Chris Jericho

The upcoming Blood and Guts match between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle on the May 5 edition of AEW Dynamite will reportedly be the sole focus of the show. 

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Jason Ounpraseuth), Blood and Guts will be the only match to take place on the May 5 Dynamite.

Meltzer noted that there may be some pre-taped segments that are played throughout the episode, but there won't be any other bouts.

The first Blood and Guts match, which will be modeled after the WarGames concept created by the late Dusty Rhodes, was supposed to happen last year. The match would have pitted The Inner Circle vs. The Elite, but the match was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While The Inner Circle will still be part of Blood and Guts, The Elite is being replaced by The Pinnacle, which is a new group headed by MJF.

The Pinnacle came into existence several weeks ago when MJF turned his back on Chris Jericho and The Inner Circle and created his own stable that includes Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood of FTR, Wardlow, Shawn Spears and manager Tully Blanchard.

Meanwhile, the original version of The Inner Circle sans MJF and Wardlow is back in business with Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana and Ortiz comprising the team.

WarGames matches have traditionally been long, brutal and bloody battles that can last upwards of an hour, so it is possible for AEW to stretch it out over the course of a two-hour show.

If it can add in some extras such as promos and backstage segments meant to keep other rivalries going, AEW will have enough content to fill the episode.

Blood and Guts figures to be a landmark match in the history of AEW, so it unquestionably warrants its own spotlight, and all signs point to it receiving precisely that on May 5.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

Jericho Praises Mike Tyson, Recent Celebrity-Wrestling Crossovers

Between Bad Bunny, Shaquille O'Neal and others, this has been a banner time for celebrities hopping in the wrestling ring. Bad Bunny's WrestleMania match was arguably the greatest celebrity showing in history, and Shaq's bump through a table on AEW Dynamite was a meme that kept on memeing.

Chris Jericho said the key to the success of Bad Bunny and Shaq is that they came in and took the wrestling part of things seriously. They weren't just popping in for a check. He said the same mindset applies to Mike Tyson, who has made three appearances on AEW in the last year.

Jericho told Jason Brow and Russ Weakland of Hollywood Life:

"I don't think these recent celebrities want to come in there and embarrass themselves or, more importantly, embarrass the sport with all the respect that they have for it. It's the same thing with Mike Tyson. He loves being around the business and respects the business, and he has since he has been a kid. All he wants to do is his best. And at the end of the day, he is Mike Tyson, so there is always that element of what he is going to do. But if he didn't want to be there for the right reasons, he wouldn't be there."

Tyson is yet to have his oft-rumored debut match, but he proved last Wednesday he can throw an incredible worked punch.

If Iron Mike does eventually find himself inside the squared circle, odds are he'll join Bad Bunny and O'Neal as a crossover star who put on a fun match. 

Karrion Kross Wants to Retire Cena

While Karrion Kross recently recaptured his NXT Championship, he's apparently already got his sights set on bigger heights. Responding to a fan suggestion that he's the one who eventually retires John Cena, Kross seemed more than up for the challenge.

Cena, for his part, responded in his typically cryptic way on Instagram.

Cena has not been on WWE programming since his Firefly Funhouse match against The Fiend at WrestleMania 36. There has been no timetable for his return, with the COVID-19 pandemic and Cena's film schedule creating near-constant conflict.

The idea of Cena ever coming back on a full-time basis can be thrown out the window. He described himself as "not active" but refused to call himself retired in an appearance on The Tonight Show last year. At age 43, Cena would have likely been winding himself into part-timer status even if he weren't a crossover star.

As it stands, we'll be lucky to get one extended legacy run from Cena, but Kross could be headed to Raw or SmackDown by the time that happens.

Updates on Released WWE Stars

Here is a look at some of the latest updates from stars released from their WWE contracts last week:

• Mickie James: "If you wondering what I'm doing next... The answer is simple. Everything they said I couldn't."
• Chelsea Green says she is accepting bookings.
• Peyton Royce returns to former ring name of Cassie Lee.
• Billie Kay is now going by her real name, Jessica McKay. 
• Kalisto: "I'm about to blow up on all your favorite Indies... well that is only if I'm not locked down somewhere else first!"

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio on how WWE decided who to cut (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News): 

"They are people that they're not using in some cases. There are a couple of people that got cut because, how do I say it? I heard this about two different people, about one person was pouting that they were not on WrestleMania. That did not help them. Another person kinda complained about their booking. When you're a marginal talent that's not used and you complain about it, it's you know, it's not like you're a top guy and that didn't help their cause either. That was some of it as far as like, whatever. They're all people that they're not using and they'll all be able to get work whether it was names just coming off [WWE]."

In the first week of WWE NXT airing on Tuesdays while AEW Dynamite remains on Wednesdays, it was Dynamite that prevailed in the television ratings battle.

According to F4WOnline's Bryan Alvarez, Dynamite averaged 1.219 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast on TNT. Meanwhile, NXT brought in 805,000 viewers for its two-hour show on USA Network.

AEW brought boxing legend Mike Tyson back in for Wednesday's show, and he served as a special enforcer for the match between Inner Circle member Chris Jericho and Pinnacle member Dax Harwood.

