AEW Dynamite – “Blood & Guts”
July 24th, 2024
By: John Siino
Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
RESULTS
- FTW Championship: Chris Jericho (c) over Minoru Suzuki via pinfall (13:57)
- Dr. Britt Baker DMD over Hikaru Shida via submission (10:18) (Recommended)
- PAC over Boulder via pinfall (1:48)
- Mariah May over Kaitland Alexis via pinfall (1:36)
- Blood & Guts: Team AEW over The Elite (49:03) *14:37 was the match time once the match officially started*
Have You Ever Driven In America?
The show starts with Alex Marvez in the hotel parking lot trying to get a word with Will Ospreay about last week’s loss to MJF. Ospreay says he will say what’s on his mind once he gets to the arena, just to find out that someone has flattened his car tired with a screwdriver. Ospreay takes Marvez’s truck and drives away as Marvez asks him if he’s ever driven in America before, to which Ospreay says ‘nope’.
The American Champion
We cut to the arena where cheerleaders introduce the new AEW International Champion MJF to the ring with a cheer. MJF calls Ospreay a gutless coward for not hitting the Tiger Driver and says he couldn’t even beat Swerve Strickland. MJF then gives a word to ‘Shane’ about his World Championship, as the crowd chants for him to shut the fuck up. MJF says he’s waiting for the right moment to pounce and Swerve should hope that it never comes. When the spotlight is on him, he shines while Ospreay melts and he beat him last week without breaking a damn sweat and calls it the easiest match of his life, doing it quickly and efficiently and wrestling analysts have called it the most dominant win of all time. MJF says retiring isn’t good enough for Ospreay, and says he should take a long walk off a short pier but luckily for him, his grandma died recently so he can dig a grave next to hers, but a football field away from her tombstone as she’s fat and needs all the room she could get. MJF says if Ospreay has something to say he would come out now, but he won’t because he’s worthless. MJF talks about the ‘workhorses’ that wore the International Championship, call them a joke, and says working hard is for the poor like all the fans here. He says he deserves a title to his superior bank account and upbringing and this title like Daniel Garcia, Ospreay, and the ‘white trash hicks’ is nothing more than garbage as he tosses it in a trash can that’s ringside.
He continues that he deserves a title that symbolizes the best wrestler and country in the world, and not the cesspool of a nation that is the United Kingdom and he reveals the American Championship. He stops the USA chant and says it’s not representing nasty Nashville but the most magical place in the world in Planview, Long Island, New York. He holds the title up and gets USA confetti, music, and the US Flag banner with his face instead of the stars. Ospreay runs into the ring as MJF runs away. Ospreay says at minute 59 MJF was breathing out his asshole, and he knew he couldn’t beat him so he reached into his trunks, went past his tiny little dick and pulled out the Diamond ring, and cracked it over his skull and he would rather cheat than admit someone like Ospreay is on his level. Ospreay says he is here to say he had a meeting with Tony Khan & Christopher Daniels and he has his rematch at All In and calls it still the International Championship and takes the old title from the garbage.
Blood & Guts Coin Flip
Bryce Remsburg is in the back to do a coin flip but as he goes to see The Elite, we see that Christopher Daniels has been taken out by them. Matthew Jackson says they have their own coin and flip it revealing it’s The Elite and they will have the advantage tonight, before asking where the whereabouts of ‘Hangman’ Adam Page are, before revealing it was a double-sided coin.
FTW Championship FTW Rules Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
They start the match exchanging chops that continue for the first five minutes of the match, even going into the other ring during this. This eventually gets a ‘chop forever’ chant. Minoru Suzuki finally knocks Chris Jericho down with a chop as we go into picture-in-picture.
