AEW Collision Results: FTR vs. MJF & Adam Cole, Ladder Match, CM Punk speaks, Minoru Suzuki

July 29, 2023 Dave LeClair NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: AEW

By: Dave LeClair
POST Wrestling

AEW is broadcasting live from the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Despite living in CT, I find myself watching from home, which could be a regrettable decision on my part.

Opening Promos

As has become a tradition on Collison, the show launched with quick promos. Darby got things going, and then Adam Cole and MJF reminded everyone that they’re better than them, Bay Bay. FTR said they’d retain their titles, and then we were underway.

Buddy and Andrade for the Mask

Buddy Matthews made his way to the ring first with Julia Hart at his side. Andrade El Idolo entered as the mask was lifted high in the air to prepare it for the ladder match. The match started with Hart attempting to distract El Idolo, but Andrade dodged Matthews’ attack to get control of the match early. He landed a moonsault off the ladder to the outside on Matthews, which was impressive. Andrade hit a huge arm drag into a ladder shortly after, but Matthews recovered and finally took control of the match. 

As the match went to picture-in-picture, Matthews went to see the doctor to have his shoulder looked at. Together, he and the doctor popped his arm back into place, and he ran into the ring to stop Andrade from climbing the ladder. 

After the break, I couldn’t help but notice a fan’s sign that read “Dirty Dom stole your girlfriend” in the front row. Matthews propped a ladder between the ring and the announcer’s table, leading to a battle on the apron to see who would take a high-impact move into it. Buddy ended up in the ring, El Idolo still on the outside, teetering over the ladder. The pair changed places after some battling, and Andrade went for a spear onto the ladder, but it was countered into a DDT on the steel. 

Matthews grabbed a table from under the ring and brought it in, which he propped against the turnbuckle. He tried to climb the ladder to retrieve the mask, but El Idolo tipped the ladder over and landed a huge spinning elbow, knocking Buddy onto a ladder between the ring and another taller ladder. Andrade climbed said ladder and called Matthews to climb up with him, setting up for what ultimately ended up being a sunset bomb from the top onto the horizontal ladder. 

El Idolo moved to climb the ladder, but Murphy slowly climbed into the ring to stop him. He pulled Andrade off the ladder and caught him with a massive knee on the way down. This led to Hart grabbing a set of handcuffs and locking El Idolo to the turnbuckle. Rather than climb the ladder immediately, Matthews got a chair, which Andrade promptly kicked into Buddy’s face. He stole the key from Hart during the commotion and then handcuffed Matthews to the ring. El Idolo threw the key into the crowd, but Hart pulled out a pair of bolt cutters, which Buddy attempted to use to free himself. She then ran into the ring and climbed El Idolo’s back, trying to stop him from getting to the mask. Hart smacked Andrade at the top of the ladder, pushing her off, causing her to land on Matthews as they both went through the aforementioned propped-up table. Andrade grabbed his mask and won the match, and what a fun match it was.

Miro Murders

Miro attempted to have a peaceful backstage interview when he was rudely interrupted by Aaron Solo, who attached The Redeemer with a fire extinguisher. Miro countered and beat him down with a chair.

Darby Allin is Looking for a Fight

Darby’s music hit, and he made his way to the entrance area, and the show went to commercial, leaving the cliffhanger of who Darby Allin will face.

After the break, Minoru Suzuki’s KAZE NI NARE hit, and Darby looked less than happy to see the Japanese superstar. Right as the best part of the song kicked in, and the crowd started to scream the lyrics, Darby attacked. He followed up with a dive to the outside, set Suzuki on a chair, and hit a missile dropkick to get control. The pair entered the ring, and Suzuki started no-selling Darby Allin’s offense. He counted with one big punch, dropping Allin and giving Suzuki the upper hand. The match went to a PiP commercial right as Suzuki removed Darby Allin’s rib tape. 

During the break, Suzuki strangled Darby with his won rib tape before being reprimanded by the referee. Darby fell to the outside, and Suzuki continued to dominate. Darby went on the offense and eventually went for a Coffin Drop, but Suzuki countered into a rear-naked choke. However, this didn’t work out is his favor, as Darby flipped over him and pinned the Japanese competitor. 

After the match, Christian Cage appeared and said it looked like Darby was ready for a TNT title match. Cage noted that Darby seems distracted by Fox, Swerve, and company. Cage says Allin will never win the TNT Championship because he’s no longer worthy.

Shida and Storm Video Package

Toni Storm cut a promo on Hikaru Shida, saying that she and Shida will beat the piss out of each other on Dynamite 200. 

Samoa Joe vs. Gravity

Gravity remembered Pac, but now he’s forced to take on Samoa Joe. Gravity started the match with his trademark moonwalk, which annoyed Joe. While the match started with the smaller competitor in control, Joe quickly used his power to regain the upper hand. Joe hit his patented walk-off counter when Gravity jumped off the top rope, but he did with his own low-gravity walk. He followed up with a Muscle Buster to win the quick match. 

CM Punk

Tony Schiavone introduced CM Punk, who went to the ring to one of the more positive reactions we’ve heard in a few weeks. As someone from CT, I assume it’s because nothing happens here, and fans were happy to have someone as notable as Punk in town. Schiavone asked Punk about the bag he carries around with him. Punk responded that a lot is happening in AEW. He said he had travel issues and arrived in CT two hours ago, but he always makes his towns. He wants to talk about Wembley Stadium. He says maybe we’ll know by the end of the night whether Punk will be in England. 

