[4.0] "Holy lack of chemistry Batman. This match re-convinced me that Tommaso Ciampa was crap until he had the Darby match. Both of these guys are great, why was this match so lifeless?"
[6.0] "I feel like these two could have a great match together but this wasn't it. It was good but not the showing of what these guys are capable of. Dezmond Xavier shows some impressive athleticism but he seems to running with restrictor plates on and Tommaso Ciampa also seems pretty reserved in terms of striking. I really thought this could be a chance to show how creative of high flyer Xavier is and then have him stone walled by a vicious Psycho Killer but these guys felt like they just went through the motions which was felt deeply after such a hot start to the show"
[7.0] "A straight forward match to open the show which is no bad thing especially when done as well as this. I love seeing Ciampa happy and doing well in AEW"
[5.0] "[2.5*] Pretty decent stuff, but I think this is the kind of match that suits Collision more. It was short with a very formulaic undercard pacing, everything here was okay but nothing really stood out."
[6.0] "Tommaso Ciampa joined Kevin Knight in pursuing the AEW World Title. This was a fine opening match as Dezmond Xavier is looking to take down Tommaso Ciampa, but it didn't go to plan, and this was solid. Tommaso Ciampa being in the World Title scene is something I haven't seen since he was in NXT from 2016-2022, when he was always in the Main Event Scene, so it's cool to see again. Maybe he and Darby Allin will have a match down the road."
[3.0] "Xavier brought moments of impressive athleticism, but this was generally slow, uninspiring, and meaningless. There were several moments of poor coordination and the flow throughout wasn't up to either man's standards. After such a hot opening to the show, this fell incredibly flat and (despite being a Ciampa fan) I'm not sure how this ended up on such a stacked card."
"I rated this a 7.0, Tommaso Ciampa got a strong reaction on his way to the ring, while Desmond Xavier flanked by Zachary Wentz and Myron Reed walked out to almost complete silence, a contrast the crowd quickly made up for with loud "bald" chants aimed at Ciampa until he fired back on the mic with a sharp jab basically saying save that shit for Ricochet. Once the match got going, the fans rallied behind Xavier, clapping and urging him on whenever Ciampa took control, creating a clear underdog dynamic throughout. My favorite moment came when Xavier exploded with a tope suicida between the ropes, rolled Ciampa back inside, and followed up with a frog splash for a near fall that had the crowd buzzing. The story played out cleanly Ciampa dominated whenever he could land his shots, using his power and pace to slow things down, while Xavier's speed and striking bursts kept him dangerous in flashes. In the end, Ciampa's grinding style won out, as he crushed Xavier with a backstabber into a running knee to secure the pinfall victory."
[5.0] "This was decent. Very good Ciampa performance here and Dezmond sort of did his thing but didnt get a ton of offence in. This match served it's purpose of making Ciampa look strong but i dont think it needed to be as long or as back and forth as it was. **3/4"
[8.0] "A simple match really but one that I really enjoyed. Dezmond is still getting used to actually being able to wrestle with freedom and it's interesting seeing him learn to distance himself from being a spot wrestler. Ciampa good as per usual. this was super fun"
[7.0] "Honestly yeah a pretty fun quick TV match between two guys who have a lot of talent and have had great starts to life in AEW. Xavier is really fun to watch with his high paced high flying offence which clashed well with Ciampa's strike heavy offence. I am glad he is back to being a face as well man it is a big improvement and a lot less cringe. Another solid showing from Ciampa with lots of high impact offence and he also gave a good amount to Desmond which was cool to see. Liked his heel antics at the start of the match as well and the bit on the mic was funny. The finish with the backbreaker and the two knees was pretty solid to close a fun little opener. Not sure how i feel about Ciampa in the main event picture but i will let it play out. (***1/2)"
[5.0] "** 1/2. An okay match that served its purpose of making Ciampa look strong. It seems like he appears almost exclusively on Collision, so showing him off to Dynamite-only viewers as he gets pushed into the World Title picture for a bit makes sense."
[6.0] "Ciampa's character is flat and kind of all over the place. Do you want the TNT or just any gold will do? He needs another personal feud before he drifts off completely into a feeder role. Match was fine."
[7.0] "Well, honestly, I really liked this match. For a weekly episode, it did a great job of further developing Ciampa's story. So, I'll give it a good rating. Great work also from Desmond Xavier, this guy is pure talent. A good, entertaining match."
[3.0] "The feeling doesn't seem to be shared, but I found this match very weak and disappointing. Ciampa relied on just two knee strikes and a backbreaker to defeat a lackluster Xavier in a match with no storyline whatsoever. In-ring quality: 0.75/4. Stakes: 0.5/2. Justification: 0.25/1. Placement on the card: 0.5/1. Suspense: 0.25/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 3.25/10. Match watched on MyAEW."
[7.0] "Die beiden liefern sich einen Kampf, der, obwohl es eine random Ansetzung ist, eine gewisse Intensität. Mir gefiel außerdem, das Dezmond Xavier gezeigt hat, das er mehr als nur flippy kann."
[7.0] "I'm a fan of Ciampa, and for me every match of his is always good this one too, even with a predictable outcome. Xavier still looked great in the ring. It'll be interesting to see how Ciampa approaches the main event scene, since he still feels quite far from it to me, but from the final promo he really seems interested in the world title."
"Not a big fan of Ciampa when he has a short match, always focus on try to pretend he's much better and the moments Xabier was on top felt like a lie because of that. Not even getting heat with that so."
[6.0] "Ciampa is definitely doing less throughout his matches now he's a heel. It's a decent tactic but hopefully he picks it up in future bouts. His knee and powerbomb onto the knees are just glimpses of what he can do."
[6.0] "An unremarkable match that was merely a foundation for Ciampa to stake his claim to the AEW World Championship. It certainly looks promising, but I have some doubts. Dezmond tried to fight back, but Psycho was stronger. And it's no surprise, since the whole point of the match was to showcase Ciampa's strengths. I think they pulled it off."
[7.0] "This match was a really solid opener and a great TV match. Ciampa and The Rascals are all excellent tv wrestlers so this one obviously was never going to be bad in my opinion. The action flowed well and the crowd was into it. Not much more you can ask for."
[7.0] "Ein sehr geeigneter Opener! Ab dem ersten Moment hat man gemerkt, wie wütend Ciampa war. Dezmond Xavier ist hier ein richtig guter punching Ball, der jedoch eine ganze Menge, wenn auch nicht zu viel, zeigen durfte. Die Tempowechsel waren toll. In Summe ein ganz gutes Match"
[7.0] "A pretty fun opening match to give Ciampa the impetus to rise to higher on the midcard than he currently is. Xavier was a good choice of dance partner to provide the standard grounded heel/flying face matchup, especially when it leads to spots such as the finishing knee."
[6.0] "Solid outing here between two guys I like. Ciampa worked great in a heel role with Dez fighting back for most of the match. Ciampa gets a good statement victory to set him up for a world title match in the future, with some decent action to give shine to both guys"
[7.0] "This match was very solid. These two are very good wrestlers and they a great back and forth battle. The knee counter from Ciampa to Xavier was nasty sounding. That backstabber from Ciampa to Xavier as well was freaking brutal looking. I mean my lord"
[6.0] "A fine, exciting TV match as Ciampa has been delivering since he debuted. Dez didn't really provide a lot to the match since this was more about Ciampa looking like a killer as he's likely Darby's first challenger for the World Title. The finishing knee looked great. ***"
