6 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW Collision (Oct 7 - Results & Review)

4. Danielson And Fletcher Excel

AEW Collision Kyle Fletcher Bryan Danielson
AEW

Given how good he's been during his time in NJPW and nowadays in AEW/ROH, it's easy to forget that Kyle Fletcher is just 24 years of age. That was something that was noted at several points on this week's Collision, tying into the fact that Bryan Danielson has actually been wrestling for 24 years.

Bryan was obviously Bryan here, bringing the intensity, technical wizardry, and selling he forever brings to the table, but Fletcher deserves so much credit for making the most of an opportunity to be spotlighted in a big singles match against arguably the best wrestler on the planet.

In particular, the Aussie Open man's selling was on point, with an early surfboard from the American Dragon being a highlight. That in itself was shortly followed by an extremely scary dive to the outside from Fletcher, but that ropey landing didn't seem to shake the former IWGP Tag Team Champion too much.

Fletcher also went toe-to-toe with Danielson in terms of bringing an impressively aggressive edge to his offense, whether that be strikes, suplexes, or submissions. Obviously the Australian would come up short against Bryan, yet Kyle showed more than enough to indicate he'll be absolutely fine should he be utilised as a singles act while his part Mark Davis recovers from a broken wrist.

After Bryan had scored the 1-2-3 with a majestic reversal, a post-match Gates of Agony attack on the Blackpool Combat Club grappler was thwarted by Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta - as Swerve Strickland is up next for Danielson.

Obviously Nigel McGuinness gets plentiful praise once again for his continuous utter disdain for Bryan Danielson, with each passing week of McGuinness commentary only furthering the appetite for one more Danielson vs. McGuinness match down the line. AEW All In 2024, anyone?

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.