Ranking the AEW PPVS of 2019

#1 Double or Nothing

Jon Moxley made the debut of 2019.

I’ll admit I might have a little bias. I actually attended the first-ever AEW show in Las Vegas and it was a magical experience. To be part of a crowd that was so hot the entire night along with an entire weekend of professional wrestling excitement would add color to any experience. It was the true start of AEW, and that certainly plays a important factor as well. But as I went back to re-watch this show, it was clearly one of the best shows of the entire professional wrestling year.

The Casino Battle Royal was a lot of fun albeit confusing with its unique rules. SCU showed why it was a good team to carry the tag division with its opening win over Strong Hearts/CIMA. The rest of the undercard had fun moments like the Triple Threat women’s match, capped off by a surprising appearance from Awesome Kong, and a good tag match between Best Friends and Angelico & Jack Evans. That match also saw the debut of the Dark Order.

But it was the three main events that made this show the very best of 2019. The Cody-Dustin Rhodes match was special and among the best matches of the year. Dustin is beyond impressive at 50 years old and the element of the heavy blood as a featured element in the match helped sell his image as the veteran unwilling to give up. It felt like a real fight and the emotion showed by noth men added a lot to that. It was certainly the best match I have seen in person.

The show continued with the Lucha Bros. versus the Young Bucks. They put on an unbelievable and fast paced twenty-five minute match. It would be impossible to write all the amazing moves that all four men did in the match but it was special athleticism you rarely see in pro wrestling. It sold that AEW was going to focus on tag team wrestling and this match certainly did that in May.

The main event of Kenny Omega versus Chris Jericho was strong as well. It might be overshadowed by the previous two matches, but it was a solid main event. It was certainly shocking to see Kenny Omega lose clean to the Judas Effect. It seemed to come out of nowhere.

However, the main event will truly be remembered for the debut of Jon Moxley. I cannot think of a louder moment in all of the professional wrestling events I've ever attended. Ending the night with Moxley’s assault on Omega was the perfect ending to an amazing evening of action. I know it made me an AEW fan in just one night. It is the very best of AEW in 2019.