CM Punk makes AEW return on Collision debut on TSN+
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CM Punk teams with FTR against Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold. Plus, Andrade El Idolo meets House of Black's Buddy Matthews and Miro returns to action. You can catch AEW Collision LIVE on Saturday at 8pm et/5pm pt streaming on TSN+ with an encore presentation at midnight/9pm pt on TSN2.
CM Punk and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwoord and Cash Wheeler) vs. ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold ("Switchblade" Jay White and "Rock Hard" Juice Robinson) - For the first time in over nine months, CM Punk will be in action on Saturday night in Chicago as he teams up with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to take on Samoa Joe, Jay White and Juice Robinson in trios action. The last time we saw Punk, he defeated Jon Moxley to become AEW World Champion for the second time at All Out in September of 2022. But Punk was never able to defend that title because a torn biceps in that match required surgery and has kept him out of action since then. His highly anticipated return to the ring has only become all the more intriguing with just who one of his opponents across the ring will be on Saturday night. For the first time in nearly 17 years, Punk will take on a man who is, perhaps, the greatest rival of his long career in Samoa Joe. The Punk/Joe rivalry helped raise the profile of Ring of Honor in its early days and produced a number of classic matches. Most memorably, then ROH World Champion Joe and Punk wrestled to a 60-minute time limit draw on June 12, 2004 in Dayton, OH. Since that match solved nothing, the two met again that October in Chicago and wrestled to another 60-minute time limit draw. The second match was an instant classic and one given five stars by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer. While their rivalry was hard-hitting, Punk could rarely get the better of Joe. In singles matches, Punk is 0-4-2 all-time against Joe. Punk's lone win over Joe in any match came in November of 2003 when he and Steve Corino defeated Joe and Christopher Daniels. Emotions will be running high on Saturday night for Punk for a multitude of reasons and he will have to get those under control against three opponents of that calibre. The match will also be an opportunity for FTR to get a crack at the team that has made their lives miserable in recent weeks in Bullet Club Gold. Which of these trios will pick up a big win?
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TNT Championship match: "Mr. Mayhem" Wardlow (c) vs. Luchasaurus (w/ Christian Cage) - Wardlow managed to both win and lose on this past Wednesday night's Dynamite. While he was able to fend off the challenge of the Jericho Appreciation Society's Jake Hager and retain his TNT Championship, he couldn't stop Luchasaurus and Christian Cage from using the match as an opportunity to lay out Wardlow's advisor, "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson. Incensed at the sight of a bloodied Anderson, Wardlow will now try to channel his rage in successfully defending his title against former AEW World Tag Team Champion Luchasaurus. It's a rarity when Wardlow doesn't have a size and strength advantage in a match, but this is one of them. The monstrous Luchasaurus a formidable opponent with deceptive agility for a man of his size. The two have met twice in the past, but not for nearly three years. Wardlow defeated Luchasaurus in a lumberjack match on the June 24, 2020 edition of Dynamite, but only after Maxwell Jacob Friedman distracted referee Rick Knox and allowed Wardlow to low blow Luchasaurus and hit an F10. A week later, Luchasaurus got his revenge when he and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry defeated Wardlow and MJF in tag-team action. But that was a long time ago and these are different men. Wardlow is freed from the employ of MJF, while Luchasaurus is now under the devious sway of Cage. It was Cage who failed to defeat Wardlow in a ladder match for the TNT title at last month's Double or Nothing. Rest assured, he will do whatever he can to ensure the title comes home with Luchasaurus on Saturday night, especially now that Anderson is out of the picture. Can Wardlow make it four straight defences in his third reign as champion or will Luchasaurus join a very short list of champions in AEW who have held both singles and tag-team gold?
Andrade El Idolo (w/ Jose the Assistant) vs. AEW World Trios Champion Buddy Matthews (w/ Julia Hart) - It will be a night of returns on Collision and one of them will come when Andrade El Idolo takes on Buddy Matthews. Like with CM Punk, we haven't seen Andrade in an AEW ring since All Out. Andrade was a participant in the Casino Ladder Match won by Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Not long after the match, Andrade had undergone surgery to repair a pectoral muscle tear and has been recuperating ever since. In his absence, Jose the Assistant has been keeping La Faccion Ingobernable running with all of "El Toro Blanco" Rush, Preston Vance and Dralistico jockeying for position and attempting to get into title contention in various AEW divisions. Andrade's first match back is an interesting one against an opponent he knows very well in the House of Black's Buddy Matthews. Andrade and Matthews have done battle on a number of occasions in the past when the two were in NXT. While Andrade is very familiar with Matthews, a victory here could get the ball rolling on a shot at the title Matthews currently has around his waist, one of the AEW World Trios Championships. Beat Matthews and perhaps Andrade and two of his LFI stablemates could get themselves a title match with Matthews, Malakai Black and Brody King. Matthews is undoubtedly aware of this himself and will do whatever he can to make Andrade's return an unwelcome one. Will Andrade return with a bang or will Matthews spoil the party?
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The Outcasts (AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Ruby Soho) vs. New Japan Strong Women's Champion Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue - It was almost a week for the ages for Skye Blue. Days after stunning AEW by winning a four corners match to become No. 1 contender for the AEW Women's World Championship by upsetting former world champions Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, Mercedes Martinez and "The Native Beast" Nyla Rose, Blue got her shot at Toni Storm this past Wednesday night on Dynamite in front of her mother, who sat at ringside. Blue appeared to have the match one. She avoided Storm's use of the spray paint can, nailed her with a superkick and hit the Code Blue for what was more than a three count. But referee Paul Turner was nowhere to be found because he was distracted by Ruby Soho. Blue went to deal with Soho, which gave Storm time to recover, hit Blue with Storm Zero and make her tap out to a Texas Cloverleaf. Storm and Soho continued their beating after the match until the intervention of New Japan Strong Women's Champion Willow Nightingale. Nightingale is no stranger to the Outcasts and what they do, but she's also got a particular animus for Soho, who was her former partner. Nightingale and Blue will be looking to show Storm and Soho that the rest of the AEW women's division is sick of their conduct. Can the Outcasts continue to run roughshod over AEW or will Nightingale and Blue earn a measure of retribution?
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PLUS:
- After a nine-month absence, "The Redeemer" Miro makes his return to action