The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 10.28.23

The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 10.28.23

Live from Uncasville, CT

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness

Jay White v. AR Fox

So they kind of dropped that Fox/Swerve thing completely, didn’t they? Fox was a really good heel, too. But I guess underneath babyface doing jobs for everyone is cool, too. White takes him down with a headlock and puts the boots to him in the corner, but Fox comes back with chops. Fox with a stunner out of the corner and he puts White on the floor with an enzuigiri and standing shooting star off the apron. Back in the ring, Jay suplexes him into the corner and they trade more chops as White gets two from that. DDT gets two. To the floor, where White sends him into the railing while the Gunns parade Cardblade around ringside and Nigel reveals that his full name is Cardblade Switchboard. Back in the ring, White wraps Fox up with a Muta Lock, but Fox makes the ropes. They slug it out and White continues to beat on him with chops, so Fox takes out the Bullet Club with a dive outside and then hits White with one on the other side to finally wake up the crowd. Back in, Fox flies to the top for a swanton that gets two. They fight to the top and Fox snaps him down for two. Up again for the 450, but that misses and White takes him down with the suplex and Blade Runner to finish at 10:50. Mostly an extended squash for Jay and his sweet exotic accent but Fox’s comeback was hot. *** And MJF pops out of the crowd and tries to steal his belt back, but 4-on-1 is too much and he runs away.

Meanwhile, the Acclaimed celebrate Day 69 next week on Collision, and Max accidentally gets catfished by a fake MJF.

The Boys v. The Gunns

Why the hell don’t they do anything with Dalton Castle? The man is cutting promos during his entrances and getting himself over despite zero TV time and they still refuse to find a spot for him. The Gunns double-team Brandon in the corner and finish with 310 to Yuma at 1:40.

Meanwhile, we take a look at the upcoming Kenny Omega v. MJF match, here on the show where it’s occurring, and not on one of the shows leading up to this one where it could have helped ticket sales and ratings.

Meanwhile, Danhausen wishes us a very nice and very evil Halloween.

Meanwhile, Ryan Nemeth discusses his current Hollywood success and goes to discuss it with CJ Perry, but finds Miro there instead. “We might not be seeing Ryan Nemeth for a while” notes Tony. Like we’ve been seeing him on TV before now?

Halloween Fright Night Fight, AEW Women’s title: Hikaru Shida v. Abadon

You know, if this is a Halloween themed show, it would be the perfect time for Jeff Jarrett to defend his Texas Chainsaw Massacre Death Match title that we’ve not seen on TV since he won it. Just saying. Shida is working in a dress, which I’m guessing is some kind of Street Fighter cosplay. I’m not a fighting game guy. Abadon takes her down with a headscissors while Nigel gets a quality dad joke about Adam Copeland’s Halloween costume. Abadon uses a bone to beat on her for a bit, but Shida slugs away in the corner and follows with a missile dropkick. This allows Abadon to hide under the ring and get some cheapshots from there, and back in with a codebreaker for two. During the break, Nigel clarifies that Shida is cosplaying as Ada Wong from Resident Evil. Another series that lost me a long time ago. Abadon beats on Shida with a trash can lid and the crowd wants pumpkins, which is at least different than tables I guess. Shida makes the comeback with a high knee and tries to ride a broom off the top rope, but that misses and it’s a double down. What even was she supposed to be doing there if it hit? Abadon finds a baseball bat and no-sells Shida’s comeback, and a lariat gets two. Rollup gets two. So then Abadon goes NUCLEAR and dumps a bucket of candy on the mat in place of thumbtacks, and a blockbuster onto that gets two. They trade rollups for two and Abadon gets the pumpkin, but Shida knocks it away with the kendo stick, and then puts another pumpkin on her head and finishes with the katana kick at 10:11. This was a major drag and they were trying for a wacky brawl and it just didn’t work at all. *1/2. They’re no Jeff Jarrett, is what I’m saying here.

Meanwhile, Keith Lee and Shane Taylor dislike each other. Has Shane Taylor even appeared as a character on AEW TV before? Why would anyone possibly care about this feud? And I mean that in the nicest way.

ROH TV title: Samoa Joe v. Rhett Titus

Joe slugs Titus down in the corner and beats on him with chops, but Titus pulls himself to the top…and misses the bodypress as Joe walks away. Always great. Titus keeps coming with corner boots, but Joe spikes him and finishes with the choke at 2:14 to retain.

Meanwhile, QTV returns from wherever they’ve been, as QT reveals that he’s been travelling the world defending his AAA Latin American title and now he’s bringing the title to AEW to defend against luchadors. YAY ANOTHER TITLE.

