{"id":163117,"date":"2023-07-30T19:53:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T00:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=163117"},"modified":"2023-07-30T19:53:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T00:53:33","slug":"aew-collision-hits-misses-7-29-bryants-evaluation-of-cole-mjf-vs-ftr-miros-promo-andrade-matthews-ladder-match-punk-starks-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/07\/30\/aew-collision-hits-misses-7-29-bryants-evaluation-of-cole-mjf-vs-ftr-miros-promo-andrade-matthews-ladder-match-punk-starks-more\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW COLLISION HITS &#038; MISSES (7\/29): Bryant\u2019s evaluation of Cole &#038; MJF vs. FTR, Miro&#8217;s promo, Andrade-Matthews ladder match, Punk-Starks, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1006640507\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>AEW COLLISION &#8211; HITS &amp; MISSES<br \/>\nJULY 29, 2023<br \/>\nHARTFORD, CONN.<br \/>\nAIRED LIVE ON TNT<br \/>\nBY DAVID BRYANT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Commentators: Nigel McGuinness &amp; Ian Riccaboni (We miss you, J.R.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ring Announcer: Dasha Gonzalez<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&#8211; Heyyy! Welcome back to the only Hits &amp; Misses column that answers the question, \u201cWhat is a lot?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>COLD OPEN \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s cold open hyped both Darby Allin\u2019s open challenge and the AEW Tag Team Championship match that main evented the show. These cold opens are an overwhelming hit with me, and I continue to implore Tony Khan, C.M. Punk, Jerry Lynn, or whomever is in charge of these segments to bring them to Dynamite because these take up a small amount of time, but they pack a big punch.<\/p>\n<p>As for the individual promos:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Darby Allin\u2019s calm and cerebral delivery is what I imagine it would sound like if Johnny Depp played Norman Bates, and I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The MJF and Adam Cole portion of this cold open was excellent because of course it was.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1263630106\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8211; As for FTR, I\u2019ve been hard on their promos these past couple of weeks, but this one hit all the right notes with me, and that\u2019s hard to do because I don\u2019t have frets.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ANDRADE EL IDOLO vs. BUDDY MATTHEWS (w\/Julia Hart) \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have never seen two grown men want to cosplay as Roman Sionis so badly in my entire life. This match contained a buckle bomb (I thought those were banned?), a sunset flip powerbomb onto a bridged ladder, and the memorable image of Idolo climbing the ladder with Julia Hart on his back. Thankfully, this match was not as stupidly violent as I feared it might be, and in fact, I feel like it hit the perfect balance of derring-do, derring-don\u2019t, and derring-devil.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MIRO\u2019S PROMO \u2014 MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Consistent with everything we know about the characteristic restraint of professional wrestling, Miro was attacked from behind before getting out a single word. By the way, this is why Miro cuts his promos in dimly lit closets; it makes it much less likely he\u2019ll get hit from behind by a soon-to-be-murdered wrestler he has never heard of.<\/p>\n<p>(Also, hire Lana.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>DARBY ALLIN vs. MINORU SUZUKI \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The more I see of Darby Allin, the more I think about a question from this week\u2019s Dynamite-edition of The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-Show (which you can listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/07\/27\/free-podcast-7-26-wade-keller-pro-wrestling-post-show-aew-dynamite-w-keller-sage-latest-with-mjf-cole-a-r-fox-gets-spotlight-darby-vs-swerve-live-callers-emails-128-min\/\">HERE<\/a>). That show featured a discussion about which wrestlers should make up the next generation of AEW Champions, and I called in and gave a list of five men I would champion to be champions. My list (in this order) included Darby Allin, Miro, Hook, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Ricky Starks.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2732862687\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>While I think all five men would make excellent world champions, I listed them in the order I thought would be most advantageous to the company. I had Allin at the bottom of my list and Starks at the top. However, I spent this entire match wondering if I had that list in the right order. Allin can deliver in the ring; he is slowly beginning to deliver on the microphone, and he is over enough that professing affection for Punk was enough to reroute a booing crowd. I\u2019m not saying Allin should be at the top of that list, but I\u2019m not sure he should be at the bottom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOT ANNOUNCING SUZUKI IN ADVANCE \u2014 MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Suzuki is a 55-year-old living legend who should be treated as a special attraction because, for all we know, he may not have that many years left in the tank. I\u2019m not saying every Suzuki appearance needs to be broadcast in 72-point font, but this was his Collision debut, and it feels like you\u2019re leaving \u201chype\u201d on the table by not advertising it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CHRISTIAN\u2019S PROMO \u2014 MEGA-HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>OMG, Christian is good at this! He is the smarmiest of smarms. I am fully