We come back and they are still chopping away, as Excalibur says they continued the entire commercial break. Finally, after close to nine minutes, Jericho changes it up with a kick and knocks Suzuki down with a clothesline, as Jericho’s chest is busted open. They take it to the apron, where Suzuki catches Jericho into an armbar. They fight on the commentary table as Taz screams to Jericho that he sucks. Suzuki starts using a chair on Jericho’s back before grabbing another one from under the ring. Suzuki places Jericho’s hand in a chair and smacks it with another chair. Suzuki starts snapping Jericho’s fingers right in front of the fans before telling Jericho to chop him, which he does with his injured hand, which backfires. Back inside, Suzuki puts on an armbar while bending Jericho’s fingers. Jericho breaks it up with an eye rake and hits a Codebreaker, but Suzuki kicks out at one. They run the ropes before Suzuki puts on the Sleeper and tries the piledriver, but Jericho reverses it into the Walls of Jericho. Suzuki kicks his way off of it and puts on another Sleeper but Jericho escapes out of the Gotch-style Piledriver with a low blow before hitting the Judas Effect to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Chris Jericho by pinfall at 13:57
Suzuki gets up right after the match, puts the Sleeper back on, and hits the Gotch-style Piledriver. Bryan Keith & Big Bill run into the ring and take out Suzuki before Katsuyori Shibata’s music hits, as he shows up behind Bill & Keith and attacks them both. Shibata knocks Bill out of the ring before taking out Keith with the Kitchen Sink.
CMLL Eliminator Match
Renee Paquette is in the back with the new CMLL World Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale, but before she can say anything, she gets distracted by Stokely Hathaway as Kris Statlander attacks her. Stokely suggests an Eliminator Match for the CMLL World Women’s Championship for next week.
Go All In
We see footage from earlier today with Renee talking to Bryan Danielson who revealed that Doc Samson told him that his neck is fixable right now and they hope it remains like that. Danielson said he was going to do his best and enjoy the moment and talked about how awesome Wembley Stadium is. Jeff Jarrett walks in and says he heard the entire conversation and says Danielson knows better than anyone that he was crushed for not winning the Owen Hart Foundation Cup. In hindsight, Danielson was the perfect guy to win it and he couldn’t have been more proud to raise his hand. Jarrett says Danielson is going to face a champion who is dialed in and knows exactly what to do. He tells Danielson he has to get ready physically and mentally, and tells him to not make an excuse or have one leg out the door, and if he’s going to go ‘all in’ to ‘freaking go all in’, and a lot of people believe in him and he’s on the very top of that list. Danielson tells Renee he has a lot of work to do and leaves.
Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Hikaru Shida
This is Dr. Britt Baker DMD’s first match since September where she lost to Kris Statlander. They take it to the corner right away, where Baker is able to roll Hikaru Shida into a Lock Jaw attempt, but she escapes it. They take it to the outside and fight against the barricades, with Shida getting the upper hand, before putting Baker on the apron where she hits her with a knee lift as we go to picture-in-picture.
We return with Shida in the ring taunting Baker on the outside, but she runs back in and hits a neckbreaker and a sling blade. Baker takes her glove out but as she does her DMD taunt, gets attacked from behind by Shida. They fight in the corner where Shida hits a German Suplex, before rolling Baker up into a submission, as Baker keeps escaping. Shida eventually puts on a front Guillotine, before hitting a knee strike, and goes to the top rope but misses. Baker follows with a kick as they go back and forth with more offense, before both fall down on their knees. They start trading pin attempts until Baker attempts a Lockjaw, but Shida gets her foot on the rope. Shida goes to grab the Kendo stick but is conflicted and chooses not to, as Baker takes advantage and hits a snapping Neckbreaker for two. More back and forth, until Shida hits the Falcon Arrow, but Baker reverses the Katana attempt and puts on the Lockjaw as Shida taps out.
Winner: Dr. Britt Baker DMD by submission at 10:18
Kamille Debuts
As soon as the match is over, Mercedes Mone’ music hits as she comes out wearing a cowboy hat. Mercedes gets on the mic and calls that rather impressive before saying she knows Baker wants a title shot at All In. She knows everybody is waiting to hear her answer, and that answer is ‘No’. As Baker has her back turned, she gets attacked by the debuting Kamille. Kamille puts Baker in a Torture Rack before dropping her down as Mercedes joins Kamille in the ring.
