-Ok, out of the gate let’s get the cards on the table. Neither of the Blood and Guts matches that AEW presented this year were all that worthy of being Blood and Guts matches. The men’s match was more ready than the women’s, but in neither instance did it feel like I was watching two teams that hated each other enough to do the wild kind of violence we saw during the matches.
Story first
-That’s why it was important for AEW to start the show with the backstage interviews the way they did. When Renee Paquette talked with the Don Callis Family and Mick Foley with Team Ospreay, they were able to construct a mini story for the men’s match to stand on. More on this in a minute, but establishing the overconfidence of everyone in the match aside from Copeland did a nice job setting up the eventual match finish. The women’s match didn’t get the same promo time and the match lacked that through line connected story.
-The women’s Blood and Guts match had plenty of blood and guts action. The match certainly delivered from that perspective and lived up to the match name moniker. Most of it felt overly performative. This was a stunt show more than it was a fight. Don’t get me wrong, there were some strong performances inside of the stunt show. Megan Bayne was an absolute monster. She brought a dangerous vibe and super level of intensity that elevated the emotion of the match. She wore a crimson mask of blood that was outrageous, but also the perfect visual. Kris Statlander got the win for her team. Totally fine. She and Harley Cameron are getting a tag title match at Full Gear, so why not give them a big win as a jolt of added momentum. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but wasn’t memorable either. For a match that is sold as a career changer, it should have a longer lasting impact on those involved.
-Well, what do you know … Brodido and Adam Page WILL face Swerve Strickland and The New Level in a Texas Death Match for the AEW World Trios Championships at Full Gear after all. Look, we knew things would end this way, so the inevitability of the stipulation coming to fruition isn’t the problem. The problem is that the story behind getting to the stipulation had all the makings of something intriguing and now all of it is off the table. Strickland pushing his opponents, The New Level not fully understanding the gravity of Texas Death, and the Strickland/Page history alone gives various entry points into unique storytelling. None of those entry points were taken. Instead, one backstage attack and brawl moved things to Texas Death zone. A missed opportunity and money left on the table.
-It was nice seeing Mercedes Mone get a one-up physically on Marina Shafir. Smart booking. Shafir doesn’t really take much offense at all and that’s by design. Being a lethal killer is the gimmick and that gimmick doesn’t work if you’re constantly getting beat up. Mone is the world champion, though. She should be able to crack that armor a bit and she did. This booking allows for more drama in the match when it goes down at Full Gear.
Kyle Fletcher runs the show
-The men’s Blood and Guts match was equally as wild as the women’s one from an action and violence perspective. Nobody in this had the visual that Bayne did, though. Darby Allin took some crazy bumps, The Young Bucks kicked opponents in the face with tack filled shoes, and there was plenty of blood. The best part of the match wasn’t any of that. The best part of the match was the end. As Kazuchika Okada choked Adam Copeland with a chain, Kyle Fletcher got in his face and gave him a heelish ultimatum as his entire team was being overwhelmed with violence. Fletcher simply told him to give up or the violence would continue. Because AEW took the time to lay a foundation for Copeland to be worried about the futures of his teammates, this threat by Fletcher landed effectively. As Fletcher beat on Will Ospreay, the audience could feel Copeland’s begrudged sympathy. When he finally gave up, the audience groaned, but understood what had to be done. Now, Darby Allin getting launched off the top of the cages after the match was over was unnecessary, but I get the goal. Fletcher called for it and they wanted that for some heat on the world title challenger at Full Gear. Instead, the audience just reacted to the big stunt bump. Still, Fletcher stole the show in this match. In a lot of ways, the match was designed specifically to get him more over as a heel heading into Full Gear. He delivered.
Which Blood and Guts match did you like better? Men’s or women’s? Let us know in the comments!
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