This week’s AEW Dynamite featured the big 6-on-6 Blood & Guts match with a cage that covered two rings as two teams look to settle their differences.
It’s also the Dynamite episode that followed the AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view from this past Sunday. Vince McMahon was critical of AEW’s bloody matches a few decades ago and gave Blood & Guts its name. The Blood & Guts-style match is more commonly known as WarGames. However, WWE owns that name so AEW must use another name.
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Note: I will be on vacation beginning next Monday, July 4. I know it’s a holiday in the US that day. Here in Canada, it’s July 1 as our birthday. Anyway, I’m going to be off for a week. There will be no Raw, NXT and Dynamite reviews next week. I’ll be back ready to write for the July 11th edition of Raw. Because I want to review all the shows that I missed, I will most likely do condensed reviews. I look forward a wrestling break. I am confident that the news and feature writers will keep the content flowing on TJRWrestling. Keep supporting the site and we’ll continue to cover the bizarre world of pro wrestling as best as we can.
This was AEW Dynamite episode #143 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit (Michigan).
It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means. Tony Schiavone and Excalibur were commenting with Taz. Excalibur said that there were 13,000+ people present. Excalibur stated that Jim Ross would be commentating on the Blood & Guts match.
Analysis: I think Taz is there to make Taz a full time announcer, just like he was during Forbidden Door. I’m fine with that because he’s great at that job. It also seems to be less of an opportunity for Jim Ross.
Orange Cassidy was accompanied by Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor and wore colorful tie-dye outfits. Tony said that Orange vs. Will Ospreay was a five star match. I don’t think so, but I am not being paid by Tony Khan to overrate things the way the announcers do and some wrestling writers do. Orange has some good pop. “All Ego”Ethan Page joined Dan Lambert as a promo, blaming Orange for being so thin. Lambert told Trent and Chuck to go backstage because they don’t have a manager’s license. Bryce Remsburg, the referee made Trent and Chuck go backstage.
There are two rings for Blood & Guts, with the double cage hanging from the top of the ring. They were wrestling in the ring closest to their entrance.
Ethan Page (w/Dan Lambert), vs. Orange Cassidy
Orange received an armdrag which sent Page out of his ring. This was followed by a suicide jump. Orange went up the top and jumped from the top using a crossbody block. Page blocked a DDT attempt, followed by a shoulderblock that knocked Orange to the ground. Page hit a delayed vertical suplex. Orange tried to rollup but Page got out of it. Page kicked Orange out the ring. On the floor, Lambert did some comedy moves on Orange. They went to a picture – in-picture break.
(Commercial)
Page held Orange in the air for most of the break. Orange tried his best to get some offense moving but Page got a neckbreaker for a second count. Page kept Orange in the air for quite some time. Orange then put his hands in the pockets. Orange tried to get the offense moving again but Page did a press into a powerslam for a two count. Lambert wanted Page to finish this guy because he looks like he’s 12 years old. Page was giving Page a middle finger at ringside. Orange then got some momentum with the Stundog Millionaire. Orange returned with the spinning DDT to two. Lambert was sitting on the apron. Orange gently tapped him several times while the fans chanted loudly. Orange took the orange juice glass Lambert had given him and drank some. After 11 minutes, Orange hit Page twice with the Orange Punch and then did a body slam to win the pinfall. He tried it several times, failed many times, and finally was able to do the body slam.
Winner by pinfall – Orange Cassidy
Analysis: **3/4 A decent match with plenty of comedy moments because that’s what we have come to expect from some Orange Cassidy matches. I don’t think that match made Page look good at all because he lost to a body slam. I know it came after taking the Orange Punch (Orange’s finisher) twice, but still. It’s a weak ending to a match. Ethan Page is still one of the most under-booked guys in the company, considering how talented he is. Maybe I’m a biased Canadian, but I think Page is so talented and should be doing more.
