"The match had some highlights, but it came off like "throw everyone in, spin the wheel, someone gets a belt." Entertaining in parts, but not exactly meaningful."
[7.0] "Once you've seen one gauntlet you've seen them all. Doesn't make it not fun though and as good a vessel as any for TK's ongoing new trinket obsesstion. Guess we will see where this National title goes and what condition it's in in 18 months time."
[8.0] "So much fun, absolute chaos all the way through. Virtually every single competitor was able to shine here, most notably both members of JetSpeed as well as Mark Davis who was dishing out piledrivers like no tomorrow. Ricochet winning made sense even if it was a bit predictable, but his dynamic with the Hurt Syndicate is always great, and adding the Death Riders in here gave the match a much more chaotic element. (8/10)"
[7.0] "At this point it's been a bit since the show happened, so I don't remember a ton of the spots in the match. But this was an extremely fun match, as the Casino Gauntlet always is, and the right man was crowned as the first National Champion. Also, boy does that National Title look beautiful!"
[8.0] "This was a really fun gauntlet, basically a massive spot fest, but an enjoyable one from start to finish. My only real gripe is how long Bobby and Shelton stayed down, I get that they were beaten up, but they were out for what felt like the entire match. Ricochet's character work and match psychology keep getting better and better, he absolutely shined here and genuinely feels like he deserves to be the first AEW National Champion. Good Match."
[8.0] "We didn't get Bobby vs Shelton to start like we thought, but let me tell you - the first "real" move in the match was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Ricochet was the only one in the ring when the Death Riders' Claudio music hits. Claudio makes his way to ringside and Ricochet decides to run and fly thru the ropes at him (tope suicida), but Claudio hits him PERFECTLY with an elbow/uppercut. Just absolutely phenomenal. Roddy Strong, Speedball, and Kevin Knight are all great entries. They each get their stuff in and are really made for this showcase. However, the surprise star for my money? Mark Davis. When he hits a piledriver (the specific variety of which I don't know the name) on Ricochet, it is so goddamn good and only second to the aforementioned Claudio spot. Then a little later we look to be getting Davis vs Claudio in a hoss-off, but the Hurt Syndicate finally wake up and re-enter the ring. I guess the theme of this Casino Gauntlet is blue balls for any meat vs meat matchup. Ricochet steals the win after Kevin Knight is about to pin Yuta. A spirit gun ends Knight and we have our inaugural "National Champion". This was really fun and as good as any of the previous Casino Gauntlet matches, minus the participation of Will Ospreay who is injured. Mark Davis should be in the C2 and make the final 4."
[7.0] "Always been a fan of Casino Gauntlets, surprise entries will always make me excited and they're a fairly good way to push forward a story when there's something big on the line. In this case it's the National Championship which has no inherent prestige, but I truly believe the winner, Ricochet will quickly add to its prestige with his excellent work as of late. My favorite part was everything Daddy Magic did."
[8.0] "I am not usually a big fan of Casino Gauntlet Matches, but I have enjoyed this one a lot more than the others. My favourite moments include the faceoff between Knight and Bailey, Menard fighting Garcia and, overall, every moment when a new competitor entered the match. In particular, Mark Davis looked absolutely fantastic and I hope he can manage to build something from this, since I believe that he is an underrated worker. I liked the final sequence and I think that Ricochet is the right winner."
[7.0] "Oh, these casino gauntlets. As usual this was filled with talented people and there was a bunch of cool stuff mixed in, and I was pleased with the winner. What holds it back is that I hate the structure of the match and the way it's executed. They always make a fuss about who enters #1 and #2 but nobody ever works the match with any urgency, despite every minute ticking away means a worse chance of winning you constantly have guys just farting around or standing at ringside blatantly waiting for their turn to come in and do stuff. There was enough to like here that I have to give a fairly good rating but I really do think the format of this match needs a big update."
[6.0] "[3.0*] Miles better than the All In Casino Gauntlet (which I saw some people calling the "greatest Gauntlet ever") and objectively a good match, but I just think these matches should rather happen on Dynamite Main Event's instead of PPV midcards. Almost 25 minutes of entrances and showcases may be a little bit tiring, specially when you get to the last matches."
[10.0] "Dieses Match war für mich im höchsten Grad unterhaltsam! Es gab kleine Geschichten, große Geschichten und einfach so viele richtig geile Momente und Moves. Ob vom Hurt Syndicate, Jet Speed oder von Claudio - es war wirklich genial zu sehen und ich bin super positiv überrascht."
