An AEW Double or Nothing 2026 In-Person Perspective

By: Frank Peteani

I’m back.

It feels great to be “donning the keyboard” again for Brass Ring Media. It’s been a while and I’m excited to share my in-person perspective on this year’s AEW Double or Nothing — the eighth edition of the PPV and the third one I’ve attended live. This year’s event took place at Louis Armstrong Arena in Flushing, N.Y.

My Personal Experience & Planning

When I attended the 2023 and 2024 editions of Double or Nothing, the logistics were easy. In both years, I was on an overnight with my “shoot” job, as wrestling fans like to say. For those who don’t know, I’m an airline captain, and I was able to land a Las Vegas overnight two years in a row.

In 2023, all I had to do was buy a ticket because I stayed at Park MGM, which is in the same complex as T-Mobile Arena. In 2024, I stayed at a different hotel and had to take an Uber to the MGM Grand. Even that was simple compared to planning this year’s trip. Louis Armstrong Arena is about 40 to 45 minutes from my house and within walking distance of Citi Field, home of my beloved—though currently frustrating—New York Mets. It’s also part of the same complex as Arthur Ashe Stadium, which hosted AEW Grand Slam editions of Dynamite from 2021 through 2024.

Why does all of that matter? Because this year took real planning. Parking at the stadium is either extremely limited or, at best, inconvenient. Citi Field parking was an option, but it still required a 15 to 20 minute walk over the bridge. There are local lots nearby, but that would mean walking around Flushing late at night, which was not appealing. Rain was also in the forecast. The train was no better, since it stops at Willets Point/Citi Field and still leaves you with the same 15 to 20 minute walk. Because it was a holiday weekend, service was limited, so we would either arrive far too early or risk barely making the pre-show. The last train back to Farmingdale left around 12:40 a.m. Eastern, and with Tony Khan’s PPVs rarely ending before midnight on the East Coast, that felt way too close for comfort. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

And who is “we?” Unlike my Las Vegas trips, this time I had my wife and our 14 and 12 year old daughters with me. Walking through rain to and from the train or a distant parking lot was not going to make for a pleasant night. That ruled out both the train and driving, so we chose a car service. It cost more than I wanted to spend, but I had not paid much for the tickets— though, in hindsight, I probably should have. Given the late hour and the length of the night, the extra comfort felt worth it. We also considered taking the train in and an Uber home, but the small savings did not justify the hassle of figuring out pickup after the show. In the end, the car service was the right call.

Arena Access & Fan Experience

It took a little while, but the driver finally dropped us off at a roundabout where traffic attendants directed him to stop. That same area would also be the pickup point later in the night. It was on the northwest corner of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Since the complex includes Arthur Ashe, the Chase Center, and Louis Armstrong Arena, we had to walk along Arthur Ashe, around the north side of Louis Armstrong, and make two right turns to reach the entrance. Once we arrived, we found several long lines that turned out to be outdoor security checkpoints. That felt a little odd, since you would expect security closer to the actual gates. Even so, the line kept moving and took about 30 to 45 minutes. Entry went more smoothly after that. Exiting was another story. With only two gates serving the entire crowd, getting out took another 30 to 45 minutes. It was a good thing we did not take the train, because we almost certainly would have missed it once you factor in the walk back to the station.

In the past, I talked over at PWTorch.com about our bad fan experience at Arthur Ashe Stadium back in 2021 for Dynamite: Grand Slam. There were crippling long lines for merchandise and concessions. That wasn’t the case here although I wouldn’t call it great. Upon entry we paid a visit to a merchandise stand. The selection was decent although like AEW shows before, there weren’t enough shirts with individual stars. They had a Darby Allin shirt and one with MJF. They had mostly show themed shirts including one that looked like a New York Mets shirt. It had SICKOS as the name on the back with number 26 for 2026. This New York Mets fan made that purchase!

They also had an “I was there” shirt which everyone got and one specifically with Hair vs. Title for the Darby vs. MJF main event. Myself and my 14- year-old got two shirts each. My wife and 12-year-old each got one shirt. They also had a couple of action figures, the AEW title belt for $850, the TNT belt for about the same price, a mini belt for around $150, and other assorted foam figures and things like that. It was better than what I had seen in the past, but WWE still does much better with on-site event stuff.

