AEW Collision Review - January 6, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sting and Darby Allin def. The Workhorsemen

This show emanated from North Carolina, hence why Ric Flair accompanied Sting and Allin to ringside and joined them for a backstage interview afterward (where they announced their tag team match with Konosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs on Wednesday's Dynamite will be contested under Texas Tornado rules). This was a basic showcase for Sting and Allin, but The Workhorsemen made them, well, work for as long as this lasted.

AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston def. Trent Beretta

I'm elated Kingston has added more gold to his collection because the dude deserves it, but I have no interest in AEW having yet another midcard championship. That said, this was a quality contest. Beretta gave Kingston a hell of an effort, but there was no mystery surrounding the outcome. On a side note, Kingston was announced as having three different titles, but to my knowledge, they've all been unified into one. That's what Tony Khan said weeks ago, but we'll see if they stick to that.

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith and AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander in an ROH World Tag Team Championship Proving Ground Match

We don't see Proving Ground matches on AEW TV too often as they're typically a Ring of Honor thing, but it means that the "challengers" can earn themselves a title shot if they either win or last the allotted time. That didn't happen here with Keith and Komander, but they had a good showing, nonetheless. This furthered Undisputed Kingdom's momentum. I'm still hoping we see an "All Elite" graphic for Keith soon.

Adam Copeland def. Griff Garrison

During his pre-match promo, Copeland addressed his loss to Christian Cage at Worlds End and teased that they unfinished business because he has an automatic rematch clause as the former champ. I know WWE did that for many years, but is that the case in AEW as well? He issued an open challenge, which was underwhelmingly answered by Garrison. Copeland has gone on record in saying he's high on Garrison because he reminds him of himself from early on in his career, but it doesn't change how Garrison has been booked like a loser in AEW and thus this was lame, even with Copeland giving Garrison a fair amount of offense. It honestly felt like a waste of a Copeland match.

Skye Blue def. Kiera Hogan

The heel turn for Blue was desperately needed. She's coming into her own with his character and having her rack up victories is logical. I'm not sure what she's being built up for now that she's aligned with AEW TBS Champion Julia Hart and AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm is also a heel, but at least she's winning more than she's losing. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this, but I appreciated that they got as much time as they did.

Claudio Castagnoli def. Andrew Everett

Everett has competed for AEW several times in the past and is probably best known for his stint in IMPACT years ago. He's talented, but this was a nice little sprint with Everett selling Castagnoli's offense very well. This existed to give Castagnoli a win before he faces Adam Page in a first-time-ever encounter next Wednesday on Dynamite, which I'm very much looking forward to.

FTR def. House of Black (Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black)

This has been a somewhat cold feud so far, but they definitely heated it up with this great match and and the post-match angle with House of Black laying out FTR in front of Dax Harwood's family. Not only was the action was entertaining, it was also the usual tag team greatness from FTR. As badly as I want Malakai Black back in singles competition, he never ceases to deliver alongside his House of Black partners.

Overall Show

The Continental Classic has wrapped up and now we wait and see what Collision will look like going forward. I enjoyed this episode while watching live, but if I didn't review these shows and didn't tune in live, I wouldn't feel the need to go out of my way to watch it. The main event stood out (despite it not having any stakes), but nothing else was remotely eventful. There was simply too much filler in the middle for my liking.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews