On February 19, 2025, AEW announced that the seventh annual Double or Nothing would be held on May 25, 2025, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, marking the first Double or Nothing to be held outside of the Las Vegas area since the event's inception in 2019 (excluding the two COVID era events), as well as the first AEW PPV event to take place in the U.S. state of Arizona. The venue's namesake came from a naming rights deal with Desert Diamond Casinos, keeping the Double or Nothing event in line with its casino theme.[7][8]
As with the 2023 event, Double or Nothing went head-to-head with Battleground, a livestreaming event produced by WWE for its developmental brand, NXT. According to WWE executive Shawn Michaels back in 2023, the scheduling was not intended for WWE to go head-to-head with AEW, but that it was just due to the holiday (Memorial Day weekend) as he said WWE events had always done well on holidays.[9][10]
On April 2, 2025, the competitors for the Owen Hart Cup were revealed for both the men's and the women's tournaments, with the finals of each scheduled for Double or Nothing.[12][13] In the men's semi-finals, Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita at Dynamite: Spring BreakThru on April 16, while "Hangman" Adam Page defeated Kyle Fletcher on the April 30 episode of Dynamite to advance, setting up the men's final between Ospreay and Page.[14][15] Meanwhile, in the women's semi-finals, Mercedes Moné defeated Athena at Dynamite: Spring BreakThru, while Jamie Hayter defeated Kris Statlander on the April 23 episode of Dynamite, setting up the women's final between Moné and Hayter.[14][16]
On the May 14 episode of Dynamite, Mina Shirakawa won an AEW Women's World Championship four-way eliminator match after pinning the reigning champion, "Timeless" Toni Storm. Due to the match's stipulation, since she had pinned the champion, Shirakawa earned a title match against Storm. It was then announced that the match would take place at Double or Nothing, subsequently serving as a rematch from the prior year's Forbidden Door event.[17]
Over the weeks before Double or Nothing, the now-heelFTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) attacked various members of the AEW roster, including Daniel Garcia. On the May 8 episode of Collision, Garcia faced Harwood in a singles match that ended in disqualification when commentator Nigel McGuinness got involved after Harwood had verbally berated McGuinness about his reaction to the letter that FTR had given to him and Tony Schiavone on the April 17 episode.[19] On the following episode of Dynamite, FTR's manager Stokely interrupted an interview involving Garcia and McGuinness, on FTR's behalf, in order to issue a challenge for a tag team match at Double or Nothing, which McGuinness initially rejected despite Garcia's agreement. FTR then came out and assaulted both men before being fended off by a crowbar-wielding Matt Menard.[17] On the May 17 episode of Collision, McGuinness announced that he had changed his mind and accepted FTR's challenge, thus making the match official.[18]
On the April 23 episode of Dynamite, Mark Briscoe defeated Ricochet.[16] Over the next two weeks, both men faced each other in multi-man matches, first an eight-man tag team match, the second a trios match, both of which Ricochet won.[15][23] On May 17, AEW President Tony Khan announced that Briscoe and Ricochet would face each other in a Stretcher match at Double or Nothing.[24]
Over the course of three weeks, "Speedball" Mike Bailey faced The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) in multi-man matches, all of which The Young Bucks won.[16][15][23] On May 22, AEW President Tony Khan announced that Bailey would face The Young Bucks' Elite stablemate Kazuchika Okada for Okada's AEW Continental Championship at Double or Nothing.[25]
The event received positive reviews, with the Anarchy in the Arena match and the final of the Men's Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament being singled out for particular acclaim. Reviewing the event for TJR Wrestling, John Canton described it as "an excellent show" and that "The match quality was strong from top to bottom, and the main event between Page/Ospreay is one of the best matches of the year from any promotion." He did, however, note that he thought the event was too long.[29] Reviewing for 411MANIA, Thomas Hall echoed his displeasure at the length of the event, stating several matches could've been shorter, specifically noting the match between FTR and Garcia/McGuinness. However, he generally praised the event, calling the main event "outstanding" and that he enjoyed Anarchy in the Arena, though noted that "mileage may vary" depending on tastes. He gave the overall event an 8 out of 10, signifying "Very Good".[30]
The Anarchy in the Arena match was very well received. Reviewing the event for Forbes, Alfred Konuwa called it "incredible", noting that "everyone shined" and that "it was worth the price of admission alone.", giving the match a rating of A+.[31] Canton praised the creativity of the match and the performances of the twelve wrestlers, but noted it was hard to keep up with the action happening across the arena.[29] Dave Meltzer, reviewing the event for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave the match a five star rating.[32]
The final of the Men's Owen Hart Foundation Cop Tournament between "Hangman" Adam Page and Will Ospreay received widespread acclaim, with some calling it one of the best matches of the year. Canton praised the match as "outstanding", noting the final ten minutes as "especially impressive". He closed his review by displaying excitement for their potential rematch.[29] Hall hailed the match as an "instant classic", calling the match an "outstanding story" between Page and Ospreay. Meltzer gave the match a score of five and a half stars, the highest of the event.
For the other matches of the event, Meltzer gave the pre-show eight-man tag team match 4.25 stars. For the main show, he gave the Women's Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament Women's final 4.5 stars, the FTR vs Garcia/McGuinness tag match 4.5 stars, the stretcher match 4.5 stars, the AEW World Tag Team Championship match 3.5 stars, the Continental Championship match 4.5 stars, the Women's World Championship match 4 stars, and the trios match between Paragon and The Don Callis Family 3.75 stars.[32]
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