Best Friends went to Orange’s ring post match and gave her thumbs up.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Christian Cage
Christian Cage was interviewed on the stage by Tony Schiavone, who said he’s not sure what more Christian can say after what he said a week ago. Christian was booed by the fans before he could speak, and they did. “asshole” chant. Christian said he was asked by upper management to apologize for what he said last week when he singled out Jungle Boy’s late father. Christian said that he’s sorry that Jungle Boy’s entire family isn’t dead so that they could avoid witnessing when Christian beat up Jungle Boy two weeks ago. Christian did a shoutout to Jungle Boy’s mom and told her to call him. Christian said that the only thing this scumbag city (Detroit) has going for it is that it’s close to Canada. The truth! Christian claimed he requested a match, however, he was not asking for one. Luchasaurus was wearing all black. Poor Serpentico was not in the ring for this match.
Analysis: The line about Canada was great. Detroit is right on the border. The fans responded with boos, because it was a shot at Detroit.
Luchasaurus (w/Christian Cage) vs. Serpentico
Luchasaurus easily knocked Serpentico down with a headbutt or suplex. Luchasaurus choked Serpentico with nerve hold, grabbing his neck. It ended in less than one minute.
Luchasaurus wins by pinfall
Analysis: 1/4* Dino squash.
Luchasaurus pulled Serpentico off the ring after the match and hit a Chokeslam.
Analysis: A dominant showing from Luchasaurus, who is a heel alongside Christian Cage now.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Wardlow, and TNT Champion Scorpio Sky. Sky stated that Wardlow was last to chase Sky. He was then laid out. Tony said that there was some assistance during that. Wardlow told Sky to bring every member from American Top Team because he’ll treat them like security guards. Wardlow was challenged by Sky to a TNT Title match on Dynamite next Wednesday. It’s on. This could be a title shift.
The Acclaimed and Gunn Clubs made their debut. Max Caster rapped on Danhausen in face paint and made fun of Flint’s water crisis. Google it if you don’t know.
Danhausen said that he heard that the Ass Boys wanted to challenge him for a match. So Danhausen discovered some wrestlers: FTR. FTR’s FTR duo of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood made their entrance as ROH, IWGP, and AAA Tag Team Champions. Anthony Bowens was in a wheelchair and had a shocked expression.
Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler & Danhausen vs. Max Caster, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn
Austin began with a trip aboard Wheeler, but Cash returned with a backbody drop and an Atomic Drop. Harwood joined the fray with a body smash and a leg drop. Danhausen tagged in with an elbow on Austin’s back after FTR tripped up Austin. Colten worked over Danhausen using kicks, then Danhausen got kicks and a hurricanrana throughout the ring. Colten clotheslined Danhausen to his mat with multiple hiptosses. They went to a picture in photo break.
(Commercial)
During the break, Danhausen was in control of the heels. Caster tried to suplex Danhausen, but he managed to hit a Northern Lights Suplex. Austin got the two count when Colten was dropped in with a dropkick. Harwood was tagged with punches, Wheeler was illegally brought into the ring and FTR both hit rolling German Suplexes. Wheeler sent Colten to the outside and jumped onto him. Harwood hit three more German Suplex on Austin, so that’s six of them. They had a bad spot with Austin trying to do a hiptoss, and Harwood took it to the mat. Danhausen got the hot tags with a pump kick to Austin. Billy Gunn distracted him so Anthony Bowens tried hitting Danhausen with a crutch. Danhausen dodged and Bowens hit Austin by accident with the crutch. Bowens could still move fine. After nine minutes, Austin was finally covered by Danhausen.
Winners by pinfall – Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler & Danhausen
Analysis: *** The FTR guys remain absolutely on fire and they aren’t capable of having a bad match. It was another match on this show that had comedy aspects to it since that’s the kind of character that Danhausen is.
Bowens tried explaining to Austin that he had made a mistake after the match. Austin shoved Bowens for hitting him. Billy Gunn calmed Austin and shoved Austin in his stomach. While The Gunns left, Billy stood in The Acclaimed’s ring.
Analysis: The botched attack by Bowens showed that he didn’t need the wheelchair at all. Hopefully he’s back in the ring soon. It also shows that Billy may like The Acclaimed more then his sons, so there could possibly be an issue.
The trio of Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh did a promo saying Samoa Joe wasn’t at work again. They talked about the next ROH TV Title with Lethal wanting to face Joe. Singh said that “Jay’s going to kill you.”That was it.
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (w/Stokely Hayaway and Kiera Hogan), vs. Leila Grey
Jade is undefeated. They say that this was an open challenge rather than have Cargill face somebody that’s a ranked opponent. Gray was slapped on the shoulders by Cargill. Gray was charged by Cargill, Gray received a boot up, and then Cargill hit a fallaway smash. Gray was awarded a rollup for 2. Gray attempted to charge Cargill with a running kick in the corner. However, Cargill blocked a bulldog attack. Cargill with a pump kick. After three minutes, Cargill hit Jaded Slam for the pinfall. Cargill now stands at 34-0
Jade Cargill is the pinfall winner
Analysis: * Squash city. They continue to book Jade for short matches to make it look dominant. It’s been going on for months.
Jade Cargill, after the match, said that she wants to see real competition. Hathaway said that women like Kris Statlander and Athena aren’t overlooked, they’re just lazy because they didn’t sign up for the open challenge. Athena, Statlander and Jade went to the ring. Athena and Statlander remained in control. However, Jade defeated Leila Gray, and Athena was pushed off the top rope by Leila Gray. The announcers reported that Grey was convinced by Hathaway. Jade didn’t want a handshake from Grey and left.
Analysis: I assume at some point we’ll get Jade against Athena or Kris, but nothing has been announced.
A video was aired to promote the AEW Dynamite Grand Slam in Queens (New York) at Arthur Ashe Stadium in September. Tickets will soon be available.
(Commercial)
The Young Bucks were pictured with the AEW Titles, stating that they were twice the winners of the titles. The Bucks mentioned that their friends Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Adam Cole weren’t cleared to wrestle. They also mentioned that they are the first ever Tag Team Champions in AEW. Matt said that they got a challenge from Yoshi-Hashi and Goto, so they’ll have a match at Rampage.
Jim Ross was invited to commentate for Excalibur and Taz at the main event Blood & Guts match. Big pop for JR!
Rampage is this Friday
* Young Bucks vs. Goto & Yoshi-Hashi
* Nyla Rose vs. Toni Storm
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* Royal Rampage for the first shot at Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley
The double cage was then lowered over both rings. The cage has a roof, just like the WarGames traditional cage.
A video package aired about the rivalry between the Jericho Appreciation Society and The Blackpool Combat Club team that has Eddie Kingston at the forefront since he’s had a long-time rivalry with Chris Jericho. The violence in the match was covered by the AEW talking head.
These are the rules of this match.
The Jericho Appreciation Society group arrived wearing red top hats and red dresses, making them look like a boyband. Tay Conti was with fiancé Sammy Guevara as well.
(Commercial)
Next up was the trio of Santana, Eddie Kingston and Ortiz. Claudio Castagnoli made his debut appearance on Dynamite and was up next. Claudio was there with Wheeler Yuta and William Regal was on commentary. As usual, Jon Moxley, Interim AEW World Champion, made his entrance through the crowd. Moxley looked as ready to fight as ever.
Blood & Guts Match: The Jericho Appreciation society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara), Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, and Angelo Parker) vs. Eddie Kingston and Santana, Ortiz, and Blackpool Combat Club, (Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta)
Claudio Castagnoli began the match with Sammy Guevara. Claudio dominated Sammy with some savage uppercuts. Claudio tossed Sammy into another ring, and Claudio overpowered him. Claudio crotched Sammy on the top of the ring as he tried to escape. Claudio was able to catch Sammy jumping on the ropes. Claudio tried to hit Sammy with an uppercut but Sammy resisted and hit a Cutter. Claudio applied the Swing to Sammy’s face after Sammy kissed Tay.
