AEW Blood & Guts 2024 should have went to the women's division

All Elite Wrestling is gearing up for another big edition of Dynamite on July 24. That night, Team AEW is set to stand up against The Elite in a five-on-five battle. While fans are interested in the carnage to come, this build has been less than thrilling for several reasons. If there ever was an opportunity, this moment should have gone to the women’s division where there’s a much more interesting build at this time that would have made more sense.

Swerve Strickland is teaming up with Mark Briscoe, The Acclaimed, and Darby Allin. He’ll take on The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Jack Perry. While there are stories mixed within those groups, the build isn’t as “white hot” as some of those from years past. The angle with The Elite feels like yet another version of an authority figure storyline that has been played in wrestling time and time again. At this point, it’s not hitting as hard as some would like and outside the elements involving Swerve and Hangman or Kazuchika Okada, it’s not captivating.

But look at what is going on within the women’s division. The Mariah May and Toni Storm angle has been the best-told story in the company since last year. Now that it’s taken a turn toward violence between the two, the build toward All-In is certainly going to be something special. Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander remain at each other’s throats, poised to give AEW fans another “Hoss Battle” in the women’s division. Throw in the still-burning feud between Deonna Purrazzo and Thunder Rosa and there’s another powerful duo of women ready to beat the mess out of each other.

The teams that could come together for such a major battle are easy to develop. Mariah May could call on her first true “love” in Mina Shirakawa once again. Purrazzo and Statlander would make sense to be on that team as well. This could even be a surprise appearance for Kamille, who has yet to make her AEW debut even though she’s reportedly signed with the company.

Storm’s team would include Nightingale, Rosa, perhaps Serena Deeb, and an individual like Nyla Rose. There’s depth in that women’s division, and the company could even reach across to Stardom to bring in someone chosen to combat Shirakawa’s inclusion. There are several ways this group could have been built out.

Is the men’s match going to be violent and have fans cheering? Certainly, it will. But the AEW women’s division is white hot at a level that the men’s just isn’t reaching right now. This should have been the moment that the group was given a big specialty match like Blood and Guts.