wrestling / TV Reports
Ciocco’s AEW Collision Slam Dunk Saturday Review 3.21.26
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...SICKOS! It’s Wednesday, you know what that means! AEW Dynamite is live…
Wait, this is Saturday, I’m not usually here, am I? This must be some kind of mistake.
Why no, in fact! Thanks to Collision having to curtail to March Madness and having already taped this episode back on Wednesday Night, the company is able to cut the show in half and press one hour tonight and one hour tomorrow night at the same time. Think of this as the return of Rampage for two nights in a row.
Also, think of this card as looking pretty darn good for being half of the allocated time. So good in fact that the highlight of the show will be a TNT Title defense, as champion Kyle Fletcher will look to turn back the challenge of TMDK member Robbie Eagles. Will the student show his teacher that he has learnt more than he can teach, or will the teacher show his disciple that he has back in his teachings?
The rest of the card will be chalk full of multi-person matches, starting with LFI members RUSH, Dralistico, and The Beast Frank Mortos against a trio to be named. And honestly, I don’t think it is going to matter very much, as LFI should run train over their opponents, and RUSH will give him the HERNS!
Claudio Castagnoli recently lost his CMLL World Title to Hechicero, and while this show was taped prior to that match taking place, we can still suspend our belief and say that Claudio is out for Lucha blood. Claudio will team with Daniel Garcia against the team of Mascara Dorada and Komander.
With the recent Women’s Tag Team Title change, the new champions Megan Bayne and Lena Kross will need challengers for their titles. To that point, the match between the Sisters of Sin and the Brawling Birds could provide the next set of challengers for whoever wins this match. Will Julia and Skye psych out their opponents and use their teamwork to win, or will Jamie and Alex just flat-out overpower them?
(Ordinarily, this is where I would say, “All of this and of course, so much more in store for us tonight!”. However, given how this show is broken up over two nights, I’m not sure exactly how much more we’ll get.)
So, enough about me and enough about you, let’s get ready to Collide!
(Whenever March Madness allows us to!)
Saturday Slam Dunk Collision is LIVE (to tape!) from The Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California! Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness are on the call tonight!
And we jump right into the show (literally).
AEW TNT Title Match: Kyle Fletcher (C) vs. Robbie Eagles
It’s teacher versus the student as the bell rings! Lock-up, Fletcher throws Eagles down and poses! Another lock-up, and Fletcher powers Eagles to the corner. Robbie does a crap ton of arm wringers on Fletcher, dropping him to a knee. Fletcher back up, and he repays the favor.
Back to his feet, only for Fletcher to drop Eagles to the mat. He uses the ropes to flip out of it and he reverses, taking Fletcher to the mat. Kyle gets to the ropes and looks like he is constipated. Lock-up, Eagles tries to take Fletcher over, but Kyle grabs him by the hair, and he drops him face first. Fletcher tries to whip Eagles, but Robbie holds onto the ropes, causing Kyle to kick him in the arm.
Eagles reverses with an arm drag and he taunts Fletcher. He follows that with a dropkick, as Kyle tries to collect himself. Robbie with kicks, but Fletcher buys separation. Eagles back with a Rana attempt, but Fletcher says no way mate. He drops Eagles over his knee and then hits a sit-out slam. He looks into the crowd as we head out for break.
Fletcher stands over Eagles admiring his work as we return. He doesn’t admire that dropkick to the knee, however, as Fletcher grimaces. Robbie tries to fire up the crowd and goes into the YES kicks, but Kyle eats it and catches Robbie’s foot. An enziguri and a leg lariat sends Fletcher to the corner. Eagles with a corner splash, he tries to get greedy with a double knee, but Fletcher catches him. Robbie counters Kyle’s maneuver with a sliced bread for a two.
Robbie keeps Kyle grounded with kicks to the bad knee. Back to his feet, and Robbie with a missile dropkick. Robbie heads to the outside and to the top, no one is home! Fletcher scoops up Eagles for a Michinoku Driver! The cover, but Eagles kicks out at two. The fans aren’t happy and some chant REF YOU SUCK lol. Fletcher taunts Eagles with light kicks, but Eagles fires back with a flurry of forearms! Doesn’t matter though, because Kyle eats them for dinner and delivers a half-and-half!
