AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Oct. 28
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Collision on October 28.
This week's show not only featured the pretender to the throne, Jay White, taking on AR Fox, but we also saw the actual world champion in action when MJF defended the title White still has in his possession against Kenny Omega.
The Women's World Championship was also on the line when Hikaru Shida defended the belt against the closest human to being the living embodiment of Halloween, Abadon.
The House of Black was also there to keep things spooky as we close out October. Let's take a look at everything that happened on Saturday's episode of Collision.
Jay White vs. AR Fox
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Collision opened with Bullet Club Gold making the full four-man entrance for White's match against AR Fox.
Fox has a slight size advantage but it wasn't enough to make a significant different, so White had the upper hand right away due to having three men at ringside who are always trying to find ways to cheat for each other.
The bout started off plainly enough. They locked up, struggled for control and traded some chops in the corner. You could tell both guys were pacing themselves at first, but a springboard stunner from Fox immediately amped things up.
This was more competitive than it needed to be, but it was still obvious from the start who was getting the win. Fox has barely been on AEW TV in weeks, so the odds of him being booked to beat White, who is being heavily pushed, were never high.
Switchblade hit the Bladerunner to get the pin and the win to end a solid but predictable match. MJF tried to steal his belt back but was thwarted by White and the rest of BCG.
Result: Jay White pinned AR Fox
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Fox just kind of disappeared from the whole Darby Allin-Nick Wayne feud for some reason.
- Nigel McGuinness making sure the other announcers don't take the world title belt so they could give it back to MJF was funny.
- The way Fox moves through the air almost doesn't look real sometimes. It's as if he is moving too smoothly like a video game character.
- Some of the noises Juice Robinson makes can't be described in words.
The Gunns vs. The Boys, Hikaru Shida vs. Abadon (Women's Title)
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Austin and Colten Gunn were able to stay at ringside because the next match on the card saw the former AEW tag team champions battle The Boys.
Dalton Castle accompanied his allies to the ring but his presence made no difference. The match was over almost as quickly as it started. The Gunns scored an easy squash victory.
Result: The Gunns defeated The Boys
Grade: Incomplete
Up next was the Fright Night Fight for the AEW women's title. Shida showed up in Ada Wong cosplay from Resident Evil while Abadon wore their usual attire and freaky face paint.
This was basically a Hardcore match with no rules, so weapons and Halloween themed items were scattered around the ring and used often.
This was designed to be a fun, goofy Halloween-themed match, and both women were up to the challenge. They incorporated some fun spots while still making sure this felt like a competitive fight.
This was easily the best exposure Abadon has had since arriving in AEW. The fans love Shida but plenty of people were cheering for the green-haired grappler every time they gained the upper hand.
The champion retained her title with a Katana kick, but Abadon came away from this looking like a real threat.
Result: Hikaru Shida pinned Abadon to retain the women's title
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The announcers did a good job respecting Abadon's preferred pronouns.
- Abadon may not speak in interviews but there was a moment when their mouth was clearly saying something at the camera that couldn't be heard.
- Abadon's scream is truly bloodcurdling.
Samoa Joe vs. Rhett Titus (ROH TV Title), Ricky Starks vs. Dax Harwood
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Samoa Joe was in action this week against Rhett Titus, which has been an ROH regular since the brand returned under Tony Khan's ownership.
This was a match for the ROH Television Championship, which continued the trend of ROH titles not being defended on ROH shows.
This might not have been as much of a squash as The Gunns vs. The Boys was, but it was still a very one-sided fight that ended with Joe retaining his title.
Result: Samoa Joe bulldozed over Rhett Titus
Grade: Incomplete
The rivalry between the duo of Ricky Starks and Big Bill and the former tag team champions, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, continued this week when Starks and Wheeler competed in a singles match.
The House of Black was shown standing in the crowd to watch the match. Julia Hart was on the stage. They immediately distracted Harwood and put him off his game.
Wheeler and Bill were at ringside to support their respective partners, but the focus kept shifting to Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews.
This was a hard-hitting match that saw both men take a couple of big bumps. The camera kept cutting to show HOB, but the longer the match went, the more the focus shifted back to the action in the ring.
Starks proved his tag title win wasnt a fluke when he scored the pin, but as soon as the match was over, the lights went out. Hart was shown on the stage for a moment before HOB appeared in the ring.
Rush, Dralistico and Preston Vance joined the party to create a four-team standoff. LFI and FTR appeared to team up and a huge brawl started.
Result: Ricky Starks pinned Dax Harwood
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The crowd was more into seeing HOB than the wrestlers in the ring when they first arrived.
- The way Harwood hit the mat when Starks avoided a splash looked rough.
- Starks is so great at walking on the top rope and making it look easy. Even with someone holding his hand for support, it's not easy to do that and dance at the same time.
Clausio Castagnoli vs. Tracy Williams, MJF vs. Kenny Omega (AEW World Title)
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Claudio Castagnoli was in a bad mood as he walked to the ring for his match against Tracy Williams. The man called Hot Sauce took a stiff uppercut to start the match and never quite found his footing after that. The Swiss Superman defeated him soundly with a huge uppercut to earn a flawless victory.
Result: Claudio Castagnoli squashed Tracy Williams
Grade: Incomplete
The main event of this week's show was the world title bout between Omega and the man who is about to pass him as the longest-reigning AEW champion, MJF.
This is a match that could headline any AEW pay-per-view, so getting it on a random episode of Collision was a nice surprise this week. The official introductions took place with just over 30 minutes left in the show, so Tony Khan gave them plenty of time to make sure this bout felt special.
They started off with a nice technical exchange of holds and counters as the crowd chanted both of their names back and forth.
MJF was hitting moves he almost never uses like a running moonsault out of the ring. He was playing to the crowd quite a bit, and the fans were giving him just as much in return.
Other than the fact that this was just another episode of Collision, everything about the presentation of this match felt big, and both men clearly brought their A-game to make sure the fans left happy no matter who won.
For nearly 30 minutes, these two men delivered a fantastic performance that will easily stand out as one of the best matches in the short history of Collision. Don Callis showed up with a screwdriver just as Omega was preparing to hit his finisher. The ref ejected him but the distraction gave MJF enough time to recover.
Everyone's favorite scumbag used a couple of Adam Cole's moves before hitting The Heatseaker for one of the biggest wins of his career.
Result: MJF defeated Kenny Omega to retain the world title
Grade: A
Notable Moments and Observations
- Williams is a great wrestler and anyone who is not familiar with him should check out his work in ROH.
- Samoa Joe was shown giving MJF some advice before the main event.
- MJF's tights looked more like something Kip Sabian would wear.
- This match was presented with limited commercials, which Tony Schiavone made sure to mention more than once.
- Omega not quite making it to his feet when both men popped up from the mat was kind of funny.
The Final Word
5 of 5This week's Collision was mostly business as usual, but the main event between MJF and Omega helped elevate this episode above the norm.
Having MJF shake hands with both the ref and Omega to end the show really helped cement him as a babyface and gave the show a great sign-off moment.
The other big highlights were Shida vs. Abadon and Starks vs. Harwood. The squash matches we got helped fill some time, but the three bouts mentioned above are the ones people will be talking about.
With so many challengers still waiting in the wings, MJF's reign as champion is still very much in jeopardy.
Grade: A-
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