For entertainment purposes only, Steve Cook takes a look at the gambling side of AEW Double Or Nothing!

We got us a big wrestling show this weekend, my friends!

AEW presents Double or Nothing on Saturday night in Jacksonville. Originally, Las Vegas was going to host thousands of wrestling fans for an entire weekend of fun & good times. I assume there would have been some sort of convention & other activities like we saw with Double or Nothing last year. None of that is happening, so AEW is holding the event in the Kahn family’s sporting complex in Jacksonville. Daily’s Place will host all of the matches except for one, which will be held in TIAA Bank Field.

We’re all looking for things to bet on these days, and AEW Double or Nothing is here for that purpose! Probably for the purpose of entertainment as well, but gambling is what we’re here to discuss. Bet Online gave 411mania their odds on matches Thursday afternoon, and I have cut & pasted them for usage here. It’s the way of the Internet. We’re going to take a look at the odds and I’ll tell you who to pick. Sounds fun, right?

The Buy-In match between Best Friends & Private Party did not have odds listed. I’ve left Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander out of the proceedings because there’s a lot of speculation concerning the Good Doctor’s health status. Hopefully she’ll be good to go, but I can’t tell you to wager on a match that might not happen.

Jungle Boy vs MJF

MJF -150 (2/3)
Jungle Boy +110 (11/10)

I’m surprised the number next to MJF’s name isn’t bigger. Dude is undefeated in 2020. OK, he hasn’t had a lot of matches, but it’s obvious that pushing him is a priority for AEW. As it should be. Jungle Boy is a talented young kid, but his win-loss record isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. I wouldn’t be stunned if the Boy pulled it off, but MJF is the pick here. Put the rocket on him, Tony!

Dustin Rhodes vs Shawn Spears

Shawn Spears -400 (1/4)
Dustin Rhodes +250 (5/2)

That’s a big number for Spears, isn’t it? I know Dustin is in the “put guys over” phase of his career, but I can’t see putting much money on him at that number against anybody. Throw a few bucks on Dustin Rhodes and see if it works out.

Casino Ladder Match

Darby Allin 7/4
Field (Mystery Entry) 11/4
Rey Fenix 4/1
Orange Cassidy 7/1
Colt Cabana 9/1
Frankie Kazarian 10/1
Kip Sabian 10/1
Scorpio Sky 10/1
Luchasaurus 12/1

These folks nearly killed each other on Wednesday night while diving & doing all sorts of other craziness. Here’s hoping things go better on Saturday night. Winner gets a shot at the AEW Championship, so the winner here largely depends on who would be the most interesting opponent for Jon Moxley. Or maybe Brodie Lee. Darby Allin is the favorite, and I have no reason to think he shouldn’t be the choice. Especially with Fenix nearly getting paralyzed on Wednesday. In fairness, that happens during most of his matches.

I would give Orange Cassidy a look, but I’m not sure he’ll be bothered enough to climb a ladder. Unless they steal the finish from Money in the Bank and the chip lands in his hands somehow, I don’t see it happening.

Inner Circle vs The Elite – Stadium Stampede Match

Inner Circle -180 (5/9)
The Elite +140 (7/5)

I’m looking forward to this one. Ten wrestlers fighting all over an empty football stadium sounds like the best possible insanity. Chris Jericho’s crazy match concepts usually work pretty well, and I’m expecting no different here. Lots of shenanigans, tomfoolery and wild shit should be on display. I think you have to go Inner Circle here because I’m still not sold on the Elite being 100% together. Sure, Hangman Page ran the length of the field to save his friends on Wednesday night. But are we sure he & the Bucks are…pardon the term…on the same page?

Yeah, I hate that I couldn’t think of a better phrase there.

Add in the fact that Jericho, Sammy, Hager, Santana & Ortiz are simply more evil and ruthless, and you have to like them in a Stadium Stampede. I’ve never seen one, but I assume that being evil and ruthless helps your chances.

Nyla Rose (c) vs Hikaru Shida

Nyla Rose -200 (1/2)
Hikaru Shida +150 (3/2)

Nyla hasn’t been around much lately, but when she has, it’s been bad news for everybody in her path. Shida did manage to hit a superplex through a table on Wednesday, but that didn’t go too well for her either. I think Nyla Rose has to be the favorite and is likely going to have a lengthy reign as champion. I’m just wondering who has it in for Shida to make it a No DQ & No Count Out match.

