10 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Double Or Nothing 2021

7. Casino Battle Royale JUST Hauls Itself Over The Line

Jungle Boy
AEW

In the first of two matches that were trending towards the not great at all before the last three minutes, the Casino Battle Royale was baggy and confusing even by genre standards before the surprise result elevated it to the euphoric.

It was positioned well on the card because the crowd needed to climb down. But it also went too long by tacking on worn story beats to needlessly drag everything out, nullifying its placement. Max Caster was great value, though. He's not the only heel in this promotion that can't possibly play one come July.

The Casino format is inherently bad. The cool moment of the Christian Cage/Matt Hardy standoff was lost within the next entrance of the "suite" deal, the added confusion of which renders an already confusing match all the more.

Sometimes it's hard to remember, generally, if a certain wrestler lurking on the margins was actually eliminated in a normal battle royal. In the Casino Battle Royale, it's hard to know if that's the spot they were even going for. It was a blur of themes and cuts and suites with some cool enough moments sprinkled in, if you could find them.

The arrival of Penta brought the crowd back to life, and his exchanges with Jungle Boy lit up a drab match. Lio Rush showed a glimpse of the incendiary performer who rocked the show in NXT's Cruiserweight division, but Matt Hardy was too slow to keep up with him.

Seriously: Jungle Boy was so good that he elevated a mess into something special. That word is being thrown around a lot. This show warrants it because it featured moments like Jungle Boy swinging around a ring post (!) and eliminating Christian Cage, who was tremendous in the savvy veteran role. The closing sequence was worked with a fantastic pitch of suspense. The manipulation here was expert; just when it was thought that AEW had had a 'mare - of course Jungle Boy was going to get cheered over Christian - Jungle Boy actually pulled it out.

The surprise was so welcome that it made Daily's Place erupt into 'Tarzan Boy' all the louder.

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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!