On May 25, All Elite Wrestling held Double Or Nothing, one of its tentpole pay-per-view events, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. In the former home of the Arizona Coyotes (R.I.P.), fans watched stars like Swerve Strickland, “Hangman” Adam Page, “Timeless” Toni Storm,” The Young Bucks, and more compete in matches full of mayhem, drama and incredible displays of athletic might.
Let’s hope that the Arizona Cardinals were watching.
The NFL is no stranger to the squared circle. Lawrence Taylor main-evented a WrestleMania. Steve “Mongo” McMichael was a member of the Four Horsemen alongside Ric Flair. Tom Pestok, aka Bishop Dyer/fka Baron Corbin, was a member of the Cardinals’ practice squad. There’s a crossover between the two worlds. And with AEW’s recent PPV taking place in the Cardinals’ backyard, there are a few lessons that the squad can take to ensure their upcoming season is elite.
What The Arizona Cardinals Can Learn From ‘Double Or Nothing
Don’t Be Afraid to Switch It Up When It’s Not Working
The two big women’s matches at Double or Nothing were “Timeless” Toni Storm retaining the Women’s World Championship after facing Mina Shirakawa, and Mercedes Moné beating Jamie Hayter to win the Women’s Owen Hart Cup final. Moné, the former Sasha Banks, will face Storm at All In on July 12.
At the moment, Storm and Moné are two sides of the same coin, and a lesson the Cards should heed: just because something works once doesn’t mean it’ll work again, and if it doesn’t work, ditch it.
Moné joined AEW in 2024 and has been (basically) doing a Kirkland brand Sasha Banks act. She’s rich. She’s arrogant. She’s unbeatable. Since it brought her success in WWE for ten years, why wouldn’t she do it in AEW, right? Except it’s not hitting all the way.
Moné’s having good matches, she’s got a chant, but other than that? (This isn’t solely on Mercedes. She needs a good rivalry and a good storyline; this character could be a money-maker. But right now, she’s spinning her wheels.)
Storm had the same problems as Moné when she came to AEW in 2022: same act, same schtick. Storm won the title twice that first year, but didn’t connect with the fans.
So, she tried something new in ‘23: she became “Timeless” Toni Storm, a Golden Age of Hollywood Starlet (with promos filled with jokes and hilarious innuendos). This change was a huge success, and it’s not outrageous to say that she’s been AEW’s biggest star for the past two years.
The Cardinals’ head coach, Jonathan Gannon, should keep that in mind. When the Cards collapsed after last year’s bye week, Gannon said that he’s “not a knee-jerk reaction guy” who makes drastic changes. Except, maybe he should?
Right now, the Cardinals have an upward trajectory. They’re poised to build on last year’s successes. Drew Petzing seems committed to his strategy of utilizing ALLL THE tight ends to rush the ball. And if it works, it works.
But when it doesn’t, the team shouldn’t be afraid to try something new.
Don’t Get Cocky Until You Get The W
The Cardinals’ first games of the 2025 season are against the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers, teams who ended last year with losing records (5-12, 5-12, and 6-11, respectively).
It’s not unimaginable that the Cards could have a 3-0 record when they face the Seattle Seahawks in week 4. But going into these games, they should remember the ballad of “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
Bailey is a recent addition to the AEW roster, and they’ve wasted no time in making a splash in the company. And at Double or Nothing, it looked like they were going to pull off the win of their career, defeating Kazuchika Okada for the Continental Championship.
While Okada was dazed, Bailey went to the top rope to execute a Shooting Star Press that would secure the victory…
...and then Okada dropkicked “Speedball” in the face.
What does this tell the Cards? Don’t underestimate these early opponents. Just because they’re down doesn’t mean they’re out
The Cards did that in 2024 and ended up with an embarrassing loss to the Panthers in Week 16. And while the Saints and 49ers ended last season in the dumps, they could easily snap back into Super Bowl contenders. The last thing the Cardinals want is to go into the Week 4 matchup with the Seahawks at 0-3.
Though equating Brock Purdy and the 49ers to Okada isn’t right: Okada wins his big matches. If you want a more apt comparison to a diminished champion who still shows signs of greatness (though his recent slump might hint at him being overhyped in the first place), then Okada is Patrick Mahomes.
Give Your Fans Reason to Cheer You
Every NFL fan thinks their team will make it to the Super Bowl—even fans of teams who finished last in the division. Their supporters believe that the squad will turn it around, rack up 15 wins, and go all the way. “It’s our year,” etc.
You need to be delusional to be a sports fan. Even more so to be a wrestling fan. You need to close yourself off from reality and open yourself up for potentiality. You have to hope your favorite will win, even if the odds are against them.
The Double or Nothing main event featured the beleaguered, anxious and self-doubting “Hangman” Adam Page versus the athletic, driven, bombastic Will Ospreay. On paper, you’d think Ospreay (with greater speed and more offensive weapons) would soar to victory.
But the iron-willed Page endured and got the hard-fought win. Fans wanted to see Page persevere, finishing a story that began two years ago. In 2023, Swerve Strickland confronted “Hangman” Adam Page over how it seemed like the cowboy had gotten complacent, how he “doesn’t even want it anymore.”
And “Hangman” has been on a path to show he doesn’t just want it, he needs it.
As I mentioned earlier, the Cardinals need to give fans a reason to create fan art, a reason to root for them, other than, hey, you’re from Arizona. We’re in Arizona. Why not us?
Despite what conspiracy theorists will tell you, the NFL isn’t scripted, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t storylines, and Arizona has one. The Cardinals have been disregarded.
They’re not underdogs; those teams have the romance of being the longshot, lovable losers who know they can’t win but try anyway. The Cardinals are just there. The Cardinals’ reputation is that they’re mid.
And there’s the angle.
I think the “Rise Up Red Sea” is a silly slogan. You can’t rise down. And Arizona is a landlocked state But hell, embrace it: Rise Up, Cardinals.
So, you got a reinforced defense, a quarterback who seems locked in, a star wide receiver ready to prove he wasn’t overrated (and an irate Will Johnson out for revenge). You got the tools. What are you going to do with them?
Do the Cardinals want it? Are they willing to rise beyond mid? Are they ready to rise up and be elite?