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

by Andrew Pollard

1. A Phenomenal Main Event

AEW Collision Samoa Joe CM Punk
AEW/Scott Lesh

Much like CM Punk's opening promo, the AEW Collision main event was exactly what it needed to be.

This match-up only used Punk sparingly, with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler taking up the bulk of the bout for the babyface trio. This match did give us enough CM Punk to more than whet the appetite, though, and it was indeed the Chicagoan who scored the win, pinning Juice Robinson after a GTS and the Big Rig.

Bullet Club Gold's Jay White and Juice were fantastic in their roles; White being the slick, smooth heel technician, Robinson as the crazed lunatic who was always going to eat the pin. And then, well then there's Samoa Joe.

In terms of whetting the appetite, long-time rivals CM Punk and Samoa Joe standing toe-to-toe was a sight many had thought we'd never see again. For the United Center, they absolutely - and rightly so - lost their sh*t at the tease of Punk and Joe slugging it out, and likewise lost their sh*t even more when that finally happened.

The way that Joe chopped the soul out of CM Punk as he talked trash to his old rival? That was brutally beautiful. That said, Joe was magnificent with all three of the babyfaces who he found himself going up against here. The aura, the posture, the jaw-jacking, and the facials... this was Samoa Joe at his most, well, Samoa Joe.

A phenomenal TV main event, a magical way to close out the inaugural AEW Collision, and now we're all left to ponder when and where we'll get CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe.

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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 and Presenter, 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 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.