It Sounds Like AEW Was Just As Sick Of Christian Cage's Cash-In Gimmick As Everyone Else (AEW News)

Christian Cage's failed World Title cash-in at AEW Revolution 2025 was a product of the promotion "just wanting to get this damn contract out [of] there."

These are the words of Sean Ross Sapp on Fightful's post-Revolution show. Per SRS, Christian was pitched the idea of cashing in at Revolution during the week of the show, with the failure playing out during the night's main event between Cope and Jon Moxley.

Mox vs. Cope featured interferences from Wheeler Yuta and Jay White before Cage's arrival. With White and Yuta brawling their way to the back, Christian ran out with his contract, signed it to officially enter the match, and landed a near-fall on Cope. Moxley then recovered to lock Cage in a Bulldog Choke, rendering him unconscious to end what had become a three-way dance.

Christian had been armed with his right-to-challenge contract since winning All In London's Casino Gauntlet match last August. Sunday's Revolution 2025 pay-per-view was the first time he had truly come close to cashing it in, though AEW had teased it on several occasions a la WWE's Money in the Bank gimmick.

Whether or not AEW will go back to the cash-in format with its next Casino Gauntlet remains to be seen.

Revolution also saw one of the best wrestlers in the world, Swerve Strickland, enter AEW World Title contendership by defeating rival Ricochet earlier in the night. Swerve owned the show's closing shot, hitting a diving Swerve Stomp from the bleachers while Mox was trying to escape down a tunnel, the World Title belt still locked in a case held close to his chest.