As far as refreshments, they were limited as I suspected. I made sure we ate at home, so we didn’t have to worry about it once we got there. It was Sunday, so as any Italian would do, I made macaroni with meatballs and sauce. I mean, what else does one eat on Sunday? At the “shoot” job I mentioned that I was going to this show and was told “oh wow, aren’t those tennis stadiums usually not got for other events?” It’s funny coming from a non-wrestling fan, but very true.

They had three food stands, so it wasn’t terrible, but at one point I was in the line for almost 45 minutes. I missed Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa and most of Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jon Moxley. The bathrooms were next to the stands, so it was confusing which “long line” was for what.

Nonetheless, food options were limited and they kept running out of things. At one stand you could get pizza and drinks. At the others you could get hot dogs, hot pretzels, chicken fingers & fries, and bagged chips. Drinks included bottled water, assorted sodas, and Powerade. The beers were limited to Modelo and Michelob Ultra. They had Surfsides and other “canned cocktails.” Like I said earlier, thankfully we ate before we came, so we weren’t counting on eating at the stadium.

Seating

We didn’t decide on going until less than three weeks before the event. Our issue was babysitting. We have a soon-to-be 10-year-old son that would not handle the event well. Usually, my mother would be the option, but we were avoiding asking her because of the late night and I’d end up having to drive her home. We couldn’t find anyone, so I sucked it up and asked her. As I suspected, I had to pick her up and take her home. She’s only 10 minutes from our house, but it’s a logistic I was trying to avoid. For seating they have the floor option, lower, and upper bowls. There are “breaks” in the bowls as you look around for the entrance on one side and stadium access on the other. Options were limited when I made the purchase. Me trying to save money I got seats in the upper bowl. When I saw the view on StubHub, I thought “ok cool, these are pretty good.”

Well, not everything is as good as it seems. What I learned was study the seating chart before you make a purchase. We were in one of the last three rows on the hard camera side. The view wasn’t bad, but the pitch of the upper bowl is very steep. It makes sense for it to be that way because the venue is primarily used for tennis. When we walked up to our seats, we might as well have done 20 minutes on the Stairmaster. It wasn’t fun. Fortunately, they had the video tron over the ring, so if you didn’t want to watch the match in the ring, you could see it clearly on the tron. The view wasn’t obstructed at all.

For those that have never been to New York City (Manhattan) or any of the boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, or The Bronx for those not familiar), the entrance looked like a lot of the streets where they put up the scaffolding for construction. As you all know we were in Queens. The Double or Nothing signage looked like what they’d have in NYC for any of the stores/restaurants within the realm of the construction. The way the stadium looks, along with that touch you felt like you were in “the city” or one of the boroughs.

I want to give a shout to Excalibur whom on BlueSky recommended everyone bring a jacket. “You’ll thank me later” is what he said. It’s a good thing we did because technically Louis Armstrong is an outdoor stadium. The roof is retractable and was closed for the evening due to the weather, but the rest of the stadium is not enclosed. There are openings in the structure especially in the upper bowl and we were seated right by those openings. It was a good thing we had our jackets and sweatshirts. It wasn’t cold, but it was breezy, especially for late May.

Crowd Vibe & Buy-In Show

This was a show that made me think of the famous quote from Field of Dreams. You know it … “if you build it, they will come.” Well, if you give New York or any city for that matter a great show, you will be rewarded. I say New York because we don’t get AEW all that often. They ran the UBS Arena for Dynamites from 2021-2023 (and I went to all of them), but they haven’t done one since. We got World’s End at Nassau Coliseum over in Long Island in 2023 (wife and I attended), Forbidden Door in 2024 (which I attended with my wife and daughters). They did Full Gear over in New Jersey in 2025 and maybe one other time. I don’t go to New Jersey for shows. It’s a pain.

Back to the point, I could tell from the moment I showed up the crowd was raring to go. I heard conversation about the main event and what could happen. People were talking about past shows they attended. There was some talk about people going to WWE events. This wasn’t a group of people that were “checking out wrestling.” They knew what was taking place and they were ready.

