After a few weekends of AEW’s newest endeavor taking hold, it’s become much more clear the separation between Collision & the brands tentpole program; Dynamite. From this layman viewers perspective, AEW Collision does it’s best to stay true to its “less talk, more action” feel (which is saying something when you have one of the best mic workers of our generation, CM Punk, as a mainstay for the show).
To draw comparison, this past week’s AEW Dynamite had a heavy focus on the budding “friendship” between Adam Cole & AEW Champ MJF, as their circumstantial pairing in the Blind Tag tournament has gifted the pairing (as well as other odd couples made for the tourney) with opportunities for clever gags and humorous conflicts. This past Saturday’s Collision, however, was very match-focused. With the exception of some back & forth between Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo and the unfortunate delay to next week for the match between Willow Nightingale & Athena, any talky bits from the night’s wrestlers concerned the defeat of the night’s opponent and very little else. The matches that did play out didn’t need much setup to be explained or filler conversation from anyone to get people in attendance interested. The matches on display were simply solid & nonverbally impactful. Scorpio Sky returned from a sizable hiatus showing very little ring rust to get a win over Action Andretti. Julia Hart kept her 2023 undefeated streak going against Canadian local Bambi Hall.
Dax Harwood & Jay White took the bulk of beatings & pins as Dash Wheeler & Juice Robinson assisted the best they could in a match that ultimately gave the win (& AEW Tag Champ contendership) to Bullet Club Gold. And, of course, there were the Semifinals of the Owen Hart Foundation Tourney, which saw Ricky Starks get the “assist” from QT Marshall for the win (much to Powerhouse Hobbs’ chagrin, as QT was helping Hobbs throughout the match) & CM Punk FINALLY gets a W over ROH TV Champ Samoa Joe in a match the wrestling world had been waiting roughly 2 decades to see again. No extra buildup. No added spectacle or pizazz. All you needed is what you got in the ring… which was quite a lot for your typical Saturday night out…er, I mean, In.