There was no shortage of chaos outside the ring during the match, including Tyson punching out Dash Wilder that allowed Jericho to win. After the match, Jericho announced that Tyson is officially a member of The Inner Circle.

The main event of Dynamite was a Falls Count Anywhere match for the TNT Championship between Darby Allin and Matt Hardy. The match featured a ton of interference from Private Party, The Butcher, The Blade, Sting, Lance Archer, Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, but Allin managed to focus enough to win the match and retain the title.

Also on Dynamite, Christian declined an invitation to join Team Taz, which resulted in Powerhouse Hobbs attacking him; The Young Bucks defeated Fenix and Pac to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships; Jade Cargill beat Red Velvet; and Kris Statlander defeated Amber Nova.

NXT featured fallout from the NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event, including an eight-person tag team main event with Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell and Austin Theory of The Way facing Bronson Reed, Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon and Dexter Lumis.

At one point, Hartwell feigned being knocked out so that Lumis would carry her away. Then, Theory ate an Eclipse from Moon and a big splash off the ropes from Reed as the babyface team prevailed.

NXT also saw an unexpected title change take place. After Santos Escobar beat Jordan Devlin in a ladder match at TakeOver to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion, he laid down an open challenge on NXT.

Kushida answered the challenge and shockingly defeated Escobar with a unique pinning combination to become the new champ.

Also, Franky Monet made her NXT debut by interrupting a promo from new NXT women's champion Raquel Gonzalez. After that, new Raw women's champion Rhea Ripley and new SmackDown women's champion Bianca Belair showed up and embraced Gonzalez, showcasing the future of women's wrestling in WWE.

Other key moments on NXT included MSK beating Killian Dain and Drake Maverick to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship, Mercedes Martinez defeating Jessi Kamea, and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott beating Leon Ruff.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

AEW wrestler Chris Jericho spoke with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes about a number of topics in an interview published Wednesday morning, including the Wednesday Night Wars between AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT.

Those ratings battles are now over with WWE NXT moving to Tuesday nights. Per Konuwa, AEW secured more overall viewers 63 times to WWE NXT's 10 since the two began going head-to-head in October 2019.

Jericho provided some thoughts on the competition, including noting that AEW "wanted to drive [WWE NXT] screaming and yelling away from Wednesdays and we did that."

“I know WWE NXT was watching our stuff during their show, but this was not a war that we were ever asking for, we were kind of thrust into it by proxy. The reason why we won it and won it so handily, is we never worried about what anybody else was doing, we just worried about our own show.”

“I think the best thing about being unopposed, is now people don’t have to decide. There’s been a lot of shows that we’ve done with some great segments and some great moments that might have been missed because people were switching back and forth.”

He added: "Of course we’re competitive. Yes, we wanted to beat NXT. Yes, we wanted to drive them screaming and yelling away from Wednesdays and we did that."

Per Pro Wrestling News Hub, AEW defeated WWE in viewership each week from Nov. 4, 2020, until last Wednesday.

WWE NXT ran on Tuesdays for nine years before moving to Wednesdays in 2019. The program began going head-to-head with AEW: Dynamite on Oct. 2, 2019.

However, that Wednesday stint ended on April 7 with the first night of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. WWE NXT won the ratings battle that night before moving to Tuesdays this week.

The initial move to Tuesdays has been positive for NXT, with 805,000 viewers tuning in after the shift back, per Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer. That marks the highest viewership for the program since Oct. 28, 2020.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW.

Jericho Talks AEW With Stone Cold

Chris Jericho was the latest guest on the Broken Skull Sessions with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and for those wondering, yes, they did talk about AEW extensively. Jericho and Austin broke down the wall (heh), with Jericho going into detail about the formation of a company that currently stands as WWE's biggest rival.

Le Champion said a large chunk of credit goes to Tony Khan, who had the passion for the business and also financial wherewithal to start a company that could attract stars. There was likely no way to get a national cable deal without Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Jericho, who lent name recognition to the growing brand.

Jericho said getting the deal with TNT was also paramount to the success of the company. AEW and TNT currently have a television contract that runs through 2023.

Orton Trolls Mandy Rose

Mandy Rose made the first night of WrestleMania memorable when she took a tumble on the wet entrance ramp at Raymond James Stadium.

Randy Orton decided he wasn't going to let history repeat itself Sunday night. Orton did a slick slide in a good-natured troll of Rose before his match against Bray Wyatt and was able to keep his balance.

Orton was able to keep his wits about him in the match as well for a surprising win over The Fiend, thanks in large part to Alexa Bliss.

WrestleMania 37 Rumors

• Damian Priest Barely Cleared for WrestleMania: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported Priest was dealing with a back injury in the lead to his tag team match with Bad Bunny against Miz and Morrison and was "hurting" before being cleared. That could explain why Bad Bunny spent most of the match in the ring in what turned out to be a star-turning performance for the Grammy winner.
• Pirate Ship Not Used as Planned: Fightful Select reported there was a crash pad placed behind the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium that was ultimately not used. It's likely the inclement weather in Tampa Bay led to WWE calling an audible for the safety of competitors.