AEW Saturday Collision

[JLM]

Yep, leagues ahead of Dynamite this week, that was fantastic. Brilliant crowd as well, the Starks and Punk segment in particular was electric but they were hot for pretty much everything and the show matched them. Really looking forward to next week’s episode, Collision suddenly feels hot, I love it. 
 

[RedRooster]

Was it just me who wasn’t really feeling the Punk/Starks segment? Punk whips out the World title, claims to be World Champion - and the actual World Champion, despite being in the building, doesn’t come out to confront him or even explain why he didn’t in a backstage segment?

Plus, Starks, despite saying “champion” in inverted commas when referring to Punk, still seems to go along with Punk’s proclamation, accepting this as an actual title match? I also thought Starks’ promo was a bit weak, jammed with catchphrases and containing very little substance.

On the other hand, the MJF/Cole stuff was fantastic. I’m assuming Cole is going to be the one to turn on MJF now; he has to be, right? If he’d superkicked MJF, that would have been one hell of a hot match heading into Wembley. I don’t mind that they’ve not done that, though and I’m really intrigued about what they’ll do next. They absolutely should keep MJF babyface, in my opinion.

[DavidB6937]

Yeah my 2 preferred options are no turn at all OR Cole being the one to turn. And it was good that they didn't go down a predictable route this week. If they have to do a turn and it is Cole then it'll be even more heartbreaking now after what MJF did this week so it's great they've added another layer to it. But I'd absolutely be fine with them staying how they are now.

[Supremo]

28 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Was it just me who wasn’t really feeling the Punk/Starks segment? Punk whips out the World title, claims to be World Champion - and the actual World Champion, despite being in the building, doesn’t come out to confront him or even explain why he didn’t in a backstage segment?

I loved that MJF didn’t immediately interrupt the promo or make reference to Punk later on. Exactly the type of interesting subversion I want from this promotion. Max has got enough shit going on. He’s in the middle of an existential crisis, crying his eyes out at having failed the first real friend he’s ever had. The last thing he needs right now is opening up old wounds or losing focus when - as was evident in that final segment - this friendship is almost more important than wins, losses or belts at this point.

Plus, this company has earned the benefit of the doubt. We can safely watch knowing the road will eventually lead to Punk interacting with MJF. It’s awesome that we can enjoy the ride and be taken in different, surprising directions, other than the same old, patterned formula. Reference me. Hit my music. Trade promos. Fight at next pay per view. Fill three pay per view cycles ending with a stipulation match.

It’s what I keep coming back to with this MJF/Cole thing. Genuinely revolutionary in how it’s played and improved upon the same old tropes. How many times have we seen the, “can they co-exist?!” thing, and yet this is the first time I can remember where the answer might just be, “actually, yeah, they can. In both victory and defeat.” I love it so much. Even if they eventually do the turn, it’ll mean infinitely more here than ever before. They weren’t just two bickering idiots who I hated equally. I’m genuinely rooting for this friendship to go all the way. I hope they put each other in their top five friends on MySpace. Block Roderick Strong.

Between Cole/MJF, Owens/Zayn and The Elite reuniting, it’s been a great fucking year for happy, cathartic pro-wrestling. Remember when it used to just be endless, antagonistic misery booking?

Edited July 30, 2023 by Supremo

[RedRooster]

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Plus, this company has earned the benefit of the doubt. We can safely watch knowing the road will eventually lead to Punk interacting with MJF. It’s awesome that we can enjoy the ride and be taken in different, surprising directions, other than the same old, patterned formula. Reference me. Hit my music. Trade promos. Fight at next pay per view. Fill three pay per view cycles ending with a stipulation match.

At one point I’d have agreed with you, but these days, AEW certainly has a tendency to let wrestlers exist in their own mini-universes. 

