6 Ups & 3 Downs For AEW Collision (June 1 - Results & Review)

by Andrew Pollard

1. Excellent Main Event

AEW Collision Kyle O'Reilly Will Ospreay
AEW

It may not always be the most newsworthy of shows these days, but Collision has long had a reputation for delivering good-to-great main events. And this week was no different on that front, with Will Ospreay and Kyle O'Reilly putting on an excellent headliner.

Clearly, Ospreay is viewed as the guy right now, consistently receiving the loudest ovations in the entire company since he formally became #AllElite. Sure, Swerve Strickland was that guy for a spell, but the AEW World Champion has sadly felt like a midcard afterthought with how he's been booked since winning the promotion's top prize. At the same time, Ospreay's matches and promos have been garnering the hottest reactions of anyone on the roster.

While Will Ospreay obviously always steals the show and forever highlights why he is one of the very best - if not the best - in the entire industry, Kyle O'Reilly was arguably the bigger story here. KOR was on fire, bringing his majestic kicks and generally phenomenal striking game, and throwing in plenty of his great-looking submissions as he brutally beat Ospreay down and worked over his left arm.

If you ever needed a reminder of how good Kyle O'Reilly is, this was a prime example. Given how long he unfortunately had to spend on the sidelines, some may have forgotten what Kyle brings to the table - and here he brought a full buffet of his delightful, hard-hitting, snug treats to the dinner table.

Ospreay did get the win, but this felt like a case of the Aerial Assassin surviving Kyle O'Reilly rather than defeating him. The way that Will sold Kyle's offense and the damage done, plus the impact that damage had on the Brit's own offense, was magnificent, putting O'Reilly over as an utter brute. On top of that, the Canadian once again kicked out of the Hidden Blade, before a frantic, desperate, wounded Ospreay quickly put him down the Stormbreaker.

Will Ospreay may have been the winner but, without sounding too corny, not only were both men winners but so, too, were those who tuned in hoping for a barnburner of a main event.

Post-match, we got a Swerve Strickland video that did actually make the AEW World Champion feel like the big deal he should be, and he even called out the decision from Tony Khan to grant Roderick Strong a title shot. A strong finish to a mixed bag of a Collision.

Advertisement
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.