wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision: Playoff Palooza Review 04.25.26
Image Credit: AEW
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Goooood evening sickos! How’s it going? I hope it’s been a DELIGHTFUL week for you all and you’ve recovered from your Wrestlemania parties. I stayed spoiler-free on Saturday and had friends round on the Sunday to watch both nights back-to-back, squeezing in The Sandman’s final match in between (which was a perfect palate cleanser after night 1!). Cheeky little 8 hour stretch of solid wrestling!
Anyway, after our Mania weekend excursion, Collision is back to Saturday nights, and we’re being welcomed back with ‘Playoff Palooza’, which promises title defences and a stack of multi-man matches to get a ton of people on the show. The Trios titles are on the line (presumably in our main event), with the Conglomeration taking on the Don Callis Family’s Andrade, Archer & MY BOY Hechiceroooo. The Trios titles have been hotshotted back and forth as of late, so could we see another title change this soon? Or will Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly prove tonight that they have a firm hold of the division?
Jericho will look to keep his new trademark alive, getting beat up by The Demand every week, except tonight he will have backup in the form of the Hurt Syndicate’s Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin. A couple of interesting dynamics there means this should be an intriguing trios encounter.
We’ll also see a wild 10-man tag, with the Young Bucks and all three of the Rascalz taking on Clark Connors and Davd Finlay of The Dogs, along with the Death Riders’ Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. On the women’s side, Alex Windsor will team with CMLL’s Persephone to take on the Triangle of Madness’ Thekla and Skye Blue, with big time implications for the Women’s championship should Thekla be pinned.
Lastly, the National Championship will be defended by Jack Perry as he takes on El Clon, who has been consistently impressive and looks to add gold around his waist to solidify himself as a bonafide player for the Don Callis Family.
Well, I think that’s more than enough for us to be getting on with tonight. ON WITH THE SHOW!
Location: Portland, OR
Venue: Veteran Memorial Coliseum
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
*We are live-to-tape from Portland, and Kyle O’Reilly is backstage with his tag partners, ready to defend the trios titles…but here come FTR to mock the Conglomeration and tell them they’re going to lose the titles to their close friends in the Don Callis Family. FTR’s music hits, and they head out to the ring as Collision officially begins.
*Cash says they saw the challenge from Big Cope, and they are indeed enticed by that offer that C&C won’t tag together again if they lose…so challenge accepted. Dax can’t believe they think they deserve these titles. Dax wants to lay some hard truths out there…nobody wants Cope and Cage here. Nobody associated with AEW wants them here. All C&C had to do was put their careers on the line, so a New York street fight sounds good to them. If they’re going to have this match, there has to be no more questions, no more debates…New York Street Fight I Quit. Dax wants God Almighty to hear them say those words. The ball is in their court now.
*FTR are still leaving when the Conglomeration music hits, and we’re kicking off with the Trios championships match!
[AEW World Trios Championships] The Conglomeration (c) vs. Andrade El Idolo, Lance Archer, & Hechicero
O’Reilly and Hechicero begin, and that is a singles match I need in my veins. Feeling out process, Hechicero gets a choke hold in the ropes and fires off a dragon screw through the ropes. Tag to Strong, backbreaker delivered and Orange Cassidy tags in for the diving…well, sloth-style diving elbow drop! Lance Archer gets in the face of OC, so Cassidy tags out to Strong, who runs into a shoulder block. OC back in, as Archer tags out to Andrade. Orange goes to put the hands in the pockets, but Andrade stops him and signals he’s going to take his pants off. Sloth-style kicks, and OC rips the belt off Andrade and pulls his pants down! Dropkick, tag to O’Reilly for mounted punches. All members of the Conglomeration take it in turn to deliver mounted punches, with Orange hitting just one. Hechicero drags Strong to the floor and bounces his head off the announce desk, and Andrade rips the shirt off Cassidy and puts it on as we go to PIP break.
We’re back OC being worked over in the corner. He fights back with a diving hurracanrana to Andrade, claws to make the tag but Archer puts a stop momentarily, only for Archer to be low bridged. Tag to O’Reilly! Leg sweep takes Andrade down, Hechicero is there for a dropkick, blind tag by Strong, and we get stereo knees in the corner from O’Reilly and Strong. Strong uses Cassidy as a weapon, slamming him into Andrade. Strong places, OC on Archer’s shoulders, they slightly mistime a triple team move but the effect is Archer being DDT’d. Andrade blind tags in, Hechicero with a step up knee to the face on Strong, and Andrade delivers the running knees in the corner, 1, 2, NO. Three Amigos to O’Reilly, but O’Reilly knees his way out of the third. Orange looks for a spinning DDT, can’t get it but rolls up Andrade for 2. Stundog Millionaire! Archer tags in, running body press. And he chokeslams Strong onto O’Reilly! Blackout attempt is thwarted, but he delivers the Black Hole Slam instead, 1, 2, save from Strong and O’Reilly. Archer looks for a double chokeslam, OC comes in and goozles Archer! Orange Punch instead! High-Low from Strong and O’Reilly connects, and Strong tosses OC on top of Archer for the 1, 2, 3.
