Tony Khan announces first-ever twist on popular match for AEW Dynamite
AEW President Tony Khan has shifted gears in a major way in 2024, and he's continuing to innovate following the climax of his company's summer storylines at All In and All Out. He's now announced that the inaugural Tag Team Casino Gauntlet Match will take place on tomorrow's Dynamite, and there are major stakes involved.
The Casino Gauntlet Match is one of AEW's most popular creations. It follows the format of a standard battle royal, but the entrants are random, the number of participants is unknown, and there is no timer nor time limit for the match. Most importantly, the bout features a sudden-death mechanic and will end when someone is pinned or submitted, regardless of whether all the entrants have joined yet.
The unpredictability and chaos of the Casino Gauntlet Match quickly made it a fan favorite, and Tony Khan is capitalizing on that by producing the first-ever tag team version of the bout. The All Elite Chief took to X/Twitter today to announce that the inaugural Tag Team Casino Gauntlet Match will take place on Wednesday Night Dynamite this week, with the winners getting a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Grand Slam on September 25.
"The winners of the inaugural Tag Team Casino Gauntlet Match will fight @youngbucks for the World Tag Team Title at #AEWGrandSlam! Don't miss Wednesday @AEW, TOMORROW!" Khan wrote.
Tony Khan thanks fans for surprising turnout at AEW All Out 2024
Tony Khan and AEW took a risk when planning the All In pay-per-view. With All Out traditionally taking place on Labor Day weekend, the two events were set just a week apart in 2023. This year's All Out was shifted back one week, but it still gave fans only 13 days between the pay-per-views.
With All In being such a massive show, many were concerned over the sluggish ticket sales for All Out. However, a late surge ended up filling the remaining space in NOW Arena.
Tony Khan took to X/Twitter after the show to thank fans for watching and announced that 9,000 had turned up to see it:
"Thank you all watching #AEWAllOut TONIGHT, live on ppv worldwide from the sold-out @NOW_Arena in front of 9,000 amazing wrestling fans in Chicago right NOW!" Khan tweeted.
AEW has had its share of struggles with television ratings and attendance throughout 2024, but the company has seen a critical and commercial upswing in recent months. Whether Khan can build on this momentum remains to be seen.