Daniel Garcia was the second man in the match for Jericho’s team. They then went to a picture-in-picture break.
(Commercial)
Wheeler Yuta was the next babyface on the team. Yuta was on fire using a springboard forearm followed by four German Suplexes. Claudio hit Yuta with an uppercut that led to Sammy getting a third German Suplex. Claudio threw Garcia in the cage sideways.
Jake Hager was third man in his team, clearing house in one ring and Claudio in the other. The crowd got into it and saw Hager and Claudio fight. Excalibur spoke of their history together in WWE, when they were briefly allies. The crowd cheered. “We The People”It was worth it. Claudio landed a springboard uppercut. Hager landed a shoulder tackle against Yuta in the cage, while Claudio was battling against two other guys. Yuta did an impressive dropkick. Hager landed a lift on Claudio.
Jon Moxley was the interim AEW Champion and brought in a steel seat to throw at Hager. Moxley wore clotheslines and then did a suplex on Sammy. Moxley with a crossface elbow on Garcia. Hager was given a bulldog by Claudio on the chair. Moxley had a fork with him as he grinded it into Garcia’s head while sending Garcia into the cage as well. Claudio was choking Sammy on the middle rope in front Conti. Garcia was bleeding from his forehead as Yuta ran through the ropes using a Hart Attack double-team clothesline. Claudio with a press-slam on Sammy which led to Moxley with the Cutter. Yuta jumped to the top and smacked Sammy’s ribs with a headbutt. Regal said “Daniel Bryan”At one point, he corrected himself to say Bryan Danielson. The BCC guys were doing elbows on the head.
Angelo Parker was the next JAS man, as the BCC guys were all out to get him. After Parker ran off after his entry, Claudio hit Parker with a gutwrench Suplex. Parker was beat up by Claudio and Moxley as they gave him uppercuts. Parker managed to get some offense on Moxley with a shoulder tackle while Hager used a chair to hit Claudio’s right foot. Garcia used a shotgun to dropkick Yuta into a turnbuckle. JR said “Cesaro”Claudio was chosen instead, which was going be a lot.
Ortiz was next on the BCC team, with Orton hitting many clotheslines. Ortiz performing a hard clothesline against Sammy, who did a flip-bump. They went to picture in photo break.
(Commercial)
The match returned with the clock counting down again as Matt Menard entered as the fifth guy on Jericho’s team, so they were up 5 on 4 at this point. Menard delivered chair shots for the opposing team. Moxley broke glass and piled it on Parker during the break. Parker was then busted open. Moxley was also busted because he had a bandage covering it. However, the bandage was still open and Moxley was again busted. Parker with Yuta’s eyes.
Santana entered the room with a table and a barbed wire bat. The clock was ticking down again. Santana hit Menard with a high angle backdrop driver. Santana was hurt when he gave Garcia an uranage slam. His left knee buckled as a result. Santana was gripping his knee as he rolled from the ring. Santana was then taken out of the match. Parker put Yuta in the cage. Claudio had a big uppercut. Moxley had a fork that he used to Menard’s head along with some sticks or spikes that he drove into Menard’s head, which led to Menard being busted open. Menard struck a low blow against Moxley in an attempt to knock him out. Menard was hitting Moxley with a baseball bat and Moxley was talking.
Chris Jericho was next to make it 6 against 5 for his team, although Santana was not there so it was actually 6 on 4. They didn’t really mention that, though. Jericho entered the ring with Floyd, the bat, and Ortiz welcomed him with a DDT. Sammy jumped from the top with a flying Cutter against Ortiz. Yuta doing a German Suplex. Santana was still in the ring, but was still on the apron. There were several slams that followed, and then Claudio lifted Garcia with an enormous uppercut. Claudio was hit with a Codebreaker by Jericho. Everyone was down except Jericho.
