AEW Collision: July 29

July 29, 2023 4:30 PM - Season 1, Episode 7

Several first-time (or at least, first in a long time) matches tonight: Andrade faces Buddy Matthews to reclaim his mask, Samoa Joe feasts upon another luchador, plus: can the unlikely friendship of MJF and Adam Cole claim the tag belts from FTR?

The announced card for Dynamite:

El Hijo Del Vikingo, Action Andretti & Darius Martin vs. Juice Robinson & The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn)

Andretti and Martin lost to Bullet Club Gold last week. Also, last week brought us the melodrama of Papa Billy Gunn leaving his boots in the ring, perhaps there will be follow-up consequences to his IRL sons.

We'll hear from CM Punk

Two weeks in a row, Ricky Starks has gotten a win by using the ropes for a pin, once against Punk and once on Darby Allin. But CM Punk (or at least, the AEW incarnation of him) doesn't cheat to win, so perhaps he'll bring a strong warning to Ricky.

Samoa Joe vs. Gravity

Gravity's the hot new thing across several shows these past two months, getting big matches against veterans. A part of me wants to believe that he's secretly a famous Other Company guy living a double life.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Kiera Hogan

I'm glad to see this on the card, as both talented women could use some TV time, and we are trying to build to cards at All In & All Out that have more than one women's match apiece, right? But still, where the heck is Thunder Rosa?

Ladder Match For Andrade's Mask: Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews

Remember back when Buddy Matthews was in WWE, Seth Rollins thought highly of him, and kept booking them as either teammates or opponents? Hopefully this match can remind everyone why.

AEW Tag Team Championships: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (c) vs. Adam Cole & MJF

A lot of possible directions here, what outcome will make the inevitable betrayal hurt worse? If MJF & Cole win but come to blows over the AEW Championship? If FTR wins, but Cole somehow stays in Max's orbit? Or if they're poised to win but Roddy Strong somehow turns heel on them all despite being completely reasonable in all his concerns?

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (11 comments total)

"Darby Allin is looking for a fight" says Ian, meaning it's a day ending in a Y.

The ladder match is pretty brutal, I'm pretty certain I saw the ringside medic reset Buddy's shoulder during a commercial picture-in-picture, which probably meant nothing after they continued to take crazy bumps. Andrade did a sunset flip that if he hadn't landed exactly right he could've broken an ankle. Awesome finish too, with Julia trying to cheat big and taking her second inter-gender match (after eating that V-Trigger about two months ago).
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:31 PM on July 29, 2023

HAHAHA it's Darby vs. Minoru Suzuki oh Darby you done messed up now.

All his normal tactics of throwing his body into his enemies with reckless abandon means nothing when Crazy Japanese Murder Grandpa wants to swat him to the ground. And you know those slaps were all Suzuki, because Darby does not have the chest meat to cause that sound himself. In the end it was superior ring awareness that let him pin Suzuki's shoulders while in the middle of a chokehold.

On a separate note, am I just now noticing that since turning heel, Toni Storm's makeup has gotten a lot more chav? She's cutting a promo on Shida looking like a bogan Marilyn Monroe.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:47 PM on July 29, 2023

Samoa Joe vs. Gravity gave me the one thing I didn't realize I wanted: Joe doing his trademark walkaway, except in a parody of Gravity's "moonwalk".

CM Punk did want to talk about Ricky Starks, but also to finally reveal the title that he won off MJF last year and hasn't ever lost. (And maybe to relaunch the Straight Edge Society?) Of course, this means that we're getting Ricky vs Punk again for... next week? How is Tony Khan going to setup any matches for Wembley at this rate?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:08 PM on July 29, 2023

Nigel McGuinness getting two back-to-back lines of the night: Talking about how "summer romances usually end in heartbreak and a shot of penicillin" and then later trying to bring a cardboard cut-out of Jay White into "the Ian Ricci-bone-zone".
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:19 PM on July 29, 2023

For the main event, I admire how FTR committed to the idea that their opponents' double clothesline is an instant-kill move that must be avoided at all costs. So it seems like losing ruins Max's self-esteem, but Adam Cole has become his millennial wrestle-daddy to prop up his self-esteem with Max's championship belt.

Interesting implications for next week, since CM Punk is defending his version of the belt against Ricky? Can these two storylines co-exist, or remain in a state of quantum super-position?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:06 PM on July 29, 2023

HAHAHA it's Darby vs. Minoru Suzuki oh Darby you done messed up now.

I love Minoru Suzuki and I fully believe he deserves the "oh shit" reaction he gets every time he unexpectedly walks out from the back, but has he ever won a singles match on AEW television?

CM Punk did want to talk about Ricky Starks, but also to finally reveal the title that he won off MJF last year and hasn't ever lost.

Hangman, not MJF (I was there when it happened and to this day I have conflicting feelings about it).
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:37 AM on July 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

You’re right, I meant the belt he defended from MJF.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:19 PM on July 30, 2023

As luchablog said: AEW did a "can they coexist" story that ended just "yea"

I mean, I know the story hasn't ended but it's still funny.

Minoru doesn't need to win matches. His entire being is over no matter what he does.
posted by LostInUbe at 3:43 AM on July 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

You’re right, I meant the belt he defended from MJF.

I just double-checked Punk’s win-loss record and I don’t think he ever had any title defenses against MJF.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:26 AM on August 1, 2023

Ack, you’re right again. The dog collar match was two months before he won the title. I should really check Cagematch before I try to say anything involving definite dates.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 2:32 PM on August 1, 2023

Aw, who knows, you might be right. After all, Ponk did have a particularly acrimonious feud with Eddie Kingston, and there are known instances of that sort of thing resulting in a stable time loop. It’s entirely possible that at some future point CM Punk is champ and gets sent back in time by Kingston and defends the title against MJF in the past.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:01 PM on August 1, 2023