AEW Collision Review - June 22, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Katsuyori Shibata, Samoa Joe and Hook def. Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods and Ariya Daivari)

Joe and Hook have had a mini feud going with Premier Athletes in recent weeks, so it was logical for them to have a six-man tag team match with Shibata also involved given his alliance with Joe and Hook. Premier Athletes scored some offense, but this was largely all about Shibata, Joe and Hook as it should have been and it didn't overstay its welcome. I have zero desire to see Premier Athletes stick around on AEW TV, by the way.

FTW Champion Chris Jericho and Big Bill def. Private Party

This garbage with Jericho as The Learning Tree continues to be terrible. This crowd clearly didn't care and sat on their hands for a majority of the match. I like Private Party, but they haven't been relevant in what feels like forever and they gained nothing from hanging in there as long as they did because I know they won't be featured after this. Joe, Shibata and Hook emerged afterward to challenge Jericho's crew to a six-man tag team match at Forbidden Door. Oh, joy.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Ultimo Guerrero in an AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match

Okada has been a fun heel so far in AEW, but I feel like we don't see nearly enough of him in singles matches because of the stuff with The Elite. This match had potential on paper but ended up falling flat for this viewer. Guerrero's performance in particular was subpar and some of his moves looked weak. Guerrero has been unmasked in Ring of Honor before, so why was it a big deal when Okada unmasked him? This gave Okada a win but served zero purpose otherwise.

The Patriarchy (Christian Cage, Killswitch and Nick Wayne) de. Iron Savages (Bronson, Boulder and Jacked Jameson)

Please, get Iron Savages off my screen as soon as possible. Their act is atrocious and they're still not over no matter how hard they try with it. The fact they never win anything doesn't help, but the shtick sucks and has no business being on AEW TV, even if only to lose to another team/trio like they did here. Christian was entertaining in going from commentary to the ring, but that's about it.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm and Mariah May def. "Legit" Leyla Hirsch and Lady Frost

Storm is back to being a babyface for right now, or at least that's the impression I got from her and May playing to the crowd in this match. It was a decent match and it existed to establish Storm and May as a united front before they team with Mina Shirakawa to take on The Outcasts and Anna Jay on Dynamite. I'm very curious as to whether Storm will turn on May when the time comes or vice versa. I assume the latter.

The Kings of the Black Throne def. LSG and MSG

Malakai Black and Brody King have normally been billed as The Kings of the Black Throne in the past, but for some reason, they weren't here. Strange. I'll refer to them as such for consistency sake, but perhaps that team name is no more. Nonetheless, this was a quick and painless showcase for House of Black. We found out earlier in the episode from Bang Bang Gang that House of Black want next at the Unified World Trios Championship after beating them in last week's six-man tag team main event.

Hechicero def. "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard

We found out following MJF vs. Rush on Wednesday's Dynamite that Hechicero will face MJF at Forbidden Door. Don't get me wrong, Hechicero is a talented dude from what I've seen, but that doesn't feel pay-per-view-worthy whatsoever. This was designed to give him a win over an established name before then, though Menard hardly means anything given where he's usually slotted on the card.

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay def. Brian Cage

Collision main events almost always get plenty of time, regardless of whether they're predictable or not. This was, in fact, extremely predictable because Cage never wins anything of note. As a match, it was the best thing on the entire episode and they worked really well together, but Collision needs more meaningful main events and not matches that would only ever open up a Dynamite because they're inconsequential.

Overall Show

Collision has reached the point where you miss very little by not tuning in. If you do tune in, you'll be treated to some enjoyable action and you likely won't be bored for two hours, but there's zero incentive otherwise to go out of your way to watch this show. The two hours are total filler, especially with how many enhancement matches there are. The main event was the only thing I liked on this episode and even that wasn't must-see by any means.

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