Heading into the second annual Double or Nothing show, the fans knew a new champion would be crowned in the inaugural TNT Champion. However, they were given a second new champion as well.
#AndNEW: Cody wins TNT Championship
First off was the culmination of the TNT Championship tourney. The tournament lasted a number of weeks, with Cody and Lance Archer being destined for the finals at Double or Nothing. With Mike Tyson set to present the championship to the winner, you knew it was a special night. Was it “The American Nightmare” or “The Murderhawk Monster” who walked out as the champion?
After weeks of build between these two and months of coming up short, Cody won his first championship as a member of All Elite Wrestling when he pinned Archer in the middle of the ring to become the first TNT Champion. It was a lot of twists and turns for Cody throughout the match as Archer dominated for the majority. Somehow, someway Archer did manage to walk away successfully as the champion. Most will view this as a tough situation for Archer, who was built strongly just to suffer defeat. But if you watched the match, you know his dominance remains.
Archer kicked off the match with an immediate Blackout to Cody, seemingly ending it before it could even begin. The resilient Cody rolled out of the ring to keep himself in the fight. There were a number of feats of strength for Archer has he threw around Cody like a ragdoll, but it was never enough. “The American Nightmare” hit a Cross Rhodes, only resulting in a two count before Archer woke up. The EBD Claw was even applied to Cody but the pain from earlier resulted in Archer having to let go. As the match neared the end, both Arn Anderson and Jake “The Snake” Roberts was kicked from ringside following the involvement of Anderson and Roberts’ chirping.
Mike Tyson became involved as Roberts attempted to return to ringside with a snake, giving Cody the opportunity to get the upper hand and hit two Cross Rhodes to put down the monster once and for all and win the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing.
#AndNEW: Hikaru Shida wins AEW Women’s Championship
As a result that most would see as a shock, Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose in a No Disqualification match to become the third AEW Women’s Champion. Shida has been the No. 1 contender for months and understandably so. If you look at Twitter and the reactions before AEW went without the fans due to COVID-19, Shida was one of, if not the most popular competitors on the roster. And these two ladies delivered at Double or Nothing as they beat the life out of each other to be champion.
Shida and Rose utilized the No DQ stipulation to their advantage, using the kendo stick of Shida as the main weapon of choice. It seemed as though Shida utilized her running knees a number of times, including the finish. The final sequence saw Shida smash Rose off the head with the kendo stick and hitting a vicious running knee to finally put her out. Shida had tears in her eyes as she stood tall and received the championship.
More From LWOPW
Stay tuned to Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8pm ET on TNT and AEW DARK Tuesday nights at 6pm on their YouTube Channel.
