AEW Collision Review - June 1, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tony Schiavone Interviewed FTR

FTR addressed their loss to The Elite in Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing but promised that they'll seek revenge when the time is right, confirming that their rivalry isn't over yet. Do we get the fifth match between them and The Young Bucks sometime soon? If not, I'd rather see them move on to another feud. This was the usual passionate promo from them and I liked that it kicked off the show.

Roderick Strong def. Lio Rush

Rush previously wrestled for AEW in 2021 but only had a handful of matches as he largely served as a manager for Dante Martin, so it was cool to get him in his first televised match for the company here (not including Dark). He and Strong had the fun match you'd expect from them. Strong later demanded an AEW World Championship match against Swerve Strickland for next Wednesday's Dynamite, which was granted by Tony Khan. That makes zero sense considering Ospreay had to win a damn Casino Gauntlet matchup to earn an opportunity.

Daniel Garcia and Katsuyori Shibata def. The Workhorsemen

Garcia and Shibata have a bit of history together as opponents and they have quality chemistry together as partners, but where is this going? Shibata was recently involved in the FTW Championship stuff and Garcia had an alliance going with FTR, so them joining forces feels random unless the idea is for them to become a full-fledged team. They had a well-wrestled match against The Workhorsemen, but I'm not sure what purpose this was supposed to serve.

Thunder Rosa def. Reina Dorada

I feel like Rosa's been doing the same thing on Rampage and Collision for months. She'll pick up an enhancement win as part of her program with Deonna Purrazzo with not much more to it than that. They had a nice match together at Double or Nothing and they're obviously building toward a rubber match, but I wish they were given more to it than the brief interactions they've had here and there over the last two months. More meaningful mic work (specifically on Dynamite) would be better.

Cage of Agony (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. Danny Rose, Ricky Gee and KM

I imagine this is the only scenario where you'll see Cage of Agony win as decisively as they did here. This was AEW's way of establishing them as a trio following their split from Strickland. It was quick and painless as it should have been. AEW's trios division is depleted at the moment, so maybe they'll get a shot at the AEW Trios Championship again soon just because there aren't many other options.

Claudio Castagnoli def. Johnny TV

It's amazing to think that these two had never faced off one-on-one before until now, at least on television. Castagnoli made his WWE TV debut shortly after Johnny left over a decade ago, and I guess they never had a singles match when Johnny had his last run there in 2020-2021. It was the good match you'd expect from them, but it felt random unless Castagnoli is being built up for something considering Johnny is largely relegated to ROH TV these days.

Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty) def. West Coast Wrecking Crew

I know Royce Isaacs (a former NWA talent) is a member of West Coast Wrecking Crew, but this match was all about Shane Taylor Promotions and thus it made sense to book this as a total squash. They never win on AEW TV, so this was at least a step in the right direction. That said, it does make you wonder if Shane Taylor Promotions only won here to be built up to lose their next match. I assume that's why this existed.

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay def. Kyle O'Reilly

Ospreay just won the International Championship at Double or Nothing last weekend and subsequently became number one contender to the AEW World Championship on Dynamite. In other words, there was zero chance he was losing here, but they had a hell of a match, regardless. This was the third title shot O'Reilly has gotten since late April and he lost once again. He always looks in credible in defeat, but he needs to win something significant eventually.

Overall Show

As is usually the case with Collision these days, this was a two-match show: the opener and the main event. Everything else in the middle was total filler. If they're going to use Collision as a two-hour version of Rampage, then it's not worth watching in my opinion. We did find out that we're getting Strickland vs. Strong for the AEW World title on Dynamite, so at least that was newsworthy, but everything except the two matches I mentioned can easily be skipped over.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews