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Join 411’s Live AEW Collision Coverage
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Hello all, and welcome to your weekly dose of Collision coverage here on 411mania! Theo Sambus on hand as usual to walk you through tonight’s proceedings. AEW Revolution is fast approaching, which means there will be PPV ramifications tonight, specifically in the World tag team title department, as FTR will be defending the titles against The Rascalz. Not only should that be a killer match, it could affect our scheduled FTR vs Young Bucks match at the pay-per-view. I don’t buy The Rascalz winning the titles tonight, but a time limit draw could see them being added to make the Revolution match a three-way.
Moxley is having his weekly bangers on Dynamite, and Claudio Castagnoli is clearly looking to match his record, this week taking on Konosuke Takeshita in more Death Riders vs Don Callis Family action. These two had an awesome time limit draw back at Winter is Coming: Collision during the Continental Classic, so tonight both men will undoubtedly be looking for that definitive victory.
Elsewhere, the Money Matches return as Tony Khan puts up $200k for the tag team division, with LFI, Private Party, The Swirl and the Outrunners facing off in a four-way tag. Will it mean anything in the long run? Who knows, but LFI in action is always a treat, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen the Outrunners on Collision so I’m grateful for the match.
Alright, that’s quite enough pre-amble – let’s get to the action!
Location: Tucson, AZ
Venue: Tucson Arena
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
*We are LIVE from Tucson, and kicking off with some big time in-ring action, as The Rascalz head to the ring for their tag team title opportunity!
[AEW World Tag Team Championships] FTR (c) (w/ Stokely) vs The Rascalz (w/ Myron Reed)
Wentz and Cash begin this one but Wheeler quickly tags out to Dax. Side headlock takedown, shoulder blocks ensue and an arm drag but Wentz kicks him away. Slap to the face from Dax! One from Wentz in response. Xavier in now and he tees off on Dax but gets levelled with a lariat and tossed to the floor. Stokely chokes him out while still in his wheelchair! TORNILLO from Wentz takes out both members of FTR on the floor! Xavier gets Dax in the ring for a two count. Wentz with a double stomp to the outstretched arm of Harwood, covers for another 2. We hear that the Revolution zero hour will stream for free on HBO Max.
Cash has been in control of Wentz during the commercial break, but a small package gives Wentz a 2 count. Enziguri to Dax, and now there may be an opening. Wentz dives and rolls and makes the tag to Xavier who comes in with strikes and a cutter to Dax. Snapmare and a dropkick to Wheeler. Dax takes his head off with a lariat though! Double rollups from The Rascalz, and FTR spill to the floor…stereo suicide dives! Frog splash from Xavier, blind tag by Wentz, Swanton! 1, 2, NO! Rascalz look for some double team corner action but Dax crotches Wentz. Cash with a suicide dive to Xavier! Back suplex off the ropes from Dax, 1, 2, NOOO. Wentz and Dax chop each other repeatedly, backslide attempt is avoided, Wentz rolls him up instead! 1, 2, NO! Cash is back body dropped, superkick from Xavier into a prawn hold, 1, 2, NOOO! Xavier tags back in Wentz, HOT FIRE FLAME but the knees are up, Dax has countered. FTR grab the arms of Wentz, FTR TRIGGER! They look for the TK Driver but Xavier pulls Cash to the outside. Dax nails Xavier off the apron, and Wentz hits an enziguri. Handspring back elbow attempt from Wentz but he’s caught right into the SHATTER MACHINE! 1, 2, 3!
Winners and STILL AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR
Time: 15:03
Rating: ***1/2 – Lovely opener right here! Great nearfalls peppered throughout with The Rascalz being within an inch of gaining the titles each time. FTR give that extra little dig at the Bucks with their own version of the BTE Trigger, so you can bet the Bucks are hitting a Shatter Machine on Wednesday.
*Post-match, FTR are about to leave but the music of Mark Briscoe hits! Briscoe heads out to commentary for the next match and gives Stokely a sarcastic thumbs up as they pass.
*Back from break, HOOK is backstage recruiting. Anthony Bowens is here to say he has come to the conclusion that he can be a killer. HOOK wants him to prove it, he wants Bowens to grab the camera from Shibata. HOOK finds a random guy and chokes him out with the Redrum, and gets Bowens to follow them off into the distance.
