Blood & Guts (2023)

Blood & Guts
Promotional poster featuring various AEW wrestlers
PromotionAll Elite Wrestling
DateJuly 19, 2023
CityBoston, Massachusetts
VenueTD Garden
Attendance8,956[1]
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The 2023 Blood & Guts was the third annual Blood & Guts professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was held on July 19, 2023, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The event aired as a special episode of AEW's primary weekly television program, Wednesday Night Dynamite, which aired live on TBS. The July 21 episode of Friday Night Rampage on TNT, which was a special episode titled Royal Rampage and the second annual Royal Rampage, was also taped the same night immediately after the live broadcast of Blood & Guts.

Four matches were held for the live broadcast of Blood & Guts, with an additional three matches taped for Royal Rampage. Per the theme of the show, the main event was the Blood and Guts match, in which The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and Kota Ibushi) defeated Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshita, and Pac. In another prominent match, Adam Cole and MJF defeated The Jericho Appreciation Society (Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara) in the finals of the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament and in the opening contest, Jack Perry defeated Hook to win the FTW Championship.

Production

Other on-screen personnel
Role Name
Commentators Excalibur (both shows)
Tony Schiavone (both shows)
Taz (Dynamite)
Chris Jericho (Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Finals and Rampage)
Don Callis (Blood and Guts match)
Ring announcer Justin Roberts
Referees Bryce Remsburg
Paul Turner
Aubrey Edwards
Rick Knox
Stephon Smith
Interviewers Renee Paquette
Alex Marvez

Background

Blood & Guts is an annual television special produced by the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2021. The event airs mid-year as a special episode of the company's primary weekly program, Wednesday Night Dynamite. The concept of the event comes from the Blood and Guts match, which is AEW's version of the classic WarGames match in which two teams fight inside a roofed cell structure that surrounds two rings placed side-by-side and is contested as the main event match of the card.[2]

On June 28, 2023, AEW announced that the third annual Blood & Guts would air live as the July 19 episode of Dynamite on TBS and would be held at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] Additionally, it was announced that the July 21 episode of Friday Night Rampage would be taped immediately after the live broadcast of Blood & Guts and would air on tape delay on TNT as the second annual Royal Rampage special episode.[4]

Storylines

Blood & Guts featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage.

In June 2023, AEW announced a men's tag team tournament consisting of eight teams that would begin that summer. The rules of the tournament were that all men would be paired at random via a draw, which was conducted on and off screen by Renee Paquette and RJ City. The tournament began on July 5, airing live on Dynamite and on tape delay on July 7 on Rampage.[6] This concept is similar to World Championship Wrestling's BattleBowl tournament where the teams were drawn at random in a "Lethal Lottery".

Reception

Television ratings

Blood & Guts averaged 953,000 viewers, which is the largest number since February 22, with 0.34 rating in AEW's key demographic.[7]

Results

Dynamite (aired live July 19)
No.ResultsStipulationsTimes[9]
1Jack Perry defeated Hook (c) by pinfallSingles match for the FTW Championship11:40
2Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Kayla Sparks by submissionSingles match1:05
3Adam Cole and MJF defeated The Jericho Appreciation Society (Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara) by pinfallBlind Eliminator tag team tournament final for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match10:45
4The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and Kota Ibushi) defeated Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshita, and Pac by submissionBlood and Guts match[8]51:15
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
Rampage (aired on tape delay July 21)
No.Results[10]StipulationsTimes[11]
1Darby Allin won by last eliminating Swerve Strickland20-man Royal Rampage Battle Royal for an AEW TNT Championship match at All Out28:33
2The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn defeated QTV (QT Marshall, Johnny TV, and Aaron Solo) (with Harley Cameron) by pinfallSix-man tag team match8:48
3Kris Statlander (c) defeated Marina Shafir by pinfallSingles match for the AEW TBS Championship5:02
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rampage match entrances and eliminations

The Royal Rampage match is a two ring 20-man rumble rules battle royal. Two wrestlers start in each ring, then another wrestler enters every 60 seconds, and goes to his assigned ring (red or blue) until all 20 have entered (10 per ring). Eliminations occur by being going over the top rope. The final two wrestlers in each ring then consolidate into a single ring, and the last wrestler remaining is declared the winner.

