Blood & Guts returns in Jacksonville with a men’s match and a women’s contest. In the former AEW World Champion Will Ospreay leads his team into battle against The Don Callis Family. On the women’s side, seven participants return from last year looking for more. You can catch AEW Blood & Guts LIVE at 8pm ET on TSN2, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
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Blood & Guts match: AEW World Champion “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay, “The Rated-R Superstar” Adam Copeland, TNT Champion Darby Allin, Steven Borden Jr. and AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) vs. The Don Callis Family (AEW International Champion “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher, “The Jet” Kevin Knight, Wardlow, “Dunkzilla” Mark Davis and Jake Doyle) (w/ Don Callis)
The annual spectacle returns on Wednesday night and it’s not going to be for the faint of heart. Blood & Guts is back on Dynamite, this time from Jacksonville, and like it is every year, the stakes are high and the hatred is palpable. For the uninitiated, Blood & Guts is AEW’s wildest match type and there’s a reason why it only comes around once a year.
A take on the classic WarGames format introduced by Dusty Rhodes for Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987, Blood & Guts sees two rings enclosed by one cage. The match will begin with one representative of each team in the ring with another competitor entering in at a timed interval. A coin toss will determine which team’s member enter first. As a result of the format, one team will have a numerical advantage at every interval, making the coin toss of utmost importance. Once all competitors enter the cage, match truly begins.
Anything goes in Blood & Guts. It’s not just a clever name. The bout is a complete free-for-all with all 12 competitors active at once. The match can only be won by submission or surrender. Wrestlers are also permitted to exit the cage and fighting frequently occurs in the ringside area or even on top of the structure.
The 12 competitors in Wednesday’s match are a mix of Blood & Guts rookies and veterans. Will Ospreay, Adam Copeland and Steven Borden will compete in their first match on one side. On The Don Callis Family side, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis and Jake Doyle will be making their debuts.
The rest of those involved are seasoned veterans. Kazuchika Okada makes his second appearance, as does Wardlow. It’s a third Blood & Guts match for Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson and Darby Allin, respectively. They all know what they’re getting into here.
Blood & Guts comes at a very interesting time for a number of participants in the match, but for two men in particular, they might find themselves spread too thin ahead of such a demanding match. After Blood & Guts, Ospreay must put his AEW World Championship on the line at Nov. 14’s Full Gear against former friend and protege Fletcher. And that’s not the only match on his mind. This past Monday night at New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Power Struggle, the tension between Ospreay and United Empire stablemate Callum Newman finally boiled over. The two men have been at odds for months ever since Newman took the faction in a much more aggressive direction in Ospreay’s absence. Their discord became physical in Hiroshima.
Taking on The Knock Out Brothers (Yuto-Ice and OSKAR) for the IWGP World Tag Team Championships, Ospreay and Newman just couldn’t get on the same page. Just as Ospreay looked to be in control of the match, Newman let his frustrations get to him and waffled OSKAR with a chair, causing a disqualification and ending their championship hopes. That was the final straw as Ospreay and Newman came to blows. Now the two will meet in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom in January.
Along with Ospreay, Allin is burning both ends of the candle right now. On Friday night, he competed against another member of the Family at Arena Mexico at CMLL’s Rey del Inframundo in Hechicero. Though Allin has defeated “The Alchemist” in the past, it was the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion who came out on top this time.
But that’s not all Allin did in the past few days. From Mexico City, Allin flew to New York City where he ran in the New York Marathon. The former AEW World Champion finished with an official time of 5:34:34. After a demanding weekend, Allin will undoubtedly be feeling it, but adversity has never stopped him before.
In what should be an absolute circus, which of these teams will come out victorious?
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Blood & Guts match: TBS Champion Queen Aminata, Willow Nightingale, Wrathlander (Harley Cameron and Kris Statlander) and AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor) vs. CMLL World Women’s Champion Persephone, Artist of Stardom Champions Triangle of Madness (“The Toxic Spider” Thekla, Julia Hart and Skye Blue) and Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) (w/ Dr. Britt Baker, DMD)
After four years of watching the men go to war, AEW’s women finally got to join in the fun last year. The inaugural women’s Blood & Guts match was worth the wait and left viewers one of the indelible images of the company’s history. Who could forget the sight of a completely bloodied Skye Blue with a smile on her face?
Blue will be one of four members of her team from 2025 returning on Wednesday night. Her Triangle of Madness stablemates, Thekla and Julia Hart are back for more, as is Megan Bayne. Joining them in the match will be the other half of Divine Dominion in Lena Kross and, perhaps, the person most excited to be in the match, Persephone - more on that in a minute.
There are a number of returning participants on the other side of the cage, as well. Willow Nightingale, Wrathlander (Harley Cameron and Kris Statlander) and Jamie Hayter are once again ready for battle. Making up the rest of their team is the second half of the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Brawling Birds in Alex Windsor and the brand-new TBS Champion Queen Aminata.
Last Wednesday night on Dynamite, Aminata finally reached the summit. After coming so close on so many occasions in the past, the Guinea-born competitor won her first title in AEW when she defeated Persephone for the TBS Championships. Absorbing everything Persephone could dole out, Aminata put her away with Off with Her Head and, in the process, became AEW’s first-ever African-born champion.
Accustomed to double gold, Persephone hasn’t taken the loss well. This past Saturday night on Collision, footage was aired in the aftermath of her loss. Ranting and raving backstage, Persephone noted that there were two empty spots in the match and challenged Aminata to meet her in Blood & Guts. Later in the evening, Aminata accepted.
Interestingly enough, though, tension exists on the team that Aminata just joined. She made her announcement alongside Nightingale, who’s hand longstanding issues with Thekla, Cameron and Statlander. The vibes were high until Statlander pointed out that Hayter and Windsor were nowhere to be found for a second straight week. It should be noted that Wrathlander and the Brawling Birds, partners on Wednesday night, will vie for the latter’s AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship at Full Gear.
With combustible elements at play here, which of these sextets will manage to survive the night?