AEW Collision this week was a show of two halves. The second half of this show was fantastic, with two excellent semi finals and a great Danielson/Starks segment. Unfortunately, the first half of the show mostly felt weightless and unnecessary. Despite a good start with Moxley and Andretti, the show found itself in a fairly long lull, with the only real thing of note until the tournament matches being an underwhelming return for Jade Cargill. The first half wasn’t bad by any stretch, and seemed to be establishing talent and planting some small seeds for the future which I appreciate and I’m sure will bear more fruit down a few weeks down the line, but at present it led to the opening half feeling mostly a bit boring to sit through. It did pick up however to a great climax, and the majority of the matches did their job well enough, with the brilliant two final matches pushing the match rating up to 0.75. A slightly meandering first act of a show saved by a terrific second act.
Tonight on AEW Collision, we will see the semi finals of the world championship tournament as Roderick Strong faces Darby Allin and Samoa Joe battles Penta El Zero Miedo. Kris Statlander will also continue her TBS Championship open challenge, while a string of Luchadors, known for Lucha Underground fame, face Bullet Club Gold. Lets get at it!
GREAT Jon Moxley vs Action Andretti
Another strong opening match here for the International Title. Andretti looked great and Moxley is always fantastic. Some of the moves went a bit array, despite most of it being clean, and its nothing you haven’t seen before, but the two guys work very well together and it is, all in all, a good way to elevate Andretti. They also work smartly against the crowd’s desires to cheer Moxley against Andretti. A job well done from both men
Result: Jon Moxley by Pinfall via Bulldog Choke
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
Another great promo from Roddy discussing his friendship with Adam Cole. The Kingdom are very amusing in this with their faux upset. Entertaining stuff
SQUASH Kris Statlander vs Robyn Renegade
A nothing match that was honestly quite dull. The in ring action was fine, the crowd were in to it in places, it was all just a bit nothing and I don’t think this got to the needed 5 minutes for a rating. This match is all to set up the return of Jade Cargill which is super lovely to see. The crowd were not as hot as I expected when she entered, but when she started attacking people they did come alive. Curious to see where we go next
Result: Kris Statlander by Pinfall via Friday Night Fever
Too Short To Rate
Saraya and Ruby Soho say… well nothing much really. Soho is angry at Storm and Saraya is ready to defend her title. That’s about all there was. Entertaining but slight.
Amazing sit down interview with Kingston and Claudio, setting up a match at Grand Slam. These two are dynamite and their ROH Title match earlier this year was fantastic, so consider me excited.
GOOD Bullet Club Gold vs Gravity, Aerostar and Dios Del Inframundo
A fun enough little comedy lucha tag with the BCG always entertaining and really carrying the entertainment value here, but there was little of substance to this. Fun but not necessary. The real intrigue here was the appearance of Andrade El Idolo to watch on backstage. That is a very fun little development if that leads to Andrade vs Jay White
Result: Juice Robinson by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
CJ Perry cuts a really good backstage promo on her husband. Why did WWE ever break these two apart? Baffles me honestly
Looks like we’re setting up Acclaimed vs Dark Order with two contrasting and super fun vignettes. Sounds like fun to me. I really like The Dark Order’s character when they bother to build them, so this is good news.
GOOD: Rey Fenix vs Angelico
Some fantastic athleticism here and showed off Fenix very nicely, I just don’t know if we actually needed to show how quick Fenix is. We know how fast he is, what we needed to see was how Moxley’s attack affected him, and unfortunately we didn’t see that
Result: Rey Fenix by Pinfall via Fenix Driver
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
FTR are doing an open challenge starting next week. That is 3 different championships doing open challenges. I love an open challenge title, but we can probably do better with the booking of some of these titles.
AMAZING: Roderick Strong vs Darby Allin- Watch Match Here
Considering the start of this match made me expect merely an angle, this match was absolutely incredible. Absolutely vicious with fantastic psychology and some incredible sequences. The storytelling of Nick Wayne and AR Fox was also very good, and unlike Roddy’s quarter on Dynamite the crowd were also super into this. As the match went on my rating just kept creeping up higher and higher, and I was captivated from the opening shot of Darby crawling to the ring, to his injured back finally giving way into the End Of Heartache, it was fantastic stuff.
Result: Roderick Strong by Pinfall via End Of Heartache
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Powerhouse Hobbs is still about and looking for revenge. Excited to see what’s next for him
Keith Lee is here, yay. I love Keith, and I love his promo style. He doesn’t say much, but his Bray Wyatt tribute at the end was super touching.
The Righteous are coming to AEW. This is good news as I’ve really enjoyed them on ROH tv.
AMAZING Bryan Danielson/Ricky Starks Promo
This was amazing as expected. Danielson both challenges Sabre and puts over Starks, before Starks attacks Danielson, and eventually Moxley. Grand Slam tag match anyone? Brilliantly delivered as usual from all involved, and this has made me excited on various fronts. This show has drastically picked up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Tony Schiavone says that Big Bill and Tony Starks are cooking something up. Iron Man to AEW Confirmed? In all seriousness this is an unnecessary promo, just Bill saying he will win in a very stunted manner.
AMAZING Penta El Zero Miedo vs Samoa Joe
This match starts on a great foot when Penta slips on his way through the curtain, going on a slip and slide. Anyway, this match is as brutal and fun as you expect. It doesn’t have the storytelling of the other semi final and is a bit slower, but this is an extremely hard hitting encounter, and there is a fantastic walk away spot towards the third act. The ending was also a bit abrupt, but was still effective. A super fun main event match that I enjoyed immensely, even if the result was never in doubt.
Result: Samoa Joe by Submission via Coqina Clutch
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
Overall…
AEW Collision this week was a show of two halves. The second half of this show was fantastic, with two excellent semi finals and a great Danielson/Starks segment. Unfortunately, the first half of the show mostly felt weightless and unnecessary. Despite a good start with Moxley and Andretti, the show found itself in a fairly long lull, with the only real thing of note until the tournament matches being an underwhelming return for Jade Cargill. The first half wasn’t bad by any stretch, and seemed to be establishing talent and planting some small seeds for the future which I appreciate and I’m sure will bear more fruit down a few weeks down the line, but at present it led to the opening half feeling mostly a bit boring to sit through. It did pick up however to a great climax, and the majority of the matches did their job well enough, with the brilliant two final matches pushing the match rating up to 0.75. A slightly meandering first act of a show saved by a terrific second act.
Matches: 0.75/1 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: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling- September 9th 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
