AEW COLLISION REVIEW 7/27/24 ARLINGTON RESIDENCY WEEK 2

The Arlington residency hit its second week of action for AEW with a highly praised Death Before Dishonor PPV from Ring of Honor! They followed this up Saturday night with an excellent Collision & a Battle of the Belts XI event that gave us one of the more memorable moments of the night! Ending the weekend with two SEPARATE tapings of ROH put a bow on one very strong weekend for AEW. It is worth noting that it was evident that AEW made tweaks to the process of the fan experience. Entering the stadium was much more controlled and flowed more smoothly. Finding your seat was a lot easier than it was last week. They added seating as well, which is a testament to how well they have done here so far. Overall, this has been a very good move for AEW. Maybe a little mor on the biased side, but Dallas has the best wrestling audience in America. The support they show to all the companies that run their shows is unmatched. Since this week was so loaded, I will give you some of the best moments from the weekend, rather than break everything down. So, let’s go!

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The Debut of MxM Collection

These guys have been making a lot of noise since their WWE releases. AEW seemed like a lock for them. So, it was awesome seeing them debut on ROH. This debut was a great way to establish a more serious approach for ROH. Their charisma is off the charts and something worthy of attention. These guys have to be on television. And IF I’m thinking about a deal, these guys are who I would want to showcase. Hint, hint...

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Be sure to check out our interview with Mason Madden and Mansoor right here on BCP+. 

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The First Female Texas Death Match!

My goodness. Major props to both ladies for putting their bodies on the line in that way. Also, a Chanchla lined with thumb tacks was not on my bingo card this year. But here we are! Through all the blood, sweat and tears these ladies found a way to give us one hell of a match. It was brutal, it was entertaining, and it was something different from the norms of a women’s match. This match should be talked about in the same breath as Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker.

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Lee Moriarty Wins Gold!

Personally, this is one of my top moments of the year. I met Lee Moriarty last year right as Shane Taylor was recruiting him for STP. When I say that the ROH Pure Championship is on the best technical wrestler of the new generation, I’m standing absolutely on business. The crowd chanted “You deserve it” when he won. Lee Moriarty EARNED this championship. This is the first of many. Please believe there will be many.

Athena is Doing the Lord’s Work! 

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I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge your Forever ROH Women’s Champion. At this point in the game, the head of the women’s division in the industry of professional wrestling has to be Athena. I will simply leave it at this. There will be a conversation in the future about her reign. It needs to begin with the word “legendary”.

 

Hologram vs The Beast Mortos

In the immediate aftermath of this match, I had it as a candidate for match of the year. In the arena, this match surprised everyone. Not because we didn’t expect it to be good, but because we didn’t expect it to be that good. Hologram became a star Saturday night. The Beast Mortos lost the match, but he won big time as well.

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Maya World Needs a Contract!

We’ve seen her in ROH against Athena and she held her own. A twist of fate against Thunder Rosa on Collision very well could have seen her in an all-out banger. She needs the guidance of a veteran, and this woman could be main event-ing an All In. Give her a chance! Sign Maya World!

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Lance F’N Archer Ladies & Gentlemen!!

Please, God. Please let this man get this spotlight! AEW desperately needs to establish a big man. And the way he came out to his match was so unique, so surprising that I had little time to react to friend of the show GKM running away from him. It was well done, and Arlington will give Lance what he needs before the residency is up. Everybody dies. But I pray that this momentum does not for Lance Archer!

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Collision Closes Strong

I can’t express enough how much of a breath of fresh air Collision has been. Further proof of this was the co-main and main events. FTR vs MxM Collection was an awesome match. To follow that with Pac vs Lio Rush was a damned strong way to end Collision! Two weeks in a row now, Arlington has proved why coming here was a great move. A bunch of these guys are going to come out of this residency with some star power.

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Toni Storm is Incredible!

Battle of the Belts had some great moments; however, the star of the show was Toni Storm! She had a great match with Taya Valkyrie and after cut a a promo that really has me looking forward to her match at All In against Mariah May!

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Final Thoughts

The ROH tapings, I will not spoil. But I highly suggest tapping into Honor Club. There were returns, great matches and enough that I’m convinced that Tony Khan is taking ROH very seriously. ROH feels like a movement again. AEW as a whole is starting to get that 2019 feel again, where everything is fresh and exciting. As a fan, this is all you should want... a reason to tune in. This weekend gave us plenty of that.