8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Collision (June 17)

AEW Collision is off to an extremely strong start.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW Collision CM Punk
AEW

The wait is over, the time has come, and we can all rejoice - or boo wildly - at the return of CM Punk and the launch of AEW Collision.

A third weekly show for All Elite Wrestling, Collision was rumoured to usher in a roster split or, in simpler terms, give Tony Khan somewhere to dump his misfit toys and problem children. While those stories of a hard brand split now seem unfounded, there will very much be stars who solely feature on Collision as others spend the bulk of their time on Dynamite and Rampage.

With plentiful questions of what Collision would look and sound like, which wrestlers would be featured, what rivalries might start up, and what exactly would Crazy Phil say with a live microphone in hand, this debut episode of AEW's new Saturday show certainly delivered an entertaining, engaging two hours of pro wrestling television.

So, let's get to those Ups and those Downs for a premiere that's hopefully a fine example of what's to come from AEW each and every Saturday.

Saturday night's alright for fighting, indeed...

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.