AEW Dynamite (Nov. 4, 2026) was about one cage, two rings, and three words. Blood and guts!
The Wednesday night episode only featured two matches on the evening from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Blood & Guts for the women, then Blood & Guts for the men in the main event. Let’s break down the action.
As always, be sure to catch up on the Dynamite play-by-play
from Claire Elizabeth.Villains win men’s Blood & Guts
Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada, Kevin Knight, Mark Davis, Jake
Doyle, & Wardlow defeated Will Ospreay, Adam Copeland, the Young Bucks, Darby Allin, & Steven Borden.
The promos to open the show foreshadowed how the finish played out. Don Callis studied the opponents’ medical records to formulate the game plan. The Callis Family, led by Fletcher, is guided by titles, money, and family.
On the other side, Mick Foley questioned Copeland about trepidation for how this match can take years off a career. Cope admitted to feeling trepidatious about to protect the futures of his teammates.
Blood & Guts is won by submit or surrender. The match officially starts when everyone has entered the ring. The pace was brawling with one after the other. The heels had the man advantage.
Put this in the never seen before folder. Knight monkey flipped Allin while seated in a chair.
Allin was victim again being tossed like a sack of potatoes by Davis and Doyle into the cage wall.
There were questions about how dangerous Borden would be back from concussion. He was slammed onto tacks. Other than that, he was mostly safe.
Okada brought levity and a leaf blower to the ring to clear the mat of tacks.
Ospreay was the final arrival, and things got wacky after that. Both teams set up a cool collision to feel like a true donnybrook. Allin planted an exploding backpack, and Wardlow found out the hard way. The Bucks also booby trapped an exploding chair on a superkick.
The pace got thrown off track when Callis comically taunted an old-timey fighting stance toward Allin. Allin took the bait to climb through the cage gap and chase Callis. Wardlow ripped the door off the hinges to save the boss. Allin and Wardlow climbed to the top of the cage. Wardlow marched Allin in a vertical suplex position. Allin escaped for a low blow. That reads quickly, but it took a lot of time to unfold. Everyone else was pretty much on pause. Then, Allin and Wardlow were on pause above the cage when the focus went back to the match.
In the end, Copeland’s conversation with Foley played out. Cope surged with spears. A conchairto to Okada was thwarted by Davis and Doyle. The Callis Family wrapped a chain around Copeland’s sensitive neck to tie him to the cage. Back up to Wardlow for a powerbomb to Allin atop the cage. The rest of the babyface team was threatened in dire positions. Fletcher issued the ultimatum, “Submit or surrender.” Fletcher put a screwdriver to Ospreay’s neck, and Cope surrendered to save his teammates. Victory to the Callis Family.
In true heel fashion, Fletcher told Wardlow to punish Allin anyway. Wardlow gave a gentle shove for Allin to fall from the top of the cage crashing through tables. The push looked weak (for safety reasons), but the impact was gnarly.
This Blood & Guts was fine. Nothing special though. I feel like we’ve seen this finish before already. I know it was just last year that Toni Storm surrendered to save Mina Shirakawa. I’m pretty sure a heel went back on his word for post-match violence. I want to assume it came from MJF. I am curious how Copeland’s choice affects his budding relationship/rivalry with Ospreay. I don’t think Cope should get any flack from his teammates for surrendering here. I can see this playing into the question of if Copeland still has what it takes.
My big takeaway is that Fletcher should win the AEW World Championship from Will Ospreay at Full Gear. Fletcher controlled the stage on this night. He looked like the biggest star and the biggest villain. AEW often has an issue presenting lame duck challengers for the world title on PPV. Prior to Blood & Guts, Fletcher fit that bill. Post Blood & Guts, I say shock the world with Fletcher as world champion. In that sense, AEW did an effective job in building Fletcher as a legitimate threat.
Ospreay was a complete dud in Blood & Guts. Fletcher entered first and put in work. Ospreay entered last and got worked over. I lost track of which move put Ospreay down toward the end. I think it was a brainbuster onto a barbed wire chair. This goes back to the poor pacing with the rooftop shenanigans. It felt like a long time from that brainbuster to Wardlow’s cage strut to the ultimate finish.
Make no mistake. I’m not saying that I’m down on Ospreay’s reign. I very much enjoy his work. I’m saying that Blood & Guts positioned Fletcher with the momentum to upset the apple cart and take the world title. I’ll leave it to you, dear Cagesiders, to discuss in the comments if this would be a smart move or a dumb move.
