AEW Collision Review - September 2, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat Introduced Bryan Danielson as Ricky Starks' Opponent at All Out

This entire segment was excellently executed. Starks cut a passionate promo that sounded like it had a lot of truth to it, Steamboat was awesome in his role, and Danielson returning early from injury was a really cool surprise. He appeared to be back in babyface mode but was wearing a Blackpool Combat Club jacket, so we'll see if it sticks or it's only a one-off since Starks is a heel. Bryan returning for All Out is perfect timing given the unfortunate news that dropped a few hours before this show aired (more on that at the end of this review).

AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn def. Daniel Garcia, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker

I assume Jericho Appreciation Society is officially dead, so I won't label Garcia, Menard and Parkers as members unless it's made clear that the group is still a thing. There was no way The Acclaimed and Gunn were losing the belts less than a week after winning them, but the match was decent for what it was. Acclaimed and Gunn were over as always with the Chicago crowd and they did their stupid scissoring bit afterward with their custom-made belts. It'll probably get old sooner rather than later, but it's a fine role for them to be in for now.

Aussie Open def. Nick Wayne and Komander; Christian Cage Interrupted Wayne and Darby Allin

Much like I said in my Rampage review, I wish the Wayne and Komander partnership was explained. Wayne randomly teamed with El Hijo del Vikingo on Friday and then with Komander here, again for no reason. It was a well-wrestled match and Aussie Open needed people to beat to rebound from their loss at All In, but the stuff with Wayne and Darby Allin afterward could've happened without it. Speaking of which, Allin explained that he forgave AR Fox because he regrets not forgiving Wayne's dad prior to his passing. I mean, that makes sense. As always, though, Christian was the best part of the segment once he interrupted them. The man is a treasure.

AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn Saved Dennis Rodman From Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt

Yes, AEW brought in NBA legend Dennis Rodman in for an appearance, and we found out he'll be at All Out as well. I can't say I blame AEW because he was in Chicago for Starrcast, so why the hell not? He obviously has a lot of history in Chicago as well as in wrestling from the time he spent in WCW years ago. This felt like a segment you'd see after the show goes off the air, but it accomplished what it needed to in setting up Acclaimed and Gunn vs. Jarrett, Lethal and Singh for the AEW World Trios Championship on the Zero Hour pre-show.

The Outcasts (AEW Women's World Champion Saraya, Toni Storm and Ruby Soho) def. AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker

It looked like The Outcasts were going their separate ways given what went down with them at All In, and I'm sure that's the ultimate endgame, but their breakup may not be imminent after all. Boo. AEW probably wants to take their time with it, the group has not been good and I'd rather AEW pull the plug as soon as possible. Nonetheless, this was a solid showcase for the women ahead of Statlander vs. Soho for the AEW TBS Championship at All Out. The spray paint finish is still quite dumb.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. GPA

Man, GPA is a pretty dumb ring name, at least in my opinion. Thus, I was happy when Hobbs put him away in literal seconds. The match was used to establish his dominance and the post-match brawl between him and Miro hyped up their match at All Out. The build has been simple, but I'm looking forward to them hopefully having a hoss fight. I wouldn't rule out QTV inadvertently costing Hobbs the win and that being what cements Hobbs' split from the group.

Jay White def. AEW World Tag Team Champion Dax Harwood

It's been a bit since we last got Harwood in singles action, so this was a treat. He and White had as entertaining of a main event as you'd expect from them and got plenty of time to boot. White winning was logical as he's an established singles star and it gave Bullet Club Gold a momentum boost heading into the eight-man tag team match at All Out. The Young Bucks showing up afterward to save FTR, despite it making storyline sense, couldn't have been a coincidence in light of recent events, right?

​Overall Show

To address the elephant in the room: Tony Khan opened the show with a pre-taped promo addressing CM Punk's termination from AEW, which was publicly announced mere hours beforehand. I've said about Khan throughout this entire situation dating back to last year, but he handled this the right way. I appreciate that he got ahead of it by announcing Punk's exit before anyone could expect him to appear at Collision and/or All Out in Chicago. The news is absolutely a bummer, and I'll have plenty more to say about it elsewhere this coming week, but the reality is that it had to be done. The rest of Collision ended up being an enjoyable episode, complete with lots of last-minute hype for All Out. Here's hoping the strong pacing of Collision remains consistent even without Punk (who reportedly played a key factor in Collision's success up to now).

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews