The 2024 Bad Blood is an upcoming professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It will be the fourth Bad Blood and will take place on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, which is the 27-year anniversary of the first event which featured the first Hell in a Cell match. The event will air via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and will be the first Bad Blood to be held for wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, after the Raw-exclusive 2003 and 2004 events, the first Bad Blood to be held since 2004, and the first Bad Blood to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms.
This will be the first WWE event to take place on the same night as an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) PPV since the two companies merged to form TKO Group Holdings in September 2023. As a result, Bad Blood will have a start time of 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time to avoid counter programming against UFC 307.
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Bad Blood is a professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE. It was first held as the 18th In Your House pay-per-view (PPV) event on October 5, 1997.[1] After six years, Bad Blood returned as its own PPV event, with both the 2003 and 2004 editions taking place in June and held exclusively for wrestlers of the Raw brand.[2][3] In 2005, Bad Blood was doubly replaced by One Night Stand and Vengeance, which were both held in June that year.[4][5] Bad Blood was originally to be revived in July 2017,[6] but these plans were scrapped in favor of an event titled Great Balls of Fire.[7] The original Bad Blood also introduced the Hell in a Cell match, a 20-foot-high roofed cell structure that surrounds the ring and ringside area, and it was featured as the main event of all three prior events.[1][2][3]
On July 6, 2024, WWE uploaded a YouTube video featuring Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and American record producer Metro Boomin, both residents of Atlanta, Georgia, where they officially announced the return of Bad Blood after 20 years. The fourth Bad Blood was scheduled for Atlanta's State Farm Arena on Saturday, October 5, 2024, the 27-year anniversary of the first Bad Blood.[8] It will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions and in addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide, it will be the first Bad Blood to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms, Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets, the latter of which was the company's first streaming platform that launched in 2014.[9] Tickets went on sale on July 19 via Ticketmaster.[8]
To avoid counter programming against UFC 307, taking place the same night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Bad Blood will have an earlier start time of 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). This will subsequently be the first time that both WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will hold an event on the same night since the two companies merged to form TKO Group Holdings in September 2023.[10]
The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[11][12] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[13]
At SummerSlam, Liv Morgan defeated Rhea Ripley to retain the Women's World Championship after seemingly accidental interference from Ripley's on-screen love interest and The Judgment Day stablemate, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. After the match, however, Mysterio turned on Ripley and kissed Morgan, ending their partnership. Later that night, fellow Judgment Day member Damian Priest lost the World Heavyweight Championship after being betrayed by fellow stablemate Finn Bálor.[14] Bálor subsequently excommunicated Priest and Ripley from the group, with the new lineup consisting of Bálor, Mysterio, Morgan, JD McDonagh, and Carlito. A mixed tag team match between The Terror Twins (Priest and Ripley) and Judgment Day (Mysterio and Morgan) then occurred at Bash in Berlin, which The Terror Twins won with Ripley pinning Morgan, despite interference from the rest of The Judgment Day.[15] On the following episode of Raw, Morgan attacked Ripley, injuring her leg, while Priest and Jey Uso teamed up to defeat The Judgment Day (Bálor and McDonagh).[16] The following week, it was announced that Morgan would defend her championship against Ripley in a rematch at Bad Blood, while Priest and Bálor also agreed to a match at the event.[17]
At the Royal Rumble, CM Punk eliminated Drew McIntyre in the men's Royal Rumble match. However, McIntyre legitimately injured Punk's tricep after a botched landing of his signature move, the Future Shock DDT.[18] Over the next few months, McIntyre mocked Punk on social media for causing his injury.[19] Punk retaliated by costing McIntyre the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL in April,[20] at Clash at the Castle: Scotland in McIntyre's home country in June,[21] and at Money in the Bank in McIntyre's namesake cash-in match in July.[22] At SummerSlam, McIntyre defeated Punk, which featured Seth "Freakin" Rollins as the special guest referee.[14] This led to a rematch at Bash in Berlin, which was contested as a strap match, which Punk won. During the climax of the match, Punk retrieved the bracelet that McIntyre had stolen some weeks ago, which was a gift to Punk that had his wife (AJ Lee) and dog's (Larry) names on it.[15] On the following episode of Raw, McIntyre brutally attacked Punk and broke the bracelet.[16] On the next episode, McIntyre claimed that he ended Punk's career, only for Raw General Manager Adam Pearce to inform McIntyre that he would be facing Punk in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood.[17]
At King and Queen of the Ring in May, SmackDown's Nia Jax won the Queen of the Ring tournament, earning a match for her brand's WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam,[23] where she defeated Bayley to win the title after interference from her ally, Tiffany Stratton.[14] On the August 30 episode of SmackDown, Stratton interfered in Jax's title defense, only to be stopped by the returning Bayley. On the September 13 episode of SmackDown, Jax stated that she was informed by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis that she would defend her title at Bad Blood. Bayley appeared and stated that she wanted a rematch. Naomi then appeared and stated she wanted a title match. Jax then proposed a tag team match with herself and Stratton against Bayley and Naomi for the following week, albeit with two stipulations. If Bayley and Naomi won, the woman who scored the pinfall would face Jax for the title at Bad Blood. However, if Jax and Stratton won, the woman who was pinned would be forced to leave the SmackDown brand permanently, which Bayley and Naomi accepted.[24] The match was won by Bayley and Naomi as they both pinned Jax simultaneously. Later that night, Aldis scheduled a match between Bayley and Naomi for the following week, where the winner would face Jax for the title at Bad Blood.[25]
On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL in April, Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship in a Bloodline Rules match, ending Reigns' historic title reign at 1,316 days.[20] After the event, Reigns took an extended hiatus while Solo Sikoa appointed himself as the new leader of The Bloodline, removing Jimmy Uso and manager Paul Heyman from the group while adding Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu. Sikoa would also begin referring to himself as the new Tribal Chief of the group. Rhodes subsequently began feuding with this new iteration of The Bloodline. At SummerSlam, Rhodes defeated Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match to retain the title after interference from a returning Reigns.[14] On the September 13 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes successfully defended the title against Sikoa once again, this time in a steel cage match. Rhodes was then attacked by The Bloodline after the match before Reigns came out to save him. Later that night, Sikoa proposed a tag team match with himself and Fatu against Rhodes and Reigns at Bad Blood. Rhodes initially declined, stating that his feud with The Bloodline was over. Later, Reigns addressed the fans and stated that he did not need Rhodes's help as it was family business. Rhodes appeared, seemingly teasing a rematch between himself and Reigns, but they were both attacked by The Bloodline. Rhodes and Reigns subsequently signed the contract, making the tag team match official for Bad Blood.[24]
Don't Miss WWE Bad Blood, Saturday Oct. 5 at 7 ET. 4 PT on Peacock in the U.S and WWE Network everywhere else.