During the Buy-In show, Mick Foley’s arrival was very well received and why not? It drives me a little crazy that he’s all about AEW now when all his history is elsewhere. I feel that way about all the legends when they come in, but I’m still happy to see them. As far as the matches go there was more engagement than what I had seen in the past — mostly in the match with Boom & Doom and The Conglomeration vs. Shane Taylor Promotions. That match wasn’t for me and it ended up not being very good, but people got mostly into chanting “boom” every time Big Boom A.J. threw a punch. They liked the interaction with the Rizzler, Christyan, and Harley Cameron. My 14-year-old daughter loves Big Boom A.J., Big Justice, and the Rizzler so I have to “be nice” around her. I get a kick out of them myself, but I don’t want to because this isn’t what I want for AEW and I don’t care if it’s on the harmless Buy-In show.

I was getting concessions during the Divine Dominion vs. Zayda Steel & Viva Van match, butI heard Tay Melo and Anna Jay come out to a decent pop after the match. I didn’t sense that people really cared emotionally about what was taking place but were happy to see Tay Jay.

I’m sorry, but Divine Dominion got no heat at all. As far as the Death Riders vs. The Opps there was decent engagement, but a bit of apathy from the crowd because I don’t think it’s clear how we’re supposed to feel about both groups. The action was fine. The crowd very much appreciated the promos between Mick Foley, MJF, and Darby Allin.

PPV Proper

I’m not going to talk about the blow-by-blow. You know what happened if you’re reading this report. As I’ve been doing, I’ll talk about the vibe during each match and you can compare it to how it came across on TV. I should note, the crowd popped every time the next match graphic popped up on the tron. They were notably the loudest for the Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada match and Will Ospreay vs. Samoa Joe.

Copeland & Christian defeat FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championship

The crowd was highly engaged in this match and popped for everything Christian said on the microphone. He has such the generation X sense of humor and that’s something that falls under “If You Know You Know.” They popped big for Beth’s return. You can tell this crowd knew their history and they might have been on the older side because I heard a lot of “TLC” chants. What was nice is we didn’t get “we want tables.” That chant annoys me. The result is what fans wanted to see. FTR got good old school heat in the match, which is so hard to get nowadays.

Konosuke Takeshita defeats Kazuchika Okada for the International Championship

I made the point to someone sitting next to me that the good Japanese wrestlers are very over in the states, especially in New York because we don’t get to see them live very often. This was no exception. As I mentioned earlier, the graphic got a huge pop and they were into Takeshita winning. I’m not sure if it came across strong enough on TV, but there was some solid “F Don Callis chants.” After the match, Kyle Fletcher got a big pop for his return and people wanted to believe he and Takeshita were aligned. Fletcher got a lot of heat for the attack. I wasn’t a fan of the swerve mostly because wrestling feels like it has to swerve people all the time. New Japan does perfectly fine when “the next opponent” just comes out and gets in the other person’s face. I suggested to the same person that Fletcher could eventually do the Shawn Michaels 1995 babyface turn down the line, as the crowd is read to embrace him. Will Ospreay goes first, then Fletcher.

Athena defeats Mina Shirakawa in an Owen Hart Tournament quarterfinal match

I missed this as I mentioned earlier, but from what I can tell the crowd felt kinda “meh.” This is one of those matches that could have been on TV.

Jon Moxley defeats Kyle O’Reilly to retain the Continental Championship

I missed most of this as well, but from what I could tell the crowd was kinda “meh” as well. I think that’s mostly because it’s confusing as to how we’re supposed to feel about the Death Riders. I got in for the last five minutes or so of the match and they popped for Moxley winning. They liked the handshake afterwards, so that means the Death Riders are babyfaces, right?

Will Ospreay defeats Samoa Joe in an Owen Hart Tournament quarterfinal match

All I’m going to say is barring injury or other extraordinary circumstances, if Will Ospreay is not the AEW World Champion before we turn our calendars to 2027, the balance of power in the world is off. The pre-match graphic probably got the biggest pop of the night. Again, since New York doesn’t get AEW that often, they were beyond excited to get one of the biggest current stars and yes, one of the biggest legacy stars out there. Until the guy can’t go anymore, if I’m starting a promotion, I’m not starting it unless I can have Samoa Joe. Now, I didn’t like how the crowd cheered both, especially when the Opps were (supposed) to be heels, right? That’s the problem with modern wrestling. With that said, a nice tight match and given the crowd vibe, they would not complain if they had to see these two go at it again. Joe is a nice potential opponent for Will when he reaches the mountaintop.

