AEW Collision Review - August 12, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tony Schiavone Interviewed Ricky Starks

Following Starks' brutal beatdown of Ricky Steamboat last week, Schiavone informed Starks here that he's been suspended from competition for 30 days. That means he won't be in action at All In or All Out, but Starks said he applied for a manager's license and that he was "declaring war," so we clearly haven't seen the last of him until next month. I loved the intensity and passion in his promo, and I love that he's quickly become one of the faces of Collision.

The Acclaimed def. Iron Savages

I believe this marked the first time The Acclaimed have been without Billy Gunn in over a year. Personally, I prefer The Acclaimed on their own, but I know this "retirement" angle will lead to the return of Gunn soon. The match was decent for what it was, but I was surprised it lasted as long as it did considering Iron Savages aren't regulars on AEW TV. On a side note, this match proved that Iron Savages can win plenty of matches on the Dark shows and ROH TV, but they'll forever be an enhancement team on AEW's main shows despite being a talented tandem.

Mercedes Martinez and Diamante def. AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale

I'm all for Martinez and Diamante getting more television time. They're not "new" faces by any means (Diamante has been around in AEW since at least 2020), but they've been marginalized for so long that they feel like new faces. I fully expected the babyfaces to win here, so I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. They had a well-worked match and hopefully this leads to Diamante or Martinez getting another title shot.

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Andrew Everett (Non-Title)

Joe making quick work of his opponents is my new favorite pastime. Everett's can go, but this was more about making Joe look dominant and it was successful. Post-match, he once again got on the mic and cut a promo calling out CM Punk for a match at All In, going so far as to say that he'd "convince" him if he had to (more on that later). Consistent television time for Joe has made me happy.

Arn Anderson Interrupted Christian Cage; AEW TNT Champion Luchasaurus def. Brock Anderson

I don't think we've seen Arn on AEW TV since Cage bloodied him up a few months ago. He's obviously a legend, but he's had zero direction since Cody Rhodes left last year and I don't find his son Brock interesting at all. We got an impromptu AEW TNT Championship match, but I don't think the crowd cared much or thought that the title was actually in jeopardy. Post-match, Allin challenged Cage to a match next week on Collision and I'm excited for that.

Powerhouse Hobbs Challenged and Attacked Miro

Hobbs' promo wasn't a home run by any means, but I'm glad he got mic time for a change and he won't improve unless he gets more reps. I initially thought him calling out Miro was random, but then I remembered that Hobbs' QTV stablemate Aaron Solo attempted to attack Miro backstage a week or two ago. Hobbs laid out Miro in this segment, so it looks like the match is on for All Out even though it wasn't confirmed. That's a great use for both guys as it should be a fun hoss fight.

AEW World Trios Champions House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) def. "Real World Champion" CM Punk and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR

More buildup for this bout would've been nice (in addition to the pre-taped promos that started the show), but it ended up being an excellent main event, regardless. They got a ton of time and Punk mixing it up with Black was especially cool. Hopefully we can see them go one-on-one eventually. Joe factoring into the finish was predictable albeit logical, so I didn't have an issue with it. It's awesome that tag team wrestling continues to be showcased in a major way on Collision.

Overall Show

This was a weaker show than we've come to expect from Collision since its premiere, but I still enjoyed the two hours as I prefer the pacing of Collision over Dynamite's. This episode started strong and closed strong and there was some solid stuff in the middle as the builds to All In and All Out heat up. The pay-per-view is in two weeks, though, so Tony Khan will need to make the rest of the card clear this coming week.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews