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

3. Ricky Starks Bags A Shot At The Real Worlds Champion

While some thought the match may be held off on until All In at Wembley Stadium - which could still always house a rematch - next week's AEW Collision will see us get CM Punk defending his Real Worlds Championship against Ricky Starks.

The segment setting this up was a great one full of notable moments.

Firstly, it was just nice to have an AEW talent referencing the looming large shadow of All In now being only four weeks away. It was also nice to see Punk take the parental approach to Starks' recent behaviour; as in, he's not mad that Ricky cheated twice, but he's instead disappointed in Absolute.

Of course, the biggest part of this segment was CM Punk finally pulling his AEW World Title out of his red bag. Prior to last night's Collision, Starks had kayfabe been the only other person to get a glimpse at what the Second City Saint was keeping in this bag.

We also got a return of Punk's famed "I'm straight-edge, and that means I'm better than you" line, and it was likewise great how the Chicago native pointed out how nobody beat him for that title, that it's still got his blood on it from his All Out 2022 bout against Jon Moxley, and how the belt now had Punker's "symbol" on it - as he sprayed an X across the title.

For his part, Ricky Starks was again on majestic form, heatedly telling Punk that he deserves a shot at this rogue World Title and how he should already be the AEW Champion. The verbiage here was nicely balanced, with the Stroke Daddy oozing his usual natural charisma while stating how Punk has no friends in AEW and then name-dropping Julio Dinero, Dave Prazak, and "Stamford".

It did feel a smidge off that Tony Schiavone already knew that the legendary Ricky Steamboat would be refereeing Punk vs. Starks next week, but we can give that blip a pass. And either way, seeing the Dragon in his old North Carolina stomping grounds next week should be a blast.