Royal Rampage Rumblings
We go to The Patriarchy as Christian Cage says Nashville doesn’t deserve him so he’ll do this promo from the back. Cage mentions how they won the Trios Championship and Nick Wayne will enter the Royal Rampage for a chance at the AEW World Championship, before giving Wayne the floor to speak. Wayne stops short and notices Kip Sabian asking him why he’s been hanging out in the background of all his segments. Sabian says it’s nothing before Wayne says he knows Kip Sabian will be in the Royal Rampage and he’ll eliminate him, before saying that nobody cares that Sabian’s father is dead.
PAC vs. Boulder (w/ Bronson & Jacked Jameson)
PAC starts by taking Boulder to the corner, but Boulder comes right back and tries a Moonsault Press, which PAC gets out of the way of. Instead of talking about this match, commentary bickers about the name changes of the championship belts, before Excalibur plugs MJF putting his title on the line in CMLL soon against Templario. PAC follows with a dropkick and a brainbuster to get the pin and the win.
Winner: PAC by pinfall at 1:48
The Violent People Are Here
We go to Team AEW in the back as Swerve Strickland says the spirit of AEW is on the line tonight and he asks his teammates if they are ready to get violent, so they will show The Elite what it’s all about. Swerve talks about leading them, but Darby Allin tells him to shut up and says this isn’t about him but about taking out The Elite and they won’t see eye to eye tonight or any night. Swerve says after all this is said and done, if he wants to get violent with him they can. Max Caster then interjects and says he will get violent with Swerve & Darby also. Anthony Bowens says this isn’t about them, but about eliminating The Young Bucks. Mark Briscoe tells them all to simmer down and tells them tonight they put all this aside and they can’t let The Elite divide and conquer, as tonight they stand united. Briscoe says they aren’t safe because the violent people are here.
Mariah May vs. Kaitland Alexis
This is the debut of ‘The Glamour’ version of Mariah May. Right away, Mariah May hits a vicious dropkick, sending Kaitland Alexis into the corner where she continues to attack her, before going to the top rope and hitting a missile dropkick. May continues and hits the May Day, but doesn’t go for the cover. Instead, she puts Alexis in the corner and hits the Hip Attack, followed by the Storm Zero to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Mariah May by pinfall at 1:36
Toni Storm’s music hits, but Mariah laughs as no one comes out. Toni Storm enters the ring in disguise and takes off her wig to reveal it’s her as they start brawling before referees and security run in to keep them apart. Storm gets on the mic and asks May if she’s prepared to die because she is.
We see a Blood & Guts hype video narrated by Dean Malenko.
Blood & Guts Match: The Elite (Jack Perry, Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson & Adam Page) vs. Team AEW (Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, Anthony Bowens, Max Caster & Mark Briscoe)
Jack Perry comes out first for The Elite, followed by Darby Allin for Team AEW. Before Darby can even enter the ring, Perry goes after him and powerbombs him into the cage. They continue fighting on the outside where Perry sends Darby flying right into the crowd, even striking a fan. They continue fighting through the crowd before Darby eventually clotheslines Perry back to ringside. They finally enter the ring, where Perry takes out Darby with a trash can before he starts choking him out with a rope. Perry puts the trash can wedged into the corner and sends Darby onto it with a lawn dart. Perry gets really mad at the trash can for some reason and starts punching it before tossing it onto the cage door. Out next is Nicholas Jackson who comes out with a chair and a metal suitcase, before joining in the attack on Darby hitting a guillotine leg drop. Darby tries to fight them off, but gets sent into a cage and gets wedged between the ring and cage as we go to picture-in-picture.
