Kenny Omega Aims To Be On The Next Level! Two Former Tag Team Partners Collides! First Participants Qualified For Survival Of The Fittest! Maya and Athena's Feud Escalates!

 Hola, lucha fans! Welcome to another blog entry of the Lucha Corner, where I bring you mucho wrestling! I'm Francis aka Francisthewitcher and today I'm here to recap and review what happened last Saturday on Collison Summer Blockbuster.

So let's get started, shall we?

Singles Match: Kenny Omega vs Bad Dude Tito.

Kenny Omega, also known as the God of Pro Wrestling, kicked off the show by facing one of the members of TMDK, Bad Dude Tito, ahead for his upcoming match against Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door.

The match was short than I could ever anticipate, but Kenny Omega had some words to say as he picked up the mic and called out ZSJ, claiming that he's the key he's looking to reach the next level. But that's not all, he also called out MJF briefly, saying it's only a matter of time, before ending his promo with his iconic catchphrase.

While I actually expected that his match with Tito would last at least five minutes, I think his promo actually did good to promote the upcoming Forbidden Door which is just two weeks ahead. But what I find more intriguing was his claims to ZSJ and MJF. I can really tell that something big is gonna happen after Forbidden Door, but it's clear that Kenny Omega hasn't given up on his ambitious goal to become the AEW Champion once more. 

Another thing I realized is when MJF always warns his challengers that they're not and quote "above the level of The Devil." Could that mean that ZSJ is gonna somehow make Kenny Omega reach the level above MJF? Only time will tell, but that made me more excited to look forward for that match and what's coming after that.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Hikaru Shida vs Zayda Steel.

Next up was Hikaru Shida and Zayda Steel facing each other in an important match for the spot at the Survival Of The Fittest Match for the TBS Championship.

While I felt that Zayda Steel kinda struggled to keep up the pace with Shida, I doubt that was a bad match. If anything, it was okay at best with Shida's hard-hitting performance, which solidifies her heel persona. Not only that, she even introduced a new submission finishing move that led me to believe that it's going to play a huge part in the Survival of The Fittest Match, especially if Kris Statlander will be qualified to be there as well.

Overall, it's nice to see Shida once more after the Street Fight match and I know she's gonna be even greater on July 1st.

TNT Championship Match: Myron Reed vs Kevin Knight. 

What came next was the anticipated TNT Title match, but not before The Rascalz came out in action, no pun intended, to introduce Myron Reed, the challenger. 

While I already shared my doubts about Kevin Knight joining the Don Callis Family, I think this match actually helped to keep developing as a heel, and it also kinda helped that Don Callis didn't try to interfere once during the match as he remained in the commentary so Kevin Knight could get the heat from the crowd.

As for Myron Reed. That man once again proved to all the fans how talented he is! It won't be a surprise if he is part of the C2 tournament this year at some point.. I still find insane how he performs the Cutter over the top rope. When he does that, that's when I think but he also deserves to have a push in his singles run.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this match so much. Both men really performed well together, and I liked how it ended with Kevin Knight using his different finisher instead of the UFO. 

Athena In Action.

Usually I don't cover squash matches or, in this case, the In Action matches, but this is an exception for a very good reason. 

First, Maya World spoke in a heart-wrenching promo where she explained why she needed to wrestle in AEW despite receiving the tragic news about her old brother, who introduced wrestling to her in the first place. Making a statement that the Owen Hart Tournament was a big opportunity for her and warned Athena, who's also her mentor, that she's going to use everything she learned against her.

Of course, Athena makes a direct response, claiming that she's the one who deserves more for working harder as an ROH Women's Champion and warning Maya that she hasn't taught everything she knew to her. She finishes her promo by giving Maya a reminder that she's not going to live in her own world.

And by the time she won against a local wrestler and was about to beat her up even after the match, Maya World came to stop her as Athena ran away, only to go back and jump on Maya when she let her guard down.

It's incredible that while it's unfortunate Athena vs Sareee wasn't gonna happen, I believe Athena vs Maya World will be even bigger than I could possibly imagine, and this segment sold really well for their upcoming match.   

Tag Team Match: The Young Bucks vs The Dogs.

So next we got The Young Bucks facing The Dogs in a tag team match. First and foremost, it's wonderful to see Clark Connors and David Finlay thriving in the AEW tag team's division. 

Speaking of which, even though Copeland and Christian have been absent and have barely defended their tag team titles lately, I think it's safe to say that the division is now starting to look up after the feud of FTR and C&C was finally concluded at Double or Nothing. What I mean is that we're now looking at some other tag teams fighting to get the chance to face the new champions for the tag team titles, which is what we saw. 

