AEW Collision Review - December 2, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brody King def. Claudio Castagnoli in a Continental Classic Blue League Match

Man, these two went in there and just beat the hell out of each other for a while. It was exactly what I wanted and it was such a blast. King beat Eddie Kingston in a Blue League match last week (can you even call that an upset?), so I didn't expect him to score a second straight win here and I was surprised that he did. He may not win another match in the tournament after this, but it's cool to see him spotlighted as a singles competitor for a change, if only for a brief bit.

Abadon def. Kiera Hogan

Abadon resurfaced over Halloween weekend at the end of October to unsuccessfully challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women's World Championship before taking her annual vacation from television until next Halloween. Kudos to Tony Khan for bringing her back before then. I've never been big on Abadon, but she obviously has her fans. This match was fine while it lasted and existed to give Abadon a win before she apparently challenges Julia Hart for the AEW TBS Championship soon.

Andrade El Idolo def. Daniel Garcia in a Continental Classic Blue League Match

Once again, Garcia had a strong showing and proved his worth with the performance he had here. He's lost a lot lately, but it's better than him not being in singles matches, which was the case for several months at one point. The Continental Classic is perfect for people like him and Andrade because it allows them to have kickass matches without winning the whole thing. CJ Perry is acting as Andrade's manager, but the whole storyline with them and Miro continues to confuse me.

The Kingdom def. Iron Savages (Bronson and Boulder)

Another week, another win for The Kingdom. It's encouraging that they and Roderick Strong are getting consistent television time on AEW TV because it should mean that there's some sort of plan in place for them, even though it feels like they've been spinning their wheels for a while. This was a standard squash for The Kingdom to get them one step closer to contending for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. They should get their opportunity at Final Battle, but I doubt it happens there.

House of Black (Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews) def. Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels

I'm glad House of Black are back to winning matches after failing to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Full Gear and this was a nice little match for what it was (Daniels and Sydal are typically relegated to jobber duty on ROH TV, so this was a treat). However, it bothers me to no end that AEW is doing nothing with Malakai on his own after teasing a feud with him and Bryan Danielson a month or two ago. At least they furthered their feud with FTR afterward.

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Kip Sabian (Non-Title)

This was very random. It was a fun sprint and Sabian scored more offense than I thought he would, but it didn't seem to accomplish anything other than to kill time, unless Vikingo is being built up for a singles match against someone soon. I know he, Komander and Petna El Zero Miedo won their six-man tag team match on Rampage, but their upcoming clash with Top Flight and Action Andretti didn't feel connected to this. Sabian always plays his role well, but he's never escaping undercard purgatory.

Bryan Danielson def. ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston​ in a Continental Classic Blue League Match (Non-Title)

I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for their first AEW encounter on Rampage two years ago, and this was equally excellent. They went to war and the crowd ate it up. They got an ample amount of time as they should have and spent every minute blasting each other with hard-hitting offense. Somehow, Danielson sporting the eyepatch made him even more badass. I'm surprised Kingston is 0-2 in the Continental Classic so far seeing as how he's technically the defending champion in this thing.

Overall Show

This was easily the best edition of Collision that AEW has produced in a while, and the Continental Classic had a lot to do with that as I assumed it would when it was originally announced. Granted, it only lasts through the rest of December, so this show may very well go back to being easily-skippable once it's over. Danielson vs. Kingston is obviously worth seeking out and the other tourney matches were also top-notch. Nothing else was overly special, but the Continental Classic carried things.

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