AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts (May 5, 2021) -- Results & Afterthoughts

AEW Blood and Guts (2021) was a professional wrestling television special episode produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). While the event took place on May 5, 2021 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida and was broadcast on TNT as a special episode of AEW's weekly television program, Dynamite, the first hour of the show was pre-taped. The event was previously scheduled to be held on March 25, 2020 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Match Results:

Tag Team Match

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston def. Kenny Omega and MT Nakazawa (with Don Callis)

I honestly didn't give a flying fuck about this match. That's cool that they are continuing to pair up Kingston and Moxley as a tag team and I'm absolutely fine with that, but this stuff with Omega isn't doing a thing for me. If they want to have Moxley and Kingston be the ones to dethrone the Bucks for the tag titles and have a short run, then I would be fine with that though.

*** Backstage Segment ***

Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky would call out Sting and Darby Allin with a fired up promo until Darby came out surprisingly alone without Sting to fight them two on one. Darby held his ground and even climbed up some of the surrounding fixtures to deliver a Coffin Drop while they both stand there like fucking dumbasses for it on concrete. All of that was for nothing when Darby got in over his head as the heels got the upper hand and threw him down the nearby stairs. That bump looked next level stupid, whether he knows how to "safely" fall down stairs like a professional stuntman or not. Who in their right mind would approve of this stunt when he's one of the top guys in this promotion right now, not to mention one of your title holders!!??

This "storyline injury" seems to be setting up Darby to lose next week to Miro and I honestly wouldn't have a problem with that. That killer edge that Miro has been showing since he turned on Kip Sabian and beat the holy hell out of him is what he should have been doing since Day 1 when he debuted in this company. If he goes in there and kills Darby next week then like that meme says, "If he dies, he dies." All that I ask is that they don't do his TNT title reign like Brodie Lee's where he won it in dominating fashion then completely shit the bed on what to do with him afterwards.

Singles Match

Cody Rhodes (with Arn Anderson) def. QT Marshall (with Nick Comoroto, Anthony Ogogo, and Aaron Solow) by submission

I didn't think much of this match at all. It was just a match on the card to get Cody on this show. I still don't give a flying fuck about this Nightmare Family vs. Nightmare Factory faction war. I care even less about this than I did when nWo Black & White were feuding with the nWo Wolfpack in WCW. I thought it was funny that Cody had to be the first one to get color on the show tonight - rightfully so since AEW's using his dad's concept match (War Games) in the main event.

Singles Match

Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (with Rebel) def. Julia Hart by submission

This match was just here to hammer the point home that Britt Baker is at the top of rankings for the women as she's been announced as the next woman to challenge Hikaru Shida at Double or Nothing later this month for the AEW Women's Championship. She should win too after her performance in that unsanctioned match against Thunder Rosa. It would make sense to allow a heel to beat Shida at this point for she can chase for a while. Shida's had a phenomenal run over the past year and it's long overdue to put that title on someone else.

Four-way Tag Team Match for an AEW World Tag Team Championship match on the May 12 episode of Dynamite

SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (with Marko Stunt), Varsity Blonds (Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.), and The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster)

I said it on Twitter during the show and I'll repeat myself here when I say that The Acclaimed are my favorite AEW tag team just for those pre-match freestyles. Sure, it echoes John Cena when he was doing his whole Thuganomics gimmick, but it just clicks for these guys. Then the bell rung and I was pretty lukewarm to most of this match as I knew that SCU weren't losing in a low profile match like this, so there wasn't really any drama nor real weight to the situation here. I hate that too because these guys worked really hard to try to keep people engaged into this match by the time it was all said and done, but there wasn't a second where I doubted that SCU were going to win.

With that being said, AEW is doing a piss poor job on Dynamite of reminding people that SCU will split up for good if they lose one more match. We heard them say that once out of the five months that they have been over on Dark and Elevation raking up wins. I will give them that great promo/interaction that they had with the Bucks a week or two ago, but this right here did absolutely nothing to elevate the stakes for next week's match. We all might as well prepare to see SCU split up after that loss next week.

