9 Ups & 3 Downs For AEW Collision (22 July)

8. The Owen Trinkets

While women's winner Willow Nightingale may have been absent from this week's AEW Collision, it was a nice touch to see the victor of the men's Owen Hart Cup Tournament bring his recently-won title belt out to the ring with him.

Of course, that victor is Ricky Starks, and Absolute made sure to remind everyone of his Owen success.

When Adam Cole and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. won last year's Owen tournaments, they were awarded the Owen trophy and a celebratory title belt. Once those prizes had been won, though, they were barely referenced again on AEW programming. In the case of Baker - who was a heel at the time - this felt like somewhat of a missed opportunity.

That's not to say that the Role Model should've spent the past year constantly carrying the Owen trophy and title around with her, but having such accessories can always add to a cocksure heel act. Thankfully, it appears that Ricky Starks will be making the most of his new trinkets.

Embracing a slightly more heelish persona, the Stroke Daddy was seen with his Owen Hart belt as he arrived at the arena, when he made his way out for the show's opening promo, and when he later made his way out to compete in the main event. Likewise, it was alluded to that Ricky's Louis Vuitton bag may well be holding the Owen trophy.

Again, carrying around such items on a permanent basis across the next year is something that clearly won't happen, but for the short-term, as Starks fully cements himself as a heel, the brash arrogance of parading around his Owen success can only be good for the former Team Taz man.

Andrew Pollard

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.

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