Swerve Strickland vs. Bandido in an Owen Hart Tournament quarterfinal match

This is a match I have to go back and watch because I apparently missed stuff according to podcasts I frequent. I might have been talking to my wife and kids or others around me, but I’m listening to shows and I’m like “wait a minute, I was there, how did I miss that?” What I didn’t miss was the vibe. This was another match that was hard to read because, despite him being a heel, Swerve still got cheers and frequent “who’s house … Swerve’s house” chants from the crowd. Maybe I’m just getting old and still believe in heels getting booed and babyfaces getting cheered, but wrestling just seems to be not too concerned with that. You’re seeing that in WWE more so, but AEW is guilty as well. Bandido was getting cheered as well, especially going for the 21plexes, but they cheered anything Swerve did as well. I don’t know what you do moving forward, but if I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t think Swerve was a heel.

Thekla defeats Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter, and Kris Statlander to retain the AEW Women’s Championship

This was an unfortunate death spot and it’s a shame. Thekla has really grown as a women’s champion. She is the old school heel I like to see, studying the crowd, and trying to draw heat. Unfortunately, all people cared about was the falling out between Statlander and Shida. “Stat” got a big pop being from Long Island. If I were Tony Khan, I might have switched this with Athena vs. Shirakawa.

Stadium Stampede

The crowd couldn’t give a crap about this match except for the weapon spots and unfortunately the attempted vehicular homicide spot. It was funny to see the wrecked vehicle and the Jurassic Express bus on the way out. They were clearing out the area where that took place as we were walking to our cars/rides (we had to walk the same path we walked coming into the stadium). That said, if I’m Tony Khan I’m retiring this match for a while. I understand it gets people on the card that might not be otherwise and it’s a fun visual, but in person it’s hard to keep up with it. The Young Bucks did their bit at the concession stand where we bought our shirts earlier, but you had to watch that on one of the video screens. The spot with the tennis machine and the food fight had to be viewed the same way, so you’re trying to view multiple things at once. You might think these are fun in person, but they’re not. They’re annoying and disengaging.

MJF defeats Darby Allin to regain the AEW Championship

The crowd was not as hot for this as they should have been, but I didn’t sense that due to lack of interest. The heat was good for MJF telling Justin Roberts to announce him as “not from the boroughs.” There were audible gasps for Darby’s dive to the table and leap off the scaffolding. The blood on Darby’s head was noticeable. You can tell the crowd knew their history going back to Full Gear 2021 where they did the multiple near falls. I kind of wish they wouldn’t do that as it feels “performative,” but it’s probably good they did it for the tired crowd to get them engaged. With that said, the crowd popped for MJF winning the title (especially my 14-year-old daughter, his biggest fan)Now, it’s a heel winning, but he’s getting cheered. I understand it, but it’s not ideal. This isn’t the Hart Foundation getting cheered in Canada in 1997. Anyway, to the post-match Kevin Knight attack on Darby Allin — it got heat, but not the heat I thought it should have gotten. Was that due to it being so late? Perhaps, but they’ll have to explain why he did that to Darby especially after he lost the title. What good is it attacking someone that isn’t a champion? It did get boos, though, so at least there was that.

Final Thoughts

I don’t have much to add to what has already been said. I’ll say that this is a market that wants this product, especially when it’s engaging. Except for a few matches I talked about, you had a show for which fans were ready, and they deployed their energy throughout. I hope it’s not too long before they’re back, but personally I hope they run the UBS Arena. The logistics of Louis Armstrong were fine for a PPV, but I’m not going there or to Arthur Ashe for a Dynamite episode. With that said, it was money well spent this past weekend.

Follow Frank on X, Facebook, and Instagram @FrankPeteani. BlueSky is @frankpeteani73

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