The AEW injury bug shows no sign of stopping as another star was hurt during the brutal Blood and Guts match.
AEW has been dealing with a number of its top stars being injured, and those injuries have led to major changes to both Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts.
Plans for Forbidden Door first took a turn when new AEW World Champion CM Punk announced on the June 3rd episode of Rampage that he was injured and had to step away from competition for a while, meaning that an interim champion would be named in his absence. This led to Jon Moxley being crowned interim AEW World Champion after defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of the show.
To make matters worse, Bryan Danielson announced on the June 22nd Dynamite that he is also suffering from an undisclosed injury that will keep him away from both Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts. He has chosen a mystery opponent for Zack Sabre, Jr. at the event, but didn’t reveal Claudio Castagnoli as his replacement until the night of the pay per view. Castagnoli also took part in Blood and Guts as part of the Blackpool Combat Club.
With a name like Blood and Guts, it’s no surprise that the iconic cage match would take a toll on its participants, and it was particularly brutal on former Inner Circle member Santana.
Along with his partner Ortiz and Eddie Kingston, Santana sided with the Blackpool Combat Club to take on the Jericho Appreciation Society at AEW’s Detroit debut. During the match, the star was seen lying on the ground for a long period of time with fans like @jessithebuckeye wondering if he was ok.
Hope Santana is okay 🥺 pic.twitter.com/PZrHmaMNQw
— THEâ„¢ Jessi Davin (@jessithebuckeye) June 30, 2022
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful tweeted that the star was taken out of the cage on a stretcher, and he did not reappear in the match, nor did he pose with his teammates atop the cage when they celebrated their victory at the end of the night.
Santana was taken out of the cage and helped up the ramp
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 30, 2022
What an epic war here at #BloodAndGuts, and here are your winners, the #BlackpoolCombatClub! It's been an insane night of action here on @TBSNetwork! pic.twitter.com/vthK1PYaJo
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 30, 2022
The injury seems to have occurred as Santana was doing a uranage near the beginning of the match, as his leg visibly collapsed under him. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, he will be undergoing an MRI to assess the severity of the damage, but the doctor who examined him believes it could be “very very bad.”
Inside the Ropes will continue to update on Santana’s condition as more information becomes available.