Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialAEW Blood & Guts: Future Factions Who Can Go to War

AEW Blood & Guts: Future Factions Who Can Go to War

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After a long wait, AEW was finally able to hold the first-ever Blood & Guts match last week with The Pinnacle taking down The Inner Circle.

True to its name, it was a bloody, brutal match. Seemingly no one walked out without having bled in some fashion, or at least with many wounds to show off that will hurt for quite some time.

But that was just the first match. There will be many more to come, we can assume. Just like Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber and the WarGames match that preceded it, Blood & Guts should be here to stay.

With that being said, what else is AEW working with? What other teams could compete inside the two rings surrounded by steel?

Let’s take a look at the factions on the roster right now and try to match up some new groups.

Three Ain’t Enough. I Need Five.

First off, we have to address the numbers. Unlike Elimination Chamber’s necessity of six people (or six tag teams), there is no definitive number that WarGames, nor Blood & Guts has to stick to.

In the past, WarGames has had teams of five, four and three. WWE seems to be sticking to four as the magic number, but WCW had instances like 1998’s Team WCW (DDP, Roddy Piper and The Warrior) vs nWo Hollywood (Hogan, Bret Hart and Stevie Ray) vs nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash, Sting and Lex Luger) as just one example of the smallest group so far.

With AEW, there is a combination of influences. Tony Khan has his own way of doing things, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega have their ideas, etc. It’s clear Cody Rhodes tries to bring a lot of things from WCW’s past with his father’s influence, so I’m assuming he at least prefers the teams of five like the original concept.

They don’t have to stick with it, but let’s try to work that in as much as we can, rather than going with a bunch of trios options as “good enough” and calling it a day.

The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle

Obviously, these two teams can start feuds with others on this list. Just because they’ve already competed in this doesn’t mean they can’t be in the second, third or so on. Four years in a row, The Undisputed ERA fought in WarGames in NXT. Hell, this could be The Inner Circle’s thing, specifically.

I doubt it, but if either of these teams sticks around another year or two, there should be likely at least one more opportunity to have another Blood & Guts match.

The Elite

From the start, it felt like The Elite was set up to have this match against The Inner Circle. The pandemic got in the way of that, which is a shame, but we might still see it in some fashion, or in another incarnation.

For example, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and The Good Brothers makes up one hell of a quintet. I doubt Michael Nakazawa would be someone’s go-to person to throw in the match, but he could get involved in some way from the outside to try to make the odds six-on-five.

It’s not the same as Omega, Young Bucks, Page and maybe Rhodes or someone else to fill in that spot, but it’s arguably better since there’s more of a Bullet Club feel to it.

The Dark Order

There is no shortage of members for The Dark Order, which makes finding a group of five very easy to do. Even with the unfortunate passing of Brodie Lee, the group is still seven members strong, not counting unofficial members like Hangman Page and Tay Conti, nor Anna Jay or -1.

You’ve got Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Alan Angels, Colt Cabana and Preston Vance.

The downside to this group is that there’s no true leader, so there’s no one to build up to seeing as the final member. However, if you put Page in the match, he serves that purpose. He’s friendly enough with The Dark Order that it wouldn’t be weird.

In my ideal scenario, the group consists of Page, Uno, Grayson, Reynolds and Silver. Angels is the runt of the litter in a lot of ways, Cabana seems to just hang out and I can’t picture him in that type of fight, and while “10” can certainly fill a spot, I think it’d be weird to boot one of the other guys.

The Hardy Family Office

To be honest, I don’t think this would ever happen, nor do I have any interest in this group taking up a spot in Blood & Guts. However, we should address them, since they’re a group of five already formed.

Matt Hardy, Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade (no need to count The Bunny) is already set. You’re done. There you go. That’s your team.

There isn’t a single possible feud I can imagine being worth building toward Blood & Guts for this group, though. For that matter, I don’t think this faction will be around all that much longer, anyway. My guess is we see this stable split by the end of the year and Matt’s switched off to a different gimmick.

The Nightmare Family / The Factory

Having split in two, The Nightmare Factory has a lot of members on the roster and many more that are associated with them. I’d go so far as to say it’s almost a guarantee we’re going to see at least one Blood & Guts match team led by Cody Rhodes at some point in the future. The same isn’t likely to be said about QT Marshall, especially since I can’t imagine this feud lasts that long.

As it stands right now, though, The Nightmare Family has Cody and Dustin Rhodes, Lee Johnson and the three members of The Gunn Club. Of course, Darby Allin and some others could just join their ranks temporarily to help with star power, rather than relying on Colten Gunn as a main guy and so on.

The Factory has QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, Anthony Ogogo and Aaron Solow. They’d need a fifth member. My guess is there are plenty of people who can fill the role, but none of them would have the star power necessary for this match.

