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AEW

‘AEW Collision’ Debuts and CM Punk Returns: How Would You Rate the Premiere Episode?

Photo: AEW

Saturday night brought with it TNT’s new pro wrestling show AEW: Collision live from the United Center in Chicago, and not only was it the kick-off to the series, but the long-awaited return of CM Punk. So, how did it stack up? Did it disappoint? Did it live up to the hype? Let’s dive into it!

We loved the ‘Collision’ opening to Elton John’s Saturday Night’s (All Right for Fighting) playing against the graphics and the featured wrestling stars.  Then, in a smart move, you don’t waste time, you get to the headliner, and out came CM Punk to address the crowd and the TV audience for the first time in nine months.

This was Phil “CM Punk” Brooks with an edge.  No longer was CM jumping into the audience and into the waiting arms of fans, no, this version had a chip on a shoulder and well, he probably should.  Armed with a red bag supposedly carrying the title he never lost, and some wrestling boots, Punk took to the mic and said that he was tired of being nice.  He goes on to say  that he loves the people, and they love him because he’s unapologetically been himself.  He gloats that his presence makes people feel uncomfortable because he is the truth, and the truth is painful.

In a nod to the backstage brawl with the Young Bucks, Punk said that people can call him whatever they want, but David Zaslav, CEO 0f Warner Bros/Discovery) calls him ‘One Bill Phil’ and that’s because “he is the one true article in a business full of counterfeit bucks.” Ouch!  Punk ended his promo with apologizing for people “who are softer than the wrestlers they like.”  Lastly, he said until someone can fill the boots around his neck, they belong on his feet.  In the end, it made you wonder, will CM turn full heel when he is not wrestling in his hometown of Chicago, or will he remain Punk with an ax to grind?

When it was time for wrestling action, another smart move was at play. Straight out of the gate in the first bout of the new show, a title change occurred.  Luchasaurus with Christian Cage in his corner, faced off with the AEW TNT champ, Wardlow.  In the end, after grabbing a camera from a ringside photographer and smashing it on Warlow’s head, Luchasaurus got the pin and took the title.  Best part: Cage celebrating manically as if he was the one who actually won the damn belt.

Next, in what was the match of the night, it was the in-ring return of Andrade El Idolo (from his torn pec surgery) vs. House of Black’s Buddy Matthews (who also had previous knee surgery).  However, new AEW: Collision announcers, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness had some problems through the night and one of occurred when Kelly clearly calling Buddy Matthews by the wrong last name.

Back to the action, these men put on a bout that was action-packed, so much so, at one point, it looked liked Andrade had re-injured his pec and Matthews, his knee, as they were attended to by the ringside physicians/AEW officials. This however, occurred during a picture-and-picture commercial break, which was one of the drawbacks of the debut.  In the end, El Idolo got the victory, but we have to say, Buddy Matthews deserves a push! House of Black emerged when the lights went out for a partial additional beatdown of Andrade.

In other bouts, Miro returned and got a huge pop from the crowd in his match with Tony Nese. Chicago-native Skye Blue teamed with Willow Nightingale against the Outcasts, Ruby Soho and AEW Women’s Champ, Toni Storm.  Being we were in Chi-town, Blue scored the pin on Soho with her mother in attendance who slapped Soho and Storm for their ‘shenanigans’. Later, The Acclaimed with Daddy Ass Billy Gunn came to the ring to entertain the crowd since this is where ‘scissoring’ all began.

Courtesy/AEW

The main event featured a trios match-up with FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) teaming with CM Punk (in his first match back after his triceps surgery) vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson and Samoa Joe.  It was a great match that went on for almost 30 minutes and gave all six wrestlers moments to shine.  The pop of all pops occurred when it was Punk vs. Samoa Joe facing off in the ring.  Fans know that these two had a massive feud many years ago, and it has been a long time. almost two decades, since they had been in the ring together and it did not disappoint.  In the end, Punk scored the win for his team pinning Robertson.

All in all, AEW: Collision debut gets an “A” rating from us.  On the things to be fixed: the picture-and-picture commercial break windows looked very small in comparison to the advertisements, and we don’t recall it looking exactly that way on AEW: Dynamite, so at times, it was harder to follow the action.

The new announce team seemed to have some trouble fluidly tossing to breaks. Jim Ross joining the announce team was difficult to listen to, as his voice was nearly gone. and it has been reported he had hurt himself earlier in the day in a fall and was not feeling well. Ross later took to Twitter and shared: “I apologize for the way I sounded tonight. Going to step away to heal. Thanks for your support.”  The crowd in Chicago was super hot, and at times, the audio from the announce team was hard to hear because of it and the production.

When all was said and done, this was a victory for wrestling fans everywhere … to have a new show on Saturday Night’s … which looks like it will be driven by CM Punk as the headliner.

Let us know what you thought of the premiere of AEW: Collision in the comment section below. Then, check out our latest episode of “What’s Up? Wrestling” which streamed immediately following “Collision” where we discussed our immediate reactions to ‘Collision’, Punk’s return and more.

