AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Jan. 6
AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Jan. 60 of 7
Collision. AEW
Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage and recap of AEW Collision on January 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Eddie Kingston is only a week into his reign as the continental champion but he is already proving himself to be a fighting champion by defending the title against Trent Beretta.
The tag team division got a little attention this week when Sting and Darby Allin battled The Wokrhorsemen and FTR took on Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black from House of Black.
We also heard from Adam Copeland following his TNT title win and subsequent title loss at Worlds End.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened on Saturday’s episode of AEW Collision.
Sting and Darby Allin vs. Workhorsemen1 of 7
Sting.AEW
Sting and Allin took on Anthony Henry and JD Drake in the opening match, but the action started before the bell with the Workhorsement attacked them during their entrance.
Ric Flair was there with Sting and Allin and threw a punch at Drake during the mayhem. The bell finally rang once everyone made it into the ring. Henry and Drake had the upper hand over the former TNT champion and kept him isolated with quick tags and double-team moves.
This was a fast-paced match that only went about seven minutes but packed a lot into that time. Sting and Allin picked up the win in a predictable but entertaining performance.
Result: Sting and Darby Allin defeated The Workhorsemen
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
The kick Henry used to trip Allin on the apron looked great. Allin had a nice bump to sell it. Drake’s move where he tosses someone up onto the apron and then clotheslines them when they bounce back is great. Seeing Henry hit a moonsault will never get old. Allin’s Coffin Drop onto Henry was shot at the perfect camera angle. Eddie Kingston vs. Trent Beretta (Continental Crown Championship)2 of 7
Collision.AEW
Kingston made the first defense of his Continental Crown Championship on Saturday’s show when he took on Beretta.
These two men were allies at All In, so they came into this bout with a level of respect for each other instead of the usual animosity we expect from opponents.
This was a hard-hitting, ugly match that featured some stiff strikes, big bumps, and even a little blood after a chop from Kingston caught Beretta on the nose.
The Mad King has been on the best run of his career for the past year, but Beretta has spent the past few months reminding everyone just how good he is when put in situations like this.
Unfortunately for Sue’s son, he is going to have to keep waiting for an AEW singles title. After a couple of near-falls, Kingston secured the win.
Result: Eddie Kingston defeated Trent Beretta
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
With the Continental Crown Championship, all three titles are still technically separate, but when they are defended together, this is what it’s called. At some point, Kingston may lose just one or two of the titles. Kingston chopped Beretta in the face at one point. It was a brutal hit that busted Beretta’s nose open, but he regrouped at ringside and kept going like a champ. He looked like he might have had a broken nose. Beretta hit a nice trio of German suplexes. The Kingdom vs. Komander and Bryan Keith3 of 7
Bryan Keith and Komander were put into an ROH World Tag Team Championship Proving Ground this week against the current ROH tag champs, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven. If Keith and Komander won, they would earn a shot at the gold in the future.
This match was designed to give the newly crowned tag team champions a victory to make them look strong, but it wasn’t a total squash. Keith and Komander are talented competitors the crowd has gotten a chance to know, so they were able to put up a good fight.
The crowd was more invested during the second half once the highly skilled luchador started doing luchador stuff all over the place.
Keith and Komander almost took them all the way to the 10-minute time limit, but Taven and Bennett got the win with less than a minute left.
Result: The Kingdom defeated Bryan Keith and Komander
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
Keith has been all over ROH and AEW programming lately. He should definitely get a contract soon. There was something wrong with the audio after the commercial break. The commentators had an echo to their voices. Adam Copeland vs. Griff Garrison4 of 7
Collision.AEW
Adam Copeland came out to talk about how he defeated Christian Cage for the TNT tiel but was screwed over when Killswitch gave his contract for a title shot to Cage following their match. He issued an open challenge for somebody to step up and fight him that was quickly answered by Griff Garrison with Maria Kanellis and Cole Karter.
Copeland tried to warn him, but Garrison slapped him, so Copeland told the ref to ring the bell and then proceeded to take the young man apart.
This could have been a two-second squash match and nobody would have batted an eye, but they actually worked a solid match for several minutes that made Garrison look better than he ever has on AEW television.
Was this a Match of the Year candidate? No, of course not, but it was a legend giving an up-and-coming star a chance to prove himself in front of thousands of fans.
Copeland earned the victory and managed to fight back against Karter after he tried to interfere.
Result: Adam Copeland defeated Griff Garrison
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Karter’s boot almost caught Copeland on the head when he went for a 450. Kanellis should be on AEW TV more often. She’s a great presence.Garrison needs to smooth out some edges, but he has a lot of the fundamentals down. Skye Blue vs. Kiera Hogan5 of 7
Collision.AEW
Blue has been all over AEW programming in recent months and that continued this week when she and Hogan stepped into the ring for a match.
These women have a lot in common. They are similar in size, height and strength, they use a similar style of offense, and they have both spent time playing second fiddle to someone else. The difference is that Hogan got out from under Jade Cargill’s thumb while Blue is still firmly under Julia Hart’s.
Even with so much in common, Hogan and Blue seemed to have difficulty finding their groove. The pace felt off somehow, almost like they couldn’t quite make it out of second gear.
Blue got the win by submission with a dragon sleeper.
Result: Skye Blue defeated Kiera Hogan
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
Hogan is such a talented wrestler. Shockingly, AEW doesn’t use her more. Hogan has a decent superkick. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Andrew Everett, House of Black vs. FTR 6 of 7
Claudio Castagnoli. AEW
The littlest giant in pro wrestling got a spot on Collision this week when Andrew Everett faced Claudio Castagnoli. Everett got in a little bit of offense, but this was essentially a squash match that gave Castagnoli the easiest win of his AEW career.
Result: Claudio Castagnoli defeated Andrew Everett
Grade: Incomplete
The main event of this week’s show was a tag team match with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler taking on Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black.
Matthews and Harwood started with a furious exchange. Wheeler tagged in but Matthews broke free before they could double-team him.
FTR is one of the best tag teams in modern wrestling, and Black and Matthews are both incredible athletes in their own right. Putting them in the ring together was an easy recipe for success.
This was physical and action-packed, which is exactly what you want out of a main event on any show. It’s hard to find anything to complain about because this was pure fun from bell to bell. Brody King tried to get involved toward the end but was thwarted by Daniel Garcia with a steel chair.
After several near-falls and “This is awesome” chants, Harwood was able to get the win by reversing a pin on Matthews to keep him down for the three-count. HOB ended up taking them out and ending the show standing over their unconscious bodies as Hart rang the bell 10 times.
Result: FTR defeated House of Black
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
Everett’s leg lariat from the top rope was great. It’s funny how Matthews went from being on 205 Live in WWE to being called one of the biggest and strongest competitors in AEW by the commentators. Harwood does everything just a little bit stiffer than the average wrestler. Even a simple shoulder block looks like it has some extra impact when he does it. The way Matthews broke up a pin by hitting Cash from the top rope and making him land on Dax and Black was awesome. The Final Word7 of 7
Eddie Kingston.AEW
A two-hour wrestling show often feels like the perfect length and episodes like this week’s Collision illustrate why that is true.
Saturday’s show moved along at a brisk pace but still made time to make sure every segment felt like it had the time it needed.
A couple of the matches felt like filler, but every show has that. What matters is that it was entertaining filler like watching Castagnoli destroy Everett or the tag team match with The Kingdom defeating Keith and Komander.
The best match of the night was FTR vs. House of Black. It’s not even a close race, although Kingston and Beretta put on an enjoyable contest earlier in the show.
Grade: B+
