Christian Cage was the wrong choice to win the AEW Casino Gauntlet Match

The Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All-In is one of the highlights of the summer. It was a fantastically booked match, with Nigel McGuinness making a huge return and Ricochet making his debut in All Elite Wrestling. Everything was firing in the match. Until the end. Christian Cage picking up the victory was a bad outcome to a match that gave the show so much energy.

There was so much fun in this Casino Gauntlet match. And there’s a lot to look forward to now that it is over. Some of the interactions hinted toward what will be big feuds in the future, such as Adam Page and Kazuchika Okada’s growing frustrations with each other. But Cage’s victory doesn’t really create anything interesting in the future.

One thing AEW does well is booking their champions strong. They are given worthwhile title reigns that include several wins. Those wins are frequently predictable, as Tony Khan books matches for the champion to win and makes them look strong until it is time for them to drop the title. Christian Cage’s win lines himself up as Bryan Danielson’s first challenger. But did he need that spot? The overwhelming response online was a firm “no.”

Cage was recently in this position when Swerve Strickland needed a challenger. The Elite selected him to take on Strickland at AEW Double or Nothing. While it was a fun match, there were zero expectations that he’d pick up the victory. The same is true here. Cage will be a fun promo, as he’s a great heel, but there’s no reason to bite your nails at the idea of him defeating Danielson. In the words on Nick Saban, “It ain’t gonna happen.”

There were so many other directions AEW could have gone with a winner in this match. Take McGuinness for example. At some point, he and Danielson will need to have that big match. Seeing McGuinness in his first match in 13 years should have been topped up with him getting the win. That would have set up a big match between the two. It is not a match that McGuinness would need to win, but it is one that would make sense.

Or imagine if Jeff Jarrett won. AEW could then play off the moment he had with Danielson a few weeks ago in which he sparked a fire in the new champion’s heart. That is all the foundation needed to create a story that could last a few weeks until the next PPV.

Looking for a great wrestler who could have a fantastic match with Danielson? Kyle O’Reilly was right there. Another option is more interesting than Cage.

AEW continues to fall to the same few individuals, and while they are beloved figures, it creates not only predictable programming, but keeps others from rising in any interesting capacity. AEW needs to infuse the top of the card with fresh talent, and going with Christian Cage isn’t the way to do it.