5 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW Collision (May 25 - Results & Review)

Ups...

5. A Welcome Surprise

AEW Collision Hiroshi Tanahashi Claudio Castagnoli Daniel Garcia
AEW

An appearance from Hiroshi Tanahashi is always welcome, even more so when the Ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling - and the President of NJPW nowadays, of course - arrives unexpectedly and is ready for in-ring action.

Collision teased that Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia may take on Lance Archer and the Righteous in a two-on-three handicap match before Claudio paused as the attention turned to the entrance ramp. There, Tanahashi shocked the MGM Grand Arena crowd by making his way out to team with Castagnoli and Red Death.

The match itself was a fun if unspectacular one, with long-time New Japan fans likely getting a kick out of seeing Tanahashi and Archer mixing it up, and also the sight of Tana playing the air guitar while Garcia danced receiving a nice pop - plus the post-match moves of Hiroshi and Danny.

Framing this as a Team AEW vs. Team Elite scenario didn't really click - does anyone care that Archer and the Righteous were hired goons of the Elite last week? - but the action was kept concise, clocking in at just under ten minutes and culminating with Tanahashi hitting Vincent with the High Fly Flow for the win.

While it can become nauseating at times when AEW regularly features so many non-AEW talents as so many valuable AEW-contracted names are kept on the sidelines, this Tanahashi appearance did at least serve to whet the appetite for next month's Forbidden Door PPV.

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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.