All Elite Wrestling steps into the legendary Rupp Arena for this week’s edition of AEW Collision. A venue with lasting power, it has been standing since 1976 and has been home to WCW, WWE, and now AEW. Though also a locale with infamy.
The state of Kentucky had famously very strict rules regarding its athletic commission. Which WWE violated for the 2006 edition of Backlash. The main event of John Cena, Edge & Triple H for the WWE Championship saw blood. It was a big no-no and resulted in WWE being banned from running shows in Kentucky for 3 years. So, it’s a good thing Jon Moxley isn’t on the show tonight.
TONIGHT! @jaywhitenz will take on @thedaltoncastle LIVE from Lexington, KY!
Don’t miss Saturday Night #AEWCollision Fight For The Fallen at 8/7c on TNT!
🎟️ https://t.co/UN1cNj1SFY
Based on the horrific fires in Maui, proceeds from #AEWCollision, will go to @mauifoodbank pic.twitter.com/JNouU2KcLY— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 19, 2023
Challenging The So-Called Champion
Darby Allin won the right to challenge for the TNT Championship at the upcoming All Out pay-per-view event after winning this years Royal Rampage. Taking a slight step back from his feud with Swerve Strickland, AR Fox, and the Mogul Embassy when it comes to Saturdays, Darby Allin attacked Christian Cage and current TNT Champion Luchasaurus last week on Collision following Luchasaurus’ own attack the day prior on Rampage.
Since Darby already has a match with the real Champion secured, he figured he should challenge Christian Cage. Who constantly parades around with the TNT title Darby held proud twice before as he was the actual Champion after failing to defeat Wardlow in a Ladder match at Double Or Nothing.
Darby Allin and Christian Cage have met prior. A couple of weeks ago in a tag team match with CM Punk and Ricky Starks as their respective partners. However, this is the first time the two-time TNT Champion faces the former NWA, ECW, and World Heavyweight Champion in a match.
It will certainly be interesting as Christian Cage’s one one-on-one matches have become such a rarity. It will also come one day after what is rumored to be Edge’s retirement match on SmackDown against Sheamus.
Nightingale vs. Diamante
Last week on AEW Collision, Diamante and Mercedes Martinez were able to defeat the tandem of Willow Nightingale and the current TBS Champion, Kris Statlander.
Martinez and Diamante showed far more cohesion despite their use of questionable tactics. As noted by Nigel McGuinness, they came to the ring together. Statlander and Nightingale did not. However, things are slightly different this week.
As it’s a one-on-one match. Diamante takes on the winner of the Owen Hart Cup on the female side. Despite winning the said tournament, Willow has not had the best of luck since then. Can she win and bounce back? Or will Diamante be able to find the same success in a one-on-one scenario as she did the previous week alongside Mercedes Martinez?
FTR Will Speak
As controversy burst yesterday regarding Cash Wheeler, FTR’s defense of the AEW Tag Team titles falls into question. The whole situation obviously casts a very dark cloud over their scheduled match against The Young Bucks at All In. Tonight, they are scheduled to speak and are even scheduled to have a face-to-face interview with the Young Bucks on Dynamite.
Both were announced after all of this news broke. So it seems AEW is pretty confident in Cash Wheeler. Regardless, it will be very interesting to hear what they have to say. Will they address this issue?
Who Will Redeem Who?
Last week Powerhouse Hobbs claimed he needed to redeem himself after a series of setbacks and challenged Miro to a match at All Out. However, his claims of no longer being a part of QTV seemed to be a ruse as Nick Comoroto and Aaron Solo attacked Miro as Hobbs looked on. Today both Miro and Hobbs will speak their mind now that this match is set.
All that, plus Ricky Starks is now running around with a manager’s license and more tonight on AEW Collision.
More From LWOS Pro Wresting
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.
