Every Single Title Change and Defense at AEW Double or Nothing

Published 05/29/2021, 8:15 AM EDT

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Despite its brief history, AEW has become a promotion that delivers great storylines. We’ve seen incredible rivalries like Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks vs Lucha Bros and Cody vs Dustin kick off from the same PPV. Alongside great rivalries, Double or Nothing has featured many title matches.

The Young Bucks defend their AAA Tag Team Championships

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On the introductory press conference, AEW revealed their two biggest tag teams to be the Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers. Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix announced themselves by attacking the Jackson brothers. Fenix hit a super-kick on Nick J while Penta took out Matt with the Fear Factor.

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The following month, the Bucks traveled to Mexico to surprise the Lucha Brothers in an impromptu title match. Penta and Fenix defended their titles valiantly, but the wily Bucks prevailed. They beat the hometown heroes in front of a crowd of angry fans, a testament to the Bucks’ cocky persona.

A rematch was set for Double or Nothing, and it was absolutely insane. Both teams went all out and busted out some insane offence.

Fenix flew around the ring while Penta caved in the Bucks’ chests with his kicks. Matt and Nick were no slouches either as they leaped, skipped and somersaulted their way to a big win via the Meltzer Driver.

Cody wins the AEW TNT Championship

After being forced out of the World Championship race by Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes had to settle for a secondary championship. He took part in a tournament to determine the inaugural TNT Champion and emerged victorious. While some would’ve criticised this decision, Cody put on fantastic performances worthy of a champion.

His opponent in the finals of the tournament was former NJPW monster Lance Archer. AEW signed the MurderHawk Monster in 2020 and had the iconic Jake the Snake Roberts as his manager.

The entire tournament built to a final between Cody and Lance, who beat the likes of Shawn Spears, Darby Allin, Colt Cabana and Dustin Rhodes.

As you’d expect, the match took on a David vs Goliath dynamic, with Cody surviving the big man’s offence. Lance threw everything at his smaller opponent, but Cody dug down deep and won the match.

Boxing legend ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson handed the brilliant, yet incomplete title to the American Nightmare.

Hikaru Shida wins the AEW Women’s Championship

For months, AEW built Hikaru Shida as the next face of the women’s division. She went over the like of Britt Baker, Kris Statlander, Penelope Ford, and Riho to become the #1 contender. Her opponent was the most dominant female wrestler in the world, Nyla Rose.

Rose dominated Shida’s joshi teammate Riho to win the AEW Women’s Championship and looked to make quick work of Shida. However, the No Disqualification helped Shida gain an advantage on her larger opponent.

She weathered Nyla’s offence and power game and used her kendo stick to neutralise her power game. In the end, a couple of running knee strikes put away the champion for good and she became the third AEW Women’s Champion.

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Jon Moxley defeats Brodie Lee to retain the AEW World Championship

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After winning the title, Jon Moxley didn’t expect his first PPV defence to be against Brodie Lee. The late great announced himself in AEW mere weeks before Double or Nothing and didn’t establish himself as a credible challenger.

However, his match against Moxley proved to everyone why Brodie deserved that spot.

Moxley and Brodie brought the best out of each other, just like they did when they were Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper. The champion tried to match the challenger’s power game, but the latter surprised him with his agility and ability to perform big moves.

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Moxley avoided Brodie’s big moves before dropping him with a Paradigm Shift on the stage. The impact sent both men through the stage, only for both men to crawl out. Moxley hit another Paradigm Shift for a nearfall but made the challenger submit to the rear-naked choke-hold.

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Written by:

Nathan Fulgado

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Nathan Fulgado is a WWE and AEW author at EssentiallySports. Having published close to 1000 professional wrestling articles, Nathan is currently pursuing his Journalism degree from Xavier's College. He has previously worked at Free Press Journal as a local journalist.
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