[8.0] "That casino gaunglet looked way worse than the first ones that Ospreay won, but much better than the last ones he had (only counting the male side, the female one at All In was great). This type of matches don't need to have surprises at all, right wrestlers coming up at the right time is enough to make the experience enjoyable. Ricochet clearly the MVP here, not only he kept the bulding of his rivalry against the HS in a great way, but also his facial reaction, selling, everything he did was great. Props also for the incredible 40 seconds run Mark Davis had, he literally got no pop during his entrance, just to be fucking cheered after doing some of the nasty piledrivers someone in the business can deliver. Felt sad that we didn't had the exciting Shelton vs Bobby bout, but at least we had a unpredictable Jet vs Speed bout. This was probably the best booked match in the entire night. So much fun."
[7.0] "This was fun, Ricochet winning was the right choice, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with the belt and i enjoyed all the surprise entrants especially Claudio and i hope he gets a major push in 2026."
[5.0] "Nothing in this match really felt very interesting as someone who isn't keen on ricochet or the hurt syndicate , some parts were pretty fun such as Mike Bailey and Kevin knight against each other but nothing too interesting here in my opinion"
[6.0] "I'm generally lukewarm on casino gauntlet matches, mainly because most of the match is full of guys laying around on the outside until they get to do another spot. This match had some fun moments for sure, like the Jetspeed faceoff, Mark Davis piledriving everyone, and the Menard/Garcia encounter, but it never hit the level of greatness. ***"
[5.0] "The AEW midcard is spending a round. And I really mean a round, cause Ricochet ending the MVP disciples' opening scenario, is where the match ends up again at the end. In between, Lashley and Benjamin take a 15-minute nap. Meanwhile, the rest of the participants, how could it be otherwise, bounce from near fall to near fall until it's Ricochet who gets to reap the rewards. Casino gauntlets remain difficult to portray. Coolest guy in the whole thing? Castagnoli, who keeps Cassidy from executing a cover by lifting him with his waistband."
[5.0] "I just don't seem to like the Casino Gauntlet matches like others do. I like what it is going for. Anyone can win at any time before even everyone has made it out. However, I think by having no counter on how many people are actually in the match, it removes a LOT of tension. Like if, say, Ricochet went for the pin here and we knew we had ONE last person to come out, and their entrance music hit right as Ricochet went for the pin, imagine the scramble to see if he could win in time or if the last entrant could stop him at the final minute. Instead we have people going for pins and it never feels like a big deal. Then they win... oh... uhh cool I guess"
[5.0] "Worst Casino Gauntlet yet. And they already struggled with some Gauntlets. No surprises (debuts, comebacks), no surprising face-offs, no interesting prize, not enough fast paced spectacle to make it the adrenaline rush it started as with their first one and should always be. Really disappointing they are already weakening the one real own gimmick match. Only there to keep on telling that boring stuff between Ricochet and the Hurt Syndicate. Waste of a gimmick, waste of time."
[6.0] "Great in-ring action overall. The problem is that AEW does this type of match too often. I really don't care about the new belt, the winner was just squashed a couple of days earlier, and I'm tired of Hurt Syndicate vs The demand. The time intervals made no sense and there were no returns or debuts to add any excitement."
[6.0] "Well in my opinion this is one of the weaker of the casino gauntlet matches. May be because we just seen two of them at all in and that wasn't to long ago. Still believe that this should be there royal rumble and that there isn't a point in having it as often as they do. Not much big talking points for me idk how I feel on the moment of ricochet being the first national champion hopefully it works out. (***1/2)"
[8.0] "Was such a fun fast paced match. Love to see Ricochet come out on top after being destroyed by the hurt syndicate the passed couple weeks lol. Each man's entrance was made with a purpose and that was awesome. Especially Claudio's, that forearm to sit down on apron he hit when entering the match was so cold lol. Would have liked to see a tag team turn on each other in this one and we almost got that with JetSpeed but maybe that was just a teaser. Great match overall and satisfying outcome"
[8.0] "Would have loved it be longer but I get it with this stacked card. Happy for Ricochet dude deserves it. As an old school head I totally loved how the belt looks. Mid Atlantic and Georgia were some of the territories that made me love wrestling. I am geeked for the old connection to the current product of pro wrestling. Excited to see where this goes."
