AEW Collision 7/15/2023

AEW Collision 7/15/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/07/aew-collision-782023.html

FTR tells Bullet Club Gold that if they are looking for real gold, come and get it. Dax says it's the end of their resurgence tonight. Juice says we are looking at the new AEW champs and Jay says they are looking for a heaping of Gold. Willow says she is focused on bringing her big hair, smile and fight so she can walk home with a bigger trophy. Ruby says she will take what was rightfully hers the first time - the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Starks said he will prove why he is Absolute against Punk and will be the new Owen Hart Tournament winner. Punk says we will find out if Starks can sink or swim and says the air is a lot tighter up here.

Kevin Kelly is in Japan, so Ian Riccaboni is taking his place.

We are live at the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta,  Canada. 

AEW Tag Titles - 2/3 Falls Match - FTR (c) vs Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson) 

Cash puts on someone's cowboy hat and sunglasses.

1st fall - Jay goes to stall and Cash chases after him. Dax then slides out and goofs around with the fans and Cash. Jay is rolled up and headlock takeovered. Jay hits a hiptoss and an armdrag on Dax. Juice and Cash go at it. Juice backslides him and is shouldered over hard. Juice rolls out and we go to PiP break. We return and Dax hits Jay in the gut then russian legsweeps him. Dax backbreakers and abdominal stretches Jay then uses the ropes for advantage in front of Juice.

Dax picks up Cash and makes him legdrop Juice. Juice hits punches on Cash then shoulders him over. They trade pin attempts then Cash gorilla press slams him. Dax hits chops on Juice then suplexes and legdrops him. Juice shoulders him over and throws him into the post, shoulder first. Jay chops Dax in the corner then stomps him. Jay ddt's him and then Cash. Jay running death valley drivers Dax for 2. Jay flatliners Dax and germans him.

Dax and Jay trade chops then Dax lariats him. Jay rolls Dax up and Juice breaks up the big rig. Jay hits the bladerunner on Cash and the heels win the first fall.

2nd fall - Juice shoulders over Dax then Dax slams him. Juice armdrags him the Dax back body drops Jay. Cash suplexes Jay the Jay backdrops him. Juice sentons Cash then Cash suplexes him but tags in Jay. Jay rakes Cash's eyes then Cash is catapulted into the bottom rope. Juice ddt's Cash on the floor. Juice suplexes Cash the Jay pulls on Cash's neck.

Juice goes for a senton and Cash gets his knees up. Cash fights both opponents from the apron and Jay grabs Cash by the eyes. Cash stuns Juice over the top rope while he's on the apron. Cash hurricanrana's Jay and Dax gets the hot tag in. Dax hits punches on both opponents then corner lariats both opponents. Dax lariats Jay and 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Juice. Dax hits germans on Juice then back body drops Jay with Juice holding onto him. Dax brainbusters Juice. Jay single underhook suplexes Dax into the buckles then Juice cannonballs Dax in the corner.

Dax and Jay trade chops. Jay and Juice go for a spike piledriver but FTR reverse it into a sunset flip and lariat. Jay takes a razors edge into a neckbreaker for 2. Jay takes chops from both while sititng up top. FTR goes for a powerplex but Jay gets his knees up then Juice top rope frogsplashes Dax. Juice takes a big rig and FTR grab the 2nd fall with a pin.

3rd fall - We go to break and return. Juice is lariated on the floor then Dax is back body dropped on the apron. Jay hurricanrana's Dax over the rail onto the cement floor. The ref calls for the doctor. They end up being okay then trade forearms and chops on the floor before Dax suplexes Jay on the floor. Somehow, no one was counted out during this. Jay is grabbed off the raild and suplexed on the floor.

Juice is suplexed on the floor. They ref finally starts counting after and of course Jay beats the count. The four stand off then trade forearms. Cash suplexes Juice over the top and goes out with him. We go to break and return with Dax down. Jay sharpshooters Dax then Dax chops him down and punches Juice off the apron. Dax top rope backdrops Jay. We are told 5 minutes remain before the time limit. Dax goes to tag Cash but Cash is pulled down. Cash is pulled into the steps and Jay hits a Regal plex on Dax.

Dax and Cash then sharpshooter both opponents at the same time. FTR ends up letting go of the holds then Dax sharpshooters Juice. Juice then taps out at 58 minutes.

