Welcome to the AEW All In 2024 PPVPreview presented by GrapPro.com
We will be previewing all matches from the pay per view this week. On the day of the show I will do an all encompassing predictions as I have done in the past.
Casino Gauntlet Match
How do you write a preview for a match where you barely know who will be in it?
Here is what we know about it. First of all, what’s the Casino Gauntlet match?
In pro wrestling, a gauntlet match is essentially where two wrestlers begin in the ring. If one is pinned/submitted/Dqed/counted out, the match doesn’t end but instead someone comes in to replace them.
However, AEW is not doing that. Instead, the match has one fall. If someone is pinned or submitted the match ends. It is including the WWE Royal Rumble timed intervals so the match begins with two men. The twist is that the intervals are random. This is probably AEW going, “You know what? People keep being so anal about us following the rules all the time so we don’t care to have people stop watching these intervals. They are now random” which okay fair play.
So essentially:
– Two wrestlers start.
– A new wrestler enters at a random interval.
– The match ends on the first pinfall or submission.
I’ve already seen people say this is AEW’s answer to the Royal Rumble match. And honestly? It could become that. I do feel they need to change the name. The “Casino” title really doesn’t work for this. Championship Gauntlet might be better. Or just think of a whole new term. Maybe AEW has a trademark lying around…
House of Ass… maybe not that one.
Match Madness? Potential there.
But now it’s called the Casino Gauntlet match. The first one took place April 24, 2024 for an AEW International Championship match at Double or Nothing. Will Ospreay won. The next one happened on May 29, 2024 this time for an AEW Men’s World Championship shot at Forbidden Door. Once again Will Ospreay won.
This time will also be for an AEW Men’s World Championship match, and we are told there will be 21 participants. Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Hangman Adam Page, and Evil Uno are confirmed to be participating, with OC being the first wrestler in. Unlike the Royal Rumble, the advantage to being first in is getting to be able to try to pin someone early. In a Rumble you have to wait for every competitor. In the Casino Gauntlet? You could end the whole match in 10 seconds.
There has been questions on if the AEW Men’s World Championship shot has to be scheduled (Darby Allin currently has a shot at the AEW Men’s World Champion at Grand Slam in September) or if it is an anywhere anytime like when Killshot won the 20 wrestler Battle Royal at World’s End for a TNT shot and let Christian Cage cash in the shot right after Adam Copeland beat him to regain the TNT Championship.
If it’s scheduled? That pretty much opens the match wide up. It could be anyone winning. It could be someone new debuting like Ricochet getting the shot immediately. Would be a great way to debut him hot. It could be someone who challenges the AEW Men’s World Champion at All Out or WrestleDream. If Bryan Danielson ends up the champion, you could have someone like Samoa Joe return and face Danielson in a tribute to the ROH Fight of the Century time limit draw they had in 2006.
But if the shot is anywhere anytime? That opens up a different possibility. That possibility being Hangman Adam Page.
Page could win the shot and cash it in on whoever wins the main event at All In. If Swerve Strickland retains, effectively retiring Bryan Danielson, you could have Hangman Page ruin the moment by using it to beat Swerve Strickland finally and take the AEW Men’s World Championship from him.
Or: Bryan Danielson defeats Swerve Strickland, big celebration, he isn’t retiring, this isn’t the Final Countdown… only for Hangman Page to cash in and take the title from Danielson. This means Danielson doesn’t retire because he did do what he set out to do in winning the AEW Men’s World Championship. And Hangman Page? He doesn’t have to beat Swerve Strickland to keep the title away from him. This would be a win/win situation. It also means the match against Darby Allin at Grand Slam is a rematch after Darby defeated Hangman.
It would also be a shocking way to end All In and I don’t know if AEW is ready to go that route, especially with a cash-in scenario. That said, I can’t think of anyone who makes more sense to win that shot right now than Hangman Page. He’s one of the top heels in the promotion. The story with Swerve Strickland is still red hot and the fans want to see it. Win or lose, I do expect Page and Swerve to butt heads at All Out. It would be exciting if that’s with Hangman Page as AEW Men’s World Champion. Or even if it’s a shot you have to schedule? You can have them fight at All Out for the shot itself. Swerve could say hey Hangman, you want me? Put the shot up on the line.
There’s a lot of intrigue that goes into who could win this. I am a big fan of this and the Royal Rampage as two matches that AEW can call their own. Neither are as good as Lucha Underground’s Ultima Lucha, and I wish AEW would just steal the concept and call it their own, but these are still decent.
Next time they do it? Give the women a shot with it. I was originally fantasy booking them doing a Women’s Casino Gauntlet so Emi Sakura could have her Wembley moment. Probably doesn’t happen this year, but hopefully they try it out.
Hey, at least Will Ospreay won’t be winning this one?
I think.
