6 Ups & 1 Down For AEW Collision (Feb 3 - Results & Review)

Ups...

6. The Mad King Welcomes Bryan Keith In Fantastic Fashion

There's a fair few reasons for Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Keith to land on the Ups side of this article.

Firstly, Kingston always makes for great pro wrestling television, having the oft-rare skill of making everything he's involved in feel like such a big deal. Whether he's in the main event of a PPV or working a squash match on AEW Dark, the Mad King's time with AEW has forever had you fully invested in everything he's done.

On top of that, Eddie's match here against Bryan Keith was a great, hard-hitting back-and-forth which served as another nice showcase for Keith. For any frequent reader of these Collision Ups & Downs, you'll have heard your writer bang on at several points about how good the Bounty Hunter is and how AEW could do far worse than signing him to a contract. And here, the Texan once again impressed, matching Kingston blow-for-blow at times, with Eddie putting in an extremely giving performance that sold his opponent as a genuine threat.

As a third plus point from all of this, Tony Schiavone got into the ring post-match to announce that Bryan Keith is indeed now #AllElite. While the speculation of Mercedes Moné and/or Kazuchika Okada signing for AEW is big news right now, the signing of Keith shouldn't be overlooked; this could be an extremely smart piece of business from Tony Khan. Added to this, it was brilliant to see Eddie Kingston's sincere, supportive reaction to the announcement of Keith formally joining the company. Of course, that particular moment was a smidge tarnished by Bryan Danielson's music hitting; the American Dragon making his way out to give his own seal of approval to Keith and continue to push the buttons of Eddie.

AEW can at times be accused of making such matches - as in, notable AEW names against non-contracted local or enhancement talent - a little too competitive, but that works fine here in the knowledge that Bryan Keith has now signed with AEW. In defeat - finally succumbing to Kingston's Back Fist to the Future - Keith was made to look like a more than credible new arrival for the promotion.

Great stuff all round.

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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.