Meanwhile, Claudio reveals that Bryan Danielson suffered a broken eye socket from the Orange Punch on Wednesday, and now Orange will pay.

Ricky Starks v. Dax Harwood

They trade takedowns to start while House of Black is revealed to be watching in the crowd. Dax with the headlocks and he beats on Starks with chops in the corner and a kneedrop for one. Dax goes up and misses the diving headbutt, which allows Starks to take over with the ropewalk and a legdrop on the apron. That gets two. Man this crowd is ice cold. They slug it out and Ricky suckers him into trying a baseball slide and traps him in the ring skirt before hitting a suplex on the ramp. And now Ricky is doing the “We’ll be right back” gag as they throw to commercial. OK that joke is already beaten into the ground. Back in the ring, Starks gets two and goes to a chinlock. They slug it out on top and Starks wins that one and hits a missile dropkick for two. Ricky stops to play guitar while beating on Dax, so Dax comes back with his own chops and then walks into a knee in the corner. Back to the top and Dax brings him down with a superplex for the double down, but Ricky wins a slugfest. He tries to finish, but Dax slugs him down and cradles for two. Dax with a lariat and brainbuster for two. Man if the crowd is this dead for the main event it’s going to be REALLY embarrassing. Ricky charges and Dax hits him with a knee strike and piledriver for two, but Big Bill saves. Ricky with a piledriver on a distracted Dax for the pin at 12:24. Really flat finish to a flat match with a dead crowd. Dax tried but couldn’t get anything going here. **1/2.

Afterwards, the House of Black hits the ring for a confrontation with someone, but Rush and LFI also come out and attack the House for a big brawl.

Meanwhile, Andrade isn’t commenting on LFI or anything else at the moment.

Meanwhile, Kris Statlander wants to know what’s up with Willow and Skye Blue lately, but Skye blows them off and will talk to Julia Hart herself.

Claudio Castagnoli v. Tracy Williams

Another “in action” match that ends quickly.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe again offers to be MJF’s friend in exchange for a title shot, and all he has to do is yell out Joe’s name if he needs help.

AEW World title: MJF v. Kenny Omega

This is another weird dynamic because MJF doesn’t have possession of the belt, so what if Kenny wins tonight? An IOU? They trade wristlocks and take it to the mat, but Max strusts and walks on him. Kenny with a leapfrog, but MJF cradles him for two and they trade on the mat and battle to a stalemate. So MJF offers some sportsmanship and then pokes him in the eye, so Kenny backdrops him to the floor and follows with the Terminator Dive. And then MJF pulls out a Fosbury Flop, although he lands a bit short but still. Back in, Omega with a high cross, but MJF hits the backbreaker powerbomb for two. MJF with a headlock and Kenny fights out of that while they talk about how the winner of this match faces Jay White at Full Gear and then show another graphic for MJF facing Jay White at Full Gear. I mean, duh, we know the title isn’t changing, but little touches like that are sloppy. Omega with a snapdragon and makes a comeback with the Polish hammers and facebuster for two. MJF bails and Kenny hits him with a moonsault to the floor. Back in, Omega with a dropkick off the top for two, but a moonsault misses and Kenny lands on the knee to allow MJF to take over. He goes for the KANGAROO KICK and puts Kenny on the floor with it, but tries another dive and gets slugged down by Kenny. Omega with a backbreaker for two. MJF bails to the floor to escape a V-Trigger, so Kenny dropkicks him into the table. Kenny preps another table outside and they trade cradles in the ring, but Kenny hits him with a buckle bomb and MJF comes out of the corner with a lariat. So they fight to the apron and Kenny hits him with a snapdragon on the apron, THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING. And then he follows with a powerbomb off the apron and through the table. Well that’s not gonna help MJF’s bad neck. Back in, they slug it out and Kenny tries the One Winged Angel, but MJF reverses to a poison rana to escape and gets two. MJF with a pumphandle powerbomb for two. Omega counters out of a brainbuster and hits a piledriver for two. Back to the floor, where Kenny powerbombs MJF into the railing. Back in with a pair of snapdragons and a V-Trigger for two. Another V-Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel, but Max falls out of it while Don Callis comes out to run interference. They trade rollups off that and Kenny gets another V-Trigger for two, but Callis takes the ref and Max reverses the One Winged Angel for two. Max with the Heatseeker for two. He tries a Panama Sunrise for Adam Cole, but Kenny blocks it for two. But another try hits, and another Heatseeker finishes at 30:13 to retain. Well they not only gave us a finish but a classic match to boot. ****3/4.

And we finish with all of MJF’s challengers looking on, as Kenny and MJF share a handshake and MJF becomes the longest-reigning AEW World champion.

Well most of the show was trash, but you can’t argue with the main event. Omega delivered in the big spot yet again.