7 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW Collision (June 8 - Results & Review)

by Andrew Pollard

1. Yet Another Great Collision Main Event

AEW Collision Kyle O'Reilly Orange Cassidy
AEW

Much like it can feel like a broken record when it comes to AEW's handling of its female talent on Collision - something that was marginally better this week - it can also feel like a broken record to constantly harp on about good-to-great-to-exceptional Collision main events.

On that front, Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O'Reilly was a fantastic contest, which itself comes on the heels of another excellent Collision main event for KOR last week against Will Ospreay.

For the early part, so much of this was Kyle O'Reilly as the wrestler, the martial artist, the kickboxer who wanted to mix it up with Freshly Squeezed. On the other hand, Cassidy did his usual mind games to frustrate his opponent before things exploded into life, as exemplified by the pair exchanging playful light kicks that slowly got more and more vicious with each passing strike.

Following a whisper-in-the-ear from Roderick Strong - the Undisputed Kingdom being in the front row for this one - Kyle targeted Orange's leg in the sort of way that only Kyle O'Reilly can, and he'd later switch focus to an arm. When it comes to honing in on a select body part, few are as impressive and believable as O'Reilly, and of course OC is a masterful seller as the broken, beaten-down babyface that continues to just about hang on.

And hang on he did, getting the win after hitting two Orange Punches on O'Reilly. Much like last week was the case for Will Ospreay, this again very much felt like somebody surviving Kyle O'Reilly rather than necessarily beating him.

After the bell, O'Reilly returned to the ring to save Orange from an attack by Trent Beretta and Kyle Fletcher, with Kris Statlander and then Willow Nightingale joining the action as the heels retreated up the entrance way and the babyfaces stood tall in the ring.

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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.