AEW

AEW Dynasty: Swerve Strickland Becomes AEW World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Perry Returns, Will Ospreay Retires Move After Scary Finish

There is no doubt now, who’s house it is in AEW? It’s “Swerve’s House” after his strong showing on Sunday nights AEW Dynasty pay-per-view. In the main event, Swerve Strickland captured the AEW World Heavyweight Championship defeating Samoa Joe in a career-defining moment.

Strickland becomes the first ever Black AEW World Heavyweight Champion in the organizations history.  And it was not loss on Strickland, who spoke about it in the post-Dynasty media scrum, but also knew the moment was upon him from the moment he was going to make his ring entrance in front of a sold-out crowd in St. Louis and those watching around the world on cable outlets or via Bleacher Report.

Swerve Strickland ring entrance showed that he was dressed to impress, in a mask and black and gold spandex attire. As fans caught on , Swerve was paying tribute to the character of Kilmonger, the antagonist of 2018’s Black Panther film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But that was not all, Prince Nana, Strickland’s manager/sidekick covered Strickland with a robe that belonged to Jimmy Rave. Rave was part of Ring of Honor during the company’s early days and was part of Nana’s stable The Embassy. He has three shots at the ROH title but never won the big prize.

Photo: AEW

AEW Dynasty had three major matches back-to-back to conclude the three hours show.  Strickland in the main event defeating Samoa Joe, and before that The Young Bucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) for the AEW World Tag Team Championships in a brutal ladder match.

Courtesy/AEW

In the deciding moment of the match after Harwood goes to climb up the ladder to reach  for the titles, a masked man runs in and knocks over the ladder. It’s revealed to be none other than the previously suspended, Jack Perry (son of the late 90210 star, Luke Perry). Perry throws up the Elite symbol as security escorts him away. Nicholas Jackson looks pleased by the interference and uses it to take advantage and climb the ladder to get control of the title belts and The Young Bucks become the new AEW tag champs, once again.

The most highly-anticipated match of the night was between two of the greatest wrestlers to ever do it – Bryan Danielson and Will Ospreay and after more than a half-hour of back and forth with high flying moves, technical precision and punches and kicks, Ospreay was able to get the pin, but unfortunately in the last few minutes of the match, Danielson went down after Ospreay delivered the Storm Driver ’91 move. Next, the referee called for medical to check out Danielson, while Will was unaware of that and continued to finish the match.

Photo: AEW

At the post-Dynasty media scrum, an upset Ospreay began by addressing reporters and sharing, “I’m super glad that everybody enjoyed the match. A little bit of a dampener on how it’s all kind of the dust has settled now. I’ve reviewed the footage myself. Seeing Bryan got hurt on the Storm Driver, and I didn’t see the referee call for the doctor and I didn’t see it. So I want to apologize on that.So even though like 90% of the time that moves been absolutely fine, seeing the damage that it’s kind of done, I’m going to retire using the Storm Driver ’91. I don’t think it’s right for me to continue using it after seeing what it did to Bryan, someone that I’ve got huge amounts of respect for, this was kind of my dream match. This is something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. Although I’m happy when everyone enjoyed the match, I’m kind of disappointed in myself. So once again, I apologize to Bryan probably apologize to AEW medics, I apologize to Tony (Khan, CEO/GM AEW).

In one of the best matches in the card, and in the opening bout, for the AEW Continental Championship Match, “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada defeated “The Bastard” PAC to retain his title. Meanwhile, Willow Nightingale became the Women’s TBS Champion defeating Julia Hart, only to have Mercedes Mone come to the ring to challenge Willow at Double or Nothing in Vegas at the end of May.

So, what do you think of Swerve Strickland becoming AEW World Champ? Jack Perry’s return? Will Ospreay’s match-up with Bryan Danielson and its ending? Let us know in the comment section below.

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AEW

Mercedes Mone’, Formerly WWE’s Sasha Banks, Makes Her Highly-Anticipated AEW Debut

AEW Big Business in Boston, brought it with it the “CEO” on Wednesday night’s ‘AEW Dynamite’ on TBS.  Now, we are not talking about AEW chief, Tony Khan, we are talking about the WWE’s former Sasha Banks, and one of the top female wrestling star’s in the word, Mercedes Mone’.

Mone’, who in real-life is known as Mercedes Varnado, made he debut in front of her hometown crowd in Boston, and appeared at the opening of last night’s episode with new theme music to boot. While chants rang out for the “CEO”, Mercedes took it all in and was moved to tears.

Addressing the crowd and the TV cameras, she expressed, “Thanks for having my back these past two years.“ Mone’ then added, “You want to know why I’m here? Because I need to be here. I want to be here.”

Photo: deviantart.com/Youtube

Varnado has held gold  several times throughout her career including as: NXT Women’s Champion, WWE RAW Women’s Champion five times over, WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion on three different occasions. The biggest match in her career was when she and Bianca Belair headlined WrestleMania 37 and as the first two African-American women to do so.

As the story goes, back in May of 2022, then as Sasha Banks, Varnado walked out of the WWE during Monday Night Raw along with her tag team partner, Trinity Fatu (who goes by Naomi). At the time, the duo were the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time, and then were suspended indefinitely.

Later, Mercedes under her new wrestling name Mone’, appeared in a January 2023 New Japan Pro-Wrestling pay per view, Wrestle Kingdom 17.  In May of last year, she sustained an ankle injury in a match with now AEW’s Willow Nightingale.

It had been speculated for well over a year that when Mercedes returned to wrestling, she would join AEW, while her former tag partner, Naomi has now returned to the WWE as of January of this year.

Watch Mercedes debut entrance from last night’s AEW Big Business below.

Now let us know, are you happy to see her back on U.S. TV and in the ring? How do you think her run will be in AEW? Will she eventually return back to the WWE?  She teased it during a recent interview with the Kicks Rocks Wrestling Podcast saying, “I know I’m going to be back there [in WWE] one day, okay? So it’s not over.”  However, in an updated version of the episode those remarked have been edited out.

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AEW

Sting Goes Out on Top in the Perfect Finale to His Legendary Career at ‘AEW Revolution’

They could not have done it any better. For weeks leading up to the Sunday’s AEW: Revolution pay-per-view, the questions remained, would AEW live up to the hype and deliver to “The Icon” Sting a befitting goodbye, when in his previous returns during his legendary career were less than stellar in TNA and WWE?

The answer was “Yes!” Every box was check-marked. It was revealed in the post-match media scrum and in subsequent articles and online, that Sting had a major hand in who he wanted to wrestle against in his final match, and how his sons would be involved in his last appearance in AEW and in a pro wrestling ring, and more.

When it came down to the main event at the historic Greensboro, North Carolina, home to the classic NWA 1988 match with Sting vs. Ric Flair, that set the tone for him becoming one of the greatest to ever do it. Now in 2024, Sting was about to enter the ring for the last time in emotional fashion with more than 16,000 in attendance and a worldwide audience watching at home.

Photo: AEW

First, a video package rolled where Sting is seated inside a movie theatre as he watches his life in wrestling up on the screen pass by. After it comes to its conclusion, he looks to camera ready for battle for the last time. Back to live action, two versions of Sting appear at the top of the entrance ramp. And, in another emotional moment, it is revealed that the two men in the iconic wrestling gear from two different eras of Sting’s career were his two sons; one dressed as “Surfer Sting” and one dressed as “Wolfpac Sting”. In fact, Sting’s sons, Garrett and Steve Jr. were a part of his final act, as they two were beaten down by the Young Bucks a few weeks back on AEW TV.

Next, Sting himself enters and the crowd erupts as the Texas Tornado match in which he is a part of takes off. In it, Sting and his partner Darby Allin are defending the AEW World Tag Team championships against the Young Bucks, Matthew and Nicholas Jackson. The match delivered death-defying moves including: Sting taking a suplex off the stage and through a table, and Darby Allin putting his body on the line crashing through a pane of glass after he dove off a ladder.

Several dear friends and wrestling luminaries were in attendance or involved in the match including Ric Flair who jumped into the ring to protect Sting at one point, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat who was the guest timekeeper. However, both were knocked out by superkicks by the Bucks for their trouble. Those in the audience were former pro wrestlers, Lex Luger, Magnum TA, Scotty Riggs, Nikita Koloff, and Diamond Dallas Page, plus others from Sting’s extended family.

Photo: AEW

In the end, Sting scored the win performing his signature move, the Scorpion Death Lock, on Matthew Jackson. Sting and Darby Allin retained the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Fans were relieved that Sting went out a winner and many cried tears of joy.

Next, Sting was next celebrated in the ring as confetti was shot out, and fans chanted “Thank you. Sting!” When, there were only five minutes left of air time on the pay-per-view, Sting began to thank Greensboro, the crowd, his family and AEW, when suddenly time ran out and unfortunately the show ended. However, after the match, his final words to the crowd and the company were posted on social media (you can watch it below). In the post-‘Revolution’ media scrum, Sting even called Sunday night, a “Top 3” match of his career.

Photo: AEW

Sting was key WCW’s success in the Monday Night Wars in the mid-to-late nineties against the WWE, when his version of “Crow” Sting coming down from the rafters to fight Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the NWO were epic. The story built for over a year with Sting barely uttering a word, but he ultimately became everybody’s hero in a story of good vs. evil. And that’s the case with Steve “Sting” Borden, too. He will be remembered as one of wrestling’s good guys, in front of the camera and to everyone that knew him behind the scenes.

So, what did you think of the way AEW honored the iconic Sting and his final match? Were you happy with all the special moments before/during and after the match? All we can say and to echo those sentiments from those in attendance and around the world, “Thank you, Sting!”

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