10 minutes ago, Supremo said:

It’s what I keep coming back to with this MJF/Cole thing. Genuinely revolutionary in how it’s played and improved upon the same old tropes. How many times have we seen the, “can they co-exist?!” thing, and yet this is the first time I can remember where the answer might just be, “actually, yeah, they can. In both victory and defeat.” I love it so much. Even if they eventually do the turn, it’ll mean infinitely more here than ever before. They weren’t just two bickering idiots who I hated equally. I’m genuinely rooting for this friendship to go all the way. I hope they put each other in their top five friends on MySpace.

I think Cole/MJF had to lose this match to completely kill off the idea that this was all a ruse from MJF’s side, and establish that the emotions he was feeling were indeed genuine. As nice as it is, though, for both wrestlers to remain pals; I think they’d be missing a trick not to have Cole turn on MJF. If that happens, the fried response for the eventual match would be off-the-charts. I really want to see that, even if it does mark the end of a very fun friendship. MJF being turned on is something we’ve yet to see; and him doing so after choosing to do the right thing would provide the right kind of emotional gut-punch.

Come on Cole, screw him over!

[Infinity Land]

Hated the Real World champion promo knowing MJF's in the building. It was something Punk should have done day one of Collision. 

[LaGoosh]

48 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Punk whips out the World title, claims to be World Champion - and the actual World Champion, despite being in the building, doesn’t come out to confront him or even explain why he didn’t in a backstage segment?

Perhaps MJF was busy preparing for his match?

Maybe he's scared of Punk?

Or he's too busy being BFF's with Cole to care about Punk?

You don't need to immediately explain everything or lay all your story cards out at once. There's literally no way that this story doesn't lead to MJF vs CM Punk in the near future so just wait. They're putting things in place slowly but surely.

[RedRooster]

1 minute ago, LaGoosh said:

Perhaps MJF was busy preparing for his match?

Maybe he's scared of Punk?

Or he's too busy being BFF's with Cole to care about Punk?

You don't need to immediately explain everything or lay all your story cards out at once. There's literally no way that this story doesn't lead to MJF vs CM Punk in the near future so just wait. They're putting things in place slowly but surely.

Then at least acknowledge it. Have an announcer say ‘I wonder how MJF feels about this?’, or have Nigel say: ‘I’m surprised that MJF hasn’t come straight out’, before Riccaboni responds with: ‘I’m not - he’s got a tag team title match to focus on’ (or something like that)

It’s too obvious a question to ignore. You don’t need to transition immediately into an MJF/Punk feud; but I think it’s silly to completely ignore the elephant in the room; if you choose to have Punk cut that promo on this particular week.

[DavidB6937]

Arguably that's exactly why Punk would do it this week of all weeks though.

Knowing MJF had a massive match to focus on.

Knowing it's against his best buddies FTR.

If you're going to manipulate the situation for maximum impact then pick a time and a place thats going to fuck someone up and get in their head.

Not having MJF come out straight away allows the story to breathe. And if Punk wants to use that in a promo calling him a little bitch for not coming out then go for it. It's a small thing to reference but gives a little more fuel to the fire.

I think we're so used to things being done in a certain way and almost immediately. But Punk has Ricky to deal with first. This was just a first step in getting into MJF's head and the best timing to do it.

[RedRooster]

1 minute ago, DavidB6937 said:

Arguably that's exactly why Punk would do it this week of all weeks though.

Knowing MJF had a massive match to focus on.

Knowing it's against his best buddies FTR.

If you're going to manipulate the situation for maximum impact then pick a time and a place thats going to fuck someone up and get in their head.

Not having MJF come out straight away allows the story to breathe. And if Punk wants to use that in a promo calling him a little bitch for not coming out then go for it. It's a small thing to reference but gives a little more fuel to the fire.

I think we're so used to things being done in a certain way and almost immediately. But Punk has Ricky to deal with first. This was just a first step in getting into MJF's head and the best timing to do it.

All fair points, but I still think someone should have acknowledged it - even if it’s just the announcers. The audience are asking the question, so therefore so should they. 

On the subject of the announcers, the quality has improved so much since Riccaboni took over from Kevin Kelly. Both announcers were great once again last night; and have solid chemistry. I really hope that they don’t mess up they good thing they have going by bringing back Kelly, or adding Jim Ross to the mix.

[Infinity Land]

Arguably you could do a similar thing that serves multiple purposes. 

Punk then Starks leads to Mjf & Cole with Cole either supporting MJF or even Cole taking the lead putting him over. Which eventually leads to FTR coming out saying they've got other things to worry about tonight. 

[Supremo]

Honestly, I don’t want the commentators telling me everything I should be thinking. I’d much prefer to be left to interpret and mull things over myself. I know Punk’s comments will have an affect and be addressed at some point. A Michael Cole-style interjection to bludgeon me with exposition doesn’t benefit me at all.

I always come back to the Hangman/Omega story. A thing of beauty, almost half of that existed in subtext, with all these small, barely-noticeable moments that suggested so much. I didn’t need a commentator screaming, “SEEMS HANGMAN IS SAD ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT HIM.” I got it all from this.

[LaGoosh]

18 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Then at least acknowledge it. Have an announcer say ‘I wonder how MJF feels about this?’, or have Nigel say: ‘I’m surprised that MJF hasn’t come straight out’, before Riccaboni responds with: ‘I’m not - he’s got a tag team title match to focus on’ (or something like that)

It’s too obvious a question to ignore. You don’t need to transition immediately into an MJF/Punk feud; but I think it’s silly to completely ignore the elephant in the room; if you choose to have Punk cut that promo on this particular week.

Isn't ignoring the elephant kind of the whole point at the moment? Over time it builds the tension until MJF has to respond. If the announcers immediately start saying "WHERE'S MJF?" then you basically let the air out of the room straight away. It's like the commentary never mentioning the tension between Triple H/Batista in Evolution even though it's completely obvious to everyone watching.

Punk and MJF have proved that they know how to tell a story so just be patient. Commentary explaining the story is what WWE do, it's not typical AEW style.

Edited July 30, 2023 by LaGoosh

[RedRooster]

3 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Honestly, I don’t want the commentators telling me everything I should be thinking. I’d much prefer to be left to interpret and mull things over myself. I know Punk’s comments will have an affect and be addressed at some point. A Michael Cole-style interjection to bludgeon me with exposition doesn’t benefit me at all.

I always come back to the Hangman/Omega story. A thing of beauty, almost half of that existed in subtext, with all these small, barely-noticeable moments that suggested so much. I didn’t need a commentator screaming, “SEEMS HANGMAN IS SAD ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT HIM.” I got it all from this.

Of course, but there’s a clear difference between letting the moment speak for itself and asking an obvious question. 

In fact, I’d argue that it would make the moment bigger if everyone is buzzing about it after - asking what it means, and how others feel about what Punk has just done. 

[The Gaffer]

This was definitely the payoff week for those of us holding out for the yellow and red brand.

I've said it before but whilst it made for some boring early episodes, I really hope they resist the urge to cross pollinate on the shows too much to the point where they just become the same deal but with a different colour scheme. I know it's a bit partisan - and isn't that part of the fun of it all? - but I love how Collision feels significantly less goofy than Dynamite. Dynamite's - on occasion - had a bit of a smug BTE feel running through it which I totally get is just my irrational reaction to a group of guys I've never been wild about. But Collision's got none of that. It's like AEW 2-3 years removed from most  its original start up personnel/vibe but you still get that on the other show. It's a total win win for everybody. 

I love that Punk's directly leaning into straight edge stuff again. I still love his promos - and this is nothing new - but his cryptic honour-and-integrity shit is at the point now where open AI may as well be writing it. "You know, there's a lot of people who say a lot of things but I'm the one that says THE things." Okay, cool. 

Take a breath, Ricky Starks! You're on your way but have a wee think about the lines before blurting them out. This week it's like he was trying to shoe in a forgettable new catchphrase every second sentence. Reminded me a bit like Dusty telling early DDP to slow it the fuck down and allow the gimmick to come out slow and simple. There's something not quite convincing about him, but he'll get there.