Questions About AEW Blood And Guts

Life is presenting us with a lot of questions right now. We don’t have a lot of answers. Some of us think we do, but we really don’t. Others, like me, try to avoid the serious things we should be asking about and occupy ourselves with things that aren’t that important to most.

If you’re reading this, AEW programming is important to you. It’s certainly debatable whether AEW & WWE programming should still be under production, and it wouldn’t be that surprising if it stopped at any given moment. Until it does stop, I feel an obligation to talk about it with fellow people that don’t mind having a couple of hours of pro wrestling every couple of nights or so. In times like these, we need to keep ourselves sane somehow.

So, instead of asking the important questions about ongoing world events, today we ask the important questions about AEW’s next big event. BLOOD & GUTS!

The number one question we have about AEW’s upcoming Blood & Guts match is one I didn’t think we would be asking a couple of weeks ago.

Should there be a Blood & Guts match?

[Editor’s Note: AEW announced after this column’s submission that the Blood & Guts match is not taking place next week and will “happen when the time is right.”]

It’s going to be weird when it happens. We’ll be seeing ten guys in two rings surrounded by a giant cage. Some other wrestlers may be at ringside hollering, screaming & gambling on the outcome. Given that the name of the match is “Blood & Guts”, one would assume there would be a number of people bleeding. After all, no blood in a Blood & Guts match would be false advertising. As much as I’d like to think that wrestling fans would be understanding given the circumstances, I know there would be plenty of angry tweets from AEW fans about how there wasn’t any blood, and plenty of tweets from non-AEW fans laughing about how there wasn’t any blood.

From where I sit, AEW should still have the match. Of course, I’m somebody that writes about wrestling and likes having events to write about. That’s why I’m ok with WrestleMania still going down, even if it’s taped in a bunch of empty locations and won’t feel the same as a typical WM with over 60,000 people in a football stadium. WWE & AEW have advertised these events for weeks now, and with their fans largely trapped indoors for the foreseeable future, holding the events feels like the right thing to do. Even if the events feel different and not as fun without the roar of the crowd.

The downside, of course: AEW was hoping to have twice as many ringside seats to sell than usual. That hurts the bottom line.

Can the Inner Circle be stopped? Should it be stopped?

Chris Jericho is no longer AEW Champion. He is still Le Champion in our hearts & minds, and his Inner Circle has never appeared stronger. Jake Hager has been successful in his first AEW matches. Santana & Ortiz have proven to be pains in various backsides. Sammy Guevara has become a highlight of AEW programming no matter what he’s doing. The Inner Circle has run roughshod over AEW of late, and holds the strategic advantage heading into Blood & Guts. Jericho has even banned fans from attending future AEW events, which definitely hurts white meat babyfaces like the Elite.

Jericho’s presence on AEW Dynamite was expected to be cut back once Fozzy went on tour in mid-April, which led many to speculate that the Inner Circle would fall apart at Blood & Guts. Fozzy hasn’t officially postponed anything yet, and is hyping events in July, but there’s a very good chance that the first leg of their tour won’t happen as scheduled.

(Oh, and from what I could tell, they didn’t have any events for the first part of the tour scheduled on Wednesdays anyway. Just saying!)

There’s an argument to make that the Inner Circle should get the last laugh on the Elite. They’re united…

Is the Elite united?

To say the Elite have had issues recently would be an understatement. Adam Page’s problems with the Young Bucks have been on display. While Page & Kenny Omega have been successful as a tag team, there have been moments where it looks like their relationship is about to explode. To add to their problems, Omega is dealing with a hand injury while Nick Jackson is out of commission due to a garage door & the Inner Circle.

Cody’s speech might have helped, but the result later that evening in the ring didn’t indicate so. The Elite will be stuck at a disadvantage, and are down one man. Fortunately, somebody owed the Young Bucks a favor, and they have a replacement ready…

Can Matt Hardy be trusted?

We all love Broken Matt. With that being said, he’s not exactly the most emotionally adjusted guy out there. The man’s got so many issues he should have his own magazine. He’s got so much baggage he needs a porter to carry it all. He’s had problems with the Bucks of Youth in the past, and there’s no reason to think he’s let that all go.

He’s arrived in AEW, and he looks like he’s ready to kick some ass. Jericho sure looked uneasy about the situation, but the question remains: Who is Matt here to delete? Is he going after the Inner Circle, or is he looking to make it All Delete Wrestling?

Who else will be involved?

The cage should be able to keep everybody out…but it’s pro wrestling. We all know it’s easy for unscheduled participants to find their way in. Each side has at least one major threat that isn’t booked in the match.

For the Elite, it’s Lance Archer. Jake Roberts has made it clear that Archer will launch an attack on Cody, and anybody in the way can expect some problems too. Jake promised that Cody would take notice of them sooner rather than later.

For the Inner Circle, it’s Jon Moxley. Moxley hasn’t been cleared to compete, and he was banned from the venue last episode. Not like being banned has ever stopped Moxley before. If he wants to make an impact at Blood & Guts, he will.

Who will appear? Why not both?

Who will win?

Frankly, things look stacked in favor of the Inner Circle. Matt Hardy definitely adds to the Elite’s chances, but they’re still the underdogs heading into this. The oddsmakers will be making Jericho’s team the favorite here, no doubt.

However, I’m going to predict that the Elite wins. Why? A couple of reasons:

-The Elite has Arn Anderson & Dustin Rhodes on their side. Combined, they have more experience in this style of match than anybody else you can find.

-The good guys need to win now more than ever.

So if MJF is still taking bets, I’m putting my money on the Elite.