Tom Green and Harley Reid engaged in a heated tit-for-tat but it was the GWS star who had the last laugh in a 59-point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium.
Giants midfielder Finn Callaghan starred with a career-high 37 disposals, six clearances, 854m gained and one goal on Friday night as the Giants waltzed to the 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) victory.
The Eagles were never in the match after conceding six of the first seven goals, but it was the third-quarter exchanges between Reid and Green that at least added some intrigue.
The two traded sneaky blows during the term, with one Green off-the-ball elbow to the midriff leaving Reid gasping for air and on the turf in pain.
When Reid finally got to his feet and was given the all clear by the trainer, Green barged in with a big bump.
Reid pointed angrily at his opponent as the duo squared off, with the exchange firing up the 38,152 crowd.
Green finished with 35 disposals and nine clearances for GWS, while Reid tallied 24 possessions and seven clearances.
GWS have now won three games on the trot and five of their past six to improve their record to 10-6 ahead of a crunch home clash with fellow top-four contenders Geelong.
Making the win even sweeter was the fact it was achieved without star forward Jesse Hogan, who kicked nine goals when GWS beat West Coast by 81 points earlier this season.
GWS defender Jack Buckley is in doubt for the Cats clash after being subbed off in the third term with a rolled ankle.
West Coast (1-15) remain anchored to the bottom of the table ahead of their trip to Adelaide to take on the Power.
Callaghan was the standout performer for GWS, but he received help from Xavier O'Halloran (27 disposals, six clearances, 636m gained) and Toby Greene (three goals).
Reuben Ginbey tried his heart out in an overwhelmed West Coast defence, while second gamer Jobe Shanahan (14 disposals, two goals) showed his versatility by playing in attack and defence.
West Coast displayed great fight and dare in last week's 29-point loss to Collingwood, but they were error-riddled and disjointed against GWS.
Alarm bells were ringing early for West Coast as GWS shot out to a 27-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The Eagles took just one mark inside 50m for the entire first half, with GWS winning the inside 50m count (38-22), contested possessions (80-59) and clearances (21-16) to open up a 35-point lead.
It came just two weeks after West Coast conceded 10 of the first 11 goals of the match against Carlton.
"There's clearly something going on playing here at Optus in our first quarters," Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said.
"So we're going to have to do a really deep dive on what's our planning during the week, and how we're going with that, because it looked like we didn't quite turn up in quarter one tonight, and it was the same in the Carlton game.
"We're going to look inwardly and find out what's happening there."
Callaghan set up the first goal of the match with a smother on Reid, and his running goal late in the first quarter was also a big highlight.
"I'm glad he's playing for us," GWS coach Adam Kingsley said.
"He's smooth, he has that burst of speed that he can break tackles, but he also get away from contest.
"He's just got that high cruising speed, where even when he's not trying to sprint, he's still high speed, running fast."