5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts 2023 (Review)
Adam Cole is back, and the Elite's brilliance will never go away.
Blood & Guts is an inherently flawed match type.
AEW fans had stratospheric expectations ahead of the first one, which ultimately didn't go ahead - and because it didn't, the match developed a mythology before the cage door was first locked. It didn't just promise an update on one of the all-time great stips; Blood & Guts promised to lead AEW out of the pandemic era. Its very existence was a promise.
The Inner Circle Vs. the Pinnacle was great for 25 minutes, before Chris Jericho took as long to scale the cage as the Iron Sheikh did getting to the ring at WrestleMania X-Seven. Jericho's bump off the top was incredible, well-timed and committed, but the filming was unforgivably atrocious. Nobody expected him not to land on a crash pad, but the production staff printed bits of metal effect on paper and glued them to some cardboard. Garbage.
Utter garbage.
The Jericho Appreciation Society Vs. Blackpool Combat Club was much better, but it was still a bit...underwhelming. Flabby. It didn't reach its ceiling. The problem or part of it is that the enclosed roof indicated a more disciplined approach to the attraction, but it's an excessive plunder brawl at the same time. The genre is confused. What does it want to be? A throwback to a more violent, grudge tone or an exhibition of modern excess in which the contrived leap off the cage spot renders suspension of disbelief all but impossible?
If AEW wants to opt for the spectacle, this year's match promised that to a staggering extent. The Elite Vs. Blackpool Combat Club feud hasn't explored its potential. The premise is thin and has been muddied with too many subplots - but as an exhibition of pure insanity, Blood & Guts III seemed destined for greatness.
Was it a case of third time's a charm...?