At AEW Revolution, Christian Cage finally cashed in his Casino Gauntlet contract, turning the Jon Moxley vs. Cope AEW World Title match into a three-way bout.
However, Cage was unsuccessful, as Moxley capitalized on the chaos and choked out Cage to retain the AEW World Championship.
Following the event, some fans criticized the match’s placement as the main event and questioned AEW’s decision to have Moxley retain. However, according to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live, the match was originally intended to be even more chaotic, with additional wrestlers and surprise returns planned—before those ideas were scrapped at the last minute.
“I do know this, okay? I don’t know all the details, but there was an idea for the main event that involved way more people than ended up being out there, including some returns. At the last minute, it just got axed. I don’t know who it was or what they were going to do, but there was a second plan that didn’t take place. It wasn’t Shane McMahon for the love of God. Whatever it was, it involved people who had been there before or had been there in the past. It was not a Shane McMahon debut.”
Alvarez also shut down rumors that Cope refused to put Moxley over, clarifying that Moxley was always set to retain and move on to a title match against Swerve Strickland at AEW Dynasty.
“I think what happened was there were changes to the main event, and I think people heard about that. Then they saw what almost happened with the hand on the chest, and then he got yanked off. They came to this conclusion that he [Cope] wouldn’t put the guy over. That’s not what happened. I’m 99% sure that, no matter what was planned before or after, Moxley was always retaining, and he was always going on to face Swerve at the next pay-per-view.”
Despite the last-minute changes, AEW is moving forward with Moxley vs. Strickland for the AEW World Title at Dynasty, while Cage’s next move remains uncertain.
