FORT WORTH, Texas – When Wednesday night rolls around, 38 men will enter Cowtown Coliseum.

But just five will exit the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption Thursday night with spots secured at the true endgame inside AT&T Stadium May 18-19.

With the two Championship rounds set to welcome 25 total riders, and last weekend’s Eliminations qualifying the inaugural batch of 20, the midweek Ride For Redemption represents the pack’s last opportunity to punch their respective tickets to the home of the National Football League’s (NFL) Dallas Cowboys.

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And with the second stage consisting of just two rounds, we’re turning the drama to 11 as we watch on to see who really wants to extend their season a few more days for their chance at not only securing the coveted World Finals event title, but hundreds of thousands of dollars!

Proven talents in Sage Steele Kimzey, Silvano Alves, Claudio Montanha Jr., Andrew Alvidrez and Dener Barbosa who, respectfully, haven’t had the seasons they’d imagined, have already taken advantage of the spicy new format, securing their stage three spots via last weekend’s opener, albeit with just one qualified ride each.

Which is both a salute to the bovines who brought some quality effort and an ode to just how important one score can be.

But in the dire circumstances of win-or-go-home situations, one beats none 45 out of 45 times. And with plenty of talent up and down ahead of Ride For Redemption, each of the five cowboys have to be pretty happy to be out of the Danger Zone.

RELATED: Seven-time World Champion Sage Steele Kimzey leads event qualifiers into AT&T Stadium

Dealing with injuries throughout what seemed like the entire season, Texas Rattlers’ star Cody Jesus was ruled out of the midweek event on Tuesday morning due to aggravating a few bumps and bruises during the Eliminations rounds.

And with Kansas City Outlaws’ standout Leonardo Castro now set to miss this weekend’s Championship showdown, his 5-on-5 series teammate No. 17 Julio Cesar Marques will be out of Thursday night’s draw and into Saturday night’s lineup, as he was the next-highest ranked man in the UTB standings.

But a quick look at Thursday’s competitors reveals there are plenty of talented riders set to return to Cowtown Coliseum for the two-night shootout. However, they won’t be entering on the evenest of playing grounds, as 20 of the contestants at Ride For Redemption have already logged four rides inside the legendary venue via their participation at Eliminations May 9-12.

Whether you look at that as four bulls under their belt, nerves out of the way and ready to kick it up a notch on a revenge-based note …

… or the idea they have to return to the very arena they didn’t have the best luck at during the opening weekend, while possibly still feeling the physical after-effects of four bulls in four days (at the end of a very-taxing, 50+ attempt season as is).

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At the same time, the incoming bull riders are potentially rested, if not warmed up from various other opportunities from last weekend, be it PBR Canada or other non-PBR ventures.

One thing is for sure: The pack features a mixed blend of talent, consisting not only of riders from Eliminations, but from a unique bag of invitations, including PBR Teams-based qualifiers and top-performing individuals from the PBR Stockyards Showcase (a weekly Touring Pro Division event hosted Thursday nights inside Cowtown Coliseum).

So when you see the likes of Daniel Keeping (who clinched his Texas Rattlers squad the 2023 PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas last fall), Nick Tetz (a PBR Canada standout turned budding Arizona Ridge Riders star) and Austin Gamblers’ veteran Ramon de Lima (who not only finished Top 11 in four of his last five Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events but turned in a third overall finish at the 2023 PBR World Finals) in the lineup, know that a majority of these riders have qualified to World Finals in more flattering ways than their last-chance circumstances of 2024.

With No. 19 Alex Cerqueira and No. 20 Keyshawn Whitehorse representing the final Top 20-ranked guys in contention and two of the more consistent threats from the regular season, fans will watch on as dozens of starting-caliber PBR Teams talent not only attempt to secure a spot inside Jerry World, but look to improve their summer series stock overall.

Fan favorite No. 27 Boudreaux Campbell is set to dance with Gangster Time for the third time. Successful in one of his two attempts thus far, the recently acquired Missouri Thunder rider will look to improve to 2-1 all time aboard the animal athlete on Thursday night. His teammate, Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, who remains tied with Campbell via a matching 233.5 UTB points, is primed for a Round 1 matchup against Shot in the Dark, while Austin Gamblers’ man No. 37 Ezekiel Mitchell has a chance to hit a homerun atop Cracker Jack Thursday.