[7.0] "Much better than the Gauntlet we got at All In. Perfectly encapsulated what the CG should be, and how it should be booked to help elevate all of its competitors. Everyone getting a proper showcase, while having several different storylines advance. Speaking of which, I feel like the Death Riders shouldn't be feeding with Orange and Co. anymore. Everything since the Texas Death at All In, has lead to Darby's big win at Wrestledream/Blood & Guts. That should've been the dagger. I hope it was just for this one match, though, and won't be a lingering thing. Ricochet winning was great, and it's amazing to see him reinvent himself in AEW, after his stock dropped so much in WWE. ***3/4"
[7.0] "Matches like this really make you appreciate the immense amount of talent that AEW has on its roster. This was the best Casino Gauntlet AEW have put on in the last year, because it focused on clear individual stories to accentuate the typically excellent work on display. The finish was actually a bit abrupt, for once I could actually appreciate a Casino Gauntlet going a couple minutes longer, but Ricochet got the win over Kevin Knight in a deserved moment. A good match, very enjoyable overall"
[7.0] "An immediate return-to-form for Ricochet with some entertaining heel work followed swiftly by a spectacular uppercut from Claudio on the outside (who, himself, looked great throughout); although the GOA involvement made sense, I'm glad we got them out of the equation early as well. Although I was highly entertained (as I always am by Casino Gauntlet matches) and the wrestling was quality, I was a bit underwhelmed by a lack of shock entrants and big moments. I'm more than happy with the result in all honesty - my frustrations with the midweek squash remain, but that's besides the point."
[4.0] "Just the fact alone that this is for a useless 243th belt in AEW makes this skippable at best. The match itself was your usual overbooked scripted mess and mildly entertaining. There was little rhyme or reason to it. We start the match with an attack from Ricochet and GOA and we're told by Excalibur "remember this is no DQ". Why? Because it needs to be for them to do this angle. People being out cold for long periods of time for no good reason. I'm trying to look for positives here. It wasn't boring."
[5.0] "***1/4 normal match, nothing particularly noteworthy. The stipulation has its usual flaws and relies heavily on performance and timing. It wasn't bad, but it was probably, along with the opener and the women's tag team match, the weakest of the night. The result was interesting; Ricochet was a logical choice, although I would have preferred to see Castagnoli or Strong win to continue the Death Riders storyline or further promote the Conglomeration"
[7.0] "Such a fun match. I will say, I do not like how we were practically getting a rehash of the blood and guts feud, when the build for the mens wasn't all that memorable compared to the women. I also found it comical that Shelton/Bobby, given their stature, laid down after being ambushed early on for nearly 15 minutes. I also wished there were returns, but Matt Menard was a very good surprise and I'm especially glad that they're ready to kickstart the feud between DG and Daddy Magic after somewhat of an inconsistent build. Ricochet winning was the correct call, and I'm very excited to see what he does with the belt in promotions overseas."
[7.0] "The Gauntlet matches are fairly easy to digest and well-positioned amidst these major pay-per-views. The wrestling quality wasn't incredible, but the interweaving of storylines was quite enjoyable. There weren't really any surprises with the entrants, but the midcard runs were well-managed. In-ring quality: 1.75/4. Stakes: 1.25/2. Justification: 0.75/1. Card placement: 1/1. Suspense: 1/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 6.75/10. Match watched on Triller TV."
[7.0] "There's a long gap between 'no surprise entrants' and 'three straight Death Riders.' By that measure, this was the least exciting Casino Gauntlet in its short history. No one new or unexpected came out to fight for the National Championship, which almost makes me wish they'd called it sooner. Ricochet is a worthy first champ, apart from his repetitive feud with the HS."
[8.0] "[4, 25 Stars] Very happy with the result, there were some good sequences, but be careful not to overuse the stipulation, as it's becoming increasingly tiresome."
[7.0] "Good fun. Not a fan of gimmick matches, but AEW often makes these more enjoyable than not. It was a little contrived at times with how the perfect opponent came out in time to face their rival. And having Ricochet come out so early stopped the possibility of Shelton and Bobby fighting, which felt a bit of a cop out. Glad Ricochet got the win, and we'll see what he does with the title from here. MVP = Ricochet. Regardless of the win, he was a standout with his high flying, constantly being beaten down, along with his comedy spots - especially joining in with the Death Riders corner moves made me laugh."