However, if you combine them again at some point in the future, then, you’re working with something. Assuming people progress naturally in their careers, you could have Cody and Dustin Rhodes, Comoroto, Ogogo and Johnson and that might be a great team.

Team Taz + 1 or 2

Brian Cage, Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs make an impressive trio and the first of many on this list. Technically speaking, Hook is there and could be the fourth, but since he’s yet to wrestle a true match, I don’t think it’s fair to assume he’s a given.

Therefore, Team Taz would need to recruit at least one, if not two more members to their team. Right now, they’re failing to bring aboard Christian. I don’t think he’ll follow Hobbs and say no, only to say yes.

Scorpio Sky may be someone to watch out for, though. Taz has frequently spoken highly of him. If you throw Ethan Page in there, you’ve got a real good group of five.

Death Triangle + 2

PAC, Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo need two more to fill out their ranks. Part of me says “meh, just throw Chaos Project in there”, but an even bigger part of me says “don’t you dare do that.”

Nobody strikes me as a worthwhile or meaningful addition to this trio. Everyone would seem strange. For example, could you really imagine Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela teaming with these three? Or TH2? Brandon Cutler? The Acclaimed?

I didn’t think so.

My guess is Death Triangle won’t compete in a Blood & Guts match because there will never be a fourth and fifth person. Unless AEW is open to a 3-on-3 (on 3?) like in the past, I’d vote this a no-go.

Jurassic Express + 2

On a similar wavelength, Jurassic Express is a team that could pair with others for random tag team matches, but wouldn’t have the synergy for something as deep as this. Blood & Guts should try to stay special and not go down the road Hell in a Cell did, where the match happens just for the sake of it.

Would you really want to see Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt just teaming with two random other people inside this, or would you rather save the cage for a more bitter rivalry with a true faction of five, while Jurassic Express can settle its beef in some other way?

It might be fun to see what Stunt’s role would be in this match, though. If the trios version of this ever comes to pass, Jurassic Express would obviously become contenders.

Best Friends + 2

Trent, Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy also can’t team with any two random people and have it not feel weird, nor do I think they should get two more official members of their faction. Kris Statlander is one thing, and she works, but tossing two guys from Dark in there and hoping they have chemistry would be weird.

To repeat, the trios option is still on the table. If that’s the case, Best Friends could certainly fit the bill.

If it had to be Best Friends and two other people, and we’re limited to the current roster, I’m stuck. I can’t think of anyone. If you have any suggestions, toss them in the comments.

Pretty Picture + 1

While this is a foursome (Peter Avalon, Cezar Bononi, Ryan Nemeth and JD Drake), and they could definitely find a fifth member of just some random person to throw in there, as this is an oddball assortment, I can’t imagine any scenario where they’re considered important enough to have a Blood & Guts match.

An eight-man tag team match (or ten-man, if they got that fifth member) on an episode of Dark or Dynamite would likely be the zenith of this group’s existence. I don’t even think they’d get a match on a pay-per-view in any fashion, let alone something as big as AEW’s monster cage gimmick.

For the sake of it, who could be that fifth member? Since this is all about going with weird options, I’m assuming someone like Faboo Andre would get the spot.

Women’s Division Options

What about the women’s division? Well, there aren’t any factions right now, so that’s out of the window in any concrete sense.

However, I could see a Team NWA vs. Team AEW match happening down the line in some fashion, couldn’t you? Or, for that matter, Team Joshi?

Team NWA could be Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, Kamile, Alex Gracia and Melina, maybe. Team Joshi could be Hikaru Shida, Riho, Emi Sakura, Yuka Sakazaki, Riyo Mizunami, Maki Itoh and plenty of others. Team AEW, if we’re eliminating those names already used from the list, you’ve still got Britt Baker, Big Swole, Jade Cargill, Kris Statlander, Leyla Hirsch, Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Red Velvet, Tay Conti, etc.

I wouldn’t expect this to happen for a while, if ever. But hey, we’ve had women’s WarGames matches, so why not?

Other

Team AEW against Team Impact Wrestling or Team New Japan Pro Wrestling sells itself, doesn’t it?

I don’t think we’ll ever see Sting involved in something like this, but if so, he and Darby Allin could go on a recruitment spree and get three other guys to make up their team. It’s not my favorite idea, but it could work. I just have no idea who could fit that motif.

At first, SCU already had three out of five. That’s no longer a thing.

But here’s the thing: AEW could always make brand new groups down the line that we don’t see coming. Would you have imagined at the first Double or Nothing that The Pinnacle would be a thing? I doubt it. So for all we know, there’s some wonderful faction of Paul Wight, Luther, Angelico, Miro and Ryzin waiting to happen that will shock the world.

That in and of itself makes for a fun discussion, so if you have any suggestions of teams of five you’d like to see do battle inside Blood & Guts, drop them in the comments below!

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