10 AEW Disappointments We Really Didn't See Coming

2. Blood & Guts

This wasn't a f*ck up until it was.

Presented after a year of anticipation following the original pandemic-related cancellation, MJF's formation of The Pinnacle set the stage for a stable war with the babyface-turned Inner Circle in a Dynamite set to be the biggest of the Daily's Place era.

It started magnificently too. With the two rings and double cage serving as spectres for the nervy first hour, almost the entire second half of the show was donated to a wild brawl that managed to capture a sense of organic danger mainstream North American television wrestling had badly missed during WWE's monopoly years.

Just as it looked like the company had completely nailed their maiden effort, everything suddenly went very Sports Entertainment. A five-on-five stand-off was contrived and, in context, extremely silly. It's not as if they had a packed crowd to satiate, resulting in the spot feeling more about the spot than the fight that precluded it.

There was a tragic irony to the finish too - Jericho risked injury taking a fall from a cage, but it couldn't have looked less like he was in trouble than when he crashed through the cardboard. That faces trusted MJF not to push him at all was deflating and stupid too.

Not a complete failure but some way from a success, AEW have a harder sell for round two than they ever should have.