Daniel Garcia vs ‘Psycho Killer’ Tommaso Ciampa
Ciampa’s entrance is still awesome. Mark Briscoe is on commentary with a vested interest in the TNT title scene. Ciampa holds the ropes open for Garcia, clearly feeling a step ahead. Boot to the face, whips Garcia into the corner and delivers the 10 count mounted punches. Ciampa does the Garcia dance!! 5 stars. Neckbreaker connects, and Ciampa looks for a suplex from the apron back into the ring, but Garcia counters and hits a dragon screw leg whip before whipping the leg into the ringpost. Cover by Danny gets a 1 count but he quickly transitions into a surfboard knee stomp. Garcia keeps up the pressure on the leg, hooking it over the guard rail, Ciampa counters with some strikes but Garcia hits a low dropkick to the knee.
Garcia ascends the ropes and illegally chokes Ciampa briefly, dives off but gets caught with a rising knee! Leaping clothesline connects, running knee to Garcia on the apron. They fight at the commentary desk as Briscoe watches on. Ciampa slaps hands with Briscoe, re-enters the ring where Garcia kicks the knee once more. Garcia thinks about another legscrew but Ciampa keeps slapping him, only for Garcia to hit the dragon screw and then sit back into a single leg crab. He turns him into an STF but Ciampa bites the hand! Shotgun dropkick from Garcia sends Ciampa into the buckles, and now Danny hits the 10 count punches. He thinks about the Garcia dance but Ciampa walks forward, dropping him into the Project Ciampa. Garcia whips Ciampa towards the ropes, Briscoe is up on the apron and their heads collide…jackknife from Garcia! 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Time: 10:16
Rating: *** – I’m just really enjoying this role for Ciampa, having banger matches and proving he still absolutely has a full tank. Surprising for Garcia to get the win, but he probably needed it as his stock has fallen since being in the Death Riders.
*Briscoe and Ciampa have words for each other post-match, getting heated. Briscoe ends up walking away but warns Ciampa about making a mistake. FTR are back out and they corner Ciampa but here’s Briscoe to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ciampa. Briscoe and Ciampa make up, and no one comes to blows. Ciampa and Briscoe walk up the ramp, and Ciampa has his arm round the shoulders of Briscoe…oh God is this going where I think – YES! CIAMPA RUNS BRISCOE INTO THE LED SCREENS! Shades of the DIY implosion! Ciampa hits a running knee on Briscoe as FTR applaud from the ring.
Swerve Strickland vs Gravity
A reminder that Gravity is Bandido’s brother, hence why this particular encounter has been booked. Swerve with a kick to the spine. Running big boot connects. Back elbow and a diving arm drag from Gravity but Swerve is having none of it. Gravity with a kick to the spine of his own. He does his slow-mo moonwalk, rolls Swerve up for 2 and gets him to the outside, slides under the ropes and looks for a powerbomb but Swerve holds on and stomps him. He tosses Gravity into the steel steps, then rips the mask a little, dragging him by the mask eye sockets up to the apron. He hammers his head into the buckles, shoves him back inside the ring…Swerve Stomp connects. No cover though, Swerve is taking his sweet time. House Call! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Time: 3:57
Rating: N/R – Everything it needed to be but not a total squash as Gravity got a little bit of offense in on Swerve. Not that Swerve broke a sweat, of course!
*After Dynamite, Kris Statlander says she will only speak when she needs to…and now, she needs to. She’s beaten Thekla once, Thekla’s beaten her once. Once is not enough. At Revolution, it’s 2 out of 3 falls. Her killing is coming twice.
*Thekla‘s music hits and she has words for Kris. No, no, no, no, absolutely not. Since when does the challenger get to say what the match is? Why does she have to listen to some bitch from space? No, she’s not doing a 2 out of 3 falls match. Actually, what makes Kris think she can beat Thekla twice in one night? Kris wears sunglasses now because she can’t look Thekla in the eye. Statlander is right about one thing though. Thunder Rosa should have listened to her because she sent her back to the graveyards in a box. She should take her own advice and quit while she’s alive. Everything she’s afraid of, is everything Thekla is. Well, I approve of giving Thekla more mic time, but this felt a little bit like filler, not sure what we achieved here.
*Renee Paquette speaks to Jon Moxley on Close Up. Moxley is fully aware Takeshita can beat him, but he’s just not going to at Revolution. The full interview is up on Youtube early next week.
