Chris Jericho and Tommaso Ciampa took their bitter rivalry to another level on the July 8 edition of AEW Dynamite: Beach Break. Their latest showdown delivered one of the night’s most painful-looking moments, but the punishment was far from over by the time the final bell rang.
The grudge match came after weeks of escalating tension between the two stars, with Ciampa determined to prove he could outsmart and outfight the former world champion.
As the saying goes, business picked up once the bell rang.
Chris Jericho left bloodied after brutal steel steps spot
The match quickly spilled beyond the ring as both competitors traded heavy offense. Jericho appeared to seize control by driving Ciampa into the steel steps before repositioning them for another attack.
However, the momentum shifted in dramatic fashion when Ciampa countered and planted Jericho with a Pedigree-like Angel’s Wings onto the steel steps. Jericho crashed face-first into the metal, opening a cut on his forehead as blood poured down his face. Ciampa wasted little time capitalizing, repeatedly stomping the wound before the action headed into a commercial break.
Despite the injury, Jericho battled back after the restart. He landed a Codebreaker, nearly trapped Ciampa in the Walls of Jericho, and continued fighting through the blood. Still, Ciampa found another opening by throwing beach sand into Jericho’s eyes before connecting with a decisive running knee strike to secure the pinfall victory.
The hostility didn’t end with the match. Ciampa grabbed a steel chair and attacked Jericho before pulling a power drill from a bag of tools, echoing an earlier confrontation between the rivals. Security rushed to the ring before the situation could escalate further, forcing Ciampa to abandon the attack. Instead, he left with one final act of mockery by destroying a shark pool float with the drill.
After weeks of verbal jabs, psychological games, and increasingly violent encounters, this rivalry continues to raise the stakes. Beach Break proved there was no shortage of hard-hitting action, and judging by the aftermath, these two competitors still have plenty of unfinished business.
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