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I have to admit, I wasn’t as pumped for Blood and Guts this year as I have been in the past due to the poor build to the match and the fact that it had no stakes. I was hoping the match itself would deliver and the follow-ups from MJF/Ospreay and Mariah May/Toni Storm would make this a memorable show. Here we go!
HITS
MJF AND OSPREAY
The epic match from last week needed a good follow-up and I thought they accomplished that thanks to MJF completely turning back the clock with his heel work. This promo could have easily been from 2-3 years ago. He had most of the fans booing him throughout and there was no attempt by him to be clever or cute in his words. He’s a jerk and that’s the way it should be.
MJF even put over the International title by crapping all over the International title. Making it “American” is a brilliant move to solidify his reaction when he defends it in England.
The opening segment with Alex Marvez was odd, but Will Ospreay was great running into the ring and showed some good passion on the mic in his brief retort to Max. I also thought Ospreay retrieving the old International belt from the trash can was a smart move to show respect for the title.
This title is clearly now slotted as AEW’s secondary title if you look at the past champions and the current storyline. My hope though is for MJF and Ospreay to move past it by the end of the year and focus solely on the world title.
SUZUKI-JERICHO CHOPFEST
I still think they could have moved this match to next week so they didn’t have two hardcore matches on one show, but they did their best to differentiate it from Blood and Guts by having that sick chop-off. The fans told me all I needed to know about whether to make this a “Hit”. They were wildly into this match.
Say what you will about Chris Jericho and his current gimmick, but he deserves credit for putting himself through a lot of punishment for our entertainment and is doing everything he can to make the “Learning Tree” work as a midcard gimmick.
BLOOD AND GUTS MATCH
Yeah, it delivered. It took a while for the match to get going, but once it did, it was amazing. The lengths these 10 wrestlers went through for us fans should be praised. While the build was weak, the storylines and callbacks woven throughout were well done. The staple gun spots were wild. Bowens falling through the tables was nuts. Darby scaling the inside of the top of the cage to hit a coffin drop through a table was unreal. One specific spot was disturbing and needs its own “Miss” below.
The finish was one of those that was predictable after it happened. It makes sense for the AEW team to win this to even things up and then set up a blowoff that actually has major stakes. We will see. They still have a lot of work to do to make sense of how things actually work backstage, like do the Jackson’s actually have the power to fire Hangman.
QUICK HITS
– Great use of old footage to remind fans of the history between Britt Baker and Shida before their match.
– I loved the debut of Kamille to be the “heavy” for Mercedes Mone. That made perfect sense.
– I also enjoyed the Bryan Danielson backstage interview with Jeff Jarrett lighting a fire under him. This should get Bryan to have a new focus on trying to win the World Title at All-In.
MISSES
UNPROTECTED CHAIR SHOTS TO THE HEAD
This really must end. How much more research needs to be done and evidence of CTE to ban this forever?? The Blood and Guts match was off the rails. There was a ton of violence. This spot was not needed. The kendo stick shots to the midsection were brutal enough as a visual. Please stop doing this.
STOKELY’S CHALLENGE
Why would Stokely Hathaway suggest an eliminator match for Statlander against Willow instead of a title match? That’s ridiculously dumb. It makes absolutely no sense. Challenge her to a match and then next week have the announcers say CMLL gave the go-ahead for it to be an eliminator rather than a title match for whatever reason.
AEW has been stacking these Dynamite shows the past month and it really has paid off when it comes to entertainment value. They are giving fans great TV matches, great promos, and stories to build to All-In. They are building excitement for All-In and for later in the year as well.
Continued thanks to everyone listening to The All Elite Conversation Club on the PWTorch Dailycast podcast lineup. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW! Subscribe free by searching “pwtorch” and subscribing to the PWTorch Dailycast. Send questions and comments for the show to allelitecc@gmail.com.
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