This episode of AEW Collision had a fantastic crowd and two excellent matches to bookend the show, with what came in-between ranging from very fun to average. The Memphis audience made even the more underwhelming segments on this show feel alive, really trying to keep the atmosphere high all night. The overall match rating was very difficult to calculate given the strength of the opening and closing encounters and the great fun I had with Kingston vs Jarrett. However, with two superfluous and boring squashes, a match that didn't really get started and Miro vs Andretti going much longer than it needed to, on balance I very narrowly dock the match rating to 0.5. The show structure was hurt by the number of squashes, particularly having two back to back, while other matches were hampered by insubstantial storytelling, though the return of the HOB and Moxley gives us hope going forward. A good show certainly, but one which needed the voices of the good people of Memphis to give the show some life, to which they absolutely delivered.
Tonight on AEW Collision, Bryan Danielson takes on Andrade El Idolo in Tony Khan’s dream match. Jeff Jarrett also takes on Eddie Kingston in a Memphis Street Fight, while Miro looks to punish Action Andretti for his sins. Let’s get at it!
AMAZING Bryan Danielson vs Andrade El Idolo- Watch Match Here
This was a perfect tv match if you only look at the quality and smoothness of the in-ring work. Because it was genuinely outstanding stuff from both guys, and their psychology and fundamentals were absolutely perfect. For a match of this standard the 4.25 star rating I gave it feels harsh, but sticking to our rating system gives me 2 problems. The first was the ending, with the same roll-up ending we’ve seen again and again and again on AEW TV, which impacted upon innovation. Can we please have a different ending on TV. The other is storytelling, which takes a major hit, because the reason they’re fighting is literally, in storyline, because TK wanted to see it. Beyond that, commentary didnt really tell us why we should care, and so it made the match, as good as it was in the ring, feel a bit unimportant, especially with guys this good. Why they couldn’t have done a pre-show Collision interview like they used to in the early days of the show to sell some sort of story I dont know. The whole thing just needed better framing around this otherwise outstanding encounter. The return of Malakai Black is extremely exciting though, and him vs Danielson is a TASTY combination.
Result: Bryan Danielson by Pinfall via Seatbelt Pin
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Darby runs down Nick Wayne, this was good but nothing really progresses.
SQUASH Skye Blue vs Hollyhood Haley
Skye Blue is dressed as the mystery machine from Scooby Doo as she quickly dispatches her opponent.
Result: Skye Blue by Pinfall
SQUASH The Gunns vs Outrunners
Two nothing matches in a row as The Gunn’s kill Outrunners very quickly before we get a flash to the man in the devil mask. Didn’t tell us anything except for the fact they hadn’t forgotten about the story which is something.
Result: The Gunn’s by Pinfall via 3:10 To Yuma
GREAT Eddie Kingston vs Jeff Jarrett- Memphis Street Fight
Considering this had unbelievably stupid stakes and on paper should’ve been a shambles, I actually thought this was really quite good. The crowd were incredibly into it, the psychology was surprisingly very good and I really felt the adversity of Kingston fighting a 4 on 1 handicap match. It was still messy, but it was entertainingly messy, and I now want to see Kingston bring the fight back to them. Shouldn’t have worked, but did, which surprised me as much as it surprised you I’m sure.
Result: Jeff Jarrett by Pinfall via Lethal Injection
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
The least funny of the Acclaimed backstage sex skits, but the promo itself is still fine.
GOOD Miro vs Action Andretti
This was amazing for a few minutes, and then it kept going and going and going. In truth this should’ve been under 5 minutes. Miro looked awesome in his squash sections, Andretti looked great in his comeback sections, and the middle was drab and dreary as anything. Condense the best of both worlds and you’d have got a truly electric 4 minute match.
Result: Miro by Submission via Clutch
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
Pretty good backstage bit with the old JAS and Ruby Soho, two good promos and a nice crossover point with Soho and Parker.
Le Faccion Igobernable are still coming soon. Excited to see them back
Another great promo from Kingston on Lethal. He’s incapable of doing a bad promo
FTR vs Bad Thad Brown and Darian Bengston gets thrown out in seconds as The House Of Black Attack. Nice misdirect here. Danielson and FTR vs HOB sounds like a godly match for Full Gear.
AMAZING Big Bill and Ricky Starks vs Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli- AEW Tag Team Championship
This was so much fun. A fantastic tag team match full of great entertainment, physical charisma and some excellent sequences. I enjoyed the match’s chaotic feeling and I think as a main event title match it did exactly what it had to, and all 4 guys delivered. The post match return of Jon Moxley was also super fun, and leads to a really packed division here of guys that can spearhead Collision going forward if that’s the way they want to go. A great way to end the show!
Result: Ricky Starks by Pinfall via Rochambeau
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Overall…
This episode of AEW Collision had a fantastic crowd and two excellent matches to bookend the show, with what came in-between ranging from very fun to average. The Memphis audience made even the more underwhelming segments on this show feel alive, really trying to keep the atmosphere high all night. The overall match rating was very difficult to calculate given the strength of the opening and closing encounters and the great fun I had with Kingston vs Jarrett. However, with two superfluous and boring squashes, a match that didn’t really get started and Miro vs Andretti going much longer than it needed to, on balance I very narrowly dock the match rating to 0.5. The show structure was hurt by the number of squashes, particularly having two back to back, while other matches were hampered by insubstantial storytelling, though the return of the HOB and Moxley gives us hope going forward. A good show certainly, but one which needed the voices of the good people of Memphis to give the show some life, to which they absolutely delivered.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling- October 21st 2023For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
