Dave Meltzer Calls AEW's Recent Blood & Guts Best Its Done, But Has Concerns

Nearly a week later, everyone is still talking about the Blood & Guts match from last week's "AEW Dynamite" episode between the Blackpool Combat Club and the Golden Elite. Chief among them is veteran pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, who had high praise for the match, rating it 4 and ¾ stars.

In an appearance on "McGuire On Wrestling," Meltzer discussed the match, and even rated it against the previous Blood & Guts matches that AEW had done, while also sharing some concerns.

"I thought it was the best one that they've done, by far," Meltzer said. "But, you know, everybody's got an opinion. The negative is that all of the weapons, and I can see that turning people off ... once you're doing Bed of Nails and stuff, that's hardcore death match stuff that a lot of people ... a lot of people are going to like it."

Despite the praise, Meltzer was far more negative on some of the hardcore elements, particularly multiple spots with the bed of nails, stating it shouldn't have been included. However, he noted that those elements worked for AEW's audience, and thus couldn't entirely condemn the match, even if it didn't have the staying power of past hardcore matches.

"It's a different world now," Meltzer said. "Now it's commonplace. When Randy Orton did it, people remember it 20 years later. Now it's in matches and people don't even remember it. They did thumbtacks on Friday night at the Ring of Honor PPV too. But that's wrestling.

"It's always been that way. You start a flying tackle and you end up with a triple somersault. Did the flying tackle in 1929 get more of a reaction than the triple somersault? Of course, it did, because that's the evolution of wrestling. It's always going to get wilder and crazier," he added.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "McGuire On Wrestling" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription