Blood & Guts couldn’t live up to the Hype due to the Excellent Mic work of the Participants – Primarily Maxwell Jacob Friedman & Chris Jericho
This match between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle was AEW’s cross between Hell in a Cell and WarGames (that WCW, which also used to air on TNT, did back in the day). This match immediately took AEW fans back to February 2020 and the communities first ever steel cage match between Cody Rhodes and Wardlow (who was also in this match). Blood & Guts seemed like such a major event; it was almost too big to give away on Dynamite. It was somewhat disappointing in that regard (it probably seemed bigger because it took place over a year after it was originally advertised), no fault to the performers – they did everything possible to make the match unforgettable, including Chris Jericho taking a bump from the top of the steel cage.
The Inner Circle indirectly put The Pinnacle over without directly taking a loss or making themselves look weak by compromising their integrity. The highlight of the match, at least in my opinion, was when Jericho put Maxwell in the Liontamer/Walls of Jericho on top of the cage. It was a direct throwback to the 2002 HIAC match with Triple H when he did the exact same thing. The only thing this match could have used was a little more of a spotlight on a couple of the other members of the two groups – like Jake Hager or Wardlow – as opposed to giving nearly all the spotlight to Jericho and MJF.
At the end of the day, this match was extremely well-executed, and this is all just constructive criticism. It is a bit of a bummer, however, that Chris Jericho and The Inner Circle will likely be taking some time away from AEW as this bump off the cage will likely write the group off TV for the foreseeable future.
Tony Khan has had no difficulty whatsoever in finding a plethora of Challengers for Kenny Omega’s AEW World Title – Challengers are coming from every direction after the World Title
Kenny Omega is portraying his character in a very authentic and grounded way. He has been doing that for a while and is clearly very bold in this persona – the cocky, arrogant heel who has the skills necessary to back up his claims as being the best in the world. He is also opting to take the extremely long-term route in regard to storytelling, which is extremely characteristic of Kenny Omega (given his history in Japan with that style of storytelling among other places). The story with Jon Moxley is being put off even further in favor of pursuing a message right now between Omega and PAC/Orange Cassidy.
PAC has obviously defeated Omega in the past as Kenny pointed out in his promo. The two men had a legendary Iron Man match (in AEW) in early 2020, so it would be fitting to see this story conclude at Double or Nothing. With all that being said, it looks like the direction the company is going in is an AEW world championship match between Omega and Orange Cassidy. The company is clearly looking to take advantage of the popularity of Orange right now (as Tony Khan should be doing). The actual wrestling won’t be nearly as good because Cassidy is not nearly as good a wrestler as PAC, but his character is significantly more over than just about anyone else in the entire company – as has been the case for about a year.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Orange has been trending upward at about a 90° angle. The summer 2020 culminated with a victory for Cassidy over Chris Jericho – signaling that his popularity had reached an all-time high. AEW is seeking to take full advantage of Orange’s popularity by placing him in a match for the world title with the company’s biggest star in Omega. Cassidy may not win the title, but this will be a great opportunity for him to further his credibility in the ring by delivering a solid match with the best in the world.
Since Omega is electing to take this detour in storylines, the feud with Jon Moxley will be given a few more months to marinate in the minds of fans – which will only add to the anticipation for this rivalry to coordinate. A line is forming for Omega’s belt because Hangman Page (who was ranked No. 1 in the company on the win-loss column just a few weeks ago) has been waiting for the story between the two of them to be revisited. And of course, we can’t forget about Brian Cage, who beat Page in the first place. Omega – Page is probably the biggest story in the company aside from Omega – Moxley (because of the tag team, etc.). Christian Cage also wants a shot down the line.