AEW Double or Nothing started out with a free pre-show event which included the Casino Battle Royal Buy-In event. This match was a battle royale with 22 entrants.
The match started with five men in the ring and they started the match. Every few minutes, five more men would enter the ring. After the first 20 were in the ring, there would be the 21st who entered.
The 21st was Hangman Adam Page. There was a surprise 22nd entrant in Orange Cassidy, a hilarious indie wrestler who is lazy and barely does anything in his matches.
Brandon Cutler, Glacier, Sonny Kiss, Ace Romero, Sunny Daze, Brian Pillman Jr., MJF, Joey Janela, Dustin Thomas, Billy Gunn, Jimmy Havoc, Michael Nakazawa, Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Isiah Kassidy, Ace Romero, Marq Quen, Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger from WWE), Tommy Dreamer, Marko Stunt, Orange Cassidy (the 22nd man showed up super late) were the competitors.
The match was what was expected from a battle royale with indie stars, with the gimmicks sometimes overshadowing the fighting (Orange Cassidy was a highlight, Dustin Thomas did some cool stuff for an amputee, and Jimmy Havoc had a staple gun).
However, the end was nice storytelling as Adam Page had to overcome the larger, stronger Luchasauras and then almost lost to a sneak attack by the top heel in the match, MJF.
Adam Page Wins The Casino Battle Royale To Become The First Contender For The AEW World Title https://t.co/eDw9w6yngG pic.twitter.com/z8dwXI3NWI
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) May 25, 2019
Then, Adam Page won the match and earned his spot in the first-ever AEW World Championship match.