The August 19th edition of AEW Collision continued the road to All-In with Jay White versus Dalton Castle, Willow Nightingale versus Diamante, Darby Alin versus Christian Cage, and CM Punk accepting Samoa Joe’s challenge in the most entertaining way possible.
Highlights:
- The night started with a match between Samoa Joe and the masked Golden Vampire who jumped the Ring of Honor Television Champion and left him laying in the middle of the ring revealing himself to be CM Punk who accepted Joe’s challenge in exactly three words. Fun quick intro to the show confirmed the title match for the upcoming PPV.
- Switchblade Jay White defeated Dalton Castle in a back-and-forth match featuring some fun between Bullet Club Gold and Castle’s minions at ringside. The match was followed by an in-ring segment ending with Juice Robinson and the Gunns demanding some action leading to a 6-man tag against the premiering Iron Savages (the repackaged Bear Country). Chaotic match to wrap-up a fast-paced opening 40-minutes.
- In the main event Darby Alin took on Christian Cage with Luchasaurus at ring side. Christian was in full heel mode working over Darby’s arm and shoulder while taunting both his opponent and the crowd. Darby got the win, but Cage and Luchasaurus jumped Darby after the match forcing Tony Schiavone to perform both count a farcical 3-count and announce Cage’s victory.
- Willow Nightingale defeated Diamante in a match that deserved far more love than the mostly silent reaction the crowd gave it. Memorable for Willow’s ringside pounce and the return of Kris Statlander helping to even the odds after Mercedes Martinez came down to ringside.
- Lexy Nair interviewed Toni Storm backstage discussing the upcoming four-way title match at All-In. New direction for Toni Storm’s character continues, and I loved the fact she didn’t even recognize that Lexy was the person who had interviewed her the week before.
Lows:
- Backstage segment with Ricky Starks covering his suspension and promising to cause chaos which led into a video segment (restating the exact same information) and Starks providing unnecessary ringside support for Big Bill against random jobber of the week who Ricky then whipped after the match. This might turn out to be an interesting new pairing for Bill (who keeps getting shuffled around the roster), but this segment was not the best angle to put them together. Starks’ interview being followed immediately with a video package saying the exact same thing was also bizarre (maybe this was filler for FTR not being in attendance?).
- The lethargic crowd was certainly a factor in the several of the matches not having the energy you would expect.
- Jobbers, jobbers, jobbers. Far too many of the of the night’s matches featured either local talent or (in the case of the repackaged Bear Country) unrecognized wrestlers not seen in television and mostly unknown quantities for the casual fans.
- The show certainly had a different energy for TV viewers without Ian Riccaboni.
Less Notable:
- Quick history of All-In video package between the first and second match of the night.
- Recap of the Acclaimed‘s recent troubles with the House of Black. Followed by a pre-taped video from Malaki Black about ending the career of Daddy Ass.
- La Facción Ingobernable pre-taped segment suggesting a rebuilding or rebranding of the faction.
- Pre-taped FTR / Young Bucks segment highlighting the rivalry between the AEW’s two premiere tag teams heading into their match at All-In.
- Powerhouse Hobbs defeated another jobber in a squash match followed by a promo from Miro.
- Video package highlighting the history of Adam Cole and MJF.