*** Backstage Segment ***

Before the Blood and Guts match to main event this show, there were two separate interviews with Tony Schiavone back to back, standing on the stage in front of the live crowd at Daily's Place. The first one was with the AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega, decked out in all of his championship gold while Michael Nakazawa was regulated to carrying the AAA Mega Championship and both the IMPACT and TNA World Heavyweight Championships. Bully Ray made a big stink on Busted Open Radio about that's a slap in the face to those companies when a job guy as how Nakazawa has been presented as of late, is carrying the top titles of their promotions on television. While I do agree that perception is reality, I didn't see any complaints when Karen Angle was helping hold all of Kurt Angle's championships when he captured every title in that company along with IWGP title from New Japan Pro Wrestling as well. At the same time, I get that IMPACT is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to their working relationship with AEW outside of the Good Brothers appearing on their programming regularly and Kenny Omega making a few sporadic appearances. It's not doing them any favors when AEW is treating their titles no better than Moxley was (as Dean Ambrose) in WWE carrying the United States Championship for what felt like eternity with it merely serving as a belt to keep his pants up. The truth of the matter is that AEW is doing IMPACT a bigger favor working with them in the first place when they get no real benefits from it, outside of the Good Brothers (and their stable connections with key people in New Japan) mending the fences of the fallout of The Elite departing from the promotion in the first place.

As for this segment, I actually sided with Kenny on this promo. Out of the options of both PAC and Orange Cassidy, PAC would EASILY make for the better match on paper, but AEW insists on trying to pass Orange Cassidy as a top act. His gimmick is only going to get him so far and if he ever wins the World title down the road, it definitely won't be from him besting Omega in a main event. He's a TNT Champion at best. I'm not shitting on his in-ring ability, I'm merely stating that his gimmick is going to hinder him from reaching any further heights of stardom in wrestling. Sure, he's riding the highs of his niche following of popularity right now, but exactly how long is that going to last before people get bored with him? PAC would make for the better option for main eventing a PPV as we have seen him and Omega have great matches in the past. It would make for the first real threat for his champion instead of another tired and true match against Moxley, from what it seemed like they were alluding to for the last few weeks. Like I mentioned earlier in this write-up, I much rather see Moxley and Kingston challenge and beat the Young Bucks for the tag team titles if they want to keep them in the mix against the Elite right now.

As for Miro's interview, I don't have a problem with him challenging Darby Allin for the TNT Championship next week. The so-called "injury" whether it's real or not with him being thrown down the stairs by Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky gives Miro a kayfabe handicap and reasoning why he wouldn't be at 100% health for a match against Miro, who is obviously looking for blood. Hell, I wouldn't even be mad if he did win that title from Darby either on the May 12th edition of Dynamite. Miro should kill this guy quicker than Brodie Lee did to Cody.

Blood and Guts Match

The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) def. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz)

Guevara surrendered on Jericho's behalf, resulting in The Pinnacle winning the match.

The biggest two things that ultimately hurt the reception of this match were the multiple interruptions from the action due to commercial breaks by TNT and the finish/aftermath. The commercial breaks were totally out of AEW's control as I'm sure TNT wanted to shove in as many commercials as possible with the number of people that they were looking to draw into watching this match. I guess Tony Khan could have tried to arrange what WWE does with those NXT specials on the USA Network where they run with limited commercials, but that would have been a bit much to ask when the front end of the show as bloated enough as is between the matches and segments.

As for the finish/aftermath, we're going to get that shortly.

The match itself was great as you could tell the live crowd was amped up for every new combatant that entered this match, especially for the babyfaces upon arrival to level the playing field and even up the odds. Whoever was filming this match had absolutely no idea how to shoot one of these matches and it shows to this match's detriment. It's a darn shame too as I actually loved the match itself from bell to bell with the action. As a match, I consider this match a complete success for AEW in terms of the in-ring aspect of it. They didn't do like they normally do and add a hat on a hat in terms of dressing it up like how NXT has done with their version of the War Games match over the years or how TNA/IMPACT Wrestling have done with their Lethal Lockdown (similar concept but confined into a single ring with weapons up for grabs hanging from the roof of the steel cage). This match was crippled by the commercial breaks missing out on a lot of the action. They tried to keep viewers engaged with the picture in picture stuff, but I don't want to pay attention to that small ass box. Why couldn't they just do a split screen feed like most companies do for replays? It hurt a lot too as viewers missed key moments, such as Wardlow and Hager's separate entries into this match.

