10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2024

7. Casino Gauntlet Match - AEW All In: London

Stinger Stinger is da Stinger Sting Guy
AEW

The second singles Casino Gauntlet of 2024 might have been better than the entry included here - on one level. 

It was shorter, and there were fewer entrants. That meant there was minimal laying around and over-selling on the outside. It was more urgent. Amid the ultra-athletic hybrid sprint sequences, Jay White lurking and attacking with his expert positioning and spoiler persona functioned as a better narrative through-line.   

This is a coin toss, but the Casino Gauntlet was more special, more memorable. The surreal, once thought impossible return of Nigel McGuinness; Kazuchika Okada descending on Wembley like a living demigod; Ricochet’s warp-speed cameo debut: it was the surreal, impossible magic of AEW, bottled. 

The action was stellar, and the magic spell was so hypnotic that the over-selling wasn’t too egregious. The in-ring was too overwhelmingly great to give it too much thought. 

Hangman Page’s seamless Orange punch counter into the Dead-Eye; Zack Sabre, Jr. trapping Orange Cassidy with a European clutch from which escape looked impossible; Hangman Page looking like his head been blown off by Jeff Jarrett’s guitar: the finish was deflating, yes, but everything else was as relentlessly joyous as pro wrestling gets. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!