[$200,000 Four-way Tag] LFI vs Private Party vs The Outrunners vs The Swirl
Dalton Castle has joined commentary. Blake Christian begins against Truth Magnum, but Johnson quickly comes in. Kassidy and Dralistico now, shoulder block attempts thwarted, Kassidy tossed to the floor where RUSH runs him into each side of the barricades. Quen as well. LFI and The Swirl work together for a four-way dropkick on Brother Zay. The Swirl thing about doing the LFI pose but Dralistico and RUSH hit them before they can do it. RUSH on the ropes with the Swirl now, Dralistico springboards in for a hurracanrana on Christian. Gourdbuster off the ropes from RUSH! LFI raise their fist as we head to commercial.
During the break, RUSH goes face to face with Dalton Castle, and Castle says ‘there’s a chair between us!’ haha. Christian takes Quen off the apron as well as the Outrunners but Zay still makes the tag to Floyd nonetheless. Multiple body slams from the Outrunners! Floyd hits a superplex on Christian into a pile of the others on the outside. The Outrunners are back in the ring….they look for the double Bicep but LFI cut it off, boo! Zay with an enziguri to RUSH. Dralistico gets caught with a cutter over the top rope, now battles Zay on the apron. Hurracanrana off the apron by Dralistico. Quen gets kicked and German suplexed. Codebreaker from Dralistico! And a dive to the Swirl outside. RUSH is ready looking for the Bull’s Horns but Floyd cus him off. YOU SUNAVABITCH! Oh superkicks from The Swirl and they do the double bicep instead! Superkicks all over from everyone. Christian with a moonsault to the outside. Steps off the shoulders of Johnson into a destroyer on Quen! 1, 2, NO. Zay with a destroyer on Johnson. Double stomp by Quen. Private Party hit the assisted cutter from the shoulders, 1, 2, 3!
Winners: Private Party
Time: 11:52
Rating: *** – A little chaotic from the get-go, but as a popcorn match it landed, although I don’t really need other teams having superkick parties when the Bucks have that covered as it is. Private Party haven’t done anything of substance in forever so perhaps we’ll see more of a spotlight on them going forward as a result of this.
*JetSpeed join Lexy Nair backstage. Knight said Wednesday was one of the hardest nights of his career, and while there will be opportunities in the future, he feels he let his team down. Speedball disagrees, and at Revolution they team with Mistico to get back some gold. And he has a shot at the TNT title this Wednesday and hopes to bring that pretty pink title home. Swerve Strickland shows up with some advice for Knight – if he wants to compete among killers, he has to become a killer. Basically the same advice HOOK gave Bowens earlier then?
*Earlier today, Babes of Wrath try to speak to Renee Paquette but Megan Bayne and Lena Kross attack, trying to chokeslam Harley into some equipment boxes. They take out Willow too, and the Babes are down and out.
Timeless Love Bombs vs Megan Bayne & Lena Kross
Mina Time as she locks up with Megan Bayne to start. Bayne attempts a suplex, Mina slips out but runs into a shoulder tackle. Kross in, Storm makes the save and bashes their heads together. Bayne & Kross hit stereo fallaway slams. Kross with a biiig spinning side slam, covers Shirakawa for 2. Bayne tries another German, Mina avoids it and tags in Storm. Snapmares galore and a hip attack, followed by a dropkick gets a 2 count. Storm sends both opponents to the floor, then helps Mina to the top rope for a crossbody to take both Megan and Lena out. Storm misses the hip attack into the ropes, and gets dropped face first on the apron, Suicide dive from Bayne connects as we head to PIP.
Butterfly suplex on Storm, Kross in for a basement lariat and a cover for 2. Bayne and Kross use quick tags to keep the pressure on Storm as the fans chant We Want Mina. Another sliding lariat gets 2. Storm fights back, rolls through to make the tag and Shirakawa is the house of fire now. Rebound kick to the face, tornado DDT on Kross. La Mistica from Mina to Bayne! She goes up the ropes, diving dropkick from the middle rope. Storm in for the assisted tornillo, 1, 2, no. Bayne captures both women and drops them with a fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo. Bayne up top, the Timeless Love Bombs both go up to meet her there but Kross is in too, Tower of Doooooooooom! Storm and Bayne trade blows on their feet, headbutt from Storm, pump kick from Kross, backfist from Mina. DDT to Bayne! Hip attack to follow. Slingblade off the top from Mina, 1, 2, NO. Figure Four applied, Bayne is struggling. Bayne rolls over to reverse the pressure but Storm rolls her back. Kross rolls her back the other way, and Storm does the same once more. Kross in for a senton. Here comes Marina Shafir to take out Storm on the outside, pulling her under the ring! Spear to Mina, and now Kross hits a jackhammer. 1, 2, 3!
Winners: Megan Bayne & Lena Kross
Time: 12:29
Rating: ***1/4 – I hadn’t been all that impressed with Kross so far in AEW but that changed here as she had a very good showing in this one with crisp offense. This was some solid work from all here.
*Mark Briscoe is backstage, pacing. He’s known Ciampa for a long time, and something ain’t felt right since Ciampa’s been here. When he did what he did, that was the Tommaso that Briscoe remembered. Shame on Briscoe for not trusting his instincts, letting his guard down. But shame on Ciampa for back jumping him like a coward, and aligning with FTR. Briscoe has a plan for Dynamite…FTR & Ciampa vs DEM BUCKS! The Young Bucks and Mark Briscoe. Yeah that works.
The Dogs (Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors & David Finlay) vs Random Jobber Trio
Kidd straight in to slap two of them off the apron. Spear by Connors. Finlay wants him. Powerbomb connects. Kidd elbows one guy on the outside. Pounce from Connors sends one off the apron. Biel by Finlay. Powerslam. Rebound lariat by Kidd and good Lord that might have broken that guy’s jaw. Brainbuster! Kidd with the gotch piledriver, flipping the guy back into the Overkill from Finlay for the 1, 2, 3.
Winners: The Dogs
Time: 1:46
Rating: N/R – Oh yeah, this needed to be about the Dogs destroying those guys and they nailed it. It’s easy to get lost in the trios division, but the Dogs could carve a niche for themselves by being the no-nonsense hard hitters. Time will tell.
*Toni Storm is back out to say enough is enough. Marina Shafir talks about competition but the only one with a set of ovaries to fight each week is Jon Moxley. They’re all in Hollywood soon. So Storm wants everyone banned from ringside. Just her and Shafir and nobody to stop them. And then Storm wants her Women’s title back.
*We see footage from CMLL last night, where Persephone defeated Mercedes Mone to win the CMLL Women’s championship. Persephone will face Willow Nightingale for the TBS title on Dynamite so she could be Persey Two Belts by next week.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Konosuke Takeshita
Moxley has joined commentary for a front row seat to scout Takeshita once more. Claudio looks for arm control, but Takeshita grounds him and tries to hook the legs. Running uppercut in the corner from Claudio, Takeshita runs into the opposite buckles with a big boot. Claudio pulls the arm over the ropes and wrenches it. Shoulder blocks, neither man go down. Claudio looks to take a big run up but instead rakes the eyes. Double stomp to the outstretched arm! Takeshita with a flying headscissors out of the corner. Claudio bends the arm of Takeshita back around the top turnbuckle as we head to commercial break.
Castagnoli keeps up the pressure by focusing on the arm during the break. Big boot from Takeshita! But Claudio cuts off any more offense by grounding him and working the arm further. Claudio springboards back right into a forearm shot from Takeshita. Flying forearm connects! Exploder to follow. Powerdrive knee is caught, and Castagnoli gets him in the Giant Swing then drops him into an armbar with the ankle hooked to prevent an escape. Claudio focuses on the shoulder now but Takeshita comes out of nowhere with the Blue Thunder Bomb, 1 2, NO. Roaring elbow. Pop-up uppercut from Castagnoli! 1, 2, NOOO. We’re entering overtime here. Claudio grabs a chair and tosses it into the ring, and grabs a second chair. The ref deals with the chairs while Claudio brings his CMLL title in the ring but here’s Hechicero to grab it off him. Tope con hilo from Takeshita! Powerdrive Knee connects, 1, 2, NO! Takeshita drops the knee pad and readies it once more. Claudio meets him with an uppercut though. Neutralizer countered. More uppercuts and lariats. They stagger to their feet and trade strikes. Flurry of upercuts, and the Ricola Bomb, Takeshita rolls through! The knee! Raging Fire, 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita
Time: 14:39
Rating: ***3/4 – Takeshita is such a good babyface so it was great to see him lean into that here, fighting through the armwork for those hope spots, and his offense compliments that so well, firing off knee strikes out of nowhere. I marginally preferred their work in the C2 time limit draw, but this still provided a very good main event to cap off the night.
*Takeshita and Moxley go face to face on the outside…but Hechicero comes out of nowhere to take Moxley out. Takeshita tells Hechicero that he doesn’t need it, but Mox is back. Claudio and Hechicero go at it now, as Moxley pounds away at the head of Takeshita on the floor. Referees try to restore order (unsuccessfully!) as we go off the air. And that’s a wrap for Collision this week – see you next time, folks!
