AEW Collision has been littered with some phenomenal wrestling matches throughout the show's short lifespan, and one such beauty of a bout was Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews from Collision's debut. Throwing a ladder into the mix, this week we saw these two rivals rematched in another absolute war.
As in-ring talent, both Andrade and Buddy are nice 'n' snug at the best of times, and bringing ladders into play only amplified the brutality on offer. Of course, El Idolo's mask was on the line here, with the former La Sombra being the one to eventually emerge victorious - but man, what a battle it was before Andrade grabbed his mask at around the 18-minute mark.
Prior to that, both men had been hit hard by the ladder - Matthews launching a ladder at El Idolo being especially gnarly-looking - and both men had been handcuffed to the ropes at points. Then, the finish came as Andrade pushed Julia Hart off a ladder and through a table which Buddy was propped up against.
A brilliant, brutal bout between two exceptional workers. There should likewise be credit, as per, to the excellent duo of Nigel McGuinness and Ian Riccaboni here, with McGuinness in particular really putting over the physicality of this match as he reacted to what played out in front of him.
Also, Andrade El Idolo's new ring gear and entrance jacket looked fantastic.
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.
