AEW hits the desert this weekend for Double or Nothing 2025, coming to you (appropriately) from the Desert Diamond Arena in Phoenix,Arizona. With only nine matches announced as of this writing, it's somewhat restrained for a Tony Khan PPV card, but there also isn't very much filler the show is high-stakes, with three titles on the line, two Owen Hart Cup tournament finals, and of course, Anarchy in the Arena, a match that by its very name seems to defy the idea of predictions.
But of course, that's why the WINC staff is here today. We've gone through all nine Double or Nothing matches and voted on who we thought would win, combining them together as we always do for our collective picks column. Will any championships change hands? Will Anarchy in the Arena feature any big returns? And who will emerge from the Owen Hart Cup to challenge for their respective world titles at All In?Let's get to the picks!
As confirmed during Thursday night's "AEW Collision," the Don Callis Family's trio of Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Josh Alexander will be taking on The Paragon, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong in trios action at Double or Nothing on Sunday. The Paragon has only recently reunited as a trio, Cole and Strong putting behind the Undisputed Kingdom while O'Reilly did the same with The Conglomeration, and Cole becoming the TNT Champion at Dynasty.
Whereas the Don Callis Family is a long-standing faction in AEW, adding and removing members over the years, exemplified by the additions of Alexander and Rocky Romero the latter alongside the returning Trent Beretta. Theirs is a faction of numbers, eight exactly, against the three of Cole, O'Reilly, and Strong. And Callis' group has more than shown they're willing to get involved in one another's affairs. Running in that vein, the poll put to the Wrestling Inc. team puts the Don Callis Family as favorites to win with 75% of the vote.
While some will see that the re-assembled Undisputed trio should cement their return with a big win, especially as Cole is the reigning TNT Champion and is wrestling his first match since defending the title against Claudio Castagnoli in April. But O'Reilly and Strong have already been finding hard luck as a tag team, despite defeating the Grizzled Young Veterans on Thursday their previous three bouts had ended in loss to FTR the last of the trilogy a Two out of Three Falls match. Takeshita, Alexander, and Fletcher, on the other hand, have found more wins than not while teaming with one another. Ultimately, time will tell what happens; presuming Cole gets pinned, his next challenger could become clear.
Written by Max Everett
For many weeks, Ricochet served as the proverbial thorn to Swerve Strickland's side. Now, his sharp edges (and scissors) are pointing in the direction of Mark Briscoe.
At AEW Double or Nothing, Ricochet will battle Briscoe in a Stretcher Match, with the objective centered on firmly strapping one's opponent into a stretcher. On "AEW Dynamite," Ricochet defeated Anthony Bowens with the Spirit Gun and an illegal use of his scissors. Afterward, Briscoe spoiled his post-match celebration by striking Ricochet with a stretcher, then placing him on top of it. As Briscoe ascended the nearby turnbuckle for a splash, however, Ricochet rolled off of it and retreated to the back. Still, Briscoe stood tall, just like he did in their match a few weeks ago.
In the lead up to Double or Nothing, Briscoe and Ricochet met in a standard singles bout, with Briscoe countering Ricochet's attempt to cheat with a successful roll-up. With a win over Ricochet already under his belt, 88% of Wrestling Inc. staff believe Briscoe will find himself cinched in under the straps of the stretcher at Double or Nothing in order to even their singles score. Moreover, a Stretcher Match comes with no disqualifications, which means Ricochet is permitted to use his signature scissors as a weapon, perhaps to cut himself free from a strap of the stretcher.
If for nothing else, a victory for Ricochet would mark his first on an AEW pay-per-view platform, which, despite his largely unlikeable character qualities, feels long overdue.
Written by Ella Jay
Since their heel turn at Dynasty, FTR have been the terror of AEW, at least if you're a wrestler who returned to the ring after having retired due to injury. First they destroyed Cope, and now they're beefing with Nigel McGuinness, who teams up with Daniel Garcia to take on the decorated tag team at Double or Nothing. And while a potential Cope return is always in play, 75% of the Wrestling Inc. staff see FTR coming out on top in Phoenix.
It's a sensible choice.FTR are a dedicated AEW tag team and have been presented as among the best in company history; meanwhile, neither of their opponents is traditionally a tag wrestler, one of them is 49 years old and has wrestled three times in the last 14 years, and the other one is Garcia, who has a losing record on AEW PPV and already seems to have come down from the push he got when he signed a new deal last fall. And while neither Garcia nor McGuinness has a clear direction following Double or Nothing, FTR seem to be on a collision course (pun very much intended) with Cope and, one would assume, Christian Cage. It would be logical to build up FTR in anticipation of that match, and even if Cope is ready to return, he could always save Garcia and McGuinness from a post-match beat-down rather than costing FTR the win.
According to the numbers, this is actually one of Double or Nothing's more uncertain matches, butthree-quarters of us feel confident that Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler will get the job done.
Written byMiles Schneiderman
The Sons of Texas seek to become double tag team champions this Sunday, with the ROH Tag Champions having earned their shot at the AEW World Tag Team Champions via a win over CRU. For Dustin Rhodes, it would be his third concurrent title reign should he win, as he also holds the ROH Six-Man Tag titles alongside The Von Erichs, and he has remarked on the occasion six years on from his clash with brother Cody Rhodes at the inaugural AEW event. The Sons of Texas come into this match having not tasted defeat teaming with one another, but that doesn't change the challenge that lies ahead of them.
Since January the Hurt Syndicate has had a stranglehold on the AEW World Tag Team Championship, reigning for just over 120 days heading into Double or Nothing and with four defenses behind them. The poll put to the Wrestling Inc. staff reflects a unanimous 100% vote that Sunday marks the fifth, with Rhodes and Guevara believed to be losing their streak and Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley to extend their own. Lashley has yet to taste defeat since debuting in AEW late last year, and Benjamin last lost to Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada in December. There is also the ongoing situation surrounding MJF's addition to the Hurt Syndicate, with there being a chance that could factor into this weekend's bout, but whether that helps or hinders the Hurt Syndicate is yet to be seen.
Written byMaxEverett
While two of his stablemates in The Elite tackle Anarchy in the Arena, Kazuchika Okada will defend his AEW Continental Championship against one of AEW's newest roster members, "Speedball" Mike Bailey. Since signing with AEW in February, Bailey has yet to be pinned in the ring.
In AEW, Okada and Bailey first touched in an all-star eight-man tag bout, with The Young Bucks, Ricochet, and "The Rainmaker" emerging victorious. In their latest encounter, Okada and Bailey fought all the way to the backstage area while their respective allies brawled in the ring, with Swerve Strickland ultimately calling for Anarchy in the Arena. Spoiler alert: 81% of us believe Strickland's team will emerge victorious in that chaotic affair. Conversely, 81% of us are confident that Okada (an enemy to Strickland) will come out of Double or Nothing with the Continental Championship still in his hands.
So far, Okada is 11-0 in title defenses since claiming it in March 2024. Moreover, he has not lost a match of any form since December 2024, when Kyle Fletcher bested him in the Continental Classic. Despite that, Okada still went on to win the entire round-robin tournament and retain his championship.
Over the last three two weeks, Okada has been excluded from The Young Bucks' in-ring activities, which could be a purposeful tactic to protect Okada while his allies took a loss to three of their Double or Nothing opponents on "AEW Dynamite." As we've already seen, The Young Bucks and Jack Perry lost their AEW Tag Team Championships and TNT Championship, respectively, in succession. Meanwhile, Okada has kept the AEW Continental Championship firmly in his possession.
Written by Ella Jay
Double or Nothing might seem like a relatively easy card to predict, but there are only two matches where the WINC crew unanimously went the same way. The AEW Women's World Championship match is one of them, as 100% of Wrestling Inc. staffers believe "Timeless" ToniStorm will retain over Mina Shirakawa.
This one isn't hard to explain.Shirakawa is hardly an AEW newcomer, but she just recently became an official member of the roster. Toni Storm has successfully defended the AEW women's world title more times over the course of her four reigns than Shirakawa has total matches in AEW. Shirakawa is not the wrestler who dethrones Storm, she's just the culmination of the low-key "fight everyone" kick Storm has been on recently while she waits to see who her challenger will be at AllIn. Storm vs. Jaime Hayter is a match with an avalanche of rich history and Storm vs.Mercedes Mone is literally the biggest women's match AEW could present in 2025. Are they bailing on either of those options for a surprise Mina Shirakawa title run? None of us think so, and neither should you.
Written byMiles Schneiderman
The Double or Nothing staple where anything goes and there are no boundaries, Anarchy in the Arena returns this Sunday as The Death Riders shape up to face the opposition to their attack on AEW. Fighting for the resistance so-to-speak are the AEW World Trios Champions, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata alongside former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, the AEW International Champion Kenny Omega, and Willow Nightingale. Meanwhile, The Death Riders will be fielding reigning World Champion Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and Marina Shafir, standing alongside the Young Bucks, who have recently latched onto Moxley's group.
So far The Opps have had The Death Riders' number, with Joe choking Moxley out to wrest the Trios titles, but the recent addition of Gabe Kidd despite not being officially in the match has already and is sure to continue taking a new turn on things. That said, the favorites to emerge from Anarchy in the Arena this Sunday, per the poll put to the Wrestling Inc. team, are actually the babyface alliance. There are a number of twists and turns that the bout can and inevitably will take when it comes around, whether that be the interference of Kidd or any others on either side of the locker room, returns or debuts, because the stipulation practically guarantees that in the name.
The question lies with how strong the alliances within each team are, with Moxley previously making it clear he wanted nothing to do with the Bucks, and it's not like they have been shown to stay in a fight they know they are losing. There is of course the looming shadow over Moxley in terms of who will win the Owen Hart Cup, since they will likely meet him for the World title at All In: Texas. Time will tell how any of the aforementioned aspects factor into things when the bell rings.
Written byMaxEverett
The Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament has come down to two women Jamie Hayter and Mercedes Mone. With the AEW TBS and RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championships, Mone currently has three title belts to her name. To her own credit, Hayter is a former AEW Women's Champion, with an impressive showing for herself since returning to action last August.
A match at AEW Double or Nothing, of course, marks a full-circle moment for Hayter too as the same pay-per-view hosted her last match before her 15-month injury-related hiatus. Her opponent? Current AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm, who will face the winner of the Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament assuming she first defeats Mina Shirakawa at AEW All In on July 12.
Despite many of our hearts wishing Hayter an opportunity to avenge her 2023 Double or Nothing loss to Toni Storm, the 81% of our heads cannot ignore the even more impressive winning singles streak attached to Mone. Since arriving to AEW in March 2024, "The CEO" is 21-0 in televised AEW singles competition (22-0 if we count AEW x NJPW Dynasty in which she defeated Shirakawa).
Additionally, the timing of this finals matchup is especially interesting considering Mone recently lost her NJPW STRONG Women's Championship to AZM in a three-way bout at NJPW Resurgence. With Mone now one title belt short, we are inclined to believe that the AEW Women's Championship could fill that void at All In, AEW's biggest show of the year. A win in the Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament at least guarantees Mone the chance to do so.
Written byElla Jay
With WillOspreay commanding just 69% of the vote over "Hangman" AdamPage, the men's Owen Hart Cup final represents by far the biggest divide among the WINC staff on the Double or Nothing 2025 card. While a not-insignificant portion of our crew believes in Page, the majority goes to "The Aerial Assassin," who we collectively see heading to All In to challenge JonMoxley for the AEW World Championship.
Maybe it doesn't matter who wins the Owen. Maybe Moxley is winning at All In no matter what because the world title is earmarked for Darby Allin, who appears to have finally finished his Everest sojourn. But if somebody is winning the title in Texas, how much longer can Tony Khan afford to wait before he finally pulls the trigger on Ospreay? The man is 33-6 in AEW singles matches, yet he's wrestled for the world title precisely once. He exists in a constant state of appearing to be the next man up, and while it's great that he's seemingly a nice guy who puts other people ahead of himself, at some point you have to do the thing.
On the other side, we have Page, who many fans want to see pushed as AEW's top babyface but who never seems to get booked like it. Is AEW really going to put Page a man they recently had lose back-to-back PPV matches to "Switchblade" JayWhite over Ospreay, the guyactually getting booked like the company's top babyface? It's certainly possible, as the 69% reflects, but the majority of us here at WINC don't think the cowboy can get the job done.
Written byMiles Schneiderman
