AEW Collision (June 24, 2023) occurred at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario. The show featured Sting’s surprise trio partners against Chris Jericho’s team, CM Punk in the main event, MJF performing and more on the eve of Forbidden Door.
Learn all about Collision play-by-play from Geno Mrosko.
Sting’s surprise
The map for Forbidden Door on July 25 was almost complete, but one ingredient was missing. Sting and Darby Allin had to reveal their trio partner for the match against Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki at PPV.
Tony Schiavone was set to open the show with Sting, but Jericho got ahead of the icon and arrived first. Jericho was flanked by Suzuki. Sammy was absent that evening. Jericho wagged his gums, unafraid of Sting’s surprise. Jericho even did a cool new handshake with Suzuki.
Side note: Thanks to the production for showing the pose replay from “Le Sex Grandpas” on Dynamite. That moment was hilarious and it was great to have a focused camera angle this time.
Tired of waiting, Jericho threatened Schiavone with a baseball bat to reveal the secret information. Cue Sting’s music and Schiavone yell, “It’s Sting!” Allin took responsibility for giving a hint. This man kicked Jericho’s ass in the Tokyo Dome.
Enter Tetsuya Naito, who looks great in a white suit and cape.
Jericho and Naito have already wrestled twice. Jericho won the 2018 IWGP Intercontinental Championship and Naito won the title back in 2019 in a No-DQ match.
Naito enters the ring for a staredown with Jericho.
The opening section was dynamite. Jericho expressed his best on the mic with humor, arrogance and intimidation. It was the kind of joke that wasn’t supposed to be funny in itself, but it was funny to watch. The little things added to the fun, like the stoic Suzuki shaking hands and Schiavone shouting “It’s Sting!” with a bat to the throat.
Sting’s surprise pick was a solid choice for star power and a reimagining of Jericho’s NJPW history. I’m not sure how well they will fit together as partners in terms of the story. My experience of watching Naito came exclusively from CMLL and he represented Los Ingobernables style through and through.
As far as AEW storylines go, this segment was the pinnacle of tension between Sammy and Jericho. The handshake and sex pose with Suzuki was meant to incite jealousy, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. If Sammy were faithful to JAS through and through, he would appreciate sports entertainment. Even though he’s contemplating leaving Jericho, those things weren’t egregious enough to be offended. Allin also got involved in the situation. If Sammy stands by Jericho, Allin will kick his ass. Sammy and Allin have not yet been portrayed as good friends for this threat to matter. Ultimately, as part of the Four Pillars, Sammy and Allin will always be in competition with each other.
Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Swerve Strickland. This match featured good action with a comedic air guitar duel. The ace of the universe lived up to its name in the end. Tanahashi went for a flying splash to finish, but Swerve raised his knees to block. Swerve stunned Tanahashi with kicks, but a flying double stomp missed and pinched his knee. Tanahashi lunged for a slingshot blade. Tanahashi climbed up the turn and finished the ball with the high fly flow.
That was cool matchmaking. I’m glad AEW was able to accommodate this as a special attraction for Collision. Unfortunately, Swerve has been cornered again. One night before the AEW World Championship game against MJF, there was no way Tanahashi was going to lose. Kudos to Swerve for snapping on target when Tanahashi slipped off the turnbuckles. Instead of remaining flat on the mat for an unrealistically long time, Swerve jumped up to engage in punches. This gave Tanahashi a chance to regroup, slam Swerve down and hit his finisher.
Speaking of MJF, he graced Collision with his big screen presence for a promo following Tanahashi’s win. MJF requested that their match be the first in the PPV. He doesn’t want to spend a minute in Canada any longer than necessary. MJF will stick Tanahashi’s air guitar up his ass because Tanahashi is not on the devil’s level.
With Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada already announced as the main PPV event, MJF’s promo provided a good excuse to explain why the AEW World Championship won’t close the show. It also feeds off of MJF’s fragile ego that justifies why he won’t compete in the main event.
Andrade defeated Brody King. The style was speed versus power. In the story, King targeted Andrade’s surgically repaired pectoral muscle and Andrade knocked the big man down by attacking the knee. King exploded into the corner for a running DVD followed by a running cannonball. While lifting for a finisher, Andrade escaped and hit King’s knee to form a four. Then Julia Hart grabbed Andrade’s mask to provide a distraction. Andrade approved the submission, but he didn’t fall into the trap. El Idolo ducked King’s punch and fired back with his signature elbow. Andrade hit the four and bridged the eight. Buddy Matthews ran into Andrade’s attack and shoved the referee. A disqualification was pronounced. The House of Black lashed out at Andrade while Malakai Black watched from the big screen.
This was a quality match with a cop-out finish. King saved face by not having to submit. I’m excited to see what the next step for this story will be. The House of Black showed that Andrade needs friends. Nobody has mentioned Andrade’s status at Los Ingonernables. Also, this group is full of paragraphs. Andrade is picking up some steam with the babyface, so bringing them back together would be weird. For the curious, there were no interactions between Andrade and Naito on this show.
Christian Cage as TNT Champion. Christian claimed the TNT crown despite Luchasaurus being the official defending champion. He basically spent the entire interview complaining about the sport in Toronto as a loser. Christian boasted about advising Kawhi Leonard to leave the Raptors. Christian went deeper and said he had to leave this town and she was losing her opportunities to become a champion. Ending the open-challenge trend, Christian also threw a shot at Cody Rhodes, using the TNT title as a vanity project. The “Champ” plans to take the title to new heights.
Christian hosted a heel warming masterclass in his hometown of Toronto. You didn’t boo him with a wink. It felt like he was really getting under their skin. For me as a viewer with no connection to Toronto at all, the whole scene was hilarious.
Women’s Owen Hart Tournament Quarterfinals: Willow Nightingale defeats Nyla Rose. Hoss fight! Marina Shafir distracted Nyla by slamming Willow’s shoulder against the ring post. This attack later paid off when Willow’s arm was too weak to perform the Doctor Bomb Finisher. Nyla unleashed Native Beast mode with a series of violent punches. As she ran the ropes, Willow cut the angle for a big shoulder tackle. Willow overcame the pain to claim victory with the Doctor Bomb.
This match had a heavy babyface finish. The explosion of the jump shook the crowd, and the second try with the doctor bomb brought a clear victory. Willow showed endurance and a champion’s heart to defeat her opponent.
Willow advances to the semifinals, facing the winner of Athena against Billie Starkz. After the match, the outcasts surrounded the ring. Skye Blue ran out to the save with a chair.
Will Hobbs defeated Jeremy Prophet. Powerhouse attacked before the chime. He enjoyed smashing his opponent until finishing it with a Spinebuster.
This competition was a warm-up before Owen Hart’s tournament match against Dustin Rhodes next week. I hope Dustin’s spine doesn’t crumble to dust when he takes that spinebuster from Hobbs. The impact looks brutal.
Bullet Club Gold & Gunn Club defeated CM Punk, FTR and Ricky Starks. In the main event, the crowd was clamoring for punk. He’s been more active in this fight than last week. The villains isolate Punk to set the table for a steamy slugfest with Starks. Completely cleaned house, then Do-Si-Do with Jay White for near falls. The match erupted in chaos when Cash Wheeler knocked out Juice Robinson and the Gunns in a suicide attempt. Switchblade took control with a Uranage on Punk and an Uranage on Starks. White went for a blade runner, but Starks escaped and scored a roll-up. White hit a kick and sent Starks into the ropes. Starks jumped back to retrieve a spear. Starks ran wild and impaled the Gunns as well while Juice yelled “Ricky!” Starks tried another javelin on White. This time Switchblade dodged and Juice hit Starks with what I assume was a heavy punch. White ended the fight with the blade runner and won.
This was energetic action for the main event. The frenetic exit went well. Regrettably, the result was essentially meaningless as it was a high profile showing competition for posers rights. Technically, this is Punk’s first loss since returning, and it doesn’t seem like a big deal at all. The seeds were clearly sown for a showdown between punk and white, so that’s something to look forward to.
Remarks: Brief thoughts on production. The show opened with promos cheering the main event. The delivery gave me an atmosphere like the main event on Saturday night. Arenas often appear homogeneous and offer the same stage design week after week. I like that they occasionally offered an outdoor view of the venue, making it feel like a round trip. Thumbs up when showing game highlights is appropriate for story reasons.
Miro realized that his god is an idiot. He renounced his God, his gold and his beautiful wife. Miro goes alone.
Owen Hart’s hype pack for the men’s tournament featured high-spirited trash talk from everyone in attendance.
Scorpio Sky is back and better than before. When he won championships in AEW, he wasn’t even at his best.
Star of the show: Christian Cage
It requires special skills to make your hometown hate you.
Match of the Night: Willow Nightingale vs. Nyla Rose
A healthy game where good defeats evil.
Grade: A-
This wasn’t necessarily an important show in terms of the material delivered. But it was a lot of fun. The promo work was golden all night. The action was solid. The Toronto fans made for an electric atmosphere. It really helps make everything seem bigger and more important than it actually is. Overall, this episode of Collision left me with a lot of excitement on the way to Forbidden Door.
Share your thoughts on Collision. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?
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