Claudio Castagnoli Believes Blackpool Combat Club Made The Elite Better
Claudio Castagnoli has explained why he thinks the Blackpool Combat Club has brought out the best of The Elite.
For several months now, the Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta have been feuding with The Elite’s Kenny Omega, “Hangman” Adam Page and The Young Bucks – Matt & Nick Jackson.
The rivalry goes back to the very personal feud between Moxley and Page, which led to Page re-joining The Elite earlier this year after several years apart.
At Double or Nothing back in May, the BCC beat The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match that main evented the show because Konosuke Takeshita turned on The Elite. Over the last two months, the rivalry continued.
This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite it was Blood & Guts time inside of a double cage as Claudio Castagnoli started things off for the BCC team against The Elite’s Kenny Omega, who started for The Elite. After 51 minutes of action, The Elite won in part because BCC’s teammates Pac and Takeshita quit on the team, so when Page choked Yuta with a chain, Moxley quit to save his friend.
After the show, Kenny Omega did a promo that saw The Elite shake hands with the BCC although it was not shown on television. Perhaps AEW will choose to show it as a way to tell the audience that the rivalry is over for now.
Claudio Castagnoli gave his thoughts on the match in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
“It was the spectacle of blood and guts that people expected, and even exceeded that. We had modifications from last year with the separate entrances, which helped. There’s only been two other of these matches in AEW, but I thought it delivered.”
As he continued, Claudio Castagnoli believes that the BCC, which is known for being intense and physical, brought out the best of The Elite.
“We lost that battle but we won the war. Thanks to the Blackpool Combat Club, now The Elite is better than ever. We brought them to a place they’ve never been.”
“The post-match between the BCC and The Elite, with Kenny talking and we all shook hands, that probably should have been on television, but it shows that there is nothing like being there in-person. There is nothing like being there live.”
Claudio also said that Bryan Danielson being out with a broken arm might have hurt his team’s chances of winning.
“Danielson changes the whole dynamic of the match. Obviously, he was missed, but we worked to get people immersed in what we were doing in the ring.”
Following his incredible performance in the Blood & Guts Match, Claudio Castagnoli beat Pac to retain the ROH World Title at the Death Before Dishonor PPV on Friday.