Collision's second episode lacked the excitement or smoothness of its debut episode, and was mostly a bit of a slog. Nothing was bad on the show, but much of it felt like we were doing the bare minimum and nothing especially excited me. The show structure didn’t help by not giving the show enough variety of match types, demonstrated by two very similar feeling matches in very close proximity being placed in the middle of the show, with varying levels of quality. Thanks be then to the main event which left the show on a much better note than it perhaps deserved, with a tremendously fun match and a fascinating hook in the fan’s reactions to CM Punk. The show adequately, if not spectacularly advanced some storylines both for future Collision shows and Forbidden Door, while the production and pacing of the show continues to be very slick and an improvement over Dynamite. Those are positives to take from this week’s show, one with a lot of potential and upside but more work to do. Collision has a very singular vision which I like and feels distinct from AEW’s other programming. With this vision however comes a slightly samey quality which can be easily fixed with a little more variety and energy to the undercard to consistently keep me engaged and active, as on this week's show I felt myself struggling to stay invested until the main event which is a shame. A standard episode of weekly TV, but has the potential to be so much more in future weeks with some tweaking.
As the final stop before Forbidden Door, AEW Collision presents a final opportunity to sell the super-card to potential viewers. Tonight we are treated to an early appearance by the ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling, the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi, as he battles Swerve Strickland. We will also find out who Darby Allin and Sting have chosen to take on the franken-team Le Suzuki Gods in an exciting announcement. Elsewhere on the card, CMFTRicky Starks (as Dax Harwood so eloquently called them) team up in 8 man tag action against Bullet Club Gold and The Gunn’s, Andrade El Idolo continues his battles with The House Of Black by battling Brody King and the Owen Hart cup continues as Willow Nightingale takes on Nyla Rose. With all this and so much more we have a lot to talk about, so let’s get at it…
Before the opening graphic here, we’re treated to some very good pre taped promos from the guys involved in the main event 8 man tag tonight. This feels very retro and I very much enjoy it.
GOOD Darby Allin and Sting Promo
Tony Schiavone introduces Darby and Sting to the ring, but instead gets a very popular Chris Jericho and Minoru Suzuki. Smart to start with the Canadian as the crowd very much enjoy singing Judas, although Jericho shuts them down by saying he’s from Winnipeg not Toronto. Jericho hypes up Suzuki who just stands stoically. Jericho says Guevara isn’t there tonight because he is annoyed at how close Jericho and Suzuki are, which they highlight with a fun handshake. Jericho threatens Schiavone to reveal the partner, which brings out Sting and Darby for a staredown. Darby once again tells a vacant Sammy he doesn’t need Jericho. Darby tells Jericho their partner will beat Chris Jericho just like he did in the Tokyo Dome, which telegraphs that the partner is Tetsuya Naito. Naito emerges for a staredown with Jericho to a tremendous reaction as Jericho looks very concerned. This was rather predictable given the tease on Dynamite, but no less awesome, and on paper this match looks incredibly tasty. Fun opening segment as well, even if not a ton new was said.
David Sheldon WR Match Rating- 3.25 Stars
We get a pretaped promo from Miro, saying he will walk alone, renouncing his god and all he has saying he is gutless. I love this character a lot and the presentation of this was awesome.
GOOD Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Swerve Strickland
Great reaction for Tanahashi here. Before the match begins I would just like to appreciate that a match like this is happening at all. Really the biggest upside to the Forbidden Door concept are these interesting fantasy matchups come to life. With that said, Tanahashi has slowed down in places and is admittedly a little sluggish early on. He picks up though with his showmanship, playing his air guitar and getting Swerve to do the same. Tanahashi struggles to walk and run, but strangely looks a lot more lively and graceful in the air. Prince Nana helps Swerve gets the advantage here, but Tanahashi is able to come back, much to the fans delight. The two go back and forth, albeit with Tanahashi struggling to keep pace. Near the end of the match, Tanahashi falls off the top rope trying the High, Fly,Flow, but Swerve thinks quickly and helps save it before Tana hits the move to win. I am rating this match as good because of the showmanship of both men and some entertaining back and forth, but I’ll admit this match has made me less excited for the Forbidden Door match, because it becomes more and more clear as to why Tanahashi has been protected in the way he has through his openweight trios title run in New Japan, because his best days are long behind him now. The Tanahashi of 5 years ago would’ve put on a masterclass with Swerve, as it was now we just about got by.
Results: Hiroshi Tanahashi by Pinfall via High, Fly, Flow
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3 Stars
Post match MJF cuts a very good pre taped promo on Tanahashi announcing his match will be on first because he doesn’t want to stay in Canada any longer than he has to. He rips apart Tanahashi and New Japan in general, and says Tana isn’t on the level of the devil. MJF is great.
