AEW COLLISION FEUD TRACKER: Starks & Big Billl, Statlander vs. Sky Blue, Kevin Kelly vs. The Viewers, Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor

Ricky Starks & Big Bill vs ???

The reason there are question marks there is because it’s unclear who the new tag team champions are feuding with. They were part of a messy opening segment that showed that sometimes unscripted promos lead to unintended consequences. FTR, after owning their loss to Starks and Bill in maybe a little too long-winded a fashion, seemingly removed themselves from immediate rematch contention by vowing to work their way back up. There is some sense in them not wanting a free rematch given how soundly they were trounced but they still seem to be in Starks & Bill’s orbit.

Ricky Starks clearly still has a beef with Bryan Danielson. I guess being choked out and knocked out in back-to-back matches stuck in his craw. He cost Danielson the TNT title in one of the smoothest run-ins you’ll ever see. Seriously go re-watch it. Ricky barely touched the canvas in the one second he was inside the ring. Anyway that rivalry could theoretically lead to Danielson and another BCC member challenging for the belts.

We can’t forget the Young Bucks who earned a title shot as a result of their win at WrestleDream. It would make infinite sense for them to get the title shot in their home area at Full Gear. I like there being multiple possibilities but no clear direction as of yet.

Grade: A+

Kris Statlander vs Skye Blue

For X-Men fans, Skye Blue seems to be entering her Dark Phoenix phase. The poison black mist of the honeymooning Julia Hart is not-so-slowly transforming the smiley babyface Skye into a darker, more heelish version of herself. She was extra aggressive in her TBS title match with Kris Statlander. Ultimately she came up short when Stat reversed an attempted headscissors into her Saturday Night Fever finisher.

Skye refused the handshake afterwards and Willow Nightingale ran out to intervene before anything else could happen. Willow was also a victim of Julia’s mist but it doesn’t seem to be having the same effect on her. Maybe it only works on generic babyfaces. Either way, it definitely seems like we’re going to get Skye Blue as a full-fledged follower of Julia’s in a sub-coven within the HOB. I assume the turn comes on Willow and then Julia comes back after Stat’s title and I’m here for all of that.

Grade: A+

Miro and C.J.

C.J. Perry cut a very good backstage promo pitching herself as a manager specializing in chasing gold and making stars. Action Andretti approached her seemingly offering himself up as a client. Thankfully that uninspiring potential partnership never got off the ground because of Miro. Miro cut his own promo in which basically said that C.J.’s thirst for gold would change and make her a not nice person so he would take it upon himself to end any potential partnership before it gets started.

Next week on Collision he will destroy Action Andretti and then we’ll see who approaches C.J. next. There are two ways I see this story eventually going. Either CJ finally finds someone who can stand up to Miro and defeat him or C.J. ends up managing Miro. Whichever way it goes, it’s better than the drivel that WWE gave them that even the worst soap opera writer wouldn’t put on their show. C.J. is much more than just beautiful woman and she’s finally getting to show that.

Grade: A+

Keith Lee vs Shane Taylor

Lee got a quick squash win over one half of AEW’s Great Value version of The Beverly Brothers while Taylor and Lee Moriarty looked on. Simple, effective storytelling.

Grade: B+

Kevin Kelly vs The Viewers

Well, it looks like we the viewers might have won this feud. Collision opened this past weekend with Tony Schiavone welcoming us to the show. It wasn’t in Kevin Kelly’s absence either. Indeed, Kelly was positioned to Schiavone’s right. If you’re Kevin Kelly I’m not sure there’s a bigger vote of no-confidence than your boss replacing you with a guy who hasn’t done play-by-play in 21 years.

Sure Tony’s been on commentary since Dynamite started but that’s been in a secondary color commentator role offering funny quips and exclamations. Play-by-play is a thanklessly stressful job. Calling a match move for move isn’t easy. For someone who hadn’t done that role in two decades, Tony wasn’t bad. He’s more familiar with the product than Kevin Kelly has ever bothered to be.

Though he didn’t know every move he’s learned a lot from working with Excalibur and he did know all the finishers. He’s also got decades of goodwill that will buy him time to get re-acclimated to the center seat. Putting Kevin Kelly in a role where he can interject with some storytelling and stats instead of being actively bad at his job is a good move. On a personal level, hearing Tony Schiavone calling a wrestling show especially on Saturday night gives me a nostalgic joy.

Nigel McGuiness has been flourishing in his very Jesse Ventura-esque way of doing heel color commentary. JR and Jerry Lawler rightfully get their flowers for the job they did in the late 90s and early 2000s but Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura during their 18 months as a duo in 1992-93 WCW might be my favorite commentary pair of all time. They played off each other so well while being very good in their individual roles. Tony and Nigel re-creating that same sort of dynamic thirty years later would be kind of cool.

Grade: A+

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