-Well, this was a very good night for AEW. Both the men’s and women’s Blood and Guts matches over-delivered for the builds they were given. More importantly than that, the show felt special from the very beginning. AEW set a nice tone for a violent night and then made good on that tone at every turn.
Mixed talent delivers in historic women’s match
-When the women’s Blood and Guts match was announced, the participants were stars that had some beef with one another, but on a collective level, the match felt like a hodge-podge of talent mixed together because Tony Khan wanted to do the match. While a fair assessment of the build, the match worked tremendously well. It had the edginess that you’d want from a Blood and Guts match, but an emotional finish that saw babyface Toni Storm be a good person to save her friend from violent Blood and Guts torture. The finishing spot was sold well by all involved and it got legit heat from the North Carolina audience.
From The Takedown on SI:
-The standout in the match was Marina Shafir. That woman was on another level in terms of intensity and brought a sense of unpredictability with her when she entered the bout. I don’t know that she leveled up in terms of importance, but there is a vibe there waiting for AEW to capitalize on if they want to.
-The first-ever women’s Blood and Guts match as a standalone was a blast of a match, but it also moved stories and business for future AEW television. All of the tag team championship tournament matches got extra hype because of something that happened inside Blood and Guts. That tournament is significantly more intriguing because of what happened.
Silly Bucks
-So, The Young Bucks will decide next week whether or not they are with The Don Callis Family? Yeah, this continues to be a mess. The Bucks will either a) accept the offer and join The Don Callis Family — rendering this will they/won’t they story pretty pointless. Or, b) they’ll turn babyface and not join Don Callis, which undoes all of the last six months worth of story around them. Neither option is a good one.
-Adam Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs was exactly what it needed to be. It was a violent match on a night that called for violent matches. Page vs. Samoa Joe inside a steel cage was made official this week, which makes all the sense in the world at this point.
-I could take or leave Ricky Steamboat out there this week. It’s fun to see legends like that, but he wasn’t particularly good. It felt as if he forgot lines multiple times and the audience didn’t react as positively to him as I’d have guessed. It got some heat on FTR, though, and shined a light on the tag titles too.
A slow start for the men inside Blood and Guts
-It took a little bit, but the men’s Blood and Guts match was tremendous by the time the dust settled on it. The match was slow to start and the Mark Briscoe “I won’t be participating because I’m injured” storyline was too cute, but the violence in the match got the audience to invest. The violent spots built on each other until the big one with fire and Darby Allin was the main event.
Darby Allin was the MVP. Not only did he look the most violent throughout the match, falling off a stage through two tables that were on fire is simply out of this world crazy. AEW can’t do that spot again for five years, but it worked on this night to showcase just how violent Blood and Guts can get. The spot also jolted the audience’s interest in the match. They were invested in the babyfaces winning after that one and gave the submission-based finish plenty of room to breathe.
End of the road for the Death Riders?
-AEW is all-in on the Jon Moxley losing storyline. He lost Blood and Guts for his team and the announce team reminded the audience that he was in a funk repeatedly. I have to think this leads to a Death Riders break-up sooner than later.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Blood and Guts AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
