All Elite Wrestling "Double Or Nothing" Rally Report & Video - Chris Jericho Signs With AEW, Neville
The stream went live a few minutes before 5pm ET with Conrad Thompson and Alex Marvez providing a pre-show. Conrad said pro wrestling history will be made today with All Elite Wrestling. The crowd looks packed and Conrad noted that fans started lining up at 11am ET earlier today. They also talked about how well AEW merchandise is moving on the Pro Wrestling Tees website.
The official AEW "Double Or Nothing" rally opens live from outside of TIAA Field in Jacksonville, FL as the pyro goes off. Conrad Thompson and Alex Marvez welcome us as fans chant for AEW. Conrad talks of a pro wrestling revolution. They introduce SoCal Uncensored first – Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky.
Fans chant "SCU" as Sky takes the podium first and gets them hyped up, shouting Jacksonville out. Sky plays to Jacksonville some more and Daniels introduces a new Jacksonville Jaguars color-scheme t-shirt they have for sale on PWT. Daniels says it's time to talk business now. There's been a lot of speculation on SCU but he's putting those rumors to bed now. Daniels says they became one of those popular wrestling trios in 2018 and at midnight on December 31, they asked how they follow that up in 2019 and that is by officially signing with All Elite Wrestling. We see some of the Jaguars cheerleaders come to the stage as Kazarian takes the podium. Kazarian gets a "SCU" chant from the crowd and that's it for their segment. They toss merchandise to the crowd as the music hits.
Marvez and Thompson come back to the podium. They talk about questions surrounding the AEW roster, then they introduce the AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes. The pyro hits and out comes Cody to a pop. Cody talks about how he was surrounded by a wall of fan passion after All In last year. Cody says we have to keep that fire going. He says this is a brand new book they like to call All Elite Wrestling. He says they have a saying in The Elite – Change The World. He says sometimes to do that you have to change the world you live in. He says he's known nothing but pro wrestling since he was born. He goes on and talks about how pro wrestlers are always the least-paid in the sports world, but AEW is going to change that. AEW is going to change the wrestling economy, he says. He says opportunities don't pay the bills, money does, and paid wrestlers translates to happy fans. Cody says wins and losses will matter like never before in AEW. Fans pop and Cody points out how excited they are. Cody says AEW won't coach fans on how to be a fan, who to cheer for or who to boo. He says fans can be a fan any way they want to be now. Cody says he is surrounded by an absolutely great team. He gives a grand introduction to Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks, noting that he shares the Executive Vice President role with them. He calls them the greatest tag team in the world and out they come to pyro and a pop.
Matt takes the podium first as a "thank you Young Bucks" chant starts up. He talks about their goal of packing the arena for All In, and they did that. He talks about how he and his friends changed the basic way pro wrestling functions and they broke all the rules. They called themselves The Elite. He says they were approached by the Khan family and they asked the three of them if they really wanted to change the world. They said yep and the Khan family said they can help. He talks about the AEW announcement last week and says this promotion welcomes all gifted talent. They don't care about race, gender, sex or religion, if you're an elite athlete, they want you. He says their doors are open to all. Matt says he has a little bit of an announcement and he's proud of this one because it was his "get" for AEW. He says he has some friends in China, who are doing some of the most gifted moves he's ever seen. They're called OWE (Oriental Wrestling Entertainment) and if we haven't heard of them yet, we will soon. Matt says they have made an agreement with OWE to bring them into AEW, and give them a spotlight. Matt says we are going to love them. Cody and The Bucks joke about the three of them sharing a role. Nick asks if we're ready for a second announcement. They count down from 3 and announce AEW Double Or Nothing for Saturday, May 25 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. They thank everyone and say more announcements will be coming today. Conrad and Alex return to the podium as Cody and The Bucks leave.
Conrad and Alex introduce AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes next. Fans chant her name as she takes the podium. Brandi thanks everyone for being here and confirms her title, which she says she keeps saying over & over because it sounds so good to her. She also likes the nickname fans gave her on Twitter – Chief Brandi Officer. She asks Ryan from Pro Wrestling Tees, who is in attendance, and asks if we can get that on a t-shirt. Brandi says the CBO job comes with a lot of work and responsibility, a lot of long nights, but she's 100% committed to it. Brandi says she will help bring AEW to the level it's supposed to be at. She guarantees that. She confirms that there will be a women's division in AEW. She says they want it to be a strong women's division with the strongest talents in the world. She talks about how she toured the world and faced some of the best women's wrestlers. She mentions sitting down with top Japanese talents last week in Tokyo and says there will be more to come from that. Brandi agrees with Cody in that AEW cares about their female talents, so they will be paid equally. She says AEW will have no sliding scale. She confirms that AEW has signed Britt Baker, calling her one of the best women's wrestlers in the world, also one of her favorite wrestlers and good friends. Dr. Baker makes her way to the stage and gets the pyro. Britt thanks Cody, Brandi, the Jacksons and their families, and the Khan family. Baker says AEW will elevate all of professional wrestling to new heights and that's something we can all be excited for. Baker says she's here as not just the first female signing of AEW, but one of the first athletes signed overall, which she says shows how they care about women's wrestling, and they are prioritizing it. Baker talks about her medical career and says she wants to show people that you need to pursue everything you have a true passion for. She gets a pop when mentioning her official AEW signing. She says she went "All In" in Chicago and didn't win but it's "Double Or Nothing" in Las Vegas this May, and she will see us there. Baker exits and Conrad comes back out.
