Let’s just get it all out of the way from the start. Blood and Guts 2023 was brutal, bloody, and plenty of “oh sh*!” moments the bloodthirsty Boston fans, and fans at home demanded. We got the AEW debut of Kota Ibushi. Let’s get out the Checklist of Horrors: Forks, chairs, tables, broken glass, thumbtacks, garbage cans, and A BED OF NAILS!!! I’m sure I left something else out.
Lots of blood, which surprisingly came late in the match. With forks being introduced right away, I figured it would be a crimson mat within the first few minutes, but surprisingly not. Omega and Claudio kicking off was intense, and with each entry anticipation continued building. Takeshita and Ibushi as final entrants was brilliant, the two extremes with one being booed out of the building while the other sent the fans wild. Action was non-stop, combinations of brawling and various series of piledrivers, suplexes, and big moves.
Call me an AEW mark, go for it. This was freakin’ fun to watch. If you grew up watching ECW and early-WCW days, you probably enjoyed this. If you’re anti-AEW just because you don’t like certain people, then you are robbing yourselves of enjoying a good show.
AEW Collision is proof of this, with FTR, Jay White, and Juice Robinson putting on a Match of the Year Candidate this past Saturday night.
Blood and Guts was won by The Golden Elite when PAC and Takeshita both abandoned the BCC, leaving them at the unforgiving mercy of their vengeful opponents. It seems Don Callis is building a stable of his own, and perhaps PAC might be his next recruit. Mox surrendered in order to save Wheeler Yuta from substantial harm.
It is noteworthy after the show went off the air, BCC and The Elite shook hands. I doubt there is a face turn, but the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Perhaps Elite and BCC now have a common foe.
Also on the show, Dr. Britt Baker, DMD squashed a jobber, Jack Perry goes uberheel by winning the FTW Championship in the most vile, heelish fashion one can imagine. I’m also surprised he wasn’t pronounced dead after Hook launched him off the apron with an Exploder Suplex. I will say this much, I very much like Jack Perry the Heel and the direction he seems to be going in. Very classic villain.
Backstage: Darby Allin, Nick Wayne, Orange Cassidy, Trent Barretta, Chuck Taylor, and Kris Statlander are with Renee Paquette, where some matches are made, talk of the Rampage Rumble, and a challenge on behalf of AR Fox to challenge for the AEW International Championship.
In the main event of the first hour of the show, MJF and Adam Cole defeated Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia to win the Blind Tag Team Eliminator Tournament. The whole lead up to this has been hysterical and some of the best television out there. Another “bros night” goes awry, and backstage they unveil their ring gear and entrance jackets. Fantastic. Cole surprises MJF with a remix/mash-up of their entrance themes, and we get a freakin’ dance-off before the bell even sounds. Every moment was priceless and can’t ever be replicated. MJF’s facial expressions are gold. The match was great, felt very 80’s/90’s, plus the crowd (and audience at home) lost their collective minds when Better Than You Bay Bay hit the DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE and WON THE MATCH.
A confrontation with FTR got heated, even more so when the winners’ music got played instead of FTR’s, prompting Dax to yell at Tony Khan through a ringside camera.
Also to note, Chris Jericho was on commentary during the match, afterwards attempted to console Garcia and Guevara. However, neither wanted anything to do with him, blowing him off, walking right by, leaving the Fozzy kingpin high and dry.
Ever since Double or Nothing, Dynamite gradually picked up, and definitely a much better show since Forbidden Door. Is it possible the high praise and high level of wrestling on Collision is inspiring the locker room to kick up their game?
