Sir. Elton John says “Saturday Nights are alright for fighting.” And he got knighted alongside having an incredible music career. So, he must be right. Right? All Elite Wrestling’s second episode of AEW Collision comes to us live this week from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The former Air Canada Centre has seen quite a fair share of wrestling events from WWE and WCW. It now adds AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Not just with Collision, but also the next day for a sold-out Forbidden Door pay-per-view event.
THIS SATURDAY! It’s the final stop before #ForbiddenDoor with Saturday Night #AEWCollision LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on @tntdrama 💥 pic.twitter.com/bdDxFVL4re
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 23, 2023
Tell Him When He’s Teaming Up
Last week saw CM Punk’s return alongside FTR. This week a fourth man is added to the mixture in Ricky Starks. Starks was the victim of an attack from Bullet Club Gold on AEW Dynamite when he tried to rescue The Hardys from them.
The Hardys were too beaten to help. But not CM Punk and FTR. Who came to chase two of the three men they defeated last week and their two new associates. Setting the stage for this follow-up match. As CM Punk and FTR add Ricky Starks to their ranks to take on Bullet Club Gold: “Switchblade” Jay White, “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson and The Gunns, Austin, and Colten Gunn.
Swerved Into A Dream Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi is challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door. But he has a major opponent beforehand in Swerve Strickland. A dream match one could say as the man that has dominated the Seattle indie scene, Major League Wrestling, and left a mark on Lucha Underground gets the chance to trade holds with “The Ace” of NJPW.
This will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s first-ever singles match on primetime AEW programming. Though not his first on prime-time TV. As he’s of course been featured on AXS’ weekly New Japan show and he’s also appeared on TNA Impact. But never has he wrestled in front of such a large TV audience despite his legendary career. Go, Ace! But can Swerve derail him?
Owen Hart Cup Action
The second match of the women’s wing of The Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament takes place on AEW Collision. A peculiar one. As Willow Nightingale will pull double duty. First competing in the tournament. Then the next night, she challenges Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World title at Forbidden Door.
The first and current NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion, winning said title by beating none other than Mercedes Mone, is set to take on former Women’s Champion, “The Native Beast” Nyla Rose. Willow has been very popular when in action. But never quite enjoyed much momentum. Can she change that here, in the Owen Cup?
Will Andrade Still Stand Alone?
Following his return and victory over Buddy Matthews last week, Andrade found himself in a bit of a pickle. As he fell, victim to a House Of Black attack. As his one-time rival in NXT just watched.
This week, he takes on the imposing man that attacked him, Brody King. Can Andrade make two in a row this week despite now being under the eye of The House of Black? Or can he possibly manage to call for help? We know Andrade has some history with New Japan, a former Intercontinental Champion.
And he did influence the creation of a certain popular group and several off-shoots. The question is if the said reunion is in fact possible. Perhaps with the American branch. Or maybe even the Japanese branch. Will we see some Ingobernables save Andrade?
All that plus two segments have been announced. First, Christian Cage will address the TNT Championship. Which, despite Luchasaurus winning, it was “The Instant Classic” that held it up in celebration. And also, Sting and Darby Allin will reveal their partner for their Trios match at Forbidden Door against Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki.
Last year, Hiromu Takahashi was set to team with Sting and Darby Allin. However, a fever prevented him from traveling, so Shingo Takagi took his place. Is this perhaps Hiromu Takahashi’s redemption? All that and more on the second episode of AEW Collision.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night.
