Chris Jericho Says AEW’s Blood & Guts Match Is Different From a WarGames Match

All Elite Wrestling will host its first Blood & Guts match during this week’s AEW Dynamite between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle. Ever since the concept was first announced back in early 2020 fans have immediately compared it to the classic WCW WarGames matches of the 80s and 90s. In many ways they are the same — two teams, two rings surrounded by one cage, the match can only end by submission or knockout once every competitor has officially entered — but Chris Jericho explained in an interview with New York Post this week that they won’t be exactly the same.

“Our version of kind of the WarGames is why we called it Blood and Guts, it’s just not a copyright thing,” Jericho said. “There are some differences and we wanted to kind of make it our own version of this classic match, which we obviously have a direct legacy to with Dustin and Cody [Rhodes] being with the company and obviously [president] Tony Khan is a massive fan of that era of wrestling. So, I think he didn’t want to mess with those classic rules. He grew up loving that style of WarGames.”

Jericho talked about his approach to the match while speaking with ComicBook last week.

“Blood & Guts is a little bit different,” Jericho said when comparing it to WarGames. “Even just in the way that it’s constructed. You’ll see that on Wednesday. I’ve been in a lot of first matches before. The first Elimination Chamber, the first Money in the Bank, the first Stadium Stampede, so I’m no stranger to that.

“And anytime you get a match that’s never happened before from a stipulation standpoint, it’s exciting because there’s really no rules,” he continued. “It’s a little bit of a detriment in as far as you can’t go back and watch old versions to get ideas from because there haven’t been any other versions. So I think all across the board, we’ve really built it up properly. The angle is very hot. It’s the perfect timing to have this type of match.”

Check out the full card for this week’s Dynamite below:

• Blood & Guts Match: The Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle
• Kenny Omega & Michael Nakazawa vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston
• Elimination Match: SCU vs. Jurassic Express vs. Varsity Blonnds vs. The Acclaimed
• Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall
• Britt Baker vs. TBA