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Welcome back CM Punk! AEW’s brand new show Collision made its debut live from Chicago’s United Center this past Saturday. The show made a monumental and memorable debut on TNT. The show opened with none other than Chicago’s very own, Punk.
The crowd was red hot all night. Punk spoke his mind (as expected) and got the crowd pumped for the night ahead. This was the best town and venu AEW could have made for the premiere of Collision and Punk’s return.
The card for the night was stacked. Not only did it have notable AEW stars booked, but it had some exciting matches also. Wardlow defended and lost his AEW TNT title to Luchasaurus with Christian Cage, which to me was one of the big surprises of the night.
The match of the night that stole the show was Andrade El Idolo (making his return) against Buddy Matthews. The match was action-packed and fast packed with a ton of impressive moves.
Speaking of overdue returns, Miro is back! He got a great reaction from the Chicago crowd.
Chicago’s very own Skye Blue picked up a huge win alongside Willow Nightingale as they defeated Toni Storm and Ruby Soho of The Outcasts. Skye Blue is so over with the Chicago crowd. Surprising and good result to give Skye Blue a big win in her hometown.
The main event featured a trios tag-team match featuring the team of CM Punk, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (FTR) versus Bullet Club Gold’s Jay White, Juice Robinson and Samoa Joe. They gave this match ample time, which was the right call. The crowd popped huge for the CM Punk and Samoa Joe altercations.
In the end the good guys (Punk & FTR) picked up the victory to send the sold-out crowd home happy. Fans that stayed after the show went off the air were treated to Punk and FTR interacting with the crowd and a full taping of ROH.
TAKEAWAYS:
Biggest “Pop”:
- CM Punk (I mean come on, it’s Chicago)
- The Acclaimed (because they are soo over)
- Sky Blue (hometown girl)
- Miro (long awaited return)
- Andrade El Idolo (welcomed back as a “face”)
WTF Moments:
- Wardlow losing the TNT title (fans were equally confused and shocked)
- Buddy Matthews and Andrade match being paused midway due to medical attention (fans weren’t sure if it was legit or part of an angle)
- The Outcasts losing clean to Skye Blue and Willow
Big Winners:
- Chicago (the town gets the biggest AEW shows, it’s the hotbed for the company)
- Fans (the live crowd was super into the show from start to finish)
- AEW (well booked show with major returns of Punk, Miro and Andrade
- Collision (this looks like an “A” show for AEW, prime talent, presentation and production
- Saturday night wrestling (live wrestling weekly on a Saturday night, yes!)
OVERALL:
Fantastic show. As good of a debut as they could have had. The right venue at the right time with the right talent. Booked perfectly from top to bottom. The presentation was super cool, uniquely original and different than Dynamite. Had a feel of a new and old school blend. Loved the pre-match hype promos. The set looked great.
I had a great seat for all the action. This was a legit sellout. Bravo AEW, Collision debut was a homerun.
Grade: A
