Chris Jericho and Nick Gage had a no disqualification match with light tubes, a pizza cutter, broken glass, and lots of “blood and guts” at Fight for the Fallen last night. According to a report on Wrestling Observer Radio, Tony Khan spoke to TNT ahead of time to let them know what was going to happen.
“I know Tony Khan talked to TNT ahead of time and basically told them what was going to happen. So, they’re okay with it. It’s not an issue where they’ll get kicked off the air,” said Dave Meltzer.
It was noted during the discussion that Jericho would not have done anything he did not want to do during the match. It was also speculated that the idea for the match likely came from Jericho himself but that was not be confirmed.
“Jericho didn’t do anything that he didn’t want to do. Whatever spots were in that match, Jericho would say no if he doesn’t want to do it, he’s not going to kill himself. And those were the spots he said yes to, I don’t know if he said no to anything,” Meltzer said.
While AEW has put hardcore matches on Dynamite before, this was a particularly brutal one. Meltzer continued to say he’s heard that doing a match like this on television is not something AEW is planning on doing again.
“I am told it is a one time thing and they won’t do it again. We will see because if it does a good quarter, they will do it again, probably, because that’s wrestling,” Meltzer continued.
WWE has an earnings call today. The last time AEW had a hardcore match so close to a WWE earnings call is when Vince McMahon coined the term “Blood and Guts” to describe it.
