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

6. Andrade And Buddy Go To War

AEW Collision Andrade El Idolo Buddy Matthews
AEW

Andrade El Idolo is a terrifically talented pro wrestler. Buddy Matthews is a terrifically talented pro wrestler. Here on AEW Collision's premiere, those two terrifically talented pro wresters put on a terrific pro wrestling match.

Matthews has long been one of the most underrated workers in the business, and he once again showcased just how good he really is. For Andrade, this marked his first AEW contest in nine months, and this outing served as the perfect reminder of the former La Sombra's skillset.

This was an absolute war, with snug shots aplenty, a frenetic pace when called for, and a nice splash of psychology in terms of both men kayfabe feeling the strains of injuries of the past. On top of that, there were also a couple of nice nods to Andrade and Buddy's respective partners - Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley - including El Idolo getting the submission victory with Charlotte's Figure Eight.

Should AEW opt to run this match back at any point, anticipation will certainly be high. Similarly, that same sense of anticipation surrounds the prospect of Andrade and his La Faccion Ingobernable pals stepping up to face House of Black. And then there's the mouth-watering possibility of an Andrade El Idolo vs. Malakai Black match - with Black the one to dethrone Andrade as the NXT Champion at TakeOver: New Orleans back in 2018.

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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 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.