AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 22

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Collision on July 22.

Last week's final in the men's Owen Hart Cup Tournament ended in controversy after Ricky Starks used the ring ropes to help him get the win.

In addition to addressing that situation, AEW also booked a match between two women who have been on the rise in AEW lately when Skye Blue took on Taya Valkyrie.

We're still over a month away from All In on August 27, but AEW has already started planting seeds for the feuds that will make up the card.

Let's take a look at what happened on Saturday's episode of Collision.

Opening Segment, Action Andretti and Darius Martin vs. Bullet Club Gold

AEW

Collision.

The show opened with Ricky Starks coming out with a huge pyro display. He bragged about his win for a few moments before CM Punk showed up.

He said he wasn't mad at Ricky and was even kind of proud of him. He then trashed New Jersey's hockey team and said a few more heel lines to get some heat.

They were joined by Christian, Luchasaurus and Darby Allin, who suggested a tag team match that was booked on the spot for later in the show. This was an effective segment that didn't overstay its welcome and set up a couple of potential feuds.

Grade: B-

The first match of the night was a tag team bout between Bullet Club Gold and the team of Andretti and Martin.

Jay White and Juice Robinson took control of Martin early, but he used his speed to counter their offense and make the tag to Andretti for a springboard corkscrew crossbody.

While the high-flyers certainly hit a bunch of nice spots, most of this match was dominated by White and Robinson. They even had Austin and Colten Gunn at ringside to give them an advantage.

This was a relatively normal tag team contest. It followed a familiar pattern and ended exactly the way we all expected it to with Bullet Club Gold getting the win.

Winners: Bullet Club Gold

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Punk needs to fully turn heel soon. Acting like a heel and then teaming up with a babyface isn't fooling anyone. 
• The Gunns have been hitting the gym. You can see how much more muscular they are than even a few months ago. 
• Andretti's springboard corkscrew crossbody looked fantastic. 
• The double-team move Andretti and Martin tried with the dropkick and the German suplex was mistimed by half a second, but they pulled it off in the end. 

Miro vs. Nick Comoroto

AEW

Collision.

As Miro was making his entrance, Nick Comoroto attacked him on the stage and beat him all the way to the ring.

Once they got in and the bell rang, Comoroto hit a fireman's carry slam for a quick one-count.

Once he regained his footing, The Bulgarian Brute unleashed a huge kick before locking in his version of the Camel Clutch for the win. This was short but it made Miro look like a badass, so it was effective.

Winner: Miro

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Comoroto is one of the few people in AEW who can give Miro a physical challenge. 
• Miro looks as fired up as he has ever been during his career. He's ready for the main event scene. 

House of Black vs. Acclaimed (Trios Titles)

AEW

Collision.

The Trios Championships were on the line this week when Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King took on Max Caster, Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn.

Matthews decided he wasn't a fan of rap music and kicked Caster's face in while he was rapping on his way to the ring. This led to all hell breaking loose with all six men.

The HOB controlled the pace for a long time after getting the upper hand right away. Julia Hart paced around the ring looking pleased as her boys proceeded to dish out punishment like sides at Thanksgiving dinner.

The Acclaimed tried to rally, but one kick from Black put down Gunn for the pin. This was a pretty one-sided match but in a way that made sense.

Winners: The House of Black

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• King moves around better than a lot of guys who are the same size. He's no speed demon, but he's by no means slow. 
• They were just a second late doing the spot where King pulled Bowens off the apron to prevent a tag. It didn't look terrible, but it didn't look great either. 
• Black whispered something to Gunn before they left. This led to Daddy Ass taking off his boots and leaving them in the ring. 

Skye Blue vs. Taya Valkyrie

AEW

Collision.

Ever since she showed up in AEW, Valkyrie has acted like both a heel and a babyface at different times depending on who she is facing. This week, she battled a pure babyface in Blue, so La Wera Loca was playing up her villainous side a bit more.

She shoved the 23-year-old and used her superior strength to corner Skye for some strikes. Valkyrie was able to take her down with a shoulder tackle to temporarily stall her momentum.

They fought through the commercial break and we returned to see both women down on the mat after an exchange of kicks.

This could have been a quick match with a predictable result, but they ended up having a competitive fight that seemed like it could go either way. Both competitors looked good, but only one can walk away with the W.

Blue came close, but Valkyrie was able to pick up the victory with Road to Valhalla. She grabbed a mic and gave a heel promo where she insulted New Jersey and issued a challenge to Britt Baker.

Winner: Taya Valkyrie

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Blue entrance music is very rhythmic. It sounds like something you might hear while models are walking on a runway. 
• The New Jersey crowd was heavily in favor of Blue. They were chanting her name and booed loudly whenever Valkyrie hit a move. 
• The way Skye's face hit the mat when Valkyrie hit her finisher looked painful. 

Christian Cage and Ricky Starks vs. CM Punk and Darby Allin

The main event of the evening was the tag match set up in the opening segment with Allin and Punk taking on Starks and Cage.

With Punk and Cage operating more as heels while Allin and Starks are babyfaces, this match had an interesting dynamic on both sides of the ring.

Starks and Punk began the match for their teams and The Second City Savior almost hit the GTS right away. Starks tagged out, so Punk brought Cage in the hard way and started running him from corner to corner.

Starks and Cage tried to get on the same page, but Punk ended up countering their double-team efforts to maintain control.

They had almost the whole final half-hour of the show, so all four guys had plenty of opportunities to make sure they spent time in the ring with both opponents. Scorpio Sky was also shown sitting in a skybox watching the action.

While this was a solid outing, you could see the lack of chemistry on both sides of the ring, which has to be expected when you have two duos who have never teamed up before. It also played into the story they were telling with Starks and Cage not getting along.

Starks ended up winning the match by using the ropes for leverage when he pinned Allin just as he did in the Owen Hart Cup finals against Punk.

Winners: Ricky Starks and Christian Cage

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Starks and Cage argued about who would start the match until the ref almost counted them out. 
• Allin's face paint was much different this week. He used a lot more black than he usually does and it didn't look like his usual skull design. 
• It was hard to tell if it was timing or chemistry that was the issue, but there were a handful of moments in this match that came across as awkward. It was like one person would forget what was supposed to happen for a second, so they would just improvise. 
• The way Starks strutted while he was walking on the top rope was hilarious. 
• Section 5 was chanting for itself during the match, so the rest of the arena started booing the fans in that section. 

The Final Word

Last week's Collision was arguably one of the best episodes of AEW TV this year, but this week's show felt more like business as usual.

Bullet Club Gold vs. Martin and Andretti was a major highlight on the show, but Blue and Valkurie also put on a good performance that is worth checking out.

Punk and Starks were both showing signs of a heel turn this week, Daddy Ass teased a possible retirement, and House of Black retained the trios titles in a dominant performance.

This was a decent episode, but it was going to be hard for anything to follow ROH Death Before Dishonor from Friday night.

Grade: C+