AEW Dynamite Blood and Guts 2026 is in the record books, with The Don Callis Family reigning supreme after Adam Copeland surrendered.
With Copeland now in his retirement man and eyeing a run as AEW World Champion, surrendering in the high-stakes match brings questions of its own:
Saving the champion
With a chain around his neck, there was little that Copeland could do in a predicament made worse by being forced to witness Kyle Fletcher threatening to cut Will Ospreay’s throat with a screwdriver.
The Protostar made his intentions clear, demanding an answer from Copeland, who would be forced to say “I surrender” against a backdrop of the carnage that had preceded the moment.
Sacrificing Darby Allin
With Darby Allin on top of the cage with Wardlow, the match could have ended with the surrender, but Fletcher wasn’t finished, ordering his Don Callis Family teammate to throw him off the 20 foot steel structure, seeing him crash through tables to the floor below.
According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio, nobody was seriously harmed in the men’s Blood and Guts match.
A moment of calculated weakness
The question, of course, will be whether Adam Copeland had any other option but to surrender in that moment.
It’s a question that Will Ospreay will no doubt be asking himself ahead of his match against Kyle Fletcher at AEW Full Gear on November 14, with the World Championship on the line.
For Copeland, it arguably gives him another chip with which to gamble, saving Ospreay from evisceration, knowing that the World Champion has asked him to save a date for their eventual one-on-one match. It builds an image that Copeland is the good guy, not wanting to see someone he is close to damaged more than necessary.
How Will Ospreay responds is key
At the time of writing, Will Ospreay is yet to respond to the result of Blood and Guts, which is perhaps not surprising, given that he has gone from NJPW in Japan on November 3, to AEW Dynamite on November 4, and is heading back to England for Pro Wrestling Eve on November 5.
In the United Kingdom, November 5 is Bonfire Night, an evening of fireworks, and there could be plenty of them when Ospreay comes to terms with a loss to the Don Callis Family that was very much out of his hands.
Copeland or Fletcher: The next AEW World Champion
Will Ospreay has AEW World Champion is a story years in the making and his victory over Kenny Omega at All In: London is surely a match that will be one of many jewels in the crown of All Elite Wrestling and the star himself for years to come.
For Copeland, an AEW World Championship run in his retirement year would be a good way for the WWE Hall of Famer to hang up his boots, potentially emulating Sting retiring while retaining the World Tag Team Championship with Darby Allin in March 2024.
When it comes to Fletcher, AEW would be missing a huge opportunity by not crowning him as World Champion in the future. As much as he may disagree with the assessment, Fletcher bears many of the hallmarks of what has made Ospreay the star he is today, while also channeling the type of charisma that MJF has showcased. A Protostar that brings together the best of the World Championship’s heritage can only be a good thing.
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