AEW’s new Saturday night show Collision debuted on TNT from the United Center in Chicago, which marked the highly anticipated return of CM Punk. Several talents who haven’t been seen in AEW in several months also returned.
The United Center crowd was hot all night, adding high energy throughout the show. A different set, along with a new commentary team of ROH’s Nigel McGuinness and New Japan’s Kevin Kelly, provided a breath of fresh air to the program. Both do a phenomenal job of making the call sound like a legitimate sports broadcast.
The proceedings started similarly to The First Dance in August 2021 when CM Punk debuted for the promotion. Punk entered the ring with a red bag, which appeared to hold the AEW World Title.
Punk never removed the belt as he held up the bag reminding the crowd that he never lost the championship. Punk said people can call him whatever they want, but David Zaslov (CEO of WBD) calls him “One Bill Phil because he’s the one true article in a business full of counterfeit bucks.”
That last comment will be one of the major talking points coming out of the show, as it’s a shot at The Young Bucks concerning the locker room brawl Punk engaged in with the Bucks and Kenny Omega last September.
“Counterfit bucks” marks the first on-air shoot reference to the September brawl. The Bucks and Omega returned nine months ago and haven’t made a single on-air comment about Punk or the brawl outside that prompted some “F*** CM Punk” chants off-screen.
Luchasaurus captured the TNT Title, beating Wardlow in the opening bout. Both monsters traded big moves throughout the match, which was a fun sight considering both wrestlers don’t get thrown around too often.
Christian Cage smashed a camera over Wardlow’s head, allowing Luchasaurus to get the win. It was surprising they took the belt off of Wardlow. He’s held the title three times, and AEW hot potato it off of him on the last two reigns.
Ultimately, the title change was a welcomed surprise that added to a hot show.
Powerhouse Hobbs promo with QT Marshall, where Hobbs announced his entry into the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. I forgot all about the tournament until Hobbs declared. Hopefully, he’ll be pushed as the guy to beat.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Buddy Matthews in his big return to AEW. Both men had their working boots on and put on an excellent match. The selling was fantastic as they played off their legit injury history (Andrade’s shoulder and Matthews’ knee). It was a well-worked match from top to bottom that saw The House of Black run in after the match and take out Andrade. Depending on who Andrade gets on his team, this could be the beginning of a great Trios feud.
Scorpio Sky video package was shown singling his imminent return to AEW. It was a nice assortment of highlights, nicely reminding the audience of his accomplishments. Sky is a superb talent who makes everything he does in the ring look easy.
Another significant return saw Miro make short enough work of Tony Neese. The crowd was all in on Miro when the opening trumpets in his entrance music blared. A motivated Miro is a highly effective heel or a babyface. Creative differences kept him off television until now. Hopefully, previous ill will has dissipated, meaning we’re getting the best of “The Redeemer” moving forward.
“Absolute” Ricky Starks announced his entry Owen Hart Found Tournament and stated it’s “Absolutely” his to win. Starks needs to win the tournament. He was on fire the first half of 2023 and has cooled off a bit. Starks is a talent AEW does not want to squander, and a big win will get him back on track.
Skye Blue & Willow Nightingale defeated The Outcasts (Ruby Soho & Toni Storm). The big story beat here is Skye Blue getting the biggest career win in her hometown. Skye Blue is a constant presence on TV who loses more than she wins. However, any other outcome in this match on this night would have been the wrong call. Willow Nightingale never ceases to amaze me, and it was good to see her matched up on the winning side here. The match was fine for what it was. It was a formula of heat, heat, and more heat on Blue, making for a bigger crowd pop when she won. Mission Accomplished!
Jeff Jarrett revealed he’s taking on Mark Briscoe in a Concession Stand Brawl on Dynamite. It will be 46 years to the day of the inaugural Concession Brawl in Tupelo, Mississippi. Jarrett gets a lot of flack, but he’s been a consummate performer in AEW, and Briscoe is a treasure with the potential to be one of the promotion’s top acts.
The Acclaimed and “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn came out for an in-ring promo. They wished Gunn a Happy Father’s Day and said they’re still looking to win the Trios Titles. Anthony Bowens ended the promo saying AEW now stood for two things – Acclaimed Every Wednesday and Acclaimed Every Weekend. This was fun, short, and to the point. Exactly what it should have been.
CM Punk & FTR defeated Jay White, Juice Robinson, & Samoa Joe in an action-packed main event. The energy was dialed up to an 11 for this one. I liked that it was a long main event, giving the match plenty of time to tell its story.
Seeing Punk work with Robinson and White for the first time was fun. White/Punk worked well together. I could see them in a feud that would produce some great matches.
However, the big-time moments came whenever Punk and Joe locked horns. Their feud in ROH is still talked about today as their first face-to-face without touching each other got a mega pop from the crowd.
Joe got a lot of offense in on Punk, which was surprising as it was refreshing. Collision is CM Punk’s big return, so of course, he should look strong. However, certain rivals should be booked to defy conventional wrestling logic and give the returning hero a tough time no matter what. Samoa Joe is that rival to CM Punk.
And, man, Punk sold for him in a manner that suggested he was out of his depth returning against Joe. Near the end of the match, Joe sunk in a rear naked choke, and with Robinson and White running interference on FTR, Punk’s face screamed that he was about to tap out. Harwood eventually broke free and made the save for Punk.
Juice Robinson caught a high kick from Punk as he tagged in, allowing FTR to hit the Shatter Machine, followed by Punk delivering the GTS for the win. Sometimes, hitting two sets of finishing moves on someone can be seen as ei jobbing out a wrestler. Here, FTR and Punk were super over, and closing out the match with FTR and CM Punk’s finishers was perfect while not damaging Robinson’s credibility.
AEW’s first foray into regular Saturday night programming was a success. The energy was off the charts, the matches were fun, and the production seemed more polished than Dynamite on Wednesday nights. An excellent first night is always a plus, but Saturday nights on the regular will be a grind for AEW in terms of ratings.
Rumors running amuck in the interwebs say there is a shadow brand split going on in AEW, resulting from the backstage brawl last September. Those who don’t like or refuse to work with CM Punk will wrestle on Dynamite, while those who don’t care about the Punk versus The Elite drama will wrestle on Collision.
While it’s ridiculous to do a brand split because a couple of wrestlers on the roster can’t do business together, it will be a blessing in disguise. AEW has way too many wrestlers on their roster with not enough television time to go around. Collision might be the answer to the overflow of talent.
Reportedly, Punk, Miro, Andrade, Sky, FTR, and Thunder Rosa have had some backstage issues with either Tony Khan or someone who is only going to wrestle on Dynamite. If this is true, Collision appears to be AEW’s land of misfit toys, and so far, only one week in, it’s working out quite nicely.
RingsideLogic.com 