5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts 2023 (Review)

2. The Sad Of Blood & Guts

Jon Moxley
AEW

This gives your writer no pleasure whatsoever, but Kota Ibushi looked rough in Blood & Guts to a shocking extent. Not rusty; rough.

Now, if his condition was known ahead of time, it might have been easier to take. A certain latitude would have been extended towards him, in much the same way fans still hold a clearly broken Hiroshi Tanahashi in the highest regard. Ibushi is beloved and deservedly so.

The thing is, it was as if Ibushi had metamorphosed from sculpted best in class wrestler into a fading veteran five years into his decline overnight. It was inexplicable, sad, and ultimately, in the context of the match, distracting. It was worrying.

He put nothing behind his kicks at first. He was on a different wavelength to his partners on more than double team spot. He blew a convoluted sequence with Konosuke Takeshita and while he did improve somewhat as the match progressed, and added to the highlight reel with an awesome moonsault on the bed of nails, he wrestled as if exhausted or dehydrated. Something was definitely off.

Fans are meant to fear for the performers in Blood & Guts, but not like this.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!