It was a good match. It went long for the sake of going long, no doubt about it. The match could have been easily cut in half without a problem.  I think it was fun to see a very long tag match even though it was a little long to sit through.

FTR want handshakes after and Bullet Club Gold spit on them instead. 

We get a video on Blood and Guts for Wednesday.

Owen Hart Women's Tournament Finals - Willow Nightingale vs Ruby Soho

Willow pushes her over and Ruby forearms her. Willow lariats her after blocked armdrags and Ruby steps on her foot. Willow suplexes her then fisherman suplexes her for 2. Willow is pulled into the buckles then Ruby hits knees to the chest. Ruby said she's bringing the trophy home to the outcasts in the camera and we go to PiP break.

We return and Willow cartwheels through a lariat before hitting an enzugiri. Willow hits lariats then hits an Oklahoma stampede. They forearm each other against the ropes then Ruby hits a victory roll. Willow spinebusters her then single leg crabs her. Ruby grabs spray paint and gives it to Willow. The ref takes it from Willow then she takes a thumb to the eyes and a kick to the head.

Ruby asks the ref to check the turnbuckle pad and tries to spray Willow in the eyes. Willow avoids it and pounces her then hits a doctor bomb and wins it. They then cut to a woman in the stands with a sign that says, " I want to have Willow's babies". I don't even want to know.

It was the usual Outcasts match with cheating and games with the ref, though the rest of the Outcasts weren't there. As usual, it wasn't anything great. At least it put Willow over some.

Tony Khan has a cowboy hat on and gives Willow the trophy and belt.

We see video of Tony Schiavone in front of Hobbs' locker room from last week. QT and Harley say they have no time for this then head in. QT apologizes to Hobbs and said he would never do something like this intentionally. QT said his word is his bond and asks if he has to knock out the biggest and best in AEW to prove that he is loyal to him. Hobbs then says, "remember, your word is your bond".

The Kings of the Black Throne (Malakai Black and Brody King) vs Jobbers

Julia Hart has Andrade's mask with her.  Brody chops down his blue haired opponent then the other opponent tries to kick Brody. Black comes in and kicks his opponents leg then rolls him up into a leglock. Brody nails the blue haired guy in the corner then sentons the other opponent. Brody hiptosses the blue haired guy then splashes him. Black hits a german suplex on blue hair guy then the other guy is thrown into the rails. Andrade comes down the ramp and refs try to stop him. Black spinning back high kicks the blue haired guy and wins it in a total squash.

Andrade somehow can't power through the refs to get his mask which makes him look bad.

Owen Hart Tournament Men's Final - CM Punk vs Ricky Starks

Punk headlock takeovers him then Starks does it back. Starks shoulderblocks him and then does some of Punk's taunts. They try to hiptoss each other then Starks is hiptossed over the top. We go to break and return. Starks walks the top rope with Punk's arm and does his stupid strut up there. Punk is then thrown out and Starks poses.

Punk 2nd rope elbow drops him. Punk hits a leg lariat then slams him. Punk gets pulled off the 2nd rope. We go to break and return. Punk does a step up knee in the corner. Stark goes for a tornado ddt but is thrown off then Punk hits la magistral. Starks reverses it then takes a spin kick to the body. Punk hits another step up knee then Starks tornado ddt's him.

Starks misses a top rope elbow then takes a pepsi twist for 2. The crossbody each other at the same time and collide in the air. they trade forearms on their knees and Starks wins that battle. Punk piledrivers him. Starks flying spears Punk and Punk rolls out. Starks spears him again and Punk rolls it into a guillotine choke but Starks hits the ropes.

Punk hits a hurricanrana off the top. He tries to pin him but Starks reverses it and holds the ropes to win it. 

Punk looks shocked after.

I thought for sure Samoa Joe was coming in to cost Punk this but it never happened. I didn't really get why they had Starks hold the ropes. It had to be a way to appease Punk and make the loss seem less bad because faces don't cheat to win and Punk knows it. I'm really not that impressed with Punk's work in 2023. The matches aren't that impressive and with Punk not being as over with the crowd anymore, it kind of makes you question why he's there. Starks as usual didn't impress that much in his big match. It wasn't awful, but it was not that good.

Overall thoughts: We had a tag match that took up most of the show and two tournament finals that didn't really deliver, plus a House of Black squash. It was okay, but the rest of the show wasn't going to follow the tag match, which is the problem with putting that kind of match on first. It didn't make much sense either since they said they could run over time as much as they wanted.