The 2026 Double or Nothing was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was the eighth annual Double or Nothing and took place during Memorial Day weekend on May 24, 2026, at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the "Buy In" pre-show. In the main event, MJF defeated Darby Allin in a Title vs. Hair match to win the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the AEW International Championship; Jericho, The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin), and The Elite (Kenny Omega, Jack Perry, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Demand (Ricochet, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona), The Don Callis Family (Mark Davis and Andrade El Ídolo), and The Dogs (David Finlay and Clark Connors) in a Stadium Stampede match; and in the opening bout, Cope and Cage (Adam Copeland and Christian Cage) defeated FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship in a New York Street Fight "I Quit" match where if Cage and Cope had lost, they would have disbanded as a team forever. The event also saw the return of Kyle Fletcher, who had been out with an injury since March as well as the on-screen AEW pay-per-view debut of Hardcore legend Mick Foley, who was signed a few days prior.

Production Background

Double or Nothing is considered one of All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) marquee events, having first been held in 2019, which was the promotion's first professional wrestling event and first pay-per-view (PPV) event produced. It is held annually in May during Memorial Day weekend and is one of AEW's "Big Five" PPVs, which includes All In, All Out, Full Gear, and Revolution, the promotions five biggest annual shows. Since its inception, it carried a gambling theme due to the event being held either in the Las Vegas area or a town/venue associated with casinos.

On February 18, 2026, AEW announced that the eighth annual Double or Nothing event would take place at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York on May 24, 2026. This marked the first AEW pay-per-view to be held in New York City, and the fifth AEW event to be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center following the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 editions of Grand Slam at nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium. Tickets for the event went on sale March 9.

Broadcast Double or Nothing aired via PPV through traditional cable and satellite providers. In the United States, AEW PPV events are available on HBO Max at an exclusive rate for subscribers. The event will also be available in the United States and internationally on Prime Video, PPV.com, and YouTube. Additionally in the United States, the show was broadcast at Dave & Buster's and Tom's Watch Bar locations. Outside of the United States and Canada, the event was available to stream on MyAEW.

Storylines Double or Nothing featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Collision.

After a one-year hiatus, Chris Jericho returned to AEW on the April 1 episode Dynamite, renaming himself mononymously as Jericho. The following week, Jericho signed a new multi-year contract for AEW and began a feud with The Demand (Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona) after they interrupted him. According to Jericho, his contract allowed him to challenge anyone of his choice, and he chose Ricochet, the group's leader, for a match at Dynasty, where Ricochet defeated Jericho by pinfall. Following his loss, Jericho began an alliance with The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP) on the April 22 episode, however, The Demand would defeat Jericho, Lashley, and Benjamin at Collision: Playoff Palooza on April 25, with Ricochet pinning Jericho a second time. On the April 29 episode of Dynamite, Jericho was attacked backstage by The Demand. The following week, Jericho called out The Demand in the ring, with Ricochet challenging Jericho for a Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing, which he accepted. They eventually brawl, with The Hurt Syndicate later arriving to aid Jericho with Lashley and Benjamin joining Jericho's team. On the May 9 special episode of Collision: Fairway to Hell, Jack Perry defended his AEW National Championship against Don Callis Family member Mark Davis. However, Ricochet, who was the one Perry defeated at Revolution to win the title, interfered, causing Perry to lose the title. Because of that, Perry announced that The Elite (Perry, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega) would join Jericho's team. In response, Ricochet recruited Davis. On the May 13 episode of Dynamite, Ricochet also recruited Don Callis Family member Andrade El Ídolo and The Dogs (Clark Connors and David Finlay).

This year's Double or Nothing would feature the Owen Hart Cup, a yearly annual tournament established since 2021 where the winner receives "The Owen" trophy and a commemorative belt. The brackets for men and women was announced on the May 13 episode of Dynamite, with three quarterfinal matches, Samoa Joe vs. Will Ospreay, Bandido vs. Swerve Strickland, and Alex Windsor vs. Willow Nightingale being scheduled for Double or Nothing. The rest of the quarterfinal matches alongside the semifinals will take place on AEW's weekly television programs Dynamite and Collision with tournament finals matches taking place at Forbidden Door on June 28 and the winner receiving a world title match at AEW's flagship show All In on August 30. On the May 20 episode, Nightingale announced that she was injured, and unable to compete in the tournament. Winsor's opponent was then announced to be a Wild Card entrant, with another quarterfinal match, this one between Athena and Mina Shirakawa, scheduled for Double or Nothing.

