The 2020 pay-per-view schedule for All Elite Wrestling keeps on rolling Saturday night as it presents the annual Double or Nothing event on this Memorial Day weekend in the promotion's de facto home of Jacksonville, Florida. The scheduled card should provide the intense action inside the ring that fans expect while continuing the run of AEW shows held without fans in attendance during the coronavirus pandemic. This weekend's Double or Nothing marks AEW's first PPV event since the Revolution show earlier this year in February.
AEW will look to take advantage of the situation with one of the featured matches on the show -- a Stadium Stampede match with Matt Hardy and The Elite taking on The Inner Circle -- inside an empty TIAA Bank Field. In addition, there will be three title matches on the card, with Jon Moxley defending his title against Dark Order leader Brodie Lee, Cody and Lance Archer competing to become the inaugural TNT champion and Nyla Rose putting her women's championship up against red-hot Hikaru Shida in a match void of disqualifications or countouts.
Double or Nothing will begin at 8 p.m. ET with the show expected to last anywhere from three-plus hours, not counting The Buy-In pre-show which starts one hour prior to the main card at 7 p.m. CBS Sports will be with you the entire way on Saturday with live results, highlights and analysis.
Below is a look at the complete match card set for AEW's Double or Nothing event on Saturday evening, followed by predictions for the marquee bouts on the show from our CBS Sports experts.
AEW Double or Nothing match card
- AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Brodie Lee
- AEW TNT Championship: Cody vs. Lance Archer
- AEW Women's Championship: Nyla Rose (c) vs. Hikaru Shida (No DQ, no countout)
- Matt Hardy & The Elite vs. The Inner Circle (Stadium Stampede)
- Casino Ladder Match (AEW world championship shot): Darby Allin vs. Colt Cabana vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Joey Janela vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Kip Sabian vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Luchasaurus vs. mystery competitor
- MJF vs. Jungle Boy
- Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander
- Dustin Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears
- Private Party vs. Best Friends (The Buy-In pre-show)
AEW Double or Nothing predictions
Casino Ladder Match
This match was thrown for a major loop less than 24 hours prior to the show airing with the news that Rey Fenix was out of the fold due to an injury suffered on the go-home episode of Dynamite. While Fenix could have been seen as a popular choice to win, we're going to instead turn out attention to the mystery competitor that's been hyped up on social media. Going through the list of potential candidates, one name comes to mind who has been rumored to be joining AEW for quite some time now: Brian Cage. Within the AEW core audience, Cage has the name to be considered a major surprise and he certainly has the look and presence of someone ready to come in and pose a threat to the world champion right from the jump. Pick: Brian Cage wins -- Jack Crosby (also Brent Brookhouse)
When picking a match like this, it is always best to do so by process of elimination. After doing that, I'm left with Allin and the mystery competitor. Not knowing the mystery entrant, I am reluctant to choose them to immediately get a title opportunity. As such, I look at who is being featured most recently and recognize Allin's turn to the dark side and desire to do whatever it takes to get the job done. In a match like this, he should be featured, though there's always the chance he does a Coffin Drop off a ladder and never recovers. Pick: Darby Allin wins -- Adam Silverstein
Matt Hardy & The Elite vs. The Inner Circle (Stadium Stampede)
The ridiculous nature of a "Stadium Stampede" plays right into Hardy's wheelhouse, and that should give his team a slight edge. The match should be pure madness, but madness in a way that is built for the "Broken" one. There's no shock in any result here, but there have been plenty of good brawls between competitors in the match, so expect plenty of wild action. Ultimately, Hardy will have something up his sleeve to pull off the win for his squad. Pick: Matt Hardy & The Elite win -- Brookhouse (also Silverstein, Crosby)
AEW Women's Championship: Nyla Rose (c) vs. Hikaru Shida (No DQ, no countout)
Shida is fantastic, and AEW has done a great job with her run to get the title shot. But it doesn't feel like Shida is the one to get the dramatic win to end Rose's reign as champion. The No-DQ stipulation adds interesting wrinkles in that it should favor Rose, but in wrestling these things backfire. Still, a spirited effort from Shida will come up just short against the division's monster. Pick: Nyla Rose retains the title -- Brookhouse (also Silverstein, Crosby)
AEW TNT Championship: Cody vs. Lance Archer
This was a tough choice because, on the surface, upon the introduction of the TNT title it seemed tailor-made for Cody since he -- for now -- can never again challenge for the AEW world title. Still, AEW has done a tremendous job of presenting Archer as a formidable monster since his debut which includes pairing him with the legendary Jake "The Snake" Roberts. You don't want to halt that momentum, so Archer will get the better of Cody on this night to go down in history as the first-ever TNT champ. He won't be completely in the clear, though, as you can expect him to get a little too cocky in celebration and end up catching a right hand from the legend in attendance to present the title to the winner: "Iron" Mike Tyson. Pick: Lance Archer wins the title -- Crosby (also Brookhouse)
As Jack wrote above, this is a difficult pick. Conventional wisdom says Cody should take the title here for the reasons stated not to mention wrestling on TNT and the history that goes along with that. So while that would normally have me leaning toward Archer, I also realize that Cody has won next to nothing thus far in AEW aside from beating his own brother. He not only lost the AEW world title match and gave up an opportunity to contend for it but also fell victim in the feud with MJF. A company cannot have its top face be this much of a loser unless they are already planning to turn Cody, which is certainly possible. More likely to me is that Cody takes out his frustrations on Archer and beats him only to drop the title in quick fashion. Pick: Cody wins the title -- Silverstein
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Brodie Lee
It's a little strange to see Lee vaulted to a title shot on one of AEW's most prominent shows of the year so soon upon his arrival, but maybe some plans changed amid the coronavirus pandemic. It'll be tough to see Lee take a loss as he's been looking so dominant on television, but it's too soon to take the title off Moxley. Hopefully they figure out a creative way to make Lee look strong in unsuccessfully challenging for the top prize in All Elite Wrestling. Pick: Jon Moxley retains the title -- Crosby (also Silverstein)
It may be too soon to pull the trigger on another title change, but I think strong heel title runs are the lifeblood of wrestling promotions. Moxley is great, but he's more interesting on the chase -- as is the case with every babyface. Given the power of The Dark Order, putting the title on Lee does potentially great things for AEW. Of course, I may be thinking with too much of a fantasy-booking brain rather than understanding the logic of keeping the title on your top star. But this is a great moment for a surprising title change to put the championship on a man with an entire stable of bodies to put in front of him for Moxley's battle back. Pick: Brodie Lee wins the title -- Brookhouse
