10 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Collision (June 24)

by Andrew Pollard

1. Another Main Event Marvel For Collision

AEW Collision CM Punk Jay White
AEW

Its obviously early doors, but AEW Collision is two for two in delivering stellar main event matches.

We may not have had any further movement towards the inevitable CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe rivalry - don't worry, it's coming - but Collision's closing eight-man bout was a whole lot of fun and helped continue to position Jay White as a major player in AEW.

Some have rightly questioned how the Switchblade has been used since formally becoming #AllElite earlier in the year, but Collision seems to have arrived at just the right time for White. Here, he picked up the win for his team, hitting the Blade Runner on Ricky Starks to pick up the 1-2-3. For any heel to secure the win in a match featuring the recently-returned CM Punk, that's a huge deal. And much like Joe, it seems inevitable that we'll be getting a Punk and White singles contest in the not-so-distant future.

After losing last week, this win was a much-needed one for Jay and Juice, and Rock Hard's erratic intensity continues to be a highlight of whatever show he's on. Likewise, the Gunns are proving to be another AEW highlight, with their cool as all hell entrance amassing quite the buzz online.

Most importantly, the victory here did far more good for the heels than it did damage to the babyface foursome. Taking the pinfall doesn't particularly harm Ricky Starks, and Absolute may well get some semblance of revenge by dumping Juice Robinson out of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. And speaking of Absolute, seeing the Stroke Daddy standing alongside CM Punk and FTR just felt, well, right. If this is the roots of a genuine faction we've got on our hands, consider your writer very much here for it.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.