The first Casino Battle Royale occurred during the pre-show of AEW's inaugural event,Double or Nothing in May 2019, and was a men's match. The winner of this first match was entered into the match to determine the inaugural holder of theAEW World Championship atAll Out in August of that year.[1] The second Casino Battle Royale was a women's match and was held during the pre-show of the All Out event mentioned above. Like the first, the winner of this second iteration was entered into the match to determine the inaugural holder of theAEW Women's World Championship on the debut episode of AEW's weekly television show,Dynamite.[2] Further Casino Battle Royales took place atAll Out in 2020,Double or Nothing in 2021, and onDynamite in 2022 for men, and atAll Out in 2021 for women. A tag team variation of the match, called the Casino Tag Team Royale, was first utilized atRevolution in March 2021, where the prize wasAEW World Tag Team Championship match[3][4] – and on the episodes ofDynamite immediately preceding the Revolution pay-per-view in 2022 and 2023. In December 2022, a version for three-man teams was established called the Casino Trios Royale, where the winning team would split $300,000.[5] The Battle Royale was supplemented by the Casino Ladder match – aladder match in which the prize, a largepoker chip, is suspended above the ring – in 2020, and by the Casino Gauntlet match – a modifiedgauntlet match – in 2024.
TheCasino Battle Royale is a modifiedrumble rulesbattle royal that features 21 entrants. It begins with a group of five wrestlers, and every three minutes, another group of five wrestlers enters, while the 21st and final entrant enters alone. The wrestlers are grouped based on the suit they drew from adeck of cards—spades, diamonds, clubs, or hearts—and the order of when each group enters is based on a random draw of the cards. The 21st and final entrant is the wrestler who drew thejoker.[6] The winner receives a world championship match of their respective gender's division—either the AEW World Championship or the AEW Women's World Championship.[1][7]
For tag teams and trios, rumble rules are also implemented, but participating teams are not grouped by card suit; instead, one new team enters every 90 seconds. Individual eliminations occur when a wrestler has gone over the top rope and both feet hit the floor; a team is eliminated when both members of the team have been ruled out of the match. The match ends when one wrestler or team is left.
TheCasino Ladder match is a modifiedladder match where the prize, a largepoker chip suspended above the ring, signifies anAEW World Championship opportunity. The match has nine entrants: two participants start the match in the ring, and an additional wrestler enters the match every ninety seconds. The poker chip above the ring may be retrieved at any point during the match, even if not all entrants have participated.[8] The first ladder match took place atDouble or Nothing in 2020 and was won by the debutingBrian Cage.[9] Further Casino Ladder matches took place on the 2021 anniversary episode ofDynamite, which was won by"Hangman" Adam Page,[10] and atAll Out in 2022, which was won byMJF.[11]
TheCasino Gauntlet match is a modifiedgauntlet match. Featuring a maximum of 21 participants, the match starts with two wrestlers in the ring and new entrants enter at randomly-timed intervals. The match may end at any time by pinfall or submission, even if not all 21 participants have taken part in the match.[12] The first Casino Gauntlet match, on the April 24, 2024 episode ofDynamite, was won byWill Ospreay, who earned anInternational Championship match atDouble or Nothing;[13] the prize for subsequent matches has typically been a world championship opportunity in the division. BeforeForbidden Door in 2025, open-ended contracts could be executed at any time at the holder's discretion, not dissimilar to the rules ofWWE'sMoney in the Bank concept; after that show, AEW presidentTony Khan announced that any future matches guaranteed by the contract would require one week of advance notice.[14]
Lost toJon Moxley for theAEW World Championship. This was originally a singles match between Moxley andCope, but Cage executed his contract during the match to convert it into a three-way match.
