The wrestling on this episode of AEW Collision was mostly consistently strong, particularly the fantastic main event. That can only account for so much though on what was one of the most scatterbrained and bizarre shows AEW have ever booked. The card for next week’s Dynamite on paper is extraordinary, but the build for all the matches on this show was terribly lazy, and some of the impromptu matches made for this show felt so thrown together. The show had no cohesion or thought put into it, and honestly felt like it had been thrown together 5 minutes before they went on air, making for a really difficult show to sit through. Yet, even through all of the nonsense presented, the crowd were still very into everything and the in-ring action was for the most part entertaining, so even still, despite all the huge faults, there is still some merit somewhere. I would just recommend when viewing this show you watch the best matches in isolation and not the product as a whole, as it gave me a massive headache and some mild nausea. Not AEW’s finest creative hour I must say.
Tonight on AEW Collision, FTR team with Rush and Preston Vance to take on The Gates Of Agony, Ricky Starks and Big Bill in 8 Man Tag action. Elsewhere on the card, AR Fox and Swerve Strickland finally comes head to head, while Lance Archer takes on Darby Allin. Lets get at it!
Nice to see they’ve brought back the pre show interviews. AR Fox gets an early cheap shot on Swerve Strickland to lead straight into our opening segment. Clever
GREAT AR Fox vs Swerve Strickland
Really fun way to start the show. A little clunky in places but I did like the heat and as you would expect from these two there are some excellent sequences that were very innovative. I just liked the whole presentation and the set-up for the main event was fine, even if it did become a bit of a run-out parade.
Result: Swerve Strickland by Pinfall via Top Rope Stomp
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
I made my feelings on the MJF vs Daniel Garcia set up in my Rampage review, but this was a good video package for it and it will be a fun Dynamite match.
To be honest I felt like MJF’s backstage promo today insulting Jay White this week made him look like a whiny child, as he wanted the match and then got salty when he lost it clean. Nevertheless, Jay White’s retort promo was good and I really cannot wait for that Full Gear match
Kip wants a trios match with him and The Workhorsemen against Mark Briscoe and two partners on Collision.
SQUASH The Kingdom vs Brixton and McGregor
I’m afraid I didn’t catch the first names of the two lambs for the slaughter, but it was a quick and effective little squash match to put over The Kingdom, and the post match showing how slimy and manipulative Roderick Strong is was very funny. I enjoyed this quite a bit for what it was.
Result: The Kingdom by Pinfall
Video recapping Christian Cage’s story which was very standard.
Mark Briscoe has some partners in mind for his trios match, but I’ll be honest, as much as I love Briscoe’s personality in the ring, his promo style is a bit rambling and overdone for me. This didn’t really need to be here to be honest as nothing was advanced or divulged.
GREAT Lance Archer vs Darby Allin- Watch Match Here
Well this was a bit of fun wasn’t it. It is crazy to think this is their first meeting, but they had really good chemistry. The ending of a sunset flip from the top rope was abrupt but still very cool, and I just adored the dynamic. Huge fan of that match. The chokeslam on the apron and the throw on the floor was beautiful violence
Result: Darby Allin by Pinfall via Sunset Flip Powerbomb
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
BELOW AVERAGE Jake Roberts/The Righteous Promo
I should say first of all, the idea of Jake, Lance and The Righteous as a faction is actually a really cool idea. However, Jake really struggled through this promo and the ramblings of the Righteous really didnt help. I just hope if Jake is featured as a prominent manager going forward that his health is okay because he was really struggling to get his breath and his words out through that segment and it was quite rough to watch.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2 Stars
A terribly acted segment between Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue happens, which is entirely wooden, terribly scripted and painfully delivered. One of the most awkward promos I’ve seen in a long time.
Swerve and Penta set up a match, which should be a lot of fun. A lot of this show feels random and rushed though in its matchmaking
BAD The Acclaimed 69 Day Celebration
I promise I have a sense of humour but this was so long and so boring. I don’t really know why we had to go through all of that nonsense just to get to a trios match. Why not have the 69 day celebration backstage throughout the night and then do a big Trios match main event. I genuinely felt years of my life leave me during this, and I felt like they had one joke and that was about it. I’m sorry I just didnt get the point of any of this
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 1.75 Stars
BELOW AVERAGE Dalton Castle and The Boys vs The Acclaimed
What is going on? This match was a symphony of stuff. Whether that stuff was any good was hard to tell because it was just dreadfully confusing. Again it didn’t work for me at all but I hope it worked for others. Glad The Acclaimed retained.
Result: Ricky Starks by Pinfall via Piledriver
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2.25 Stars
Andrade El Idolo will reveal his response to CJ Perry;s offer next week.
GOOD Mark Briscoe, Dustin Rhodes and Keith Lee vs The Workhorsemen and Kip Sabian
Keith is back with Dustin again? What is happening on this show seriously. What planet am I on. The match was fun, nice little spotfest that was entertaining enough for the few minutes it went, but are we going to advance Keith Lee and Shane Taylor, do we care? What has happened to the booking this week?
Result: Mark Briscoe by Pinfall via Froggy Bow
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
Mark Briscoe wants Jay White on Dynamite. Fun match announcement but everything is insanely scattershot on this show.
GREAT Willow Nightingale vs Emi Sakura
The story may be absolutely all over the shop, but this match had some really excellent action, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching this back and forth. These two have fantastic chemistry together and I think they did a great job, even if this division has no discernible direction right now.
Result: Willow Nightingale by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
Samoa Joe vs Keith Lee next week on Dynamite. AEW is quickly becoming a company of action figures being thrown together, but sometimes damn it you really REALLY want to see those action figures fight.
AMAZING LFI and FTR vs Gates Of Agony, Ricky Starks and Big Bill
This was a terrific car crash main event of big spots and fun action, with everyone getting a great chance to shine. I loved what LFI got to show in this match and I think they looked fantastic. Really innovative spots and some decent story in here, mainly that lots of people didnt like each other, but Psychology did go a bit all over the place as a result. Still a very fun melee of high spots which made for a fun way to close a bizarre show! Also, I enjoyed the post match, but someone has to work out whether Claudio and Yuta are heels or faces, and they need to stick to it, because they are literally heels on Dynamite and Faces on Collision, and it is deeply confusing
Result: Rush by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
Overall…
The wrestling on this episode of AEW Collision was mostly consistently strong, particularly the fantastic main event. That can only account for so much though on what was one of the most scatterbrained and bizarre shows AEW have ever booked. The card for next week’s Dynamite on paper is extraordinary, but the build for all the matches on this show was terribly lazy, and some of the impromptu matches made for this show felt so thrown together. The show had no cohesion or thought put into it, and honestly felt like it had been thrown together 5 minutes before they went on air, making for a really difficult show to sit through. Yet, even through all of the nonsense presented, the crowd were still very into everything and the in-ring action was for the most part entertaining, so even still, despite all the huge faults, there is still some merit somewhere. I would just recommend when viewing this show you watch the best matches in isolation and not the product as a whole, as it gave me a massive headache and some mild nausea. Not AEW’s finest creative hour I must say.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.25/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.25/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling- November 4th 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
