AEW Collision Review - January 20, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jon Moxley def. Shane Taylor

This was billed as Moxley's "return" to AEW despite only being off television since Worlds End less than a month ago. It was a hot way to start the show and it was cool to see him in there with Taylor, who is a terrific talent largely relegated to Ring of Honor. I hope to see him on AEW TV more going forward, but I'm not holding my breath. This was a very good match from them, even if the outcome was never in doubt.

​Adam Copeland def. Dante Martin

The open challenge gimmick has been an excellent use of Copeland the last few weeks before he eventually sets his sights back on Christian Cage and the AEW TNT Championship. There's no shortage of fresh faces for him to step in the ring with. This was an awesome opportunity for Martin and he proved he could hang with Copeland. The clash of styles made for a fun match and Copeland put him over during his post-match promo.

Thunder Rosa def. Queen Aminata

Rosa made her long-awaited return to television a month ago but hasn't done a whole lot since then. She successfully teamed up with Abadon that one time and was on the winning end of that multi-woman tag team match last week on Dynamite, but that's about it. As for Aminata, I believe this was the fourth consecutive competitive match she's had on AEW TV. Viewers aren't going to take her seriously if she's always losing, but this was good stuff from them. Now, let's get Rosa going in a meaningful program, please.

ROH World Tag Team Champions Bullet Club Gold and AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn Agreed to Join Forces

Perhaps I'm in the minority on this based on the loud crowd reaction to this segment, but I honestly have zero desire to see these factions link up. Jay White in particular is above this nonsense and holding the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship does nothing for him, but perhaps this will be short-lived with Bullet Club Gold turning on them and revealing the alliance as a ruse. The audience in attendance ate this up, for what it's worth.

Daniel Garcia def. Buddy Matthews

As I've said before, I think Garcia will benefit far more from being aligned with FTR than the Jericho Appreciation Society rejects. He's been gaining more momentum lately and this was another nice win for him. He and Matthews had a very well-wrestled matchup and the brawl afterward between FTR, Garcia and House of Black was well done. Dax Harwood threw out the challenge for an elimination-style six-man tag team cage match next week, which has the potential to be a blast.

Roderick Strong def. Matt Sydal

I wonder why Sydal has been getting an increased amount of television time recently after barely being featured over the past few years. He also appeared on Rampage last week and this week, losing on both occasions. This was no different, but he and Strong had a solid match in the time they were allotted here. It was announced on Dynamite that Strong will get his shot at the AEW International Championship at Revolution and this gave him an additional credibility boost before then.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli) def. Ortiz and AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston

I know​ Kingston exchanged wins with Danielson in the Continental Classic, but I'm ready for Kingston to move beyond feuding with Blackpool Combat Club. He's beaten everyone in the group at this point and has nothing left to prove, especially against Castagnoli. However, Kingston and Danielson have such stellar chemistry that I can't complain about getting one more match between them. This was the entertaining main event you'd expect from these four.

Overall Show

Collision had a ton of star power this week and it resulted in an above-average episode. It really felt like it was on the same level as Dynamite for a change, at least in terms of the wrestling. There still needs to be more storyline-significant stuff, but the two hours were a treat to tune into this week. The most eventful thing that happened was a throwaway line from the commentators at the very end about the power rankings returning, which is pretty cool. We also got a loaded lineup announced for Wednesday's Dynamite. You can tell Tony Khan is optimistic about AEW's 2024, but time will tell if he can get what he wants most in soon-to-be free agent Kazuchika Okada.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews