Ahead of AEW’s Double or Nothing this Sunday, May 25, the promotion’s own Tony Khan sits down for a phone call with media members to discuss the upcoming PPV and what could be in store in Arizona.
The card currently sits at eight matches, plus assuming two or three matches slated for Zero Hour. Here’s how the card looks so far:
1. Jamie Hayter vs. Mercedes Mone in the 2025 Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament Final
2. The Hurt Syndicate (c) (with MVP) vs. The Sons of Texas for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
3. “Timeless” Toni Storm (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women’s World Championship
4. FTR (with Stokely) vs. Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness
5. Mark Briscoe vs. Ricochet in a Stretcher match
6. Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, and The Opps vs. Death Riders and the Young Bucks (Anarchy in the Arena match)
7. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey for the AEW Continental Championship
8. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay in the 2025 Men’s Own Hart Foundation Cup Tournament Final
Khan’s opening thoughts included his enthusiasm for this weeks, marking six full years of All Elite Wrestling.
The main event of this years DoN will be Page vs. Ospreay, not the Anarchy match which has often (not always) served as the main event of this PPV. TK notes that the Anarchy match is a great part of the night but doesn’t need to be the main event because the other matches bring something different to the evening. He trusts Page and Ospreay to close out the show in the right way because they’ve been intertwined in some of AEW’s best moments.
With the Anarchy match, this will be the first time women have been involved with Marina Shafir and Willow Nightingale taking part. Khan trusts them to help put on a spectacle.
Hayter vs. Mone is a highly-anticipated match this Sunday and the build to this match has met its obstacles but they’re set to have an epic match to determine the #1 contender for “Timeless” Toni Storm’s AEW World’s World Championship, provided she can defend her reign against Mina Shirakawa.
Dynamite’s improvement can be attributed to having less voices in control of the show. Khan notes that it’s returned to the “pandemic peak” in bringing back some fans that may have turned away but also bringing in new fans to the promotion. He points to New York’s Hammerstein and Detroit’s Masonic Temple as some of the venues that have stuck out to him as amazing shows. Both Dynamite and Collision held strong numbers for 2025 Q1 and the momentum is continuing.
There has been some inconsistency in PPV partners in AEW’s history but Khan is excited about the partnerships. DoN will be the third AEW PPV on Amazon Prime and this is just the start for the promotion. Warner Bros. is giving them a lot of flexibility with partnerships and AEW is working on expanding their partner lists. AEW will soon be on HBO MAX and a PPV menu is also in the works.
When asked about AEW being a desired spot for young wrestlers, Khan points to the willingness of the veterans to share their knowledge and experiences with the younger talent in the locker room, such as Kevin Knight. TK points to Jay White as being someone whose injury caused a massive void, a void that Kevin Knight more than filled in quick order in the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament. Khan had committed to sending Nick Wayne and Kevin Knight to Japan to train and learn more but Knight had become “indispensable” to the AEW locker room in the light of Jay White’s injury.
Khan points to the US, UK, and Canada (as well as Mexico) as AEW’s biggest markets and notes India as having the potential for a big market.
Khan notes that the Mark Briscoe / Ricochet Stretcher match can be thought of as an homage to the late Sabu. Khan praises Sabu for his work contributing to AEW and noted a childhood memory seeing Sabu wrestle live in Philadelphia.
The build-up of the Women’s roster has the potential to have AEW Women’s Tag Team titles soon. As well, Khan hopes to rebuild the men’s tag division as there have been a number of injuries to tag wrestlers.
The FTR match against Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness will have the contract signed tonight on Collision and the match presents a number of storylines to follow.
Khan closed the call by making sure to give Darby Allin his flowers as Allin recently climbed Mt. Everest and planted the AEW flag at the top of the world.
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