8 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW Collision (May 18 - Results & Review)

A hot opener, a good main event, some solid in-ring work, and some painfully familiar issues.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW Collision Dutch Bryan Danielson
AEW

Another week, another AEW Collision in the books.

Emanating from Portland, Oregon's Moda Center, this week's Collision - actually taped ahead of time on Thursday - delivered plenty of what we've come to expect from AEW's Saturday staple. Namely, it brought mainly solid-to-good wrestling while offering very little in terms of advancement and story development.

For the longest time now, it's often been that major moments and major story progression have been reserved for AEW Dynamite, and this was a Collision episode that very much backed up that sentiment. That's not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable show for the most part, though.

If there were any notable developments to speak of here, it was cementing the (obvious) three men who'll do battle on Dynamite for a shot at Chris Jericho's FTW Title. Other than that, there was a hot opener, a very good main event, and a few other matches that, while decent, will be forgotten about by tomorrow.

As Elton John has long told us, Saturday night's alright for fighting...

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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, 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.