‘AEW: Collision’ Review (Jul 8th 2023)

Welcome to this week’s review of AEW’s latest television show, Collision, which brings wrestling back to Saturday nights! We’ve got the commentary team of Nigel McGuiness and Kevin Kelly calling the action, so let’s get into the review!

Match #1: Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Semi-Final Match – Ricky Starks def. Powerhouse Hobbs

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

They locked up and Hobbs shoved Starks into the turnbuckles. Starks ducked a lariat but ate a forearm from Powerhouse. Starks clotheslined Hobbs over the top rope, sending Powerhouse to the arena floor. Back in the ring, Hobbs steamrolled Starks with a lariat. Hobbs bludgeoned Starks in the corner with stiff shots. Hobbs caught a charging Starks with a hard back elbow. Hobbs planted Starks with a vertical suplex. Starks escaped a hold from Hobbs and countered with a high stacked powerbomb! Starks hit Hobbs with a DDT. QT grabbed Starks’ ankle as he was running the ropes. As the ref was admonishing QT Marshall, Hobbs nailed Starks with a spinebuster. Hobbs went for the pin, but the ref was still distracted by QT who was on the apron. Hobbs got up and screamed at QT to get down. Starks hit Hobbs, knocking Hobbs into QT Marshall. Starks followed up with a massive spear to Powerhouse and then scored the pin!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #2: Julia Hart def. Bambi Hall

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Julia Hart kicked Bambi in the thigh. Julia tripped Bambi and then slapped her in the face. Julia applied the Heartless Lock on Bambi and forced a quick tap out!

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #3: Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) def. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Dax took down Jay White with a side headlock. Dax hip tossed Switchblade. Juice tagged in to stall FTR’s momentum. Cash and Juice locked up and Juice wrenched Cash’s arm. Cash came back with a fireman’s takeover. Cash monkey flipped Juice. All four men got in the ring and slugged it out! FTR hit stereo German suplexes on Bullet Club Gold. Dax lifted Cash and then planted him on Juice with a leg drop. Cash hit an atomic drop and then blasted Juice with an uppercut forearm. Juice retaliated with a hotshot. As the ref was distracted, Jay White splatted Cash on the ring apron. Juice smashed Cash Wheeler with a senton. Jay grabbed a tag and applied a bear hug to Cash. Jay spat at Harwood and then put Cash in the Muta Lock. Dax jumped in the ring and took a shot at Juice, breaking the hold. Jay White suplexed Cash into the turnbuckles for a near fall. Bullet Club Gold utilized quick tags to isolate Cash Wheeler in their corner. Wheeler went for a clothesline on Jay White but White backdropped Wheeler out of the ring. Dax got a tag and cleaned house with a flurry of offense. Dax rocked White with two German suplexes. Dax put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence with a brain buster to Switchblade. Cash planted Juice spine first on the ring apron! Dax climbed to the top turnbuckle and superplexed Jay White! Cash jumped from the top with a splash to White. Dax covered Switchblade for a near fall. Jay White nailed Cash with a sleeper suplex! Jay went for the Bladerunner, but Dax ran in to save his partner. FTR tried to hit the Big Rig on Jay, but Juice jumped in the ring to save Jay White. Dax grabbed a tag and FTR rocked Jay with a stuffed piledriver. Juice broke up the pin attempt on Jay White, saving his team from defeat. Jay White hit the Regal Plex on Dax for a near fall. Harwood used a rebound powerbomb on Switchblade, but Switchblade kicked out at two! Juice jumped in and connected with a leg lariat on Dax. Jay White rocked Cash with the Bladerunner! Jay White and Dax Harwood exchanged chops. Juice got a blind tag to Jay White, and while Dax continued to grapple with White, whom he thought was the legal man, Robinson spiked Dax with the Juicebox! Juice was able to pin before Cash Wheeler was able to break up the pin.

My Score: 4 out of 5

Match #4: Scorpio Sky def. Action Andretti

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Scorpio Sky and Action Andretti chain wrestled. Sky rolled up Action for a two count. Scorpio Sky smashed Action with a double foot stomp to Action’s back. Action fired back with a neck breaker to Scorpio Sky. He followed up with a tope suicida. Action nailed Scorpio with a Spanish Fly for a near fall. Action clocked Scorpio with a thrust kick. He followed up with a shotgun dropkick. Action attempted a split legged moonsault, but Scorpio raised his knees to counter it! Scorpio Sky rocked Action with the TKO and pinned him!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #5: Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Semi-Final Match – CM Punk def. Samoa Joe

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Punk ducked a roundhouse kick from Samoa Joe. Punk chopped at Samoa Joe. Punk ducked a chop from Joe. Punk jabbed at Samoa Joe, utilizing his quickness. Punk jumped off the turnbuckles, but Samoa Joe simply moved out of the way. Samoa Joe lit up Punk’s chest with chops. He blasted Punk with a kick to the chest. Samoa Joe boxed CM Punk into the corner. Punk tried to rally back with a flurry of offense but eventually Samoa Joe forced Punk back down to the mat. Samoa Joe knocked CM Punk off the top turnbuckle, with Punk crashing onto the arena floor. Punk’s mouth was busted open, a result of the bludgeoning from Samoa Joe. Punk got to his feet and connected with a leg lariat. Samoa Joe locked on a sleeper. CM Punk countered with a suplex. Punk connected with a running knee in the corner, and then a second running knee! And then a third! Punk hit a short arm lariat on Samoa Joe. Punk climbed to the top rope and dropped the elbow for a near fall on Samoa Joe. Punk hoisted up Samoa Joe for the GTS, but Joe escaped and applied the cross face to Punk! CM Punk managed to reach the bottom rope, forcing the ref to break the hold. Samoa Joe used a pair of Kawada kicks on Punk. Joe snap power slammed Punk for a two-count. Punk surprised Samoa Joe with a high roundhouse kick! Samoa Joe knocked Punk off the top turnbuckle. Joe was looking for the Muscle Buster, but Punk fought out of it. He hit Joe with a neck breaker. Punk attempted the GTS again, but Samoa Joe countered, going back to the chokehold. Punk escaped, rolled up Samoa Joe and scored the victory!

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Well, this was an improvement over the previous night’s Rampage that’s for sure! Some great storytelling in the ring this week and, unlike the other tournament matches we’ve had on AEW programming of late, the two we got here were both part of bigger, long-term, stories and so had more of an impact. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament final that’s for sure – both men seemingly are fan favourites so for them to go head-to-head could lead to one hell of a crowd reaction! But the match of this show was the tag team battle between FTR and Bullet Club Gold… Wow. One of the best matches to grace Collision so far.