(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
AEW was in the desert Sunday night for Double or Nothing 2025, with all of the promotion’s biggest stars gathered inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament winners were crowned — and chaos was had. Lots and lots of chaos.
There’s almost too much to talk about after that absolute home run of a showcase for the company, but we’ll start with the obvious. The men’s Owen Hart finals match occupied the main-event spotlight as two-time AEW International Champion Will Ospreay was upset by former AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page. As expected by anyone with a functioning brain and even the slightest amount of vision, the match was a guaranteed instant classic. These two delivered sequences, spots and near-falls that only worked with their unique move sets and styles.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Ultimately, it was a relatively big surprise to see the ultra-talented Ospreay not get his big showcase opportunity to become a world champion. Hangman essentially has been the story in AEW, though. He’s the DNA of what has made the company so successful, and his overall story and run has legitimately been one of the best in wrestling history. Having him dethrone the super-villain reigning champion Jon Moxley makes a lot more historical sense for AEW lore, despite how phenomenal Ospreay is.
As for Moxley, this year’s Anarchy in the Arena match was undeniably one of the most fun and entertaining wrestling matches of all time. The overwhelming amount of envy I have for that Arizona crowd is immeasurable, as they witnessed The Death Riders and Young Bucks fall short to Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale and The Opps. If you want to see the beauty of AEW and how impossibly creative wrestling can be, then look no further. If you missed this match, watch it immediately.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Returning to the Owen Hart Foundation Cup, the women’s finals between TBS Champion Mercedes Moné and former AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter was as sensational an opener as could be expected. Unlike Ospreay, Moné followed through on her status as the favorite to win, but not without some great scares from the equally incredible Hayter. Moné’s win carries her into a monster champion vs. champion clash with AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm at July’s All In event.
Storm retained her title later in the night in a very fun defense against Mina Shirakawa, setting up the massive blockbuster match. That was one of three title matches at Double or Nothing, immediately following AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada’s defeat of “Speedball” Mike Bailey. AEW Tag-Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate also held off their challengers, The Sons Of Texas.
AEW Double or Nothing 2025 was the best pay-per-view/premium live event of the year. AEW’s premiere events can sometimes feel like a drag with the timing, but this was one nonstop magnet of attention-grabbing wrestling brilliance. It won’t soon be forgotten, and as much I want to pull a Dave Meltzer and break our own scale here at Uncrowned, I’ll refrain. (For now.) I give AEW Double or Nothing 2025 a crown score of: 👑 10/10. 👑
MVP: Powerhouse Hobbs
If you followed along with the live blog, you’ll know exactly why Powerhouse Hobbs gets the potentially surprising MVP nod on this night. There are a handful of options you can go with here, and none of them are wrong, but with Hobbs, the guy was treated about as superhuman as I’ve seen in who knows how many years. I dare say Bray Wyatt’s Fiend at its peak? Hobbs felt like a movie character you see in an action flick that just will not die, no matter what crazy violence is bestowed upon him. That can be a blessing and a curse in wrestling, because by that logic, he should never lose again unless someone drowns him in a lake or something absolutely bewildering.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Uncrowned Gem of the Night: Willow Nightingale
Besides Hobbs, Nightingale was the other piece on the winning Anarchy team who helped achieve victory more than anyone else. Nightingale has always been stunningly talented and athletic, deserving of bigger pushes than she’s gotten so far. But the big thing about this match — and this feud in general — was that it helped expand her somewhat stale, smiley, boring character that felt like AEW’s Bayley when Bayley first rose through WWE. Plus, she had some great spots against the men in the match. Nightingale is awesome. She wasn’t booked as strongly as Hobbs, but she needs a major program of her own in pursuit of a title.
Match of the Night: The Death Riders & The Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale & The Opps
You should be able to tell by now that I was in love with Anarchy in the Arena. What can I say? As an entire unit or construction of a match, it technically could not have been the best, right? I don’t know. It’s all about perspective, and in wrestling, that’s as subjective as it gets. This match elicited the most reactions and emotions while delivering unbound creative entertainment. It was the ultimate “this is pro wrestling” match. It had a little of everything and then some. Don’t get me wrong, all of the singles matches at Double or Nothing were excellent. But if you give me the greatest versions of entertaining things that are very rarely — if ever — seen before, that’s what I’m all about.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Best Spot(s) of the Night: Kazuchika Okada’s mid-air dropkick to Rainmaker and the Will Ospreay-Hangman vs. Adam Page Hidden Blade-Buckshot showdown
This is usually the hardest award to hand out for any AEW pay-per-view, and I kind of hate that only one can win the best spot, especially for this show. I make the rules, though, so there won’t be just one winner. Sorry, not sorry.
Glance back at what I just said about the Anarchy match, and we’ll apply that to Hangman and Ospreay trying to connect their finishers at the exact same time. It was goofy, dramatic, amazing nonsense in the best way possible. Again, pro wrestling at its pro wrestling-est. As for Okada’s finish to Bailey, that was a magnificent utilization of each’s style to close the chapter of their in-ring story throughout the match. Each of their unique athleticisms fully on display, colliding at the same time. It was somewhat similar to its counterpart in the Hangman-Ospreay match. Too good, folks. Too good.
AEW Double or Nothing 2025 full card results and highlights:
Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Hangman Adam Page def. Will Ospreay
Recap of AEW Double or Nothing 2025 with Uncrowned’s live blog below:
