The various injuries in both AEW and RoH have forced Khan to adapt more than he’d anticipated.
Bryan Danielson and Taz have both been through the ringer through their respective in-ring careers, to nobody’s surprise. The commentary team rotates a bit to allow everyone time to get their rest and avoid the long flights where they are able to.
Khan has been a wrestling fan since he was seven years old and started writing a wrestling show at 12 years old. The philosophy of wrestling Khan employs is that the top of the card should be unpredictable. There are a number of legitimate threats to Darby Allin’s AEW Men’s World Championship reign. That’s the way Khan likes it. Candidly, that’s the way AEW fans like it, too.
Kyle O’Reilly lasted the full 20-minute time limit this past Wednesday on Dynamite against Jon Moxley. This was a bit of a surprise to Moxley and it seems he’d like to make sure that O’Reilly won’t get the title on Sunday. Both people have close-knit groups around them. Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong are going after the AEW Men’s Tag Team titles and this allows O’Reilly to revisit a familiar foe in Jon Moxley and his Continental Championship. It’s also a rematch of a 2025 Continental Classic match. Kyle O’Reilly is fixed on Jon Moxley because of the history the two men have, not to mention the tap-out wins he has over Moxley. He hopes to see the best of Moxley on Sunday when there will be no tie limit to save Moxley’s title reign. This is exactly what Moxley wants as well. He invites the challenge, especially from someone who has had his number in the past.
Giving a Mt. Rushmore of Double or Nothing matches, Khan is stumped. With this being the eighth Double or Nothing, there have been many matches from each year that Khan likes a lot. He hopes to have an answer of his top four by the Double or Nothing scrum.
Jim Ross will be at Double or Nothing Sunday. Nobody can understate his loyalty and contributions to AEW since joining the promotion. Khan is appreciative of Ross’ availability whenever he can make it. Needless to say, few in wrestling have seen more than Jim Ross has.
Asked about Ronda Rousey’s Revolution appearance, Khan would welcome her in to either AEW or RoH whenever she’s able to. She is very focused on her family and Khan respects that.
Darby Allin seems to have redefined what it means to be a “fighting champion” as he’s been putting the title on the line against someone different every week, sometimes twice a week. Khan wanted Allin to wrestle every week last year, something that did not end up happening. Allin is willing to fight every week now. The difference? He has the AEW Men’s World Championship. A lot of the roster has at least part of their eye on that tile. From his first AEW Dynamite appearance, Allin has impressed and wrestled at a high level. MJF is one of his most personal and deep rivalries. The two always deliver in the ring. MJF is also one of the best students of wrestling, despite his mind games. He would put up his hair because it means that much to him. Khan puts him over as one of the most important figures in AEW.
Khan ends the call reiterating his excitement for the sold-out Double or Nothing this Sunday.