We return just in time to see Mark Briscoe come out to even it up for Team AEW and hit a vicious-looking clothesline to Perry as they go spinning into the other ring. Briscoe goes and grabs a small ladder and puts it in the corner as Darby & Briscoe whip Nicholas into it. Briscoe & Darby stay in control until Matthew Jackson comes out at number three, also with a metal suitcase. They ended up putting Darby through it with a DDT, as the case breaks a bit and Briscoe is seen bleeding from the forehead as he’s getting his face rubbed into the cage. Matthew ends up hitting Dabry with a buckle bomb onto Briscoe in the corner before hitting suplexes onto Darby before he goes crashing into the suitcase. The Elite stay in control attacking both Darby & Briscoe. Next out for Team AEW is Anthony Bowens who goes right after Nicholas before dodging a suitcase shot from Matthew and going after him and Perry, hitting a Fameasser. Matthew tosses the suitcase right into Bowens face to stop his momentum. Briscoe stops a springboard attempt from Nicholas with a Cutter, as Darby hits a Scorpion Death Drop on Matthew before stomping on his back with a tack-covered skateboard. Bowens gets a literal pair of scissors and starts stabbing Perry’s forehead with it before sticking them in his mouth. Out next for The Elite is Kazuchika Okada who has a Rainmaker Drive sign with him that he uses to crack over Bowens & Briscoe’s head before taking out Darby with it. Okada follows by hitting Briscoe with a Tombstone right on the sign, followed by a low blow and dropkick to Briscoe with an assist from Nicholas who was holding up a chair, as we go to picture-in-picture.
After the break, Max Caster enters with a microphone, but instead of rapping, he uses it to attack The Elite, before moving on to using a chair. Caster finds a barber-wired board under the ring that says ‘Young Bucks’ on it, as The Acclaimed try to suplex Okada onto it, but get stopped by the Bucks & Perry, before they toss and body slam Bowens right onto it. They stack another barbed-wire board on top of him, as Nicholas hits a senton onto Bowens who was sandwiched in between. Okada gets a handful of tacks and puts them into Caster’s mouth before the Bucks pump up their sneakers and hit a double super kick. ‘Hangman’ Adam Page’s music hits as he’s the last entrant for The Elite, but he doesn’t come out. Team AEW takes control of the distraction of Page not coming out as Taz questions if anyone has seen Page today, which Excalibur & Tony Schiavone say they have not. Bowens wraps barbed-wired around his leg and hits Scissor Me Timbers on Matthew, which seems to have hurt Bowens just as much. We get the countdown as Swerve Strickland comes out along with Prince Nana. As Swerve is making his way down, he gets attacked from behind by Page with a chair. Page handcuffs Swerve to the cage on the outside as Okada dropkicks Briscoe right through the barbed-wired board. Nana tries to stop Page, but Page takes him out as Page takes the title off of Swerve’s waist and says he doesn’t deserve it and it should have never been his before attacking the handcuffed Swerve with it. Matthew starts screaming on the mic at Page and asks what the hell he is doing, and says they had a deal, and a deal is a deal. Last time they suspended him he sat at him and if he doesn’t get his ass in the ring, they will fire him, as Page enters the ring as Matthew locks the cage, and officially start the match at the 29:26 mark. Page & Okada get into each other’s faces momentarily before everybody starts brawling going into picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Swerve is still trying to take the handcuffs off as Jeff Jarrett makes his way down to the ring with a guitar. Brandon Cutler runs out and tries to send Jarrett to the back. Billy Gunn shows up and punches Cutler, who then gets taken out with a guitar shot from Jarrett. Jarrett & Gunn are able to get the handcuffs off of Swerve, and then help him, along with Nana, to cut through the cage as Swerve is finally able to enter the ring. Schiavone calls Swerve the freshest man in the match before Taz & Excalibur reminds him that he was taken out with a belt shot from Page. Swerve goes to town on everybody from The Elite, saving Page for last as they have a faceoff in opposing rings, before finally going to blows in the middle. Swerve blocks a Buckshot Lariat attempt, but as Page is trying to drive a barbed-wired board onto Swerve’s face gets stopped by Darby. Swerve goes to use a staple gun on Page, but gets stopped by a low blow from Nicholas. Matthew opens up one of those metal suitcases and reveals more staple guns in them. The Elite start surrounding Swerve and all take turns stapling him with them, but Swerve just laughs it all off. Swerve fights them off all off, while stapling them throughout. As Okada tries the Rain Maker with a middle finger, Swerve staples his finger. Page takes out Okada by accident with a Buckshot Lariat, as Swerve takes out Page going into commercial.