Each of the three have shown high-end flashes this season but haven’t been able to string together a few at the same event. But with Ride For Redemption awarding the final five spots to the highest aggregate-collecting cowboys come the end of Thursday night, they each very much have a chance to rejoin the chase.

With the opening round of the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption set to invade Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, May 15, let’s take a look at who’s drawing into the lineup inside Cowtown Coliseum during Round 1:

ROUND 1 MATCHUPS Jake Morinec vs. Mr. Excavator Jesse Petri vs. Triple Aught Marco Eguchi vs. Joy’s Bang Bang *Qynn Andersen vs. I’m Your Daddy Mauricio Gulla Moreira vs. Game Over Daniel Keeping vs. Grey Fox Bob Mitchell vs. Mama’s Boy *Alex Cerqueira vs. Strong Arm Nick Tetz vs. Little Tex Ramon de Lima vs. Bruised Ego Briggs Madsen vs. Smoke Down Lucas Fideles Souza vs. Try Me Elizmar Jeremias vs. California Hearthrob *Jean Fernandes Pereira vs. Pneu-Dart’s Chief Wahoo Conner Halverson vs. Working Man Jose de Castro vs. Bomb Diggity Hayden Harris vs. Fat Randy Paulo Eduardo Rossetto vs. Shot in the Dark Leandro Zampollo vs. God Bless America Rafael dos Santos vs. Suffering Succotash JaCauy Hale vs. War Daddy *Joao Henrique Lucas vs. Crazy Times *Ezekiel Mitchell vs. Crack Jack Arthur Antonialle vs. Snoop Dog Ednelio Almeida vs. TBR’s Buffalo Joe Kyler Oliver vs. Full Throttle Wyatt Rogers vs. Taylor’s Cowtown Throwdown Callum Miller vs. Mercy Michael Lane vs. Rock ‘n Roll Grayson Cole vs. Nipomo Dawson Branton vs. Rowdy Mason Taylor vs. Rip Lucas Divino vs. Storm Trooper *Boudreaux Campbell vs. Gangster Time *Keyshawn Whitehorse vs. Buffalo Heifer Felipe Furlan vs. Highwire Shane Scott vs. Dangerous Medicine Vitor Losnake vs. Seth Wadley’s No Bull *Denotes a rematch OUT DUE TO INJURY/OTHER Cody Jesus (Injury) Julio Cesar Marques (Qualified to Championship with Leonardo Castro ruled out due to injury) ROUND 1 REMATCHES Alex Cerqueira vs. Strong Arm (4.33 seconds in Tulsa, Oklahoma) Boudreaux Campbell vs. Gangster Time (86 points in Sacramento, California; 2.98 seconds in Nashville, Tennessee) Ezekiel Mitchell vs. Cracker Jack (4.80 seconds in Jacksonville, Florida) Jean Fernandes Pereira vs. Pneu-Dart’s Chief Wahoo (2.45 seconds in Charleston, West Virginia) Joao Henrique Lucas vs. Crazy Times (5.03 seconds in Guthrie, Oklahoma; 5.83 seconds in Houston, Texas) Keyshawn Whitehorse vs. Buffalo Heifer (2.89 seconds in Fort Worth, Texas) Qynn Andersen vs. I’m Your Daddy (78 points in Fort Worth, Texas) FOLLOW ALONG Round 1’s action inside Cowtown Coliseum will begin Wednesday, May 15 at 7:45 p.m. CDT, with live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CDT via RidePass on Pluto TV.

The second, and final, round of Ride For Redemption action starts Thursday, May 16 at 7:45 p.m. CDT, with coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CDT, also airing via RidePass on Pluto TV.

RELATED: Where to Watch: PBR World Finals – Ride For Redemption and Championship

Fans can also catch both rounds of the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption on the TUDN Spanish broadcast, with Round 1 set to air on Thursday, May 16 at 2 p.m. CDT and Round 2 set to round out coverage on Friday, May 17 at 2 p.m. CDT.

Supporters can stay tuned to PBR.com and PBR social media channels throughout the weekend for the latest scores, wrecks, injury updates and beyond as the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Ride For Redemption provides a last-minute opportunity for five riders inside Cowtown Coliseum May 15-16!

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media