Eddie Kingston is the last member of his team to enter a cage. The bell rang, meaning it was time to submit or surrender. Kingston used a Kendo stick to beat some guys, then Kingston hit Jericho a few more times. Hager knocked Kingston into the cage with some rubbing alcohol. The crowd chanted “this is awesome”Ortiz was hitting a lot of guys with chair shots as Ortiz was. Conti tried to give Jericho rubbing alcohol through the cage. Kingston threw a chair at Hager’s head. Yuta threw a chair at Hager’s head with Moxley’s LOD-like Doomsday Device. Kingston and Ortiz assisted Hager with a Powerbomb through a table in between the two rings. Kingston was ramming Garcia’s face against the cage. Yuta and Moxley poured thumbtacks in the ring. Moxley slapped Menard onto the thumbtacks. Claudio and Ortiz removed some of the mat from the other ring and exposed the wood inside. Parker was also hanging upside down on the steel apparatus holding the ring. Parker’s whole face was a bloody mess, so there he was hanging upside down. I don’t even know how he got into that position. They did a closeup of Parker’s face, the fans let out a big “ooohhh”They went to a picture in-picture break when they saw the blood.
(Commercial)
The match resumed with Jericho dragging Moxley through the thumbtacks in his ring, and Jericho applying a Walls of Jericho submission to Moxley. Kingston saved the day by punching Jericho using some thumbtacks he had in his hand. Kingston and Jericho engaged in a heated slugfest that saw some of the mat being pulled out to expose the wood. Jericho sprayed a fire extinguisher in Eddie’s eyes. Tay Conti forced Aubrey Edwards, referee, into the cage and took the key. Conti opened the cage door. Ruby Soho ran to the ring (Taz stated). “Ruby Riott”Ruby fought Conti (oops). Tay was in a very short dress. So, kudos for the camera that captured the visual as the ladies fought on a floor. I got some ECW from that. “catfight” flashbacks. Tay was trying pull the dress down, while Ruby and Tay fought at the back.
Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston climbed up to the top of their cage. They stopped showing the action in ring and showed only the men on the cage. I have more thoughts about this in the analysis. Kingston bit Jericho’s face and hit a spinning back fist. Sammy Guevara climbed onto the cage to get a big bump off of the cage. Sammy punched Eddie from behind, as Jericho and Kingston were all placed on the cage. As I mentioned, they stopped showing any ring action. Sammy was pushing Eddie’s head down against the cage. Eddie stood up and hit Sammy hard with a low blow. Sammy was now at the edge of his cage. Kingston threw Sammy from the top onto the crash pad “timekeepers table” below. There wasn’t even a noise when Sammy hit the crash pad. It looked fun like when you’re a kid going down a slide and landing on a crash pad, but the announcers had to try to put it over like it was some violent bump. They did a picture-in–picture break. It is not easy to do such a bump. I just think it’s a bit anticlimactic when you’re landing on a cushion.
(Commercial)
I saw some of the picture, in-picture action between Kingston and Jericho. They were slow but threw some punches. They also had some chops. With six minutes remaining, the full-screen action resumed. Jericho tripped Kingston up and gave him the Walls of Jericho. They actually showed Menard placing Ortiz in the prison cell. Claudio climbed up to the cage and kicked Jericho. Claudio gave Jericho the huge swing on top of his cage. Do you feel more pain doing it up there? I don’t think so, but it looks cool visually. Menard went up top to save Jericho by attacking Claudio (while I’m sure everyone watching knew Menard was also there to lose the match). Jericho was held in the Stretch Plumb submission by Kingston, while Claudio turned Menard into a Sharpshooter by turning Menard into the Sharpshooter. Menard was tapping on the top of his cage. Kingston thought it was Jericho tapping, but it was Menard. The match lasted 47 minutes.
