Tony Khan talks why women's Blood & Guts didn't happen in 2023.
With The Outcasts (Saraya, Toni Storm, & Ruby Soho) running roughshod over the AEW women's division and the likes of Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter, and Willow Nightingale stepping up to them, there seemed to be momentum building for a women's Blood & Guts match.
Blood & Guts will happen on the July 19 episode of AEW Dynamite, but it will once again be the men stepping into the cage.
"It would have been an interesting idea, it could have been a great match," Tony Khan said about the idea of a women's Blood & Guts during the Blood & Guts and ROH Death Before Dishonor media call. "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."
Blood & Guts 2023 will pit The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Kota Ibushi, & Hangman Page) taking on Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagonli, & Wheeler Yuta), PAC, & Konosuke Takeshita.
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