8 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW Collision (29 July)

by Andrew Pollard

1. The Hug Heard Around The World

AEW Collision MJF Adam Cole
AEW

Would MJF turn on Adam Cole in their challenge to dethrone FTR as the AEW Tag Team Champions? Would Adam Cole turn on MJF in this match? Would Roderick Strong run interference to cost/help Max and Cole? Would the Blind Eliminator winners somehow get the better of Dax and Cash and become the new Tag Team Champions?

Going into the main event of this week's AEW Collision, there were so many questions.

In the end, neither MJF nor Cole turned on the other, but likewise the tandem was ultimately unsuccessful in their quest to take home the Tag Team Titles. Still, this excellent show-closing contest left us all with even more questions once all was said and done.

As expected from the four men involved, the in-ring work here - in terms of technical work, body language, and facials - was exemplary. There were great near-falls, the crowd was rampant for the MJF and Adam Cole pairing (even at times booing FTR), and Dax Harwood eventually got the win by rolling up Friedman after reversing the Heat Seeker.

Most importantly, the story told here was stunning, in particular the spot where the historically-selfish MJF sacrificed himself to take a Shatter Machine in place of his partner. Also, Max rarely gets pinned, so him taking the losing fall here was massive.

Of course, post-match came the tease of MJF turning on Cole and laying him out with the AEW World Title, with Cole himself even expecting and encouraging MJF to "get it over with". Deciding to leave his villainous ways behind him (at least for now), the former Pinnacle man dropped his belt before he and Cole embraced in the middle of the ring; all to a raucous reaction from a Hartford crowd who wanted to see these unlikely dance partners "hug it out".

Now, we're once again left with a whole bunch of other questions where the MJF and Adam Cole team is concerned - all as a World Title match between the pair lurks in the shadows.

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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.