convinced he rescues kittens in reverse and ties damsels to railroad tracks so he can brag about rescuing them. I can\u2019t wait for the day Luchasaurus chokeslams him into the mouth of a volcano because I\u2019m pretty sure it will also be the same day we learn volcanos have gag reflexes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TONI STORM\u2019S PROMO &amp; VIDEO PACKAGE \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I want to say&#8230; I LOVE Toni Storm. In fact, I was so ahead of the curve on stanning this fantastic athlete that while filming an unreleased pilot episode of a potential Double or Nothing prediction show for PWTorch\u2019s YouTube channel, I went on a fully hinged, modestly-lengthed 40-minute monologue about why Toni Storm is the best thing to happen to women\u2019s wrestling since GLOW (except season 3), and you can watch a two-minute snippet of that totally sane rant <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0kouq6SDrGI\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SAMOA JOE vs. GRAVITY \u2014 MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure Gravity truly appreciated the gravity of his situation. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not anti-Gravity, but my theory on Gravity is that no matter how much he tried to defy the odds, he was always destined to go down.<\/p>\n<p><strong>C.M. PUNK PROMO \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>C.M. Punk knows that All In is scheduled for next month, and unlike the rest of the company, he isn\u2019t confused by it. However, he is a little confused about how championships work, but in the grand scheme of things that don\u2019t make sense in wrestling, this pales in comparison to companies hiring referees that get knocked out more than extras in kung fu movies.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of referees, I am personally thrilled that Punk actually acknowledged Starks\u2019s cheating. I don\u2019t know any other sport where cheating is considered such a norm that you don\u2019t even mention it the next day. I am sick of wrestlers saying things like, \u201cThe better man won last night,\u201d after getting shot in the neck with a poison dart and then hearing the announcers call it \u201cresourceful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, after a \u201cWhat\u2019s in the bag?\u201d chant that had nothing to do with pot, Punk pulled out his old championship belt, which I guess is like a medal you get to keep? Who knew? Punk then NWO-ed the belt by spray-painting it with a big black X.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICKY STARKS\u2019S FIRST ENTRANCE \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ricky Starks came out and demanded the production truck play his music and ordered everyone watching to pretend they never saw him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICKY STARKS\u2019S SECOND ENTRANCE \u2014 MEGA-HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They pretended they never saw him!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICKY STARKS\u2019S &amp; PUNK\u2019S BACK \u2018N\u2019 FORTH \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The best line of the night came from out of this exchange when Punk said, \u201cAre you the face of Collision, or are you the face of cheating?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t seen a murder like that since Vince\u2019s Limo.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Did you know that PWTorch VIP membership gives you access to an ad-free version of this website (mobile and desktop versions), an unmatched 35 year library of insider wrestling content in newsletter article and podcast formats, dozens of new VIP-exclusive podcasts throughout the month (that are easily compatible with Apple Podcasts App, Apple Car Play, and many other popular podcast apps), and more benefits. Check out details and sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorchvipinfo.com\/\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>SCHIAVONE\u2019S PSYCHIC ABILITIES \u2014 WTF?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The oddest line of the night was when C.M. Punk asked Schiavone to tell the audience the name of the secret guest referee he was thinking of, and Schiavone got it right because magic. To top it off, this was after Tony Khan had already used telepathy to inform Schiavone that the Starks vs. Punk match was next week.<\/p>\n<p>TBH, I\u2019d go see a Schiavone show in Vegas. We could find out if his telepathy is strong enough to warn wrestlers when they\u2019re about to be attacked from behind by a man with a chair standing just off-camera but in clear view of everyone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE GRAPHICS TEAM \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Having a pre-made graphic of a belt with a black spray-painted X on it just lying around is a level of preparedness MacGyver couldn\u2019t reach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE GUNN CLUB &amp; ROBINSON vs. VIKINGO &amp; MARTIN &amp; ANDRETTI \u2014 MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Given the athleticism of the men in this match, I honestly had higher expectations. There wasn\u2019t anything overtly bad about this match, but given how hot the rest of the show was, it felt cold and like I had hit fast-forward on a Power Rangers montage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MERCEDES MARTINEZ vs. KEIRA HOGAN (THE MATCH) \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am thrilled to see Martinez back on national television again, and by television, I mean the commercial break, mostly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MARTINEZ vs. HOGAN (THE AFTERMATH) \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After a solid and enjoyable match, Statlander ran out to check on Hogan, and Martinez attacked her. This led to Willow Nightingale (disguised as a normal person) running out to save the day. I\u2019m not sure where this is leading, but if Martinez, Hogan, and Nightingale are involved, it\u2019s definitely leading somewhere good (and that somewhere better not be in a commercial break.