Why AEW Didn’t Book Women’s Blood & Guts Match

AEW is prepared to hold another Blood & Guts match, and the Elite will take on the Blackpool Combat Club, in a match that could be a bloodbath. Now we have a bit of understanding why the women aren’t getting their own turn in that match.

Tony Khan has recently addressed why a women’s Blood & Guts match didn’t materialize in 2023. Despite the growing momentum within the AEW women’s division, with The Outcasts (comprising Saraya, Toni Storm, and Ruby Soho) wreaking havoc and competitors like Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter, and Willow Nightingale stepping up to the challenge, a women’s Blood & Guts match was not part of the plan.

Instead, the upcoming July 19 episode of AEW Dynamite will feature another thrilling men’s Blood & Guts match inside the cage. While fans had their hopes high for the potential women’s matchup, Tony Khan’s decision to focus on the men’s division for this particular event indicates a strategic move to keep the women’s division storyline distinct and potentially build towards other exciting opportunities down the line.

During the media call, Tony Khan addressed this idea of holding a women’s Blood & Guts match. It would be an interesting idea, but it is apparent that they went a different way for various reasons.

“It would have been an interesting idea, it could have been a great match. I definitely think Jamie Hayter’s injury, is probably a five-on-five there given some of the depth issues, and especially given Willow Nightingale just got back and putting her in that kind of match after she had a major head injury in Japan, probably wouldn’t be very smart.”

“We’ve had some other major injuries there, and when there was some fan momentum for that idea, I think the Outcasts vs. Jamie, Britt, and some others, was really running red hot and Jamie Hayter was a part of that. Some of the momentum for that, when Jamie Hayter was running hot as champion, was there, and I’m not sure at this moment, given some of the injuries we had, that was feasible. Also, with so many of the women competing this week in the Owen Hart Cup tournament, it is a very hard-hitting match and there is a lot of attrition for it. Santana still hasn’t been back from last year. The women’s division is pretty beat up, they’ve been beating the hell out of each other. Probably was not a feasible idea for them this year.”

Only time will tell how the Blood & Guts match ends this year. We can only hope that nobody suffers an injury in Boston, but you also never know what can happen in such an unpredictable setting.

For more on this story, and many more, please keep checking back with Ringside News for updates and side-stories about AEW Blood & Guts up to, and beyond the big show.