9 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Collision (July 8)

A MOTY candidate, a magical main event, and plenty more on AEW Collision.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW Collision CM Punk Samoa Joe
AEW

It's been very much a case of so far, so good for AEW Collision during the show's previous three outings, and All Elite Wrestling's Saturday offering once again delivered the goods in its fourth week.

Emanating from Regina, Saskatchewan's Brandt Centre, the clear and obvious main attraction of this week's Collision was the renewed rivalry between CM Punk and Samoa Joe. With their extensive history - and the small fact that Punk has never bested the Samoan Submission Machine - anticipation was high that these wily veterans would put on something special when they clashed in the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament.

In other Owen action, former Team Taz cohorts Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs squared off to see who would face Punk or Joe in the men's final of this tourney. Elsewhere on the card, FTR faced Bullet Club Gold's Jay White and Juice Robinson in an eliminator affair, House of Black's Julia Hart took on Bambi Hall, and we had the long-awaited return to action of Scorpio Sky, as the two-time TNT Champion tangled with the promising Action Andretti.

As has become a regular pattern in its short lifespan, AEW Collision again proved to be a highlight of the pro wrestling week here. With that in mind, let's see how where this latest episode shone, and where it maybe fell a little short.

Saturday night's alright for fighting, indeed...

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Senior Writer
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.