Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
First I want to make something clear that most of you already know: To me, the characters and the stories are every bit as important as the actual matches in the wrestling business. Clearly, I know what I am watching but that doesn’t mean I want what I am watching to be exposed as being a dance routine or a cooperation fest. I want it to appear like it’s a real fight. I am the kind of fan that while my brain knew there was no way that Sami Zayn was going to beat Roman Reigns at The Elimination Chamber, as the match went on they did such a great job of storytelling that I was still rooting for the upset that my brain knew wasn’t going to happen. I don’t care how many moves a wrestler can do if that’s all he/she does. I care about who can use the moves to tell a story that gets me invested.
I understand that there is a subset of the overall wrestling fan base who pretty much only care about how many moves happen in a match. I respect that. They have every right to like what they like. I like more than that, and that is my right as well. Too many weeks to me AEW Dynamite is far too full of dream matches that have no build up/insider promos that regular fans don’t understand/blood, guts and abuse to the bodies that satiate fans in the moment and mean nothing in the long term. Again, I get that some people like that. I am not one of those people.
So with that said, here are my thoughts on last night’s Collision debut. Some of you who think I hate everything AEW does will probably be a bit surprised.
The Feel Of The Show: In an article that I wrote yesterday, I stated that I had hoped Collision would have a different feel from Dynamite. That was the definitely the case last night. Obviously, it was the first night and there was nothing building into the show, other than the return of CM Punk, so there wasn’t really anything going on as we went to the debut. That meant we would see a lot of matches just, well, because. In this case, I am fine with that because this was the genesis of the show. Going forward I hope it’s more story driven but for tonight it wasn’t going to be that way. With that said, it had a different feel to it than Dynamite for a few reasons, which I will get into below.
The CM Punk promo: That was a great way to start the Collision era, for many reasons. For one thing, Punk was passionate and it came across in his delivery. Everything he said was important and it mattered, whether people loved him or hated him for what he said (and I am sure that there were people in both camps). It wasn’t just someone talking to talk. It was someone delivering a great message that resonated with everyone, pro or con, and gained investment in the character. More importantly, he addressed the most important thing to me from a storyline standpoint - that he never lost the AEW Title and he is the real champion until someone beats him. Of course AEW never explained what happened there so it was up to Punk to do so, and he did. That was super important and needed to be addressed. It was a great way to get the show off and running. One more thing, I loved the Larry The Dog shirt and Hart pink.
The Announce Team: I loved the first evening of work from Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. Everyone likes who they like, and I appreciate that. For me, Excalibur is painful to listen to. I get that he knows every move in the world and the hardcore fan base of AEW love every time he says tope con hilo or corrects another announcer when they don’t get a move’s name right. But, that bores me. I want my announcer to tell me a story and Kevin Kelly is far superior at doing that. They filled in the blanks and helped add layers to the characters. Sure they didn’t call every single move and for me, that’s just fine. I know all of the moves. I want to know more about the wrestlers and why they are fighting. We got far more of that last night than we do on Wednesday.
The Roster: Some “reporters” have said things like “all of the problem children were put on this show”. It’s funny because those reporters act like one side is completely blameless and the people on Collision are 100 percent at fault for any and all backstage issues. Fair, sane people know that isn’t the case but for this one night at least, it definitely had an us vs. them feel to me. On Wednesday, you have the people that appeal to the core AEW fan base. Last night, I saw a lot more people presenting me with what looked like fights, as opposed to a routine that people were working together to perform. I am sure that guys like Punk, Miro, Andrade, FTR etc. were happy to have the chance to go out and be pro wrestlers as opposed what we often see on Dynamite. If it ends up that Collision becomes a good wrestling show where politics are minimal, or non-existent, I am sure the talents will be happy to let the wrestlers that vent skewed things to “reporters” call them anything that they want to call them. If all of the drama free people end up on one show, it could a great place to work. At the end of the day, if it ends up that The Elite, The JAS, The blood and guts of the BCC stay on Wednesday and we get more traditional pro wrestling on Saturday, fine by me.
The Wrestling: On a night where there was no real build to the matches, I am OK with the competitive nature of most of the matches if the goal is to establish the players on the show. Take Andrade vs. Buddy. It was totally 50/50 but that’s OK because neither should have blown the other away, and they had a great match in the process. The main event was fantastic as well. Along the way, we got some building of talents, Miro, Sky Blue, Hobbs, etc. That works for me.
Final Thoughts: It’s one week so I can’t make any kind of definitive statements but they got off to a great start. I am not saying that the show was perfect. For instance, I still have no idea why Wardlow, who was white hot when he bucked up against MJF, is being booked the way that he is. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. The best thing I can say is that for the first time in a long time I watched an AEW program and left happy and looking forward to next week. That’s a hell of a first step.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