Cody Rhodes vs Lance Archer

Lance Archer -150 (2/3)
Cody Rhodes +110 (11/10)

I think the booking of this feud has contained a lot of good ideas that would have gotten over well during normal times. Unfortunately, I also think many of them have been done too soon & out of order. Let’s break it down with an edition of Good Idea, Bad Idea.

Good Idea: Jake Roberts brings in Lance Archer and targets Cody. Jake cuts an awesome promo. Lance shows up looking all badass. It’s a good looking act on paper for sure.

Bad Idea: Cody doesn’t want anything to do with it. His explanation was that Archer hadn’t done enough in North America or AEW to deserve a match with a wrestler in the AEW Top 5. Ric Flair used the same justification for not giving Terry Funk a title shot in 1989. It was kind of weak then, and it’s kind of weak now.

Good Idea: Brandi Rhodes cuts a promo talking about how she isn’t scared & runs down Jake Roberts.

Bad Idea: Britt Baker DDTs Brandi and rolls her into the ring so Jake can lay a snake on Brandi & dry hump her…ON THE SAME NIGHT THE PROMO AIRED. To me, the potential of man on woman violence is something you let simmer. Tease it once or twice, then deliver it after the fans have thought about it for awhile. Jake didn’t slap Miss Elizabeth at the wedding reception, he waited until This Tuesday in Texas! And don’t get me started on the lame excuses about how Cody was in the locker room and the locker rooms were on the other side of the football stadium. Why didn’t he stick around for his buddy QT Marshall’s match with Archer that led to Brandi’s demise? He couldn’t have possibly thought “QT’s got this”, unless Joey Janela rang his bell with some really stiff offense.

Good Idea: Cody wants revenge.

Bad Idea: Cody shows up in his American Nightmare truck, rolls it into a couple of trash cans five feetr away before coming down to get his hands on Archer. I may have missed something, but was there any need for Cody to drive his truck into trash cans to get into the arena? When Steve Austin did it, he was usually barred from the building. Maybe I missed something on YouTube that told us that Cody couldn’t come within a certain distance of Archer or Jake. Even so, Austin was a much more aggressive driver, so it looked better on TV when he did it.

Good Idea: Arn Anderson & Jake Roberts having a friendly conversation before Double or Nothing. This was awesome. Two of the masters going at it on the microphone while representing their men.

Bad Idea: My main takeaway was “Who would win a fight between Arn & Jake in 2020?”

It’s a testament to Arn Anderson that he won this poll even though he has just one properly working arm. Jake’s in the best shape he’s been in for years, but Arn has that aura about him where you think he can still whip that ass.

The problem I’m running into with this set-up is that Cody & Lance Archer don’t feel like the most important men in this feud. Jake has overshadowed Archer. Cody has been conspicuous by his absence, or in the case of the Archer vs. Dustin match, staring while bad things happen. Oh, and Mike Tyson’s going to present the TNT Championship belt to the winner, because we need more people randomly involved here. Don’t get me wrong, Tyson could add a lot to the proceedings. He could have added even more with more than two weeks of build. Maybe a punch from Iron Mike saves Brandi from physical doom before Brandi meets physical doom, because that didn’t happen three weeks before the PPV. I dunno, I’m just spitballin’ here.

Lance is the favorite here, but I get the feeling that Cody might be the better bet. He looks like a much better representative for TNT as their champion. Iron Mike should raise the hand of a solid citizen, and lay some fists on Archer and/or Roberts. Jake no-sold Muhammad Ali in the Superdome, so Tyson’s going to have to lay one in.

Jon Moxley (c) vs Mr. Brodie Lee

Jon Moxley -250 (2/5)
Mr. Brodie Lee +170 (17/10)

Even in a world without a pandemic, as much as people love Brodie and think he was underutilized in WWE, Mox vs. Lee (heh see what I did there) was always going to be a step down from Mox vs. Jericho as a PPV main event. They’ll get it done in the ring, Brodie has a ton of talent and Moxley’s always got something to prove. I’m not sure Brodie Lee as Leader of the Dark Order and guy that stole Jon Moxley’s title belt is going to draw a lot of PPV buys. A look at this line tells me nobody thinks he’s going to win, and I’ll assume AEW isn’t going to get cute and take the strap off of Jon Moxley.

I mean, throw a few bucks on Brodie if you’d like to see the world burn. I just wouldn’t bet my kids on it. If I had kids.