Submission winners: Santana Ortiz, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz, and Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta)
Analysis: ****1/4 It was a wild and crazy violent match. There were many blood, weapons, and unique moves throughout the match. It was quite impressive to see them go 47 minutes without stopping for a crowd. You don’t see many matches in pro wrestling where you can do that, but these guys did it and I was very entertained by it. I think the right team won because Jericho’s team won at Double or Nothing, so obviously they wanted to go with the babyface ending to this match. Since Menard and Parker are the weakest members of the team, I assumed it would be Parker or Menard losing. Claudio defeating Menard is fine with my calculations. There’s also the story of Eddie being mad that he didn’t win and Claudio won, but that was furthered after the match as well. Here’s my problem with the booking of this match. When the guys are on the cage for several minutes at a time and there’s nothing going on in the ring, it makes the action in the ring look meaningless. What about the guys inside the ring. Are they just sat there doing nothing, while Jericho was fighting Kingston in the cage? The answer was not given so we will assume that nothing was going on in the ring. I checked the time and it was nearly ten minutes of action on top of the cage while they didn’t show anything in the ring. What are they doing in the ring for ten minute? It’s strange. It was the same thing last year, when it was Jericho/MJF in the cage. I don’t like that way of booking because everything that happened in the ring becomes meaningless. Book a finish in cage. You don’t need to finish the match on the roof just because you want to do some big bump.
Claudio celebrated his win while Kingston wondered about what had happened. Claudio was telling Kingston about what had happened while Kingston was writhing in pain. Excalibur said that Claudio and Kingston hate each other because Eddie thinks Claudio’s so condescending. However, they were both on the same team during this match. They reenacted key moments from the match. Kingston told Claudio that he can’t get up due to his back injury. Yuta, Ortiz and Moxley joined Claudio and Kingston on the stage. Regal provided commentary. Kingston was finally able get up and stand as the five winning men stood together. Santana was not there. JR stated “Cesaro”Claudio was even mentioned at one point. Referee Bryce Remsburg even climbed up to the cage to raise the hands and bless the winners (minus Santana). The babyface team was able to celebrate even more. Kingston continued to look frustrated that he didn’t make Jericho tap out. Claudio and Mox continued to celebrate. That was it.
Analysis: I think they will clearly go with the story of Kingston being mad that he didn’t make Jericho tap out. This should result in Kingston playing Jericho again in a big singles match. Perhaps Kingston will even confront Claudio about it. Kingston looked tired towards the end of the match.
Three Stars of the Show
1. Santana, Ortiz, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta)
2. The Jericho Appreciation society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara), Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara & Matt Menard, Angelo Parker
3. FTR and Danhausen
The Scoreboard
This Week: 8/10
Last Week: 7.25
Final Thoughts
The Blood & Guts match was fantastic in the second hour. I have my issues with the booking of the last ten minute where they completely ignore what’s going on in the ring to only focus on the roof of the cage, but I explained that in the analysis. It was still an excellent match with the right team going over as the faces beat the heels and that’s what you want to see in a match like that. Claudio Moxley, Kingston, and others put in a great showing. The big story is that Kingston is mad that Claudio got the win instead of him, so maybe Eddie will be mad at Claudio (who he apparently doesn’t like as a storyline) moving forward. I still think we’ll get a big Eddie/Jericho grudge match in the future.
The first hour was pretty average. The Cassidy/Ethan Page match wasn’t very entertaining. The six-man tag featured more comedy with Danhausen. However, he was at least with FTR, so it was still enjoyable. The women’s match was a squash win for Jade Cargill.
I did enjoy Christian Cage’s heel promo again and having Luchasaurus as his heel monster is fine with me because it freshens up the big dinosaur guy as well. Jungle Boy will be a singles babyface, and I believe he can thrive long-term in that role.
It was a great show overall. I’m not going to call it the best episode of the year or anything like that due to the lack of interesting things in hour one. I enjoyed it. Seeing a Blood & Guts match live was probably a lot of fun for the fans in Detroit as well because it’s 47 minutes of in-ring action. That’s cool to see.
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We appreciate your reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. You can reach out to me using any of these methods.
John Canton
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @johnreport
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