AEW Collision Preview 8/5: CM Punk Vs. Ricky Starks, FTR, More

This week's "AEW Collision" emanates from Greenville, South Carolina, and it's shaping up to be an intriguing show. Tonight's episode will feature three championship matches and some of the company's top stars will be in action.

The main match on the card is CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks. Punk claims that he's the real AEW World Champion since no one has ever technically beaten him for the title he was stripped of when he took a hiatus from the company following All Out 2022. Punk has been carrying around his title in a bag since he returned to action back in June, and Starks wants to take it from him. Starks has had Punk's number in recent weeks too, but will he be able to beat him without cheating? Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat will serve as the special guest referee to ensure that it's a clean and fair fight.

Elsewhere, FTR will defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship against Brian Cage and Big Bill. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood have been on a roll lately after successfully retaining their gold against teams such as Bullet Club Gold and Better Than You, Bay Bay in recent weeks. Big Bill and Cage are pretty new to teaming together, but they'll arguably be FTR's most physically imposing challengers to date.

Finally, Kris Statlander is scheduled to defend the AEW TBS Championship against Mercedes Martinez. The latter made her intentions to win the gold known on last week's episode, but she might also have to contend with Kiera Hogan and Willow Nightingale. The July 29 episode of "AEW Collision" teased all four women competing for the title, though it remains to be seen how the TBS Championship picture will unfold in the coming weeks.