In March, Darby Allin set his sight on the AEW World Championship, held by MJF, who would then make an agreement with The Don Callis Family to prevent Allin from coming after his championship. Allin was then scheduled to face Andrade El Ídolo at Dynasty, where if Allin won, he would have a shot at the title. Allin won the match, and invoked the title match three days later at AEW Dynamite: Spring BreakThru. Allin went on to defeat MJF to win the title for the first time after successfully landing four coffin drops. The match lasted 2 minutes and 15 seconds, marking the fastest AEW title win in company history. Following the win, Allin began defending the title weekly on Dynamite and Collision. MJF constantly demanded a rematch for the title, however, Allin declined numerous time, stating that MJF had to put something on the line. On the May 6 episode of Dynamite, MJF would again demand a rematch, to which Allin also made a demand for MJF to put his hair on the line to accept the rematch. Initially refusing and attempting to put other things on the line, such as his Burberry scarf and $1,000,000, MJF agreed to put his hair on the line on the following week's Dynamite, with both MJF and Allin signing the contract to make their Title vs. Hair match official.

Event

RoleNameCommentatorsExcalibur Tony Schiavone Nigel McGuinness Taz Jim Ross Don Callis Spanish CommentatorsCarlos CabreraAlvaro RiojasAriel LevyRing announcersArkady AuraJustin RobertsRefereesAubrey EdwardsBryce RemsburgMike PoseyPaul TurnerRick KnoxStephon SmithPre-show hostsRenee PaquetteMick Foley Zero Hour The Zero Hour pre-show began with an introduction for pre-show co-host Renee Paquette, who then introduced wrestling veteran Mick Foley, making his AEW debut as a pre-show co-host. Foley expressed how he fell in love with professional wrestling again thanks to AEW.

The opening match featured AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) against Viva Van and Zayda Steel (accompanied by Christopher Daniels) in a five-minute championship eliminator, where if Van and Steel lasted the whole five minutes, they would receive a future tag team title match. Divine Dominion both executed a running kick on the team, Bayne then took down Steel with an exploder suplex, and the team took down Steel with a double chokeslam for the win, with fourteen seconds left, thus Van and Steel failed the championship eliminator.

The next match was a trios match featuring The Opps (Hook, Anthony Bowens, and Katsuyori Shibata) facing the Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and Daniel Garcia, accompanied by Marina Shafir). During the final moments of the match, Castagnoli successfully landed a DDT on Bowens, but failed to pin him. Bowens was later attacked outside the ring by Yuta and Garcia, and Castagnoli successfully landed his signature uppercut with the help of Yuta and Garcia, pinning Bowens for the win.

The next match featured a 10-man tag team match, consisting of The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, Roderick Strong) and Boom & Doom ("Big Boom!" A.J. and Q.T. Marshall, accompanied by Big Justice, The Rizzler, Harley Cameron, and a Vita Coco mascot) going against Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Shawn Dean, Carlie Bravo, and Anthony Ogogo), accompanied by Christyan XO. The Conglomeration and Boom & Doom took the victory after the team landed a triple DDT, with A.J. pinning Bravo for the win. Following the match, Shane Taylor Promotions began staring at the celebration of The Conglomeration and Boom & Doom from the ring apron, seemingly wanting to fight, only to be stopped by Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, and Mance Warner.

Following the match, Zero Hour hosts Renee Paquette and Mick Foley entered the ring to talk about Double or Nothing's main event. Foley predicted that Allin would win the match, which MJF was displeased about and interrupted him. MJF entered the ring, face-to-face with Foley, telling him that he failed during his most prominent moments. Foley responded, claiming that he had lost many matches, but also said that he never lost a match in 2 minutes and 15 seconds, referencing MJF's world title loss to Darby Allin. Foley called MJF's quick loss a disgrace, to which MJF responded with a low-blow to Foley. MJF looked to hit Foley with his Dynamite Diamond Ring, only to be chased out by Darby Allin.

Preliminary matches