AEW Collision Review - January 27, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) def. Shane Taylor Promotions

Apparently Moxley has been the go-to guy to kick off AEW shows as of late. This stemmed from Moxley previously beating both Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty in singles matches. They had the very good, hard-hitting tag team match you'd expect considering who was involved. Blackpool Combat Club continue to spin their wheels, but this was a nice win for them and I can't complain about getting more of Shane Taylor Promotions on AEW TV.

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy def. Komander

Komander earned this title shot by winning a four-way in the main event of Friday's Rampage. The problem is that there was zero uncertainty surrounding the outcome because it's already been announced that Cassidy is defending against Roderick Strong at Revolution. Komander has gotten a handful of title shots in AEW and hasn't won a single one, but despite all of they, they produced a quality contest.

Mariah May def. Lady Frost

We haven't seen a whole lot of May in the ring so far, and I assume that's by design because they want the focus to be on Toni Storm and whoever she's feuding with (which right now is Deonna Purrazzo). Her time will come eventually, but it's smart to subtly build her up in the meantime. From what we've seen, though, she's been impressive and is certainly skilled. This served as a simple showcase for her.

AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston def. Willie Mack (Non-Title)

I'm glad this wasn't randomly a title match. I'm a fan of Mack's, but he hasn't won a single televised match in AEW to my memory, so he obviously didn't deserve a shot. What we got from them was solid and it didn't last longer than it needed to. I still don't see how the AEW Continental Crown Championship is any different than the AEW International Championship, but at least Kingston is carrying more gold.

Bryan Danielson def. Yugi Nagata

I don't know how much of a ratings draw this match will be because I'm not sure how much of AEW's audience is familiar with Nagata or cares, but this was probably something Danielson wanted and they had a great match. It got an ample amount of time and they made every minute matter by beating the hell out of each other. Danielson and Kingston nearly crossed paths beforehand, so it looks like we are indeed headed toward another rematch between them.

Serena Deeb def. Robyn Renegade

Deeb's been out of action for a long time and I've dug the vignettes that have been airing for her since Worlds End. AEW's women's division is starting to heat up again and she can be an awesome asset. This was a quick squash for her as it should have been and I liked how her post-match promo was a mission statement of sorts. The question is which champion she'll target first considering both the AEW Women's World Champion and the AEW TBS Champion are heels.

FTR and Daniel Garcia def. House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) in an Elimination Steel Cage Match

This felt like an old-school main event with the cage and the elimination stipulation. Aside from Mark Briscoe briefly filling in for Garcia which was weird, it had a strong layout and the crowd was into everything they did. This paid off the program perfectly and I hope Garcia can build off this win by staying serious as a singles star. I don't know where FTR and House of Black go from here, but I will say that Malakai Black is long overdue for a singles run.

Overall Show

It's a shame Collision always has to air opposite of WWE's premium live events because nothing on Collision will be talked about by the end of the night and the rating will suffer. If you did tune into this episode, you were treated to a fun show, highlighted by an excellent main event. Nothing important happened outside of that main event and perhaps that will deter viewers from checking out this show, but Collision and Dynamite have found a rhythm recently in focusing on the in-ring action and it's helped make both programs more enjoyable on the whole.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews