A lot of people are poking fun at the ending of last night’s (May 5) first ever Blood & Guts match in AEW, where Chris Jericho’s fall onto cardboard and a crash pad didn’t visually align with the story told by the commentators, which is that his career could be over after being dumped onto concrete by MJF.
NXT star Shotzi Blackheart is one of those people having some fun with the spot:
— Shotzi Blackheart (@ShotziWWE) May 6, 2021
I’ve seen some absurd criticism thrown towards the many wrestling fans who were underwhelmed by Jericho’s fall. Some people seem to think these wrestling fans wanted Jericho to really fall onto concrete, with no padding involved in the spot. This is such a stupid thing to conclude that it’s tempting to believe those people are either being trolls or arguing in bad faith.
The disappointment doesn’t stem from the fact that Jericho didn’t fall onto actual concrete. It’s simply a matter of the the visual of the spot so blatantly breaking the illusion presented. There’s a reason why wrestlers don’t use cardboard chairs in matches, for example, because the audience won’t be able to buy into the idea that a strike from that object can be dangerous. And it would be silly for the commentators to try to convince the audience that it’s actually a steel weapon.
The Jericho fall is in some ways no different from that hypothetical example, even though it’s a much more ambitious spot. When the commentators tell me that Jericho just fell onto concrete and his career could be over, yet I see him surrounded by cardboard pieces that are a shitty substitute for metal grating, it should be pretty obvious why that might come off as yet another dud ending to a big AEW gimmick match. If AEW can’t use better camera tricks, equipment, or props to make the spot look more authentic, then they shouldn’t do the spot.
These 10 guys worked their asses off to deliver on the Blood & Guts concept with an intense level of brutality and violence. But just like with Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley’s Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match two months ago at Revolution, the main talking point coming out of the match is the lackluster visual of the final spot. The hard work of the wrestlers has once again been undermined by a flat ending, and that’s too bad.