AEW Collision Review - July 15, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson) in a 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match

I didn't know how these teams would be able to top themselves from their outstanding effort on last week's episode and somehow they did. FTR are masters of the two-out-of-three falls stipulation at this point while Robinson and White have prove themselves as a tremendous team. This went almost exactly an hour and they made every minute matter. This was an example of exceptional tag team wrestling and the crowd responded accordingly. I'd love for this to lead to a resurgence of of AEW's tag team division, but time will tell if that will actually be the case.

Willow Nightingale def. Ruby Soho to Win the Women's Owen Hart Cup

These two were put in a tough spot coming off the classic that was the opener. They were never going to match that, but this could have easily gone on right before the main event and it definitely would've made a difference. Nonetheless, they had a good match as it was and it helped that it could have gone either way. Thankfully, there was no unnecessary outside interference from The Outcasts and Nightingale won clean. She's a star and should be the next ROH Women's World Champion after beating Athena on Rampage.

AEW World Trios Champions Kings of the Black Throne def. Randy Myers and Artemis Spencer

Malakai Black recently stated that he and the rest of House of Black will be exclusive to Collision going forward. That should hopefully give them more direction and consistent television time. This was a total squash. I don't know why it couldn't have happened after the opener to give the fans in attendance a chance to cool down. Andrade El Idolo was shown standing on the ramp, so he'll clearly be challenging for the AEW World Trios Championship soon with two partners.

Ricky Starks def. CM Punk to Win the Men's Owen Hart Cup

Despite this having a babyface vs. babyface dynamic, the crowd was almost evenly split between the two and it only added to the match. This was a very entertaining main event that also could have gone either way. I was hoping Starks would win and I'm glad he did, but I'm not stoked about the idea of him turning heel. Punk makes much more sense to turn heel if crowds are turning on him anyway, but I understand if they want Punk to be the top babyface of the Collision. The key is in the follow-up with Starks and ensuring he properly capitalizes off of this.

Overall Show

Another awesome edition of Collision this week. FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold taking up the first hour was a genius move as it will without a doubt go down as one of the best bouts in AEW history. I'm happy it got the time it deserved. The rest of the show was strong as well with the finals of the men's and women's Owen Hart Cups and a quick showcase for House of Black. It felt like a mini pay-per-view in a way. Collision continues to kill it and be a blast to tune into.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews