AEW Collision kicks off with a huge start and promising future

AEW continues to build momentum throughout the spring and summer and AEW Collision is the next big step for growth.

Saturday night professional wrestling is back in a big way. All Elite Wrestling kicked off its new show with the proverbial bang. There is a lot of excitement for the show and the promotion coming out of the June 17 episode, and that energy is the right response. There were a lot of great moments to take away from Saturday’s show, helping to set the tone for what the future could become.

CM Punk’s return is obviously the start of the conversation. The fallout with The Elite is at the top of everyone’s mind and he came right out to address that in a way that only Punk can. How much of it was real versus fake is for professional wrestling fans and media personalities to speculate about. And speculate they will. All the while giving AEW the views and dollars that any promotion would covet.

But where does Punk go from here? His interactions with Samoa Joe brought the crowd to their feet and is the perfect type of feud to capture wrestling’s attention. These are two of the elder statesmen in the profession, two of the best talkers, and two men that shine when telling a story in the ring. Everything that a main event scene needs to thrive.

The returns of Andrade and Miro were huge moments of the night too. AEW has a championship-level player in both men, but their runs in the company haven’t lived up to fans’ desire or hype.

Andrade being attacked by the House of Black sets the stage for a trios feud with La Faccion Ingobernable. Think about that match. Andrade, Rush, and Preston Vance versus Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, and Brody King? No one would turn away from that action.

Where Miro goes is another big question. AEW doesn’t force performers into the heel or babyface dynamic, and he’s one that walks that line perfectly. He could go in a number of directions but all of them need to point toward a major title run of some sort. Could Miro unseat MJF? Potentially, but there’s a lot of work that needs to happen between now and then.

The big question is how this new show will benefit AEW’s women’s division. While AEW is still a young company, fans continue to question why the show fails to put multiple women’s matches on its weekly programming. With such a talented roster of ladies, there are more than enough women to feature on all of their shows, and giving them more than one match shouldn’t be this big of a challenge. The first episode featured yet another Outcasts tag match, and not only is it time to move past that angle, but it is time to put more women on television consistently.

Fans should be excited about AEW Collision. The show got off to a hot start. Hopefully, that momentum can stay the course as weeks and months pass because AEW needs to continue presenting this show as must-see television each week.