Conrad talks about AEW being the real revolution of pro wrestling. He's interrupted by MJF, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF rips into Conrad, making jokes about his weight and how he looks. He asks Conrad to get off his stage. MJF rips the crowd some and introduces himself, saying he's the fastest rising star in wrestling today. He talks about being excited to get the AEW call but that excitement changed when he realized the rally was in the dumpster fire that is Jacksonville. He says you can't call yourself elite and change the world without him. He goes on about being better than everyone else but the music interrupts and out comes Jaxson de Ville, the Jaguars mascot. MJF knocks the fans for how they cheer the mascot but boo him. MJF tells Jaxson to get off his stage before he gets hurt. Jaxson isn't leaving and it looks like he wants to tangle. Joey Janela appears and lays MJF out. Janela introduces Penelope Ford and says in 2019, they are all elite. They pose with Jaxson as the music hits and the pyro goes off. Janela picks up Jaxson's t-shirt cannon and fires some merchandise into the air. Ford also tosses some merch to the fans before all three leave together.
Conrad and Marvez come back out. They mention how there are more than 100,000 fans watching the stream online. The YouTube stream currently has under 55,000 viewers on my screen. They introduce Cody's favorite wrestler and out comes Adam "Hangman" Page to a pop. Page talks about how he doesn't have any corporate overlord telling him what to do, and how his first day on this job is his favorite because he's now working for the fans. Page talks about working with Cody and The Bucks has been some of the best times of his life, but they've made him humble. Page says he doesn't know what the plans are but he knows what his plans are – he will become the first All Elite Wrestling Champion in 2019. The music interrupts and out comes PAC (Neville) to pyro. They face off on the stage and have some words we can't hear. Neville takes the mic and says he's got some bad news for Page's claim about being champion in 2019. Neville says he's here in AEW and he's already a champion, and Page couldn't lace his boots. PAC drops the mic and backs away. Page takes off his jacket for a fight. PAC steps back up but then leaves with the title, Dragon Gate's Open the Dream Gate Title. Page says if that's a challenge, then he accepts. Page also leaves.
Marvez comes back out with Conrad, who teases another surprise for today. They introduce Cody and The Young Bucks again. The Jaguars cheerleaders are also out on the stage. Cody says the "All Elite" chant sounds good. They let Cody have this announcement after more jokes on their role. Cody announces that AEW's second show will be held in Jacksonville. Fans pop. Cody says a large portion of the gate from the event will go to victims of gun violence. Cody says that's it for now. No details on the second show were announced. Conrad comes back to the podium and hypes Double Or Nothing, and the un-named show in Jacksonville. Conrad says this is historic for wrestling, and hypes the fans up some more. Conrad says wrestling is cool again. He tells everyone to follow AEW on social media and order the t-shirt from PWT. Conrad asks fans who will be the first AEW World Champion – Page, PAC, Cody or maybe one of The Young Bucks. Music interrupts and pyro goes off. The cheerleaders leave the stage. Conrad waits for something and out comes Chris Jericho finally. Jericho hits the stage as the pyro goes off and a Fozzy song plays.
Chris Jericho has crashed the AEW Rally!!! #AEW #DoubleorNothing
CC: @IAmJericho @AEWrestling @CodyRhodes @MattJackson13 @NickJacksonYB @WIncRebel pic.twitter.com/K6vIe7nXwi
? WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) January 8, 2019
Jericho acts like he's going to speak but he backs off the mic. Fans chant his name. Jericho gets the crowd to chant louder, as loud as they can. Jericho introduces himself and says he's all in with All Elite Wrestling. Surprise! Jericho says we just took things to a different level. He gets the crowd hyped up some more. Jericho says he's here with AEW. He's not here for the money because he's already got the money. He believes in doing something different and something new, it's what he's always one in his career. Jericho says he's an outlaw, a pariah, he's Chris Jericho, baby. Jericho says it all starts today. Jericho says he's going to be at Double Or Nothing in Las Vegas. Jericho says it starts now and it starts forever, this is the real deal. Jericho says he's not here to just change the world, AEW isn't here to just change the world... they are going to change the whole universe. Music hits again as we see fireworks going off above the stadium that they are next to. Jericho looks out around the crowd as more pyro goes off on the stage. Jericho makes his exit and we get another shot of the fireworks going off above the stadium. That's it for the rally as the AEW rally takes over the screen. We hear Conrad hyping the crowd and signing off.