[4.0] "I really really really could't care less about this match. I get that roster is big but this championship is useless at that point, Ricochet is nowhere nere where he was as an character just few months ago. Matching with GOA and feuding with Hurt Business only hurted him. Honestly everyone other than Ricochet would be better champion material now and I was very happy when match finally ended. I hope someone will get over by this title but I doubt at same time."
[7.0] "Really fun match, different from the other Gauntlets, which is great, if you repeat the same formula every match the stipulation feels less special, but this one was fun, there wasn't a lot of craziness and surprise appearances, but the stories being told throughout the match were very captivating. The match started with Lashley and Benjamin, and you could expect an unique physicality there, but they were wrestling like comrades, and suddenly Ricochet appeared to trash talk them while the Gates of Agony attacked them from behind. After that, it was a bunch of Death Riders entrances, and the crowd was PISSED, lol. After the sequence of heels, one after another, by how insufferable they are, the babyfaces started to enter, and Mark Davis had a great performance, and another nice moment was Daddy Magic entering the match just to beat the hell out of Daniel Garcia. Ricochet won the gauntlet quite easily, which was also cool, the match didn't need an overcomplicated finish - {***1/2}"
[7.0] "AEW already has enough titles, so adding another one didn't really excite me. I think there were too many participants for too little time, which meant some didn't get much screen time. Benjamin and Lashley, for example, started the match, but we barely saw them fight each other. Even Bailey and Knight, who clashed mid-match with a bunch of opponents in the middle of the ring, didn't really get much screen time. Ricochet will make a good first heel champion."
[6.0] "Keine Überraschungen, kein Drama. Eines der schlechteren Versionen des Casino Matches. Auch wenn Ricochet, als Champion, eine gute Wahl ist, ist ein weiterer Titel so sinnvoll wie Durchfall. ROH, CMLL, NJPW, Strong....jede dieser verteidigt regelmäßig seine Titel bei AEW und nun noch ein Gürtel. Wer braucht das? Was soll es bringen?"
[8.0] "This one was real cool. Just like a match like this should -- it was all about intersting interactions (funny enough, we didn't get the most interesting one with Roberto and Shelton). But Kevin vs. Speedball, Claudio hunting down Ricochet, and Matt Menard (who got a surprisingly good reaction) going at Danny G. All sorts of good action, but a bit too long for me. Also, Hurt Syndicate not being in the match for 80% of it was no good (I guess, that's their way of putting over Gates of Agony, but to me it looked like they didn't want to wrestle guys because they "should" in kayfabe murdering everyone but the big boys. Total heavyweight bias.) But everyone else actually worked real hard."
[7.0] "Ricochet gets his ass beat a lot here, well deserved win from him. The rest is what you'd expect from a casino gauntlet atp, fun spots all around."
[9.0] "One of my favorite matches of this genre and with an absolutely deserving winner. Ricochets performance throughout the match was amazing from the beatdown of the syndicate, to the reaction for the multiple Deathrider entrances, he put on one hell of a show. This match progressed and helped with a lot of the stories, especially Daddy Magic and DG. Added bonus the jumping lariat from Kevin Knight."
[8.0] "I really loved these Casino Gauntlet matches and they are finally really figuring out how to book them in a unique and fun way every time. Breezier than a Royal Rumble and less convoluted than a battle royal it really is coming around and I'm glad they are sticking to it as it really will take a few more years of these kind of matches happening consistently for people to really get use to them."
[9.0] "This was great fun, and i was pretty dissappointed with the length. Casino matches should usually go 30+ mins imo and this left a lot to be desired. But fantastic work from everyone involved, and it was nice to see brief pieces of action between tag partners. Great match, surpasses the all in one."
[8.0] "I mean personally i wasn't really looking forward to this mainly after how lacklustre the men's one at All in was but i have to admit this was a lot better than i was expecting and a lot more fun but can we please go a while with out a gauntlet match now. We actually got plenty of intertwined stories which also helped me get investment in the match weather it was THS and The demand, THS and Jetspeed, Death riders and Matt Menard and everyone vs ricochet it was a refreshing watch as it was just a peak spot fest which was lots of fun to watch and was kept at the perfect length instead of dragging on like the one at All In. We got great Combos of wrestler going at it that i don't think we have seen before like Ricochet and Claudio which was very cool. The sequence between Bailey and Knight was sick as well. The match after Bobby and Shelton got back up after the beating at the start is when this kicked into high gear for me seeing them go at it with Claudio and Davis was so sick with some great moves (shout out Dunkzilla he looked great the piledriver on Ricochet was nasty). Then THS cleaning the ring and Bullying Ricochet was really cool. The finish like every single one of these matches was someone taking advantage of someone else's work hitting their finisher and stealing the win i'm glad Ricochet won as well he has been really good since he got to AEW and finally got his reward winning a title. I'm excited to see where he defends CMLL and NJPW of course but it would be nice for him to go to places like DEFY and Hopefully he defends it on the last DPW show and also would love to come see him wrestle for it in Rev pro as it means i can go boo the bald bastard in person. Overall this was a return to form in my eyes for this type of match for the men and shows the formula works at around the 20-25 minute mark. (****)"
"Best Casino gauntlet I've seen, and while I wanted some returns, (Jay White, Keith Lee, Swerve or MJF) the story of Ricochet getting his ass beat the entire match was fun. [7.25/10]"
[5.0] "Didn't really care for this casino gauntlet match or the newly introduced unnecessary title but happy for Ricochet at least. His booking has been really bad for the better part of the year and the syndicate vortex killed all of his momentum but this should at least (hopefully) get something going for him again even if the title is irrelevant to me. Casino gauntlet matches should only be limited to a few occasions every year especially for men because it's becoming repetitive, this one somehow still better than the All In one but that's a low bar."
[8.0] "Many people complain about the Casino Gauntlet matches, but I think it's always a sucess because they manage to find interesting and funny stories to tell. Starting with the Hurt Syndicate, then Ricochet bringing GOA to take the guys down was a great idea in my opinion. The Deathriders putting 3 members on the match was funny, adding Castagnoli to the match improve the quality of it. Cassidy, Strong, and Menard chasing Garcia was also great moments. Finally, Ricochet wins the title and that is a wonderful decision. Ricochet always travelled the globe, he also deserved a title after the great work he did against Swerve earlier on the year. Good match and good booking."
[8.0] "Okay, not the best Gauntlet but definitely not the worst either. It was definitely missing a few big names, but in the end it's a mid-upper card title, so the roster involved was appropriate. Everyone did more or less well maybe a bit too many Death Riders or, in general, too many stables/tag teams but overall it entertained me, and the result was uncertain until the end. I was really afraid Bobby might win. I'm happy for Rico; it's a well-deserved reward for the great work he's done since joining AEW, with solid matches too. He'll never be a top guy, but this title is perfect for him. A good Gauntlet in my opinion."
[7.0] "This was good. One of the better Casino Gauntlets theyve done for sure. This did feel a bit formulaic at points with everyone making their entrance and hitting their moves before the next person came out but there was also a lot of very entertaining stuff here and everyone put in a good performance. The star of the match for me was definitely Ricochet, who gets tossed around and beaten up by everyone for the whole match after getting his boys to take out Bobby and Shelton at the start, but is ultimately able to sneak out with the win at the end. This belt will probably be redundant by next year but im happy with Ricochet as the inaugural champ as i think he's been doing some of his career best work over the past year. Overall, this was quite good and definitely an improvement over most of the other casino gauntlet matches that theyve had this year. ***1/2"
[6.0] "It was a gauntlet match. Stuff in the middle with Daddy Magic brought it down, but happy to see Rico get a belt and hopefully Demand get to travel with him on his exploits."
[4.0] "Devoid of surprises, full of played out rivalries and for a title that absolutely should not exist. A match that would've been better off on Dynamite or, actually, not being held at all."
[8.0] "Hands down the most fun match of the night. Ricochet's character work and match psychology just continues to wow me. I cannot believe I used to think of him as a boring high flyer in his WWE run. Thank god AEW exists to give guys like him a chance. He deserves to be the first AEW National Champion."
[8.0] "Das Casino Gauntlet Match bei abwechslungsreich und gut. Es hat das typische Muster gehabt, wie immer, jedoch fand ich es sogar hier besser umgesetzt als manch anderes Mal. Das Tempo war hoch und alle haben gut harmoniert. Zusätzlich sind noch storiesies aufgegriffen worden (****)."
[5.0] "Another one of these. This was pretty well wrestled overall, and they tried to do some different storytelling dynamics. But it's still just 2 guys wrestling while everybody powders outside, that's what happens every single entrance - it's as played out as Wargames match structure."
[7.0] "Ricochet was the standout of the whole damn PPV for me with his performance in this match. He just sold like a rag doll for the entire roster, has some hilarious moments, and I am so happy to see him win. Was also happy to see Mark Davis get some shine. I thought the match overall suffered from some of the general gauntlet match tropes, but overall was fun."
[7.0] "This was fun, however I kind of figured that Ricochet was going to win with the way he was going in the match (I personally wanted either Claudio or Roddy to win). The match itself was alright, nothing super exciting, but still had the crowd into it."
[8.0] "This was a fun Gauntlet, it was a massive spot fest and I enjoyed it. Alsoz why did Bobby and Shelton stay down for like thousand years? I know they were beaten up, but damn, they were down for almost the entire freaking match. Ricochet was an OK winner wish it was Shelton Benjamin or Claudio Castagnoli"
[7.0] "Recht unspektakuläre Gauntlet. Was aber nicht gleichbedeutend mit schlecht ist. Der Fokus lag eher auf den bekannten Storylines unter den Teilnehmern."
[8.0] "Starting with Bobby and Shelton was really fun, Ricochet entering right after was lovely! Ricochet is crazy funny on the mic. The Demon Claudio entering and really showing us what bald people can do. Daniel Garcia did well. Orange Cassidy was fun as always. Claudio is just that good. Yuta got some real heat and Death Rider numbers game felt good. Mark Davis reminds of a forgotten breed from the European indies circa 2010. Kevin "Matrix" Knight. Hurt Syndicate on that part time schedule in this match lmao."
[6.0] "okay match but this is definitely not aew speciality, it could be definitely more interesting seeing the roster and not single return and disappointing winner."
[3.0] "I hate the format of this match so much. The random intervals is really annoying. It just screams we're waiting for everyone to get their shit in and then we'll hit the clock. They never create any urgency that the match could end at any time. You know as a fan, you just have to wait for everyone to get out before the match is going to end so what is the purpose? Just do a battle royal. Any combination of any of these guys would produce a better match anyways. How many people are in the match? Who knows? They just do stuff and Ricochet wins and they are like, well we don't know how many more people could have been in this match. Is it endless? All 200 wrestlers from AEW and ROH could be in this match? Could this one match be a whole PPV if no one ever gets a pin? Stupid and a waste of time on an already bloated PPV."
[5.0] "Als kein besonders großer Fan des Hurt Business hatte ich mit dem Match und dem Aufbau so meine Probleme. Es war aber auch ansonsten recht chaotisch, die beiden Matches bei All In fand ich wesentlich besser strukturiert. Immerhin der Sieger wurde schon im Matchverlauf sehr gut dargestellt und wird hier sicher profitieren. Es wurde auch niemand bloßgestellt oder so, größtenteils zumindest. Dennoch fand ich manche Aktionen nicht so sinnvoll, aber das mag ein Ich-Problem sein. Wrestlerisch wars halt extrem spotlastig"
[8.0] "Casino Gauntlet: starts with the Hurt Syndicate in first, and next was Pricochet. The other members of GOA attack Lashley and Shelton. Ricochet attack MVP with his microphone while cutting a promo. Solid start. GOA absolutely murdered the HS. Ricochet meanwhile hits a spinaroonie. Outstanding. Next up (4) is Claudio Castagnoli. He immediately uppercuts Ricochet as he attempts a dive. Next up Garcia (5) and ricochet's reaction was hilarious. The D.R go to work on Ricochet and kick the snot out of him. Up next (6), Orange Cassidy and bald slaps Ricochet into a German Suplex. Peak OC. Number (7) is wheeler Yuta and this is very Death rider heavy. And they dominate OC. Ricochet tries to join in and gets battered, peak comedy. Next up (8) was Kevin Knight, leaps into Yuta immediately runs into the brick wall known as Claudio. Number (9) is Roddy who gets a few seconds and a sick kick before number (10) comes out and it's the first DCF member, Mark Davis and he is a wrestling ball. Up next, (11) speedball. Speedball and Knighy end up getting distracted fighting each other. Next up (12), and it's a HUGE POP for daddy magic who chase Garcia through the crowd. Time for a meat match. Davis and Claudio face off before Lashley and Shelton (finally recovered) get in the ring and they destroy everyone. ricochet back in and thrown around like a rag doll. Chaos ensues, this is great. Ricochet sneaks in and steals the win with the spirit gun. Fantastic match. 8/10"
[7.0] "Every entrant felt like it mattered. The Hurt Syndicate and Death Riders spots added chaos without derailing the flow. Some eliminations were a little messy but overall it was the kind of gauntlet that makes you want to rewatch each entrant's spot."
