Last night, Blood and Guts, the war games style cage match, returned to All Elite Wrestling television with The Blackpool Combat Club against The Golden Elite, notably with the addition of former IWGP heavyweight champion, Kota Ibushi on the team for his long-awaited debut with the organization.
In many ways, the episode summed up a lot of what is right and a lot of what is wrong with the company.
With the second hour given to the cage match, the main angle that was presented in the first hour was the originally nondescript eliminator tag tournament, which will see the odd couple of Adam Cole and MJF square off against FTR for the championship. Don’t get me wrong, I understand what the point of the angle is supposed to be, the world champion gets paired with his potential challenger and the two partners can’t get along. The major problem with this storyline, an aspect that I think has damaged MJF’s reign as champion, and Adam Cole’s credibility as a challenger for the championship, is the presentation that makes two athletes that are theoretically two of the top stars on the roster look like a lame comedy act.
The tag tournament final had Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia against the Cole/MJF combination. Granted, the finish was predictable because the overall narrative looks to lead to the eventual Cole vs. Friedman bout for the world title, but it was a tag contest that had four quality workers. Garcia isn’t nearly as complete as the other three competitors and still seems to lack overall direction with his character, despite the sports entertainment persona, but he can go in the ring. Generally speaking, you’re not going to get many complaints about the in-ring work of any of this talent.
However, the presentation is key and at least at this point, it hasn’t fully utilized the talent involved in this angle.
Last week on Collision, a show that only garnered 579,000 viewers, FTR had an absolutely tremendous two out of three falls match against Jay White and Juice Robinson that went almost an hour. While it’s extremely disappointing that the broadcast drew Rampage-level numbers, and that’s probably where the ratings are going to settle, the level of in-ring work was top notch. FTR is undoubtedly still the best tag team in the business, and with the full acknowledgement of how well both the Usos and the combination of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have done this year, the tag division in AEW has shined extremely bright in 2023. Jay White and Juice Robinson are top notch performers, and their series with FTR is such a statement about the quality of AEW programming from purely a work rate perspective.
That being said, FTR will come off of such a stellar tag match to be challenged by a comedy duo, and regardless of how you look at it, it’s a step down. That’s not a knock at the skills of Cole or Friedman, but as assessment of how they are portrayed on television. If they won throughout the tournament because of their ability, albeit in the midst of their personal grudge, that’s a completely different scenario. The tacky backstage vignettes and segments where they are gleefully exchanging matching ring gear are completely counterproductive to the goal of the original concept. This doesn’t set the stage for an eventual clash for the world title, it just makes both of them look like dorks before they get there. I understand that some, especially those within the wrestling bubble might attempt to justify this with the whole “LOL it’s wrestling,” as if everyone, including the audience is supposed to be in on the joke, but that’s a Vince Russo theory that put more companies out of business than made promotions profitable.
About a month ago, these two traded personal jabs on the mic, with MJF criticizing Cole’s noticeably thinner physique, while Cole implied that Friedman was on steroids. Why exactly would they cheerfully make an entrance together with matching gear? Why did they have to crowbar in a lame double clothesline spot that made everyone in the match look silly? Adam Cole is a guy that still has all the tools to be a top guy so why is his character being booked to look completely aloof? MJF is supposed to be the most lowlife heel in pro wrestling, why would Cole trust him? Furthermore, Friedman prides himself on pushing the envelope or “shocking” the audience. Even if those attempts often sound desperate, the routine of parading around like a yuppie during this angle dilutes any type of serious heat that he attempted to get previously.
Quite simply, the world champion and the angle based on the title can’t be effective if it’s booked as a comedy angle, and it’s very doubtful that the eventual MJF/Cole match will be able to sell the audience on a potential title switch since this tag angle has done zero to establish Adam Cole as a threat to the championship.
Speaking of talent being misplaced, the Blood and Guts main event was another example of it.
Don’t get me wrong, the match was wild and had memorable moments, but the argument could be made that they will be memorable for the wrong reasons. As I’ve written about before, I’m a fan of hardcore wrestling and enjoyed ECW, even if some of the product doesn’t hold up today. Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling is still my favorite Japanese organization because it was such a wild spectacle. So, I’m not dismissing the cage match just because of the style. However, at this point, the deathmatches and the blood have been so overdone in AEW that it doesn’t have nearly the same impact. More importantly, it seems like only a matter of time before a major injury happens during one of these contests. Hopefully, Kenny Omega is fine, but he appeared to hurt his knee at one point during the segment, and considering that he finally returned to the ring last August after nearly a year on the sidelines, is it really a wise move to put him in this match?
As far as the gimmick matches being overused, what exactly is there left to do? Sure, the broken glass was a work, but the bed of nails did damage to Omega’s back. After the thumbtacks, broken glass, nails, tables, chairs, ladders, and barbed wire that has been seen in AEW in just the past few months, (don’t forget the Omega/Moxley cage match from earlier this year and Anarchy in the Arena) what exactly can be done to settle a feud? A standard cage match looks tame by comparison, and even barbed wire doesn’t have nearly the same impact it would’ve had in AEW a few years ago. Is fire the next step to pop the crowd for a big match? Cody Rhodes scorched his back when he attempted it.
The structure of the match was illogical, as the babyfaces had a five-on-three advantage when Pac and Konosuke Takeshita left before the conclusion. Shouldn’t the baby face team have to earn the victory? Kota Ibushi, who only worked two matches in the past two years, looks like he put on a noticeable amount of weight since the last time he wrestled and looked to have a lot of ring rust. Plus, hardcore matches aren’t usually the style he works so it wasn’t a situation that showcased what he can bring to the table.
The biggest takeaway from the Blood and Guts episode of Dynamite is that it highlighted one of the biggest criticisms of the AEW product, there’s a lot of stellar talent that often gets booked in a way that actually hinders their skills. MJF has the ability to be the best heel in the business, but looked like a comedy yuppie instead. Adam Cole should be in the position to be a threat to the world championship, but he’s presented as a dork. The gimmick matches are overused to the point that the risk probably isn’t worth the reward. There’s undoubtedly a lot of talent on the roster, but the presentation often misses the mark, which speaks to the lack of proper booking of the AEW product.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