Heroes win women’s Blood & Guts
Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, Harley Cameron, Jaime Hayter, Alex Windsor, & Queen Aminata defeated Thekla, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Megan Bayne, Lena Kross, & Persephone.
The women’s Blood & Guts was less about storyline and more about carnage. Persephone was focused on bringing the pain to Aminata for their TBS title feud. There was a brief moment when Statlander and Hayter argued, but Willow quickly put them back on focus to the task of victory. StatDaddy and the Birds worked together on the finish. That’s pretty much it on the story tip. The rest was brawling madness.
On to the action. Bayne was bloody early. Later, she had the signature snapshot that will have people talking.
Blue was a bloody mess too, which has become her calling card lately. Also of note, barbed wire got stuck on her butt when being hit with a weaponized 2×4.
Prior to that, Blue made an impact with by smashing a light tube over Statlander’s head.
Kross was a badass upon entry when she felt no pain from kendo shots from Aminata.
Harley Cameron had a funny bit by using a ukulele as a decoy to smash a full-sized guitar over the head of Kross.
Divine Dominion powerbombed Statlander into the cage, and she crashed awkwardly between the ring. That fall made me wince.
Persephone climbed up the cage for a splash onto Aminata through the table.
Divine Dominion had their just deserts being powerbombed onto barbed wire tables by the Brawling Birds.
Harley sparked the finish. She dodged black mist from Hart, who then felt the wrath on a single-leg crab. The Birds and Willow kept their enemies at bay, while Statlander wrapped barbed wire around Hart’s face to crank a double submission with Harley. Hart surrendered.
In terms of story, this one didn’t have much sizzle. In terms of action, it was Blood & Guts. I like how the wrestlers brought personality in their choice of weapons, such as Persephone using pliers from Britt Baker’s dentist bag to pull teeth, Hayter bashing beer bottles over heads, and Thekla shooting a net (spider web) at her opponent. It’s too bad the net spot missed the target. I’m curious what the plan was for that.
I really like how the finish played out. Hart’s screams of agony and the speed of tapping sold the danger of the moment. Sometimes these extreme hardcore matches don’t have a finish that makes me believe. In this case, it’s like we could feel her pain through the screen. There’s no shame in Hart surrendering in that spot as her face was being ripped apart. That was definitely an effective match-ender for Blood & Guts.
For MVP of the women’s Blood & Guts, I’d go with Divine Dominion. They were busy with power offense, and they also took their fare share of bumps. Bayne and Kross probably scored the most oohs and aahs from me while watching.
Notes: Texas Death is official for Full Gear. Bandido wants to kill Swerve Strickland. The luchador attacked Kofi, and this enraged Austin Creed enough to protect his partner. When Hangman Page tried to calm his buddy down, Bandido was adamant that he wants the stipulation for their trios title defense. The cowboy reluctantly agreed. This scene was done well to rope Brodido and New Level into Swerve’s demented world. On the champion side, I like how Brody King’s nod of support for Texas Death spoke volumes. Creed stayed true to character by questioning Swerve’s madness. That was until Kofi got attacked. It’s interesting how there’s still an angle of uncertainty for how far New Level will be willing to go in Texas Death. That dynamic should end up being the story of the match at Full Gear.
Jon Moxley recruited the Conglomeration for Anarchy in the Arena against The Cut. Mox needs people he can trust in the line of fire, and his wars versus the Conglomeration have earned that trust. This was left as a cliffhanger with no answer of acceptance yet.
Mercedes Moné called out Marina Shafir. The CEO talked trash, and the Death Rider replied with language not fitting for ears of all ages. Slap by Mercedes followed by striking with the title belt to get the upper hand.
Nick Wayne reminded the world that he beat Chris Jericho.
Andrade El Idolo defends the AEW National Championship against Tommaso Ciampa on Collision aboard the Jericho cruise ship. Andrade credited his current success to the people for believing in him. He will never take that for granted.
Stud of the Show: Kyle Fletcher
Fletcher came across like the man who runs AEW.
Match of the Night: Women’s Blood & Guts
Only two matches to chose from. The women’s match flowed smoother, and I liked that finish better.
Grade: B
Blood & Guts was Blood & Guts. Mileage will vary depending on how much you enjoy that type of violence. Even though both matches had plenty of entertaining moments, I don’t think either was spectacular enough for an A grade. I question if we need two Blood & Guts matches on the same show. Frankly, I was satisfied after the women’s match, then there is another one in the exact same format. I felt that the women stole the thunder here.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