Fletcher with a running kick, but no one is home in the corner. Eagles to the top again and he dropkicks Fletcher in the bad knee. Reverse Figure-Four from Eagles! Fletcher is SO close to hitting the mat, but he just makes it to the ropes! Eagles kicks Fletcher out of bounds and to the floor. Senton Atomico from Eagles!
Back in the ring, and Robbie is cut off by Kyle up top! Robbie manages to work his way free by attacking the bad knee, and Robbie hits a corner suplex! Eagles takes flight with a 450 splash to the knee! Eagles with a roll-up, Fletcher tries to counter, Eagles with a poison rana! Kicks galore from Eagles, but Fletcher kills him dead with a lariat. Front face slam in the corner, corner kick, sheer drop brain buster, and Fletcher retains!
WINNER: Kyle Fletcher (Still Champion)
TIME: 12:10
THOUGHTS: A good match. Fletcher was definitely giving to his mentor/teacher, but Robbie is no scrub. Kyle won, as he should have.
RATING: ***3/4
Jon Moxley and PAC are in the back. Moxley says the Aerial Assassin has some feelings. He says Will wants to break his neck, but how is that going to go? It won’t happen. We could talk about why you were put in timeout, but you wouldn’t get it. Moxley hopes that he can keep himself out of trouble, but if you’re determined to put yourself back in the hospital…
And Jon kicks it to PAC. William, William, William! I wasn’t even here when what happened to you happened to you. But I know you are a prick, and if you want to have a go, I would appreciate the opportunity to get my grubby little hands around your neck!
FRANK! (And his entourage!)
LFI vs. Lucas Riley, Dom Kubrick, and Zo
Dralistico and Riley to start this one off. Dralistico drops Riley with a running knee strike and takes the Ham N’ Egger to his corner. All the members of LFI takes turns with the corner splashes and then hit the triple dropkick! TRANQUILLO! RUSH decides that he wants more smoke, so he takes Kubrick and throws him into the ring. Mortos and RUSH headbutt Zo, while Dralistico takes out two of the jobbers on the floor. RUSH loads up the HERNS, and the jobber takes it gracefully. Mortos with a Tornio Splash, and that’s a wrap!
WINNERS: LFI
TIME: 2:10
THOUGHTS: Demolition. FRANK and his Entourage did a job here!
RATING: N/R
Ladies action when we come back!
COMMERCIALS!
Lexi Nair is with Thekla in the back. Nair brings up the attack on Toni Storm, and Thekla says that she hopes she recovers quickly. She says it’s a shame and starts laughing. Nair wonders if Thekla did this, and she says she did. Toni said that she was coming for her title, so Thekla took her out. The title is her; it looks like her, it sounds like her, it tastes like her, and it isn’t going anywhere. And to anyone else in the women’s locker room who want to face me, you better fake your own death, because the reality will be far worse!
Thekla needs more promo time, she does some good stuff.
It’s time to sin!
The Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart and Skye Blue) vs. The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter)
Hayter and Hart to start us off. Lock-up, Jamie uses her power to her advantage, but Hart slaps her. Julia off the ropes, she tries a tilt-a-world, but Jamie catches her and hits a sidewalk slam. Windsor gets the tag, and she kicks Blue off the apron. Windsor and Hayter deliver double chops to Hart in the corner, then to Blue, then to both of them, before hitting a double back elbow. Windsor pins Hart for a two.
Blue is in legally, and she does really well in a power battle with Windsor, so Alex rips her down by her hair. Hart kicks Windsor in the back, distracting Mike Posey. Blue runs across the ring and kicks Hayter off the apron as we head out for the break.
Hayter has turned the table, and she kisses her bicep as we return. Both Sisters though are in the ring, as is Windsor. Skye tries the Code Blue on Jamie, she tries a backslide, no go. Skye screams, and Jamie hits a backbreaker. Windsor and Hayter look Two Birds One Stone, but Hart intercepts Jamie. Hart and Blue do their front face suplex and double kick to Windsor. Hart takes Hayter out of the ring, and Blue stacks up Windsor but Alex kicks out at two.