The tag team match was just like I expected, an enjoyable bout with the Young Bucks mostly gaining the upper hand, but it wasn't enough to win The Dogs's as they showed persistence and aggressiveness. 

I honestly thought The Young Bucks were going to take the victory, but actually The Dogs winning makes more sense as we're bound to see C&C coming back and let them challenge for their tag team titles. It's not clear if it's gonna be on Forbidden Door, but we might find out soon. Furthermore, I think we're also gonna see The Young Bucks not giving up on their goal to become the next tag team champions and I hope they'll be heading to this PPV as well.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Julia Hart vs Persephone.

For the next qualifying match, Persephone faced off with one of the members of The Triangle of Madness, which was also a great opportunity for her to get revenge for the day Julia Hart spit mist on her a month ago.

At first I was a little concerned that they would foreshadow Persephone's possible heel turn because of the mist, but instead it was how much damage she took, and I think that was the good choice. 

The good match was better than I could expect. I think that Julia Hart is now becoming more confident in her ring skills, and wrestling with Persephone might have helped a lot too. Persephone also was still great in the ring despite being injured for a while. 

The way it ended with Persephone slapping Julia before she could spit her mist was an excellent touch, especially when a wrestler doesn't forget about their rival's secret tactics. And with her earning the spot with Hikaru Shida at the Survival of The Fittest, it really seems like they still wanted to give her that spot when she wasn't cleared for the ROH Supercard's main event.

I look forward to see more interesting talent be part of the qualifying matches and who's gonna take the remaining spots for July 1st.

Singles Match: 'Speedball' Mike Bailey vs Jake Doyle.

Now let's talk about my favorite match of the show. Mike Bailey promised that he would take down every single member of the Don Callis' Family, and to do so, he had to start by facing one of his former tag team partner back in DPW, and that is Jake Doyle, formely known as Jake 'Something'. 

This match felt a little special to my liking, not only because Jake Doyle makes his return to the ring after being injured, but also because the match was something else. Instead there would be some drama between two former tag team partners, they went straight at each other without any hesitation or restraint.

I'm not sure if this match was better than their last one since I don't have access to watch DPW, but this one was still such a thrill to watch. And you can't imagine my surprise when I watched Jake Doyle pick up a huge win over Mike Bailey, but once again, this is why I love to watch the unpredictability in pro wrestling.

I'm still convinced Mike Bailey is not gonna stop defying the Callis Family. Maybe he's going to join Mark Briscoe's team, or he will find other allies instead. Still, the match was just amazing and I look forward to see what's next for Jake Doyle.

Street Fight Match: The Death Riders vs Shane Taylor Promotions.

Of course, I didn't forget about the main event, which was the Death Riders taking on Shane Taylor Promotions in an extreme Street Fight. 

Ever since I enjoyed watching the feud boiling between these two stables, I knew that they're bound to have an important multi-tag match but in a sort of no holds barred match, so to speak. But when they started the match just when STP attacked the Death Riders outside the venue, it was clear that this match was starting to get good already.  

Both teams really outdid themselves in this match, especially Trish Adora and Marina Shafir. The spot where Marina stepping on the broken glass while barefeet was so insane that I couldn't stop screaming. And let's not forget the part where Trisha chops Castagnoli before getting swung.

That match had everything to make the crowd so invested and ended with a high note to probably conclude their feud with STP. STP also did great in the match despite being defeated, and I'm sure that it won't be the last time we'll see them. If they're aiming to become the new AEW Trios Champions, that would be wonderful.

Only time will tell.

CONCLUSION.

Last Saturday's Collision was, and could be, the best show of the year. Most of the matches were so fun and entertaining, and no doubt this was also the best night for the women's division. 

On the other hand, we still have yet to see who's going to show up from NJPW, but at the very least we actually had some interesting development. 

I mean, I didn't forget the exciting announcement that Starlight Kid is heading to AEW to challenge Thekla for her title at Forbidden Door. We might see Kenny Omega facing other members of the TMDK before he gets to face Zack Sabre Jr. in San Jose. And of course, we might see some international stars joining MJF and Mark Briscoe's team, and their 12-man Tag Team Match coming this week, which is gonna be the craziest crossover we might get.

Again, while I still have many expectations for the main card, I know Forbidden Door is gonna be a blast to watch still, and we might get some surprises this week.

So that should wrap up this review, I hope you enjoyed reading it, and as always, if you have an opinion you'd like to share or have a question, please leave a comment. Also don't forget to follow me on Twitter and/or Instagram. I will very much appreciate your support.

Without further ado, I wish you all lucha fans a very nice day and please support pro wrestling and lucha libre!

Hasta la proxima!