I was aware that the traditional War Games matches don't have pinfalls (but some did down the road) and are usually contested by submission or surrender. Regardless of that, it made the finish fall flat when The Inner Circle had this match all but won in the end, only for Jericho and MJF to somehow get on top of the cage after the last commercial break and exchange submissions up there. We didn't even get to see what put the rest of the Pinnacle on the shelf while the rest of the Inner Circle were just standing around watching this transpire. I'm not going to sell anyone's performances short here either - Sammy was easily this match's MVP, but Santana, Ortiz, Dax, Cash, and Spears all worked their asses off too. Not a single person in this match didn't pull their weight - save for Jericho as usual. The match seemed to go in slow motion once he entered the match last for he wouldn't get gassed from the little bit of action he had to participate in.

The finish came when MJF threatened to throw Jericho off the top of the cage onto what Excalibur described as "concrete" below - when it CLEARLY wasn't. Sammy Guevara surrenders on the behalf of the Inner Circle to save Jericho's life, but MJF throws him off of the top of the cage anyway, causing him to fall onto what was set up to look like the metal grating on the stage/entrance ramp, but was OBVIOUSLY cardboard boxes and papers printed out look that way. Before that, Jericho took his blade out of his wrist tape and held it in his hand during the application of MJF's Salt of the Earth submission hold. If that wasn't bad enough, the cameras caught him blading himself for color and talking to MJF to fill him in on the finale post-match. Oh it doesn't stop there either. After Jericho hit the crash pad, he had one eye open as he was talking to the folks that ran over to check on him too. Would it had killed these people to just cut away from all of that?

My main gripe about this is that all of the negativity and complaints surrounding this spot would have been alleviated if AEW simply shot this better. The only thing they had to do is zoom in on MJF shoving Jericho off the cage and DO NOT show the impact of him landing onto the crash pad. Instead, they film the fall in its entirety in a wide shot and zoom in onto Jericho laying on top of the cardboard boxes and crash pad (if any). What came off even stupider to me was that they replayed this at least four times before going off the air. That alone made this look as stupid as the dud of an explosion from the last PPV that everyone shat on their parade about.

Hear me out though. I'm glad that Jericho did this bump and was able to do it safely without landing on actual concrete and suffering possible brain damage like Matt Hardy last year. No one is saying that they should have had him land on a real metal grating - at least that's not what I'm saying. All that I'm saying is frame this scene with better cinematography if you're going to do something like this.

If you missed out on the show and want to see that infamous fall for yourself, look no farther than the gif below.

Afterthoughts:

Apparently, there were a few pissed off fans in attendance for the show at Daily's Place because it was reported that a least five people requested for refunds after finding out that the first hour was pre-taped and they would have to watch it on a screen, much like the viewers watching at home that night. What was interesting though was that AEW used the crowd noise for the arena that night for the crowd audio during the show here tonight over the pre-taped matches. So for the live crowd, the show started off with the two interviews before the Blood & Guts match. The fired up live crowd definitely made a lot of a difference for this show, but I'm still bummed out that they couldn't have saved this match for a PPV in a much bigger venue. For what it was worth, I thought the Blood & Guts match delivered in a lot of aspects. It's just that the finish and post-match antics shit the bed and ultimately fell apart. AEW only have themselves to blame in that regard though as the botched cinematography was all on them, unlike the constant commercial breaks that were out of their control, thanks to TNT.

You start off a blood feud between two factions - one of which has that faction's first PPV appearance and hasn't existed as a complete unit until roughly five weeks ago - with a War Games match when normally that match is done to finish a feud between two warring factions. I don't get why this company seems to love working in reverse. They do the big specialty matches first and then do normal matches afterwards. It really doesn't make much sense to me in that regard.

I will say this much though. The Pinnacle definitely needed the win here in their first PPV outing and AEW did the wise decision of letting them go over and managing to give them more heel heat in the process for how they accomplished that goal. The biggest question is where does both factions go from here? If Chris Jericho no sells that bump like it was nothing the following week to show up on Dynamite for a rebuttal, then it's going to make that spot look even stupider in hindsight.