FTR-Bullet Club Gold On AEW Collision Rated Over Five Stars By Dave Meltzer
The recent FTR-Bullet Club Gold match on AEW Collision has been called “the best tag team match ever on U.S. television” by Dave Meltzer.
In the opinion of wrestling historian and Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer, the tag teams of FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) and Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) had the best tag team match in the history of US television after going nearly one hour on AEW Collision.
On the July 15th episode of AEW Collision in Calgary, FTR defended their AEW Tag Team Titles against Bullet Club Gold in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match because White & Robinson beat FTR one week earlier on Collision.
It was a match that opened the show and was given plenty of time. Bullet Club Gold got the first fall, FTR came back by getting the second fall and the pace really picked up at that point as both teams were trying really hard to get the win. Ultimately, it was FTR getting the win when Harwood made Robinson tap out to the Sharpshoot after 58 minutes of action.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer praised the match heavily by calling it the best match he’s ever seen on US television and obviously one of the best tag team matches ever.
“I felt that the FTR match was the best tag team match ever on U.S. television. The length helped it in some ways and in other ways made it more difficult. The three falls for today are tough because people deep down believe it doesn’t matter until fall three, which is an excuse to look at other things at times.”
“But another key thing is that neither of these matches were Iron man matches where you know when the last five minutes and the finish will take place. But you also knew with the first two falls in the FTR match and the staggered entrances that went 26:40 in Blood & Guts before either match could even end.”
“For decades, I thought the best tag match ever on U.S. television was a Midnight Express vs. Fantastics match from Chattanooga, TN, which went about 40 minutes and took up the entire one hour television show.”
“There have been matches as good, and a few better, on PPV, and the Young Bucks vs. Penta & Fenix match from Ontario, CA, was a totally different style but so spectacular and in many ways better and in some ways not as good. But the time did allow this match to be more epic and memorable than the other two, plus you have decades of ring evolution since the Midnight Express match was in the late 80s.”
It was also noted by Meltzer that travel issues made it difficult for FTR and Bullet Club Gold to prepare for the match, but they managed to get it done as we saw on television.
“What made the FTR vs. White & Robinson match so impressive in ways a fan wouldn’t know is that very little was planned out. So many had issues on the Canadian tour with crazy air travel and delays. Robinson didn’t arrive until around 2 p.m. local time, and FTR had things they had to film. There was an attempt to get the match moved back because with the time in Calgary it was a 6 p.m. local time start. It was noted to us that those in the match felt they were not prepared to do an hour match, but still pulled it off.”
For FTR, it’s the sixth match that Meltzer has rated at five stars or above since November 2020. Meltzer rated their match with the Young Bucks at Full Gear 2020 at *****1/4, he went five stars for two matches against The Briscoes, and *****1/2 for the third FTR/Briscoes match of 2022. The FTR match with Aussie Open in London in October was also rated at five stars as well.