AEW Dynamite:Blood and Guts was a broadly bogstandard episode of weekly tv elevated by a terrific centrepiece. The titular cage match was tremendous and very well executed, with every member of the match getting their moment to shine. The first hour was tougher to get through, as after the excellent opening MJF/Ospreay promo things died down considerably. Two squash matches in a row hurt the pacing, and while I enjoyed Suzuki/Jericho and Britt/Shida for what they were, neither set the world on fire. A few plot holes and bad decisions were also present through the show, but like last week this is a one match show, and that one match made it all worthwhile. A fantastic end to an otherwise watchable episode.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, it’s Blood and Guts as Team AEW battle The Elite. Chris Jericho will also defend his FTW Title against Minoru Suzuki. Elsewhere on the card, MJF addresses his International Title win and Britt Baker locks horns with fellow AEW Original Hikaru Shida. Let’s get at it!
Enjoyable cold open from Alex Marvez and Will Ospreay, with Ospreay’s playful chemistry with Marvez entertaining to observe.
AMAZING MJF Promo
Its great to see MJF back to his best in the promo department. Parts of this were brutal, especially attacking Ospreay’s deceased grandmother. MJF trashing the International Title in favour of the American Title is perfect for his character. Well at least it would be if he wasn’t IMMEDIATELY going to defend the title against Templario in Mexico. When it was the International Title I understood begrudgingly MJF may be forced into it, but I’d love to see the excuse now. Also, I would’ve liked to see MJF bring up the fact Ospreay did exactly the same thing in Japan when he was a heel, replacing the IWGP US Title with the UK Title. The rematch at Wembley is great, though having seen them wrestle 59 minutes im curious what else they can do. Then again, I’m sure they’ll show me exactly what more they have in their locker at Wembley. Really great delivery and expression work from both Ospreay and especially MJF here, though there were a few plot holes and minor inconsistencies.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 4 Stars
The Young Bucks rig the coin toss to give themselves the Blood and Guts advantage. Why on earth Bryce Remsburg wouldn’t check that coin is beyond me, but it’s still a fun angle.
ABOVE AVERAGE Chris Jericho vs Minoru Suzuki
I like this match more than our WR rating suggests. I had a blast with the multiple minutes of chops, and while everything post that is standard stuff, my enjoyment of Suzuki carried over. With that said, innovation was extremely minimal given most of the match was one move, which undercuts the rating significantly. Enjoyable, but probably overstayed it’s welcome by the end
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 2.75 Stars
Willow Nightingale is attacked by Kris Statlander who makes an eliminator match for next week. Why this can’t be just made as an All In match rather than giving it away I do not know.
Jeff Jarrett warns Bryan Danielson to change his mental attitude ahead of All In. This was logical and very well delivered. To nitpick though, Jarrett has the shortest sit down I’ve ever seen, sitting for about 5 seconds before standing up again and leaving. Slightly shoddy blocking aside, I like Jarrett’s involvement here.
GOOD Britt Baker vs Hikaru Shida
A solid but unremarkable match here, with two women who know each other very well having another good entry into their series. The post match is far more interesting however, with the debut of Kamille. I like this position for her, and I think her inclusion into the Britt/Mercedes feud will be a very useful introduction.
Result: Britt Baker by Submission via Lockjaw
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
Nick Wayne is entering the Royal Rampage, which will be a fun addition to the match.
SQUASH PAC vs Boulder
This was fun, if extremely quick, but I have no idea why this was on the show. I expected PAC to cut a promo responding to Ospreay and MJF, but it never happened. He just won and disappeared, which was a bit bizarre
Result: PAC by Pinfall via Brainbuster
SQUASH Mariah May vs Kaitland Alexis
Two squashes in a row is futile booking in modern wrestling, and even more evidence to why the PAC match wasn’t needed. This was almost identical, except it did have the very fun angle post match with Storm and May. Storm’s reveal was incredibly entertaining and advances this story well, turbo charging it ahead of All In
Result: Mariah May by Pinfall via Storm Zero
MUST WATCH Blood and Guts
I have had issues with previous Blood and Guts matches for being a mindless collection of carnage without structure and psychology. I was pleasantly surprised then to find this far more coherent, with me mostly being able to follow everything going on. There were also, in comparison to last year, far more memorable spots, with the staple guns, Bowen’s fall through the stacked tables and the fantastic end sequence. Hangman and Swerve provided a good storyline base for the match, though it makes me wish now they were the All In pairing. I could’ve used a touch more story from the other guys, but they still came up with incredible spots to make me forget that. Briscoe’s chair shot to the head did take me out of the match, and I don’t think that needs to be a thing anymore, but they are minor complaints for an otherwise outstandingly bloody cage match.
Result: Team AEW by Surrender
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.75 Stars
Overall…
AEW Dynamite:Blood and Guts was a broadly bogstandard episode of weekly tv elevated by a terrific centrepiece. The titular cage match was tremendous and very well executed, with every member of the match getting their moment to shine. The first hour was tougher to get through, as after the excellent opening MJF/Ospreay promo things died down considerably. Two squash matches in a row hurt the pacing, and while I enjoyed Suzuki/Jericho and Britt/Shida for what they were, neither set the world on fire. A few plot holes and bad decisions were also present through the show, but like last week this is a one match show, and that one match made it all worthwhile. A fantastic end to an otherwise watchable episode.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – July 24th 2024
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here :
