5 Ups & 5 Downs For AEW Collision (Dec 2 - Results & Review)

3. More Great Wrestling Action

AEW Collision Andrade El Idolo Daniel Garcia
AEW

Much like Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King made for some great professional wrestling, so too did Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia.

Andrade vs. Garcia exemplifies so much of what is good about AEW. As in, great in-ring action. These two tore it up in Continental Classic competition, with El Idolo scoring the win after landing his hammerlock DDT to get the 1-2-3.

Daddy Magic provided his usual frenetic energy on commentary, imploring Garcia not to do that dance, as this all plays into furthering the dissention between these former JAS fellas. Considering how some viewed Red Death as an outside bet to win the entire Continental Classic, it's a little surprising to see him sitting on zero points after two matches, but the larger story here is about establishing the New Yorker as more of a serious wrestler than a sports entertainer. Even if he can't quite get the W over names like Andrade and Claudio, he's still showing that he can hang with two such exceptional workers.

In that regard, this match was yet another example of just how great an in-ring talent Garcia is. Holds, transitions, strikes, and plenty more were on display as the former ROH Pure Champion went toe-to-toe with one of the smoothest wrestlers on the planet. And on that front, Andrade was once again on fine form as he brought his customary crispness to everything that he does between the ropes.

This was more great pro wrestling in a tournament designed to showcase great pro wrestling. Lovely stuff.

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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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.