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>FTR vs. MJF &amp; ADAM COLE \u2014 HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>MJF hugged a fan before the match, and I\u2019m pretty sure you need a vaccine for that.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd shook the rafters with dueling chants before the first lock-up took place, and they were right to do so. This match was magnificent, even if it didn\u2019t entirely adhere to the rules, which is okay because AEW\u2019s rules are probably written on a roll of two-ply toilet paper anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, there was no amount of rule-bending, testicular chanting, or improbable spots that could bring this match down. FTR is nearly incapable of having a bad match, and even if they were, MJF &amp; Adam Cole wouldn\u2019t let them.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have time to watch the entire show, at least watch this match. It is not something AEW fans should miss.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE SWERVE \u2014 MEGA-HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes the best swerve is no swerve at all.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FINAL THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Collision continues to be a stellar show and better than Dynamite. On this week\u2019s Collision-edition of The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-Show (which you can listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/07\/30\/free-podcast-7-29-wade-keller-pro-wrestling-post-show-aew-collision-w-keller-moynahan-mjf-cole-challenge-ftr-punk-reveals-contents-of-bags-three-on-site-reports-mailbag-ca\/\">HERE<\/a>), Keller said, \u201cI am unexpectedly not resenting AEW adding a fourth live professional wrestling show.\u201d He then went on to say, \u201cIf Collision ever gets crappy, I reserve the right to change my mind, but\u2026 \u2026I look forward to Collision. This is fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I agree. Collision is better than I ever imagined it would be, and I\u2019m almost getting tired of having to give this show all A\u2019s and B\u2019s, but I can\u2019t give bad grades to good shows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SHOW GRADE: A<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thank you all for reading. I truly appreciate it. And as always, I\u2019m still working on my sign-off, but until next week, remember, always keep an open mind and think for yourself unless you\u2019re near Tony Schiavone because he is telepathic.<\/p>\n<p><em>(A picture of David Bryant juggling fire can be found on his X account (not porn) @IamDavidBryant; a video of David Bryant playing guitar can be found on his Instagram account @IamDavidBryant, and a Threads account that David Bryant hopes will someday be usable can be found at @IamDavidBryant. Also, having just now read over this paragraph for a third week in a row, I still feel like I could have written this in a more concise manner, but against all odds (not the PPV), I somehow keep making it worse.)<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/07\/29\/aew-collision-results-7-29-kellers-report-on-mjf-adam-cole-challening-ftr-cm-punk-speaks-joe-vs-gravity-kiera-hogan-vs-mercedes-martinez\/\">AEW COLLISION RESULTS (7\/29): Keller\u2019s report on MJF &amp; Adam Cole challening FTR, CM Punk speaks, Joe vs. Gravity, Kiera Hogan vs. Mercedes Martinez<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>OR CHECK OUT JASON POWELL&#8217;S REPORT AT PROWRESTLING.NET:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2023\/07\/29\/aew-collision-results-7-29-powells-live-review-of-ftr-vs-mjf-and-adam-cole-for-the-aew-tag-titles-andrade-el-idolo-vs-buddy-matthews-in-a-ladder-match-roh-tv-champion-samoa-joe-vs-gravity\/\">AEW Collision results (7\/29): Powell\u2019s live review of FTR vs. MJF and Adam Cole for the AEW Tag Titles, Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews in a ladder match, ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. Gravity<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/wkpwps\">Wade Keller&#8217;s free podcasts<\/a> by searching &#8220;Wade Keller&#8221; in your podcast app. They include a weekly flagship episode (blue-logo show) and the post-shows after Raw, Dynamite, Smackdown, and Rampage (red logo show) with a mix of best-of episodes too!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3275545&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=show&amp;cover_image_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd1bm3dmew779uf.cloudfront.net%2Fcover%2F08e27160be22d479531dd89afeb08765.jpg\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1206852004\"><div id=\"pwtor-1076106482\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>AEW COLLISION &#8211; HITS &amp; MISSES JULY 29, 2023 HARTFORD, CONN. AIRED LIVE ON TNT BY DAVID BRYANT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Commentators: Nigel McGuinness &amp; Ian Riccaboni (We miss you, J.R.) Ring Announcer: Dasha Gonzalez &#8211; <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/07\/30\/aew-collision-hits-misses-7-29-bryants-evaluation-of-cole-mjf-vs-ftr-miros-promo-andrade-matthews-ladder-match-punk-starks-more\/\" title=\"AEW COLLISION HITS &#038; MISSES (7\/29): Bryant\u2019s evaluation of Cole &#038; MJF vs. FTR, Miro&#8217;s promo, Andrade-Matthews ladder match, Punk-Starks, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-29-at-12.17.41-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163118,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163117\/revisions\/163118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}