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

7. CM Punk, Real Worlds Champion

AEW Collision CM Punk Ricky Starks
AEW

Collision's show-opening promo from Ricky Starks was great for what it needed to be, with Absolute stating he simply did what he needed to do to get the win in the Owen final last week. Starks also explained that he doesn't need anybody telling him the rights and wrongs of what to do - all as the New Jersey crowd cheered Ricky on.

While Starks continues to flirt with turning full-on heel, CM Punk himself showed a little something when he came out to confront the man who cheated to beat him last week.

Punk was initially cordial enough with Ricky, explaining how he also has taken shortcuts at times over the years. The Second City Saint congratulated Starks on his tainted victory, noted how Ricky couldn't beat him fairly, and then started to make his way to the back.

It was here, once Starks made mention of CM Punk's little red bag, that the Stroke Daddy poked the bear and awakened a more serious, mildly angry Punk. The Straight-Edge Superstar got back in the ring with a renewed sternness to his body language and delivery, asking Starks if he wanted a shot at what was in the bag - as in, the AEW World Title that Punk never lost - as the Chicago native proclaimed himself to be the "real Worlds Champion".

This was an extremely effective exchange of words between two men who seem destined to square off for an AEW World Championship at some point; that match being something that certainly wouldn't seem out of place at All In or All Out next month.

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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 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.