[9.0] "This match was sooo good to watch live it's chaotic yet clean and smooth? It really flowed so well and everyone was engaged. Filling in this cuz I was there in person and don't want to write essays lol. ((Error #8: Comment too short during ratings moratorium. Please enter a longer comment for your rating. During the ratings moratorium for events and matches, comments for ratings must be at least 250 characters long and contain a really good reason for your rating. Tribalism or excessive reactionism in your comment can lead to warnings (including ratings loss) or even ban, so please make doubly sure that your comment gives a good reason for your rating for this event/match. For more information on the ratings moratorium, click here.))"
[8.0] "This was the best casino gauntlet they have ever done. For the first (or second) time, Casino Gauntlet actually felt like it had no dead time, everything flowed well, actual stories were progressed. Ricochet is the star of this match. He's on an incredible run and his stooging kept the match glued together."
[8.0] "The leaks kind of ruined the match for me. I think the start was bad, but it improved a lot when Claudio and JetSpeed entered. I have to say Kevin Knight was brilliant; he's undoubtedly a huge talent who will go far. Ricochet winning is a great option. I wasn't a fan of the title design."
[9.0] "I'm a fan of aew but I'm not a sicko and my taste for a bit of sports entertainment in the midst of pure matches was comfortably met here. MOTN for me (yes, I know the tnt title match ruled but...) despite the crowd understandably not caring for the national championship lol. Ricochet fantastically following up Wednesdays angle. Genius booking here temporarily babyfacing Claudio and using the DR theme effectively (they screw up with Hangman and Swerve later). They then do it again with DG... wonderful. This is genius use of that DR music drop. Bryan burying Yuta's intelligence on commentary as he took his time entering felt improvised and made it all the better. Ricochet joining the DR with the corner spot was fantastic. No reaction for Mark Davis lol, but he had some nice moments. Great Hurt Syndicate spots here and Jetspeed spots there as well. This was really fun even though I was expecting a return. Still, 4.25*"
[8.0] "Great gaunlet match. I was a little bit frustated that we didn't got Bobby vs. Shelton in the beginning, but overall it was perfectly designed, with entrances making sense and telling a story. Ricochet winning is a good decision thinking in possibilities inside and outside AEW."
[7.0] "Not one of the strongest Casino Gauntlet matches but a good time, and the throughline of Ricochet's story throughout the match was great stuff. Going from being embarrassed and thrown around, to winning the title cheaply. He's going to have a great run as a midcard champion, perfect inaugural guy. MVP was probably Kevin Knight, so impressive."
[7.0] "This match is a Ricochet story match. We thought there would be tensions between the hurt business even lashley and Shelton started, only for Ricochet to draw number 3 and have his minions take out the hurt business, then to add karma, three death riders came out and they started to beat the crap out of him. But at the end Ricochet got the last laugh. Excellent match"
[8.0] "One of the best gauntlets they have do so far. Not really any surprises but the action was great, and told a great story with Ricochet just eating everyones finishers and then getting the win in the end lol imo better than the All In gauntlets. Good stuff."
[9.0] "At the end of the day, battle royal are simple in the big picture: you want everyone to Get Their Shit In (TM) without making it that obvious that's what's happening. But it's hard in execution, but all the same, I think they managed to do that pretty well. The match started off pretty well with the Syndicate not going for the cheap Fingerpoke spot, but instead a nice bit of grappling... before Rico, that shit-weasel, comes out to put the heat on him. What then follows is the Death Riders working a little bit face against Rico, with an amazing shot of Rico being like "oh, I fucked up" when the Dies Irae hit. It's things like this as the undercurrent through the match that made this an incredibly fun match to watch, with, of course, the correct winner in the end in Ricochet. Another good match on the night!"
[8.0] "One of the best of these they've run for sure. Ricochet was the MVP of the match with all his antics and insane bumping while looking great when he got offense off; he's a stooge heel in a way we've never seen before and he was the right winner from multiple angles. The Death Riders gave the match a lot more structure too, and I loved the entrance of Menard completely throwing Garcia off his game (Danny's been awesome as a character lately, Yuta too). Everybody put in the work here but I think Knight, OC, Roddy & Dunkzilla really showed out. ****"