GREAT Andrade El Idolo vs Brody King
Andrade is taped quite heavily around his shoulder here. Typical big/little man match to kick us off before Andrade hits a top rope moonsault from the top rope to the floor for a one count, which is an awesome spot. Andrade begins to work over Brody, which feels a bit backwards for the storytelling, but this is short lived as Brody takes brutal control with a chop over the top rope. Brody munches around Andrade for a time, which resets the dynamic, especially as Andrade begins to fight back by matching strikes with strikes, creating a proper drag out slugfest. The match gets pretty damn good with the stiff strong style back and forth, but ends abruptly as Buddy attacks to cause the DQ, creating a 2 on 1 assault as the House Of Black stand tall, before disappearing into the night after a silent video appearance by Malakai Black. A rare DQ finish from AEW and one which makes sense, though it was disappointing. The match itself was slow in places but very fun in others. Just needed more time, a better finish and a bit more of a hook, because I found myself a bit checked out. It was a good second part in the feud though, presenting Andrade with a very different type of challenge. Not nearly as good a match as last week, but a pretty good continuation of the story
Result: Brody King by DQ via Buddy Matthews Interference
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
GOOD Christian Cage/Luchasaurus Promo
Christian Cage gets a great reaction as a hometown boy. Christian Cage, like Jericho, uses his connection to Canada to bring down Toronto, which Cage does very successfully, mocking all the sports teams and generally calling them losers. Christian Cage says there’ll be no more Open Challenges, and says if someone wants the championship they’ll have to earn it. Cage very much talks like the champion here which is a fun interplay for him and Luchasaurus, but actually says very little of substance. A well delivered promo the crowd were very into, but it didn’t really go anywhere in terms of substance, and the heat drawn wasn’t electric enough to really carry it into a nuclear segment like Callis and Takeshita.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
We get a great video package highlighting all the matchups in the men’s bracket of the Owen Hart cup. Particularly enjoyed the inserts from Punk and Kojima here.
ABOVE AVERAGE Willow Nightingale vs Nyla Rose- Owen Hart Cup Quarter Final
Very much a hoss fight here as the two women focus a lot on running at each other early on, as well as some strikes, chops and tests of strength. Nyla takes control through the picture in picture but Willow comes back into it, selling an injured arm well, before getting the win by finally overcoming her injury by lifting up Rose for a Doctor Bomb for the win. This had a very similar vibe to Andrade and Brody, but lacked a lot of the stiffness of that match, which made it feel quite dull and a bit weightless. It wasn’t bad and I like both of these ladies, it just needed more snap and some more impressive moves
Result: Willow Nightingale by Pinfall via Doctor Bomb
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 2.75 Stars
Post match, The Outcasts swarm ringside but are run off by Skye Blue. Keeps the wheels turning on that feud.
Scorpio Sky gets a backstage promo hyping himself up and promising to be coming back as his true self once again. Excited to see what Sky does next.
SQUASH Powerhouse Hobbs vs Jeremy Prophet
Hobbs looks like a star here as he munches on the veteran Prophet, winning with a spinebuster. Hobbs vs Brody King pretty please.
Result: Powerhouse Hobbs by Pinfall via Spinebuster
AMAZING CM Punk, FTR + Ricky Starks vs Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson) + The Gunns- Watch The Match HERE
Well this is interesting! Nuclear reaction for Punk’s entrance, with him initially booed from the building and then gets a more mixed response. Punk wants White but White ducks and we get Juice instead. Punk is deliciously enjoying his tweener role and is actively antagonising the crowd while Juice Robinson and Dax Harwood give us some great wrestling in the ring. Ricky Starks gets in and has some fun taking it to the heels, as I am reminded why he is so damn good. Punk and Jay White finally get in together and have a really fun sequence, before a brawl breaks down proceedings briefly. We come back with Punk briefly aping Hulk Hogan before tagging out. We get some great sequences with FTR against The Gunn’s and Juice Robinson, but every time Punk enters the ring it really comes to life as the heat is absolutely incredible. Punk is used as a hot tag workover, and I’ll admit I can’t work out what the crowd make of it, though it appears to sway negatively and feels a bit misguided given how much Punk is playing into the heel side of himself. In any case, the crowd does come alive for Punk and the mixed reaction comes back in full force. Juice tries the GTS on Punk which backfires, before Punk is able to outsmart The Gunn’s and get a big hot tag to Starks, who is astronomically over. Starks and Jay White get a very fun sequence here with some really good near-falls, better than most of their earlier feud, but Jay and Juice are able to isolate Starks to win with the Blade Runner. A bonkers fun main event with some fantastic action and a real electricity that has been lacking for some other matches on this card. The CM Punk factor also made the match so much more interesting. Love him or hate him, there is unlimited money to be made with this man, and he is a master at his craft.
Results: Jay White by Pinfall via Blade Runner
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Overall…
Collision’s second episode lacked the excitement or smoothness of its debut episode, and was mostly a bit of a slog. Nothing was bad on the show, but much of it felt like we were doing the bare minimum and nothing especially excited me. The show structure didn’t help by not giving the show enough variety of match types, demonstrated by two very similar feeling matches in very close proximity being placed in the middle of the show, with varying levels of quality. Thanks be then to the main event which left the show on a much better note than it perhaps deserved, with a tremendously fun match and a fascinating hook in the fan’s reactions to CM Punk. The show adequately, if not spectacularly advanced some storylines both for future Collision shows and Forbidden Door, while the production and pacing of the show continues to be very slick and an improvement over Dynamite. Those are positives to take from this week’s show, one with a lot of potential and upside but more work to do. Collision has a very singular vision which I like and feels distinct from AEW’s other programming. With this vision however comes a slightly samey quality which can be easily fixed with a little more variety and energy to the undercard to consistently keep me engaged and active, as on this week’s show I felt myself struggling to stay invested until the main event which is a shame. A standard episode of weekly TV, but has the potential to be so much more in future weeks with some tweaking.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 3/5 Stars
Photo Credit: AEW- June 24th 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
