AEW Collision: October 28, 2023

October 29, 2023 7:28 PM - Season 1, Episode 20

Yours truly was out and about yesterday, so this week's Collision post will borrow some write-up from The Wrestling Observer. This episode, MJF fights Kenny Omega to break his record for longest World Championship reign, and it must be Halloween because Abadon's got a TV match for the women's championship!

Jay White (w/ Juice Robinson & The Gunns) defeated AR Fox

"It’s good to see AR Fox back on TV, especially if he’s delivering matches that get the crowd as riled up as he got the Mohegan Sun crowd here. The post-match angle was notable, with MJF trying and failing to sneak away with the title before the main event...

After the match, MJF slipped by the announce desk and tried to steal back his AEW World Title, but White got his hands back on the belt. With the element of surprise lost, MJF bailed before Bullet Club Gold could get their hands on him."

The Gunns (Colten & Austin Gunn) (w/ Jay White & Juice Robinson) defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)

"Lexy Nair was backstage with Ryan Nemeth, who had a big surprise. He’s hyped his recent success lately in Hollywood, booking commercials and voiceover roles. He walked up to CJ Perry’s locker room, looking for her to manage him. He knocked on her door, only to get Miro to open the door. He threw him inside and beat him up behind closed doors. He can probably still do voiceovers from a hospital bed."

AEW Women's World Championship Match: Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Abadon to retain in a Fright Night Fight

"I could have done without the themed match here... The women’s division has veered into silliness lately, from the shenanigans with the Outcasts to the goofiness of Timeless Toni. Does anyone have a status update on Jamie Hayter?"

OK I kinda agree with the above, but not in a way that's a critique. It has been established for the past few months that the TBS Championship is the hard-hitting, high-workrate title, and the Women's Championship title has been the fun-and-shenanigans storytelling title. If Hayter or Thunder Rosa return to this storyline, great, but if they'd definitely get their feet wet in this fun -- and there's no reason why they shouldn't.

"Keith Lee and Shane Taylor spoke on their history as a team in Ring of Honor, and how their split moved them each forward. Is this match going to happen any time soon, or will we get the Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland blowoff match first?"

Ring of Honor World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) defeated Rhett Titus to retain

"In a video from Rampage, Renee Paquette was backstage with QTV. Harley Cameron hyped their new music video before QT Marshall bragged about his AAA Latin American Championship reign. He said that he would defend his title in AEW, as there are numerous great luchadors in AEW."

Ricky Starks (w/ Big Bill) defeated Dax Harwood (w/ Cash Wheeler)

"A good match with an odd finish, as FTR once again loses to Starks and Big Bill... The lights went out before the bell rang, before revealing The House of Black watching from the crowd... After the match, the lights went out. Julia Hart appeared on stage before cutting the lights again. The House of Black appeared in the ring, joining Starks and Bill in surrounding FTR. All of a sudden, La Faccion Ingobernable made their long-awaited return. They stared down FTR before jumping the House of Black and kicking off a brawl. LFI and FTR stood tall in the ring as the rudos bailed out.

Lexy Nair was backstage with Andrade El Idolo, asking him about the offer from CJ Perry and the return of La Faccion Ingobernable. Andrade said that he is a businessman, and all of that is his business."

Interesting to me is that we're only a few weeks out from the vignettes where Rush sent Preston Vance and Dralistico to some underground fight club to get their teeth bloodied, which to me signified an attempt to return to heel tactics, but now it seems Andrade is steering them to being tweeners?

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Tracy Williams

"Castagnoli drilled Williams before the bell with an uppercut. He clubbered on Williams in the corner before dropping him with Rainmaker-like short-arm clotheslines. Castagnoli drilled Williams with a heavy uppercut to score the definitive win. After the match, Castagnoli locked Williams in the LeBell Lock as a shout-out to Bryan Danielson."

AEW World Championship Match: MJF (c) defeated Kenny Omega to retain

"MJF will be the longest-reigning World Champion in company history, breaking the record in style. This first-time-ever match lived up to the stakes, as these two had a match that would not have been out of place in the main event of an AEW PPV... Omega hit two V-Triggers before loading up the One-Winged Angel. Don Callis came out with a screwdriver, allowing MJF to roll Omega up. Omega kicked out before both men ended up in another pinning predicament. The referee kicked Callis out from ringside. MJF sent Omega into the ropes before hitting the Heatseeker piledriver for a nearfall. MJF loaded up the Panama Sunrise, but Omega caught MJF in a crucifix for a nearfall. MJF caught Omega with a superkick before landing the Panama Sunrise. MJF hit the Heatseeker to retain the title and break Omega’s record as the longest-reigning World Champion in company history."

This is two big matches in a row that MJF won with the Heatseeker, and attempting the Panama Sunrise is a nice shoutout to his missing friend Adam Cole.

posted by The Pluto Gangsta