Windsor turns the table and she hits Skye on the top rope. Blue fights her off and goes to the very top. AVALANCHE CODE BLUE FROM SKYE! The cover, but Jamie makes the save. The Sisters remove her and try to work over Windsor, but Alex with a Blue Thunder Bomb to Skye. Hayter gets the tag, Windsor holds Hart and Jamie hits her with a lariat. Jamie and Alex with the BRAWLING smash of Hart, and Two Birds One Stone finishes it!
WINNERS: The Brawling Birds
TIME: 9:20
THOUGHTS: I don’t think anyone would have bet against Jamie and Alex, as they are on the quite the roll since they came to be a team. Obviously, they will be/should be set up to face Devine Domination down the line.
RATING: ***1/2
Lexi is in the back with Brody King. Brody says he knows that Kenny Omega kept him from getting seriously injured at Revolution. And for that, King owes him one. But after Omega wipes the floor with Strickland, just know that this is far from over. ARF!
The main event is coming up next!
COMMERCIALS!
Post-break, we get an interpolation of highlights from the World Title Match from Revolution and MJF’s promo from after the show. I know Hangman is planning to take time off, but I am genuinely interested in what he does when he returns.
Masked men galore!
Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia vs. Komander and Mascara Dorada
Komander and Garcia will start this off. Garcia talks some smack before they lock-up, and Garcia backs it up by throwing Komander to the mat. He talks some more trash, and he backs off when Komander approaches him. Standing switches by both men, Garcia takes Komander down and spins around and paint brushes him. He looks for approval from Claudio and tells Komander to never talk to him like that. I’m not even sure where this is going lol.
Komander fires back with kicks and strikes, but Garcia fights that off. PERRO chants towards Garcia, as Komander heads to the second rope and spins into a kick, flooring Garcia. Tag to Dorada, as Komander trips Garcia and Dorada delivers the dropkick. Cover for a one as Garcia tags in Claudio.
Claudio with a gut wrench to Dorada straight away. Dorada fends off Claudio with kicks, which have little effect, but a double missile dropkick sends Claudio to the floor. Dorada goes flying, but Claudio catches him out of the air and slams him onto the announce table. He holds Dorada in place for Garcia to hit a running boot, which will take us to the final break.
Komander attempts to fight back against Garcia, but it is all for not as we return. Garcia hammers on Komander in the corner and he puts up his fists like he wants to dance, but that’s in the past. He jumps down so Claudio can hit a running uppercut. Claudio sinks in a chin lock, Komander to his feet, he slides out the back and tries to kick his way free. Claudio charges the corner and no one is home, as Komander hits an enzuiguri. To the top goes Komander, but he is caught out by Claudio. Komander reverses it into a face buster and then a DDT varation.
Both men tag out, as Dorada hits a Tornio Arm drag followed by a Tiaras takeover. Both Komander and Dorada walk the top rope towards one another, holds hands, and they both hit moonsault splashes! That was awesome! Back in the ring, and Garcia avoids Dorada’s top rope move, but he can’t avoid the Gory Buster to the face buster. He does, however, kick out at two.
Komander is back in, and Dorada does a front flip slam followed by a running splash from Komander. The cover, but Claudio breaks it up. Claudio and Danny string offense together to isolate Komander. The pin, but Dorada makes the save. Komander to the top rope, Garcia tries to intercept him, but he moves, and Dorada takes out Garcia! Komander jumps into a tilt-a-world backbreaker from Claudio! Giant Swing from Claudio! Gotch Style Piledriver, and this one is in the books!
WINNERS: The Death Riders
TIME: 12:50
THOUGHTS: A great main event match. Komander and Dorada make for one hell of a team, and Claudio proved to be the perfect foil for them to bounce off of until it came time for him to bounce both Luchadores.
RATING: ****
Post-match, Marina, Danny, and Claudio celebrate like they just won a footie game lol. And with that, we are done!