  – Blue Ring
  – Red Ring
  – Winner
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Elimination(s)
1 Darby Allin — Winner 3
2 Swerve Strickland 19 Darby Allin 2
3 Jay Lethal 1 Ethan Page 0
4 Nick Wayne 17 Swerve Strickland 2
5 Minoru Suzuki 3 The Butcher 1
6 Brian Cage 16 Nick Wayne 2
7 Ethan Page 2 Minoru Suzuki 1
8 Komander 9 Big Bill 1
9 The Butcher 5 Bishop Kaun 1
10 Big Bill 14 Swerve Strickland 2
11 The Blade 6 Toa Liona 0
12 Isiah Kassidy 4 Brian Cage 0
13 Toa Liona 18 Darby Allin 2
14 Matt Sydal 7 Brian Cage 0
15 Bishop Kaun 15 Darby Allin and Nick Wayne 2
16 Matt Hardy 13 Big Bill 1
17 Matt Menard 10 Toa Liona 0
18 Jeff Jarrett 12 Matt Hardy 0
19 Angelo Parker 11 Bishop Kaun 0
20 Jake Hager 8 Komander 0

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament

In June 2023, AEW announced a men's tag team tournament consisting of eight teams that would begin that summer to determine the #1 contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championship. The rules of the tournament were that the teams would be paired at random via a blind draw, which was conducted on and off screen by Renee Paquette and RJ City. The winners received an AEW World Tag Team Championship match on the July 29, 2023 episode of Collision. The tournament began on July 5, airing live on AEW Dynamite, with the finals taking place on the July 19 episode of Dynamite.[6][12]

Quarterfinals
Dynamite
(July 5, 2023)
Rampage 100
(July 7, 2023) 		Semifinals
Dynamite
(July 12, 2023) 		Final
Dynamite: Blood & Guts
(July 19, 2023)
         
Adam Cole and MJF Pin
Matt Menard and The Butcher 8:50
Adam Cole and MJF Pin
Big Bill and Brian Cage 10:14
Matt Sydal and Trent Beretta 12:24
Big Bill and Brian Cage Pin
Adam Cole and MJF Pin
Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara 10:45
Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy Pin
Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland 11:16
Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy 12:55
Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara Pin
Matt Hardy and Jeff Jarrett 7:38
Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara Pin

References

  1. ^ "AEW Dynamite #143 - Blood & Guts 2023". Cage Match. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 29, 2020). "AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts Announced For March 25, WarGames Style Match To Be Featured". Fightful. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Casey, Connor (June 28, 2023). "AEW Blood and Guts 2023 Match Confirmed". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Rose, Bryan (July 14, 2023). "AEW announces return of Royal Rampage battle royal". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "AEW announce Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament". WrestleTalk. June 29, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (July 20, 2023). "AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts 2023 Draws Over 950,000 Viewers". Fightful. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Russell, Skylar (July 5, 2023). "Participants Named For Blood & Guts Match Between Blackpool Combat Club & The Elite". Fightful. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  9. ^ Powell, Jason (July 19, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (7/19): Powell's live review of Golden Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club in a Blood & Guts match, MJF and Adam Cole vs. Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara in the Blind Eliminator tourney finals". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  10. ^ Powell, Jason (July 21, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (7/21): Powell's review of the Royal Rampage match, Kris Statlander vs. Marina Shafir for the TBS Title, The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn vs. Johnny TV, QT Marshall, and Aaron Solo". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  11. ^ "AEW Rampage #102 - Royal Rampage 2023". Cagematch. July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  12. ^ "411MANIA". Blind Tag Eliminator Tournament Finals Set After AEW Dynamite.