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This week’s episode of AEW Collision took place in Hartford, Connecticut. It was a jam packed show that featured a stacked card which duly delivered.
A 1 to 10 point scale will be used each week to score wrestlers who appear on AEW Collision. Wrestlers who partake in matches and in-ring promos will be scored as follows:
Note: Not all personalities who appear will be scored i.e. wrestlers in backstage promos or interviews, jobbers. Wrestlers who feature in matches but are not part of AEW’s roster will be scored but will not feature in the Form Table.
*In this week’s episode, Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, Aaron Solo, Miro & Christian/Luchasaurus were not scored*
Let’s take a look at this week’s ratings:
Andrade ‘El Idolo’ - 9
The show opened with a ladder match between Andrade and Buddy Matthews (accompanied by Julia Hart) for Andrade’s mask. Since his time in WWE, Andrade has become a ladder match connoisseur. His trademark is delivering a Sunset Powerbomb from a standing ladder onto a flat one that is supported by the ring ropes. This one was perfect. The crowd were hot behind the Mexican, who secured the win despite playing against the numbers game and being handcuffed onto the ropes by Julia Hart. This seems to inevitably be leading to a final boss match vs Malakai Black. If that is at All In next month, who could possibly complain?
House of Black (Buddy Matthews) - 9
Props must be given to Buddy, who had a ringside doctor pop his shoulder back in mid-match, to immediately deliver a buckle bomb to Andrade. A stellar showing by this week’s House of Black representative. He looks just as great as his wrestling abilities are.
CM Punk - 8
Like him or not, I can assure you that CM Punk is that guy. After last week’s personality disorder, we got a strong face promo from the Chicago native. He finally revealed what was in that red bag, and it was none other than the AEW World Heavyweight Championship that he never lost. He talked about straight edge, and emphasised his point by marking a big 'X' across the title.
It was a strong segment with Punk and an interruption by Ricky Starks, which sets up a tasty match between the two next week.
Ricky Starks - 8
There aren’t too many people in professional wrestling today who can hang with CM Punk on the mic, but Ricky Starks is one of the very few. Whilst on a logical level it might not make sense why Ricky would be keen on wanting to defeat Punk and not MJF instead, it does Starks no harm at all to hang with Punk for the meantime. Next week, he'll find himself stood in the same ring as Ricky ‘The Steamboat` Dragon and CM Punk. The AEW management seem high on Starks, and so do the rest of us.
FTR - 7
AEW’s mainstay tag team champions came out to a chorus of boos, which is quite rare to say the least. It’s been a familiar theme in the last decade that whenever FTR are involved in a tag title match, it’s a banger of a match. They brought their old school style up against the sports entertainment of Better Than You Baybay and it was pure fun. The emotional bias may have had viewers rooting for a MJF/Cole win, it feels like the best result for FTR to head into All In/Out season as the champions.
MJF & Adam Cole - 7
This week's main event did deliver, besides the awkward finish which gave the match a slightly flat ending. MJF sacrificed himself for the Shatter Machine which seemingly went iffy, but the quick improvisation by these men resulted in a roll-up win by Dax seconds later.
Should Adam Cole have sacrificed himself instead? MJF being the company’s current champion should still offer a protection from being pinned clean on TV.
Right now, it feels as though we are in the Act 2 of 3 in a Shakespearean tragedy - pending MJF’s betrayal. The real bluff is here was MJF’s refusal to betray his friend after the match - even using the classic traitor camera angle for the setup. Where does the story go from here? The journey has been a resounding success, and I’m not sure anyone is quite ready to let this bromance go just yet.
House of Black (Julia Hart) - 7
Rather than being a hindrance, Julia’s involvement in the match really added to the stakes of the match. The mischief from ringside included handcuffing Andrade, adding dead weight by jumping on him as he climbed the ladder, and taking a fatal table spot from the top of the ladder.
Bullet Club Gold & The Gunn’s - 7
Juice Robinson sliding into The Gunn’s entrance looked cold. I wish they changed up the entrance music to fit it. Juice's streak of wrestling on every episode of Collision continued with a win here, courtesy of a 3:10 To Yuma by The Gunn’s. During the commercial, we saw Jay White(‘s cardboard cut-out) smiling ecstatically. At the moment, that’s probably how he and the rest of BCG outlook on life must be because everything they are doing lately is golden.
Mercedes Martinez - 7
Mercedes made her Collision debut, and it was a welcome appearance for the ROH star. She had a dominant yet competitive win, using the Brass City Sleeper Lock. After the match, she provoked TBS Champion Kris Statlander to come out after attempting to inflict further violence on Hogan. It sets up a TBS Title match for next week, which should provide a refreshing secondary feud for the women’s division which has been quite dry as of late.
Darby Allin - 6
What better way to prepare for a TNT Title match at All Out in September than with a match against a man as psychotic as Minoru Suzuki? It was an entertaining match where Darby was really able to give and take the violence and secured a sneaky win.
Minoru Suzuki - 6
The surprise feature of the week was Minoru Suzuki. It’s always a pleasure seeing the Japanese legend on US TV.
Vikingo - 6
I am a big fan of visualising the sort of conversations Top Flight/Action Andretti would have in making friends with any wrestlers who flips around acrobatically as much as they do. Vikingo was their tag partner this week, and was fun to watch as he settles in AEW. Using Darius and Andretti as a launchpad for his acrobats was the epitome of the fun chaos this 6 man tag had in.
Darius Martin & Action Andretti - 6
Darius and Andretti secured more TV time this week in this fun 6 man tag. Both men put on a solid showing once again. It’s telling of the success of a show like Collision when wrestlers like these two get a spotlight when they otherwise would not have.
Kiera Hogan - 6
Keira was a fresh face to add to this week's packed show. She put on a good and competitive showing against Mercedes Martinez. Having cut loose of Jade Cargill a few months ago, she is still searching for her own identity. Any fan who has watched her work over at Impact would know that her value is beyond being just a sidekick.
Samoa Joe - 5
It was a pretty routine match for the ROH TV Champion here. He kept it short and sweet, and even gave us a chuckle with his taunting gravity walk against Gravity.
Gravity - 5
Following his recent match against PAC on Dynamite, Gravity got some more TV time here. It was a nice and quick match-up between two wrestlers with polar opposite wrestling styles.
Form Table
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