He then talked about Ricky Starks and how Starks beat him twice. He asked if Starks could handle the fact that he cheated to win. He then holds up the bag, saying that it’s not that he’s carrying it but that he’s forced to hold it. The crowd erupts into “What’s in the bag” chants. He opened the bag and pulled out the AEW Championship, saying he is the real champion. He threw the belt down and spray-painted an X on the front. The X says he’s straight edge and is “better than you.” 

Ricky Starks comes out to interrupt and says he needs to make a real entrance. He runs to the back, and his music plays. He does his pose and heads to the ring. Starks grabs a microphone and said Punk would have done the same thing he did to win. Starks said he should have CM Punk’s belt because he beat him twice. He said he’s the real champion and face of Collision. 

Punk said he needs a special referee to fight Starks again, but Starks said Punk has no friends. Punk made some phone calls to people from his past, and Punk gave him the match next week on Collision. Tony Schiavone revealed that Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will be the special guest referee.

Based on this segment, they might be spinning up a second world championship for Collision, but we’ll have to wait and see.

MJF and Adam Cole Video Package

An Adam Cole and MJF video package aired with clips of their budding friendship and FTR quotes mixed in. 

Bullet Club Gold vs. El Hijo Del Vikingo, Action Andretti, and Darius Martin

Before the match, the crowd started into “Ass boys” chants, and as the match got underway, a PiP break kicked in. During the break, Jay White came out from under the ring. But wait, it’s not Jay White, it’s a hyper-realistic cardboard cutout of the Bullet Club Gold’s leader. 

The show came back with BCG in control of El Hijo Del Vikingo. The luchador attempted to make a tag, but the heels ran over and pulled the babyfaces off the apron. He eventually made a hot tag to Andretti, who put a beating on the Gunns and Juice Robinson. All three BCG members were outside the ring, so Andretti and Martin launched Vikingo into a giant senton to the outside, taking out all three of his opponents. However, BCG took control of the match shortly after and hit a 3:10 to Yuma on Martin for the win. 

Kiera Hogan vs. Mercedes Martinez

Ian Riccobanni called Waterbury, CT (where Martinez is from) a beautiful city before the match. As a longtime wrestling fan, I’m good at suspending my disbelief, but this is just too far. No one thinks Waterbury is beautiful. I lived there for half of my life, so I’m a credible source regarding this fake news. 

Martinez dominated the early portion of the match, hitting all kinds of offense before the show went to a PiP break.

Collison returned with Hogan in control of the match, but it didn’t last long. Martinez locked in a Brass City Sleeper, which she refused to release. Kris Statlander ran down to make the save. While Statlander was checking on Hogan, Martinez picked up the belt and hit Statlander in the face. While Martinez stood over Statlander, Willow Nightingale ran down, and Martinez departed. 

Main Event – Tag Team Title Match

The crowd popped huge when MJF and Adam Cole’s mashup theme hit. It’ll also be weird to see MJF hugging fans and giving high-fives, but it’s nothing short of entertaining. FTR’s entrance followed, and the crowd was much less into them, with a chorus of boos following the start of their theme.

However, the FTR fans came out once the entrances finished, and dueling “Double Clothesline” and “FTR” chants broke out. 

Adam Cole started the match against Dax Harwood. FTR controlled the early portion of the match, getting the heat on Cole. Cole and MJF teased an early double clothesline, but FTR avoided it. Cole tagged MJF, who worked the crowd. MJF and Harwood fought back and forth before MJF went down with an alleged leg injury. As expected, he wasn’t hurt; it was just bait. MJF went for a Sharpshooter, but Harwood went for the ropes. 

All four men ran into the ring and stepped into each others’ faces as the show went to a break. During the break, they brawled outside the ring before order was restored, and Harwood gained control of the match. 

The show returned with Dax still in control of MJF. Cole eventually made his way into the match and handled both members of FTR while MJF recovered outside the ring. Once MJF recovered, Cole tagged him, and they went for a double clothesline, but it was ducked. MJF and Cole his a superkick-Tombstone combo for a huge near fall, but it wasn’t enough to win the titles. MJF tagged Cole, and they went for another double clothesline, but again FTR thwarted the attempt. In a rare occurrence, FTR hit a Superplex into a splash from the top rope, but Cole kicked out. 

Cole tagged MJF into the match and poked Harwood in the eye. However, it didn’t stop Harwood, who countered and kept the match moving in his favor. Cole knocked MJF off the turnbuckle, leaving him straddling it for MJF to throw a huge low blow while the ref was distracted. FTR went for a Shatter Machine on Adam Cole, but MJF stepped in and saved him. In doing so, he was rolled up for the finish, leading to an FTR win and title retention. 

After the match, Cole shook hands with FTR while MJF sulked in the corner. He screamed, “I blew it,” as Cole tried to console him. Cole got the AEW title and gave it to MJF, saying it was okay, while MJF said, “I lost the match.” MJF acted like he wanted to hit Cole with the belt while his back was turned, and Cole told him to do what he had to do. MJF threw the belt down, and the pair hugged it out, much to the crowd’s delight. Cole held MJF’s hands in the air, and MJF went to the corner and held the belt up. They hugged again, and it appeared the team was still alive and well… At least for the time being.

About Dave LeClair 47 Articles
A long time POST Wrestling fan and technology writer, Dave LeClair joins the POSTmarks to cover AEW Collision.
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