Order of Entry: Orange Cassidy, Kazuchika Okada, Nigel McGuinness, Kyle O’Reilly, Zack Sabre Jr., Roderick Strong, Mark Briscoe, Hangman Page, Jeff Jarrett, Ricochet, Christian Cage, Luchasaurus

AEW promised the unexpected in the Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW World Championship, and it did not disappoint.

First, we got the in-ring return of legendary former Ring of Honor world champion and commentator Nigel McGuinness. From there, we had a special appearance from New Japan Pro-Wrestling star and 2024 G-1 winner, Zack Sabre Jr.

The most unforgettable moment came when Ricochet made his AEW debut entering through the curtain to a thunderous ovation and wasting little time showcasing his explosive offense.

Despite all of the surprises and some superb in-ring content that came about because of them, it was the arrival of Christian Cage late in the match that set up the finish.

Luchasaurus emerged from the locker room as the final entrant, teasing that he had set aside the Killswitch moniker and was about to put an end to his relationship with the leader of The Patriarchy, only to lay out O’Reilly and hand Cage the victory and title opportunity.

The finish was a letdown considering everything that preceded it. We had already seen more than our fair share of teases from the dino-masked big man that his partnership with Cage was about to come to an end, only for him to do what was in the best interest of the heel.

It was wholly unnecessary.

Cage could have stolen a victory in any other form or fashion that would not have felt as repetitive as this did.