AEW Double or Nothing is aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established in 2019, it is held annually in May duringMemorial Day weekend. Theinaugural Double or Nothing was also the first PPV as well as the first event produced by AEW. It is also considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs for AEW, along withAll In,All Out,Full Gear, andRevolution, the company's five biggest shows produced annually; until 2023, it was considered AEW's marquee event before being supplanted by All In.
The name Double or Nothing was originally referenced in a promo thatCody Rhodes made immediately after the September 2018All In event, which was anindependently produced PPV that came as a result of a bet with wrestling journalistDave Meltzer. Rhodes, a key figure behind the original All In who would become a co-founder and wrestler for AEW from 2019 to 2022, said "I know when you make a bet, sometimes you godouble or nothing"—AEW was then founded in January 2019 with Double or Nothing as its first event that May. The name is also a reference to itsLas Vegas/casino theme, as the event was traditionally held at arenas on theLas Vegas Strip inParadise, Nevada until 2025. The exceptions to this during this time were the2020 and2021 events, which were originally scheduled for Vegas but had to be held atDaily's Place inJacksonville, Florida due to theCOVID-19 pandemic—after Florida loosened its COVID-19 protocols, the 2021 event was AEW's first PPV to have a full capacity crowd, as well as the final PPV held at Daily's Place before AEW resumed live touring in July that year. The2025 event was the first non-pandemic era Double or Nothing to be held outside of Vegas, as it was held at theDesert Diamond Arena inGlendale, Arizona, but still maintained a casino theme due to the venue's connection toDesert Diamond Casinos.
Since the 2020 event, Double or Nothing has featured a specializedtornado tag team match between two multi-man teams as one of its marquee matches, oftentimes the main event. For 2020 and 2021, this was theStadium Stampede match. To capitalize on the rise ofcinematic matches during the pandemic, both year's events were headlined by Stadium Stampede, which was contested in both Daily's Place and the adjacentTIAA Bank Field. With the return to touring, Stadium Stampede was replaced byAnarchy in the Arena in 2022, with the wrestlers fighting all throughout the host venue.
On January 1, 2019,All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was officially founded. Along with the announcement, the promotion's inaugural event,Double or Nothing, was scheduled to air on PPV duringMemorial Day weekend on May 25, 2019, at theMGM Grand Garden Arena on theLas Vegas Strip inParadise, Nevada, with the event taking on aLas Vegas theme.[8][9][10] Double or Nothing would become considered AEW's marquee event,[11] with AEW president Tony Khan later referring to the event as being one of the promotion's "big four" PPVs, their four biggest shows of the year produced quarterly, along withAll Out,Full Gear, andRevolution.[12] WithAll In becoming one of AEW's annual events in 2023, it supplanted Double or Nothing as AEW's marquee event, and overall biggest event of the year, with the previous "big four" plus All In becoming the "big five".[13]
While AEW had planned to again host the2020 event at the same location on May 23 that year, the venue canceled all events up through May 31 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[14] In response, the promotion announced that the 2020 event would still proceed as planned (which occurred atDaily's Place and theTIAA Bank Field stadium in Jacksonville, Florida), while also confirming that athird Double or Nothing would emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 29, 2021.[15] However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 event was again held at Daily's Place and was moved back a day to May 30.[16][17] AEW resumed live touring in July, thus the 2021 Double or Nothing was the promotion's final PPV held at Daily's Place during the pandemic. It was also the company's first show to run at full venue capacity during the pandemic after Florida loosened its COVID-19 protocols.[18]
In December 2021, it was confirmed that the2022 Double or Nothing would return the event to Las Vegas,[19] and it would be held at theT-Mobile Arena.[20] It was also announced that the event would host the finals of the inauguralOwen Hart Cup.[19] The2023 event was also held at the same arena on May 28 that year.[21] On March 27, 2024, it was announced that after five years, the2024 event would return Double or Nothing to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 26 that year.[22]
