4 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW Collision (Jan 27 - Results & Review)

by Andrew Pollard

1. Car Crash Carnage Main Event

The basic notion of putting six people in a steel cage in and of itself offers up the potential for some major carnage. Throw in a heated rivalry and the fact that all six people are exceptional professional wrestlers, and this was always going to be spectacular.

Of course, the early goings of Collision found a bloodied Daniel Garcia laid out backstage, with the audience then given the episode-long story of whether or not Red Death would be able to compete. As a contingency plan, FTR had Mark Briscoe offering up his services to fill in for Garcia against the House of Black should he be needed.

It would actually be Briscoe who'd come out to partner with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, but that was immediately brought to a halt as House of Black attacked Chicken on the stage and threw him through a table. Fear not, though, for the bandaged, steel chair-carrying Garcia would eventually make his way out to get this match started as was originally intended.

From the get-go, things started off hot as these two teams went to battle, with an early highlight being Cash Wheeler hitting an insane crossbody from the top of the cage. That wasn't the only big bump of the night for Cash, mind, for he took a spill through a table on the outside as he was eliminated - and he'd soon be followed by Buddy Matthews likewise landing on a table as he was taken out of the match.

In fact, the elimination of Matthews was a particular highlight of the match, with Daniel Garcia smartly throwing Malakai Black into the cage in order for Black's momentum to knock his House of Black cohort from the outside of the cage onto that waiting table. With Dax Harwood and Brody King the first two men eliminated, it came down to Garcia vs. Black in the final stretch, with Garcia brilliant as the underdog, scrapping, never-say-die babyface who essentially gave Malakai the "please sir, may I have another!" treatment as he refused to stay down.

Such a simple, small thing, but another highlight was the way in which FTR rallied behind Garcia when it came down to the final two competitors. It may sound so basic, but Dax and Cash cheering on their man from outside the cage was so, so effective and continues to cement this trio as such a great fit together.

For the finish, Mark Briscoe would resurface to slam the cage door into Malakai Black's face, allowing Garcia to secure the win for his team by climbing over the top of the cage - in turn giving Daniel Garcia a huge win against all odds.

Sure, there was some mild stretching of logic at times, and the match was a little all over the place at points, but that's kind of to be expected when you put six men in a ring, let alone in a steel cage and with an elimination stipulation in place.

Another fantastic AEW Collision main event, and one worth going out of your way to check out if you happen to be one of those who opted to tune in to the Royal Rumble rather than AEW's Saturday staple.

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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.