By: Dave LeClair
AEW Collision was taped earlier in the week in Hamilton, ON.
MJF Squash
AEW Collision started with a non-title squash match between MJF and Hamilton’s Kip Morst. Freeman attacked Morst and won quickly by submission.
Ethan Page Confronts MJF
MJF took to the mic to complain about being forced to compete in a place like Hamilton and offered to fight anyone in the back. An enhancement talent started to come out, but Ethan Page pushed past him and challenged MJF. “All Ego” and MJF had a brief promo battle before MJF ultimately accepted a match against him for the AEW Championship.
AEW Championship Match
MJF and Hamilton’s “All Ego” Ethan Page had a good match with plenty of back-and-forth action. MJF consistently puts on good matches, and this was no exception. While Page received plenty of offense and had some good near falls, MJF pulled off the win with a heat-seeker pile driver to retain the championship.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Dustin Rhodes took on Powerhouse Hobbs in an Owen Hart tournament match. Hobbs had Q. T. Marshall in his corner. It was a ‘big meaty men slapping meat’ match, and it was pretty entertaining. Q. T. ran Dustin into the post while the ref was distracted, which busted him open, leading into the picture-in-picture commercial. There was a great near fall for Dustin Rhodes after he hit a Cross Rhodes and piledriver. Hobbs won with a spine buster.
Miro Murders Anthony Henry
Miro took on Anthony Henry, a tag team wrestler from The Workhorsemen. While he usually works with JD Drake, he didn’t have any help on this match. Surprisingly, Henry got a few moves in before the godless Miro retook control and finished him with the Game Over submission.
Tony Schiavone Interviews Bullet Club Gold
Schiavone introduced Bullet Club Gold and cited The Gunn Club as the group’s newest members. The Ass Boys did come to the ring in Bullet Club Gold shirts. Jay White called them “The Golden Gunns” during his interview. The Gunns praised themselves, and Schiavone informed the group that the Bullet Club was banned from ringside during Juice’s match against Ricky Starks. Jay White called out CM Punk, saying he wanted the gold Punk was carrying around his bag. He also called out FTR and challenged them to a Tag Team title match.
Punk’s Rebuttal
They cut backstage to Lexi Nair, CM Punk, FTR, and Ricky Starks. Punk cut a great promo, telling Jay to do like MJF and purchase a replica title from the AEW Shop. FTR accepted the challenge, and Ricky Starks said he would beat Juice Robinson. Lexi Nair ended the interview with FTR’s “top guys out” catchphrase.
Juice Robinson vs. Ricky Starks
Juice Robinson started the match by saying he doesn’t need help and has won tournaments before. Robinson tumbled Starks with a drop-down in a rare spot, letting him take control of the match. After a back-and-forth match, Ricky Starks managed to pick up the win. Bullet Club Gold circled the ring after the match to attack Starks, but FTR and CM Punk ran down and scared them off.
Christian Cage Speaks… Sort Of
Lexi asked why Christian is holding the TNT Championship and as he started answering, Shawn Spears came into the shot, attempting to speak with Luchasaurus. Christian cut him off, leading to Spears saying he’ll see the champ soon. This upset the large wrestling dinosaur, so Chrisitan held him back to prevent him from chasing after Spears.
Kris Statlander Defends TBS Championship
Lady Frost and Kris Statlander made their entrances for a TBS championship match. The pair had a competitive match, but as expected, Statlander took home the win and retained the TBS title.
El Idolo Interview
Andrade says he’s here for his mask and he tells the House of Black to show him their face. HOB appears on the TV behind him with the mask and says “All in due time.”
Main Event + CM Punk
Before the main event, CM Punk made his entrance to do guest commentary. The reaction was relatively positive, though being a taped show, it’s hard to get a feel for how the crowd really felt. Once Punk got settled in at the commentary table, Roderick Strong made his way to the ring to his Killswitch Engage entrance song.
In a surprise to no one, Strong and Joe had a fantastic match, but much of the attention was on the announcers asking CM Punk questions. Punk noted that everyone would rather see him fight Joe than Strong. He also said he’d like them to go to a draw so they have to wrestle again. Samoa Joe won with the Coquina Clutch.
After the match, Joe attacked Strong, leading to Punk jumping into the ring to stop him. Strong was taken out of the arena with a neck brace while strapped to a body board while CM Punk watched on from the ring.