When we returned, they mentioned that Swerve & Hangman had taken themselves out of the match, but we didn’t see how it happened. We see four tables all stacked on the outside as Nicholas Jackson & Anthony Bowens are near the top of the cage before Bowens goes crashing down through them all. Back inside, Briscoe hits Jay Drillers on everyone, before hitting a Froggy Bow to Matthew through a table, as Darby climbs the cage and scales to the middle where he hits a Coffin Drop to Perry through another table. Caster opens up the other metal suitcase that has a bunch of handcuffs, as they cuff Perry onto the cage and start attacking him with a Kendo Stick as Briscoe tells him to quit. Darby says if Perry isn’t going to quit, he’s going to get this party started and goes under the ring as Briscoe hits a vicious-looking chair shot to the head of Perry, who obviously can’t protect himself being cuffed. Darby enters the ring and seems to ask Bryce Remsburg possibly the whereabouts of what he was looking for. Eventually, Darby finds the gasoline canister that he pours all over Perry. Darby grabs the mic and tells Perry he is going to light his ass on fire if he doesn’t quit and also asks him to agree to a match at All In. Perry spits toward Darby, as Matthew pleads to Darby and says he has the TNT Championship match at All In and tells Darby to stop. Darby tells Matthew to quit, and he does to end this match.
Winner: Team AEW (Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, Mark Briscoe, Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) at 49:03 (14:37 once the match ‘officially’ started)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Before we talk about the main event, let’s talk about what happened prior that will most likely all be easily forgotten as the main attraction is obviously Blood & Guts. The MJF American belt reveal was a nice touch as they were going against Joe Biden’s speech, and it’s a nice change instead of him draping the title in Burberry. Kamille’s debut, unfortunately, didn’t get much of a reaction and it was a weird choice to have Mercedes there in heels, why not show the size of Kamille off on her first appearance instead of having Mercedes side by side, almost the same height? That being said, I’m happy she finally got to debut after months of questioning and wondering why she hasn’t been used yet, and I’m glad to see it was what I and others might have expected, being the muscle for Mercedes. Regardless, the Baker-Shida match might have been my favorite match of the show.
Suzuki matches are sadly starting to feel less special as we see them so often now but to spend the first 9 minutes with nothing by chops, especially with Chris Jericho is sure to turn away many viewers. Everything else on the show wasn’t very memorable, with a CMLL match being set up, PAC doing nothing and Toni Storm prematurely making her return (I honestly would have waited for All In and had her come out with a revamped look.)
On to Blood & Guts, although I enjoyed the majority of the match for the most part, once they came back from the last picture-in-picture, it felt to me that they just didn’t know how to finish the match. They wrote off both Swerve & Hangman during picture-in-picture, which unfortunately I can’t always pay attention to (I have to use the rest room at some point during this show), but for them to not even show it, is a very weird choice. Not sure if it might not have been executed to their liking, but I expect more than just a verbal telling of what happened to the AEW World Champion. Not sure why Jeff Jarrett & Billy Gunn had to help out the World Champion, nevertheless they are still involved. The finish itself was a bit odd, as Darby was scrambling and asking Bryce where the items were and once it was executed it just felt flat. Not saying this was the worst Blood & Guts match, but it definitely wasn’t that memorable to me. With this all past now, its time to put the full focus on All In, and I’m all in on that.
