wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts 2025 Review
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...AEW Blood & Guts
November 12th, 2025 | First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina
Alright everyone, I’ll be doing my best to bring you more AEW reviews and there’s no better place to start than this special Blood & Guts edition of Dynamite.
Blood & Guts: Harley Cameron, Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander, Mina Shirakawa, Toni Storm & Willow Nightingale vs. Marina Shair, Megan Bayne, Mercedes Moné & Triangle of Madness
Skye and Willow started us out. We were maybe three minutes in and Skye Blue was busted open in a big way. She got some help in the form of Julia Hart. They dominated Willow in this segment. Of course, Harley was next in to give us more of the tag feud between these four. They went at it through the commercial break. Upon returning, Thekla joined the fray and she whipped the faces with a belt. That segment was very short (I didn’t hear if they get progressively shorter or something) and Jamie was next in. She laid waste to the heels until Megan Bayne entered. Respect to Penelope Ford for being ringside with her. She dominated like the powerhouse she is until Statlander entered, wearing her title, and broke a pool cue over Megan’s head. This lasted through another commercial break until Mercedes Moné hit the scene. She came out dancing and was in no rush to get into the ring. She brought all of her belts into the ring, giving weapons to her teammates. It was up to Mina Shirakawa to try and turn the tide for her team. She did well enough in that sense but stumbled through her early offense. The final heel team member, Marina Shafir, was in last. She battled with Stat, who was also bleeding now, and introduced a bed of nails, which Stat was kicked onto. Toni arrived last and used a handful of pearl necklaces as a weapon. She also broke a champagne bottle and used the glass shared on her taped fists as a weapon. They worked through another commercial, returning to see Jamie powerbomb Skye Blue onto a table that didn’t really break. That woman is bumping and working out there. Mercedes kissed Toni before hitting her finisher and then nailing a Backstabber on Stat. Harley brought out her Mercedes puppet, which was tossed away and Harley then used brass knuckles on her. Julia and Thekla managed to slip out through the small openings in the cage, where they stole the key and opened the door. The fight spilled outside, where the heels held serve. Stat took out Mercedes with a Samoan Drop on the outside through a table. Toni brought in a mirror to use as a weapon but Marina threw it in her face instead. The heels then used glass to stomp on Mina. Marina held her in position as Megan beat on her with the TBS Title. The other heels held Toni down and forced her to watch until she gave up to save her friend in 46:09. A hell of a Blood & Guts match. Brutal, barbaric, and played into the existing storylines so well. There were a few spots that didn’t quite work for me but overall, this was fantastic. [****½]
Backstage, The Don Callis Family brawled with Jurassic Express. The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada exited a trailer with Callis as the Bucks continue to ponder the possibility of joining.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
When The Opps turned heel against Hangman Page, I wanted Hangman/Hobbs and Hangman/Shibata more than I wanted a second Hangman/Joe match. I’m glad we got one here and the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation is one of my favorites when executed properly. It was done right here, with so much of the fighting taking place away from the ring. They fought outside, Hobbs hit a big slam on the steel steps before taking a big back body drop bump off the announce table, and the brawling went all the way up into the stands. That led to Hangman taking off his boot and hitting Hobbs with it, sending him over the railing and onto an equipment box. The sparks flying off of it was a cool touch and Hangman covered to win in 14:10. I didn’t write much here as I’m saving that for the B&G matches but this was awesome. They went balls to the walls and had a badass fight. [***¾]
Post-match, Hangman got jumped by Katsuyori Shibata and Samoa Joe, with the latter using a chair on him. They somehow got the cage lowered to surround Hangman but Eddie Kingston and Hook sent them packing before it could fully lower, saving Hangman. The World Champion got on the microphone and challenged Joe to a Steel Cage match at Full Gear. Great call since AEW does cage matches well and this needed to not just be a straight up rematch from WrestleDream.
Before the main event, Tony Schiavone brought out Ricky Steamboat to celebrate his legacy in Greensboro, North Carolina. FTR interrupted and did some shit talking before actually jumping the legend. Of course, Brodido made the save. That included a dope 21 Plex and Steamboat hitting some chops.
Blood & Guts: Darby Allin, Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong vs. The Death Riders
We got Darby Allin and Wheeler Yuta to start things. They battled both in and out of the cage, with the highlight being Darby using his thumbtack skateboard as a weapon, much to the delight of Bryan Danielson on commentary. Orange Cassidy was in next and the crowd appreciated Wheeler taking a 2-on-1 beating for a while. Daniel Garcia evened the playing field. Next was supposed to be Mark Briscoe but it’s revealed that he was attacked backstage, which meant Roderick Strong entered instead. Roddy busting out backbreakers took me back to 2005. Damn, I’m old. Claudio was next and I loved the reaction to him. Everyone was just like, “Oh, shit just got real.” Kyle O’Reilly was next and I was surprised that Jon Moxley followed. I thought for sure he’d be last. He brought a fork with him and started ripping people open. Mark Briscoe would’ve been last but he didn’t get to show up. That means the faces were taking a beating and then PAC entered last, putting them at the biggest disadvantage. They got their asses kicked with a bunch of violent spots. Mark finally showed up and broke into the cage. Weapons like pliers and a damn hammer were also brought into play. Mark and Yuta fought atop the cage and I think this part dragged a bit. They brought chairs up in a convoluted way and the payoff was a Jay Driller and that’s it. Gabe Kidd showed up to seemingly abduct Darby. He carried him to the entrance before PAC brought him atop the entrance. Gabe set some tables on fire and Darby took a press slam through them, rolling around with his back actually on fire. My god. In the ring, the Death Riders seemingly had the win in hand as Mox choked Kyle with a chain but Kyle flipped him off rather than quit. OC, who had his hands stapled into his pockets, broke free and the faces started to rally. Everyone on the Death Riders got taken out, leaving Moxley alone to get trapped in an Ankle Lock. Like he did against Hangman and like he did against Darby, Mox panicked and frantically looked for an out before quitting again, losing in 54:08. Another great match, though I preferred the women’s. This one went a bit longer than it needed but the ending was awesome. Mox being, at his core, a coward, is the best thing about his character. Kyle was probably my MVP here. [****¼]