Winners and STILL AEW World Trios Champions: The Conglomeration
Time: 13:29
Rating: *** – Some classic Orange Cassidy shenanigans on display here which is always fun. Fast-paced trios action, a tad forgettable but a fine opener.
*Last Wednesday after Dynamite, we see the Death Riders with the almost lifeless corpse of Will Ospreay after they carried him off somewhere. They sit Ospreay on a chair in front of Moxley and wake him up. Moxley wants to know what he wants to accomplish. What is it he’s chasing? Moxley doesn’t think Ospreay knows the answers. Mox saw him for the first time 7 years ago. How he wields his body…it will break eventually. Try and run through the brick wall as many times as you like, the brick wall isn’t going anyway. But there is a door to walk through whenever he wants. Moxley says they can turn Ospreay into a weapon like pro wrestling has never seen. This thing between them has got to come to a head one way or another. Moxley tosses a chair in front of Ospreay, giving him a choice. He can be just like everyone else, or he can be everything he wants to be. Your choice! Ospreay grabs the chair as Moxley lays himself prone on the ground…but Ospreay gets up and tells the camera guy to get out. OK, count me intrigued about where this is heading.
[10-man Tag Team Contest] The Young Bucks and The Rascalz vs. The Dogs and Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, & Claudio Castagnoli
Jon Moxley has joined commentary, who doesn’t want to address the footage from before the break, saying it’s on Ospreay to decide now. Xavier and Yuta are the two legal men to start, but Dezmond gets jumped from behind by the Dogs, and already it breaks down into a big brawl. The Death Riders/Dogs team run a train of strikes on Xavier in the corner, before turning their attention to Nick Jackson. Now the Jackson/Rascalz team do the same to Garcia. Double stomp from Wentz! Claudio receives a ton of kicks and superkicks, with Xavier nailing a double stomp. Nick Jackson hits a dive to the outside, leaving Castagnoli and Wentz in the ring. Wentz tries a codebreaker but Castagnoli catches him, lock in a sharpshooter. Garcia gets one on Reed. The Bucks lock one in on the Dogs too! And here’s Xavier to rollup Yuta for 2. Tornado DDT, 1, 2, everyone breaks up the count. Tijeras to Castagnoli from Nick Jackson, and the Bucks hit the neckbreaker/backbreaker combo. Xavier with a rolling heel kick to Castagnoli, and he goes up top…Yuta crotches him though. Yuta muscles him up for a suplex and Moxley hilariously shouts for him to hit a double bicep pose! The Dogs tag in to take control as we head to commercial.
As we come back, Wentz and Garcia tag in, leg pull from Wentz right into a German! Yuta comes in, eats an enziguri, and Reed tags in to deliver a superkick. Wentz gets that codebreaker he was looking for earlier, and the Rascalz hit a double team neckbreaker. 1, 2, kickout. Reed with a misdirection kick, Yuta with a German but Reed lands on his feet, hits a cutter in response! Connors and Nick Jackson in, Finlay assists his Dogs partner. Matt Jackson in for some northern lights suplexes. The locomotion is chugging along, delivering stereo northern lights to Garcia and Yuta, Castagnoli shuts it down, tries a popup uppercut but gets superkicked! Connors receives a double team sunset bomb from the Bucks, and now the Rascalz are in too, five-way kick to Connors!! Matt goes up top, elbow drop, Nick with a swanton, Wentz with a spinning press, No Cap splash from Reed, and Xavier looks for the Phoenix splash but is CAUGHT by Castagnoli right into the Giant Swing! The Bucks take it to Yuta and Castagnoli with a double bulldog. Leg sweep to Finlay, BTE Trigger is ducked and the Bucks bash knees. Irish Curse! Wentz with a handspring knee strike. Castagnoli presses Nick up on the apron and tosses him to the outside. Reed with the DIVING CUTTER OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! Xavier with an imploding shooting star to the outside. Diving cutter from Wentz to Finlay. The spear/brainbuster combo from The Dogs gets them the 1, 2, 3!
Winners: The Dogs & The Death Riders
Time: 14:05
Rating: ***3/4 – Oh yeahhhh, this was as chaotic as expected in the best possible way. Moxley was a lot of fun on commentary, helping to keep it light. Some wild offense in the latter portion as they kept the action at break-neck speed. Yes, it’s spotty, but that’s par for the course with this kind of thing.
*Lexi Nair is backstage with Hikaru Shida, Statlander, Harley Cameron and Mina Shirakawa. Harley is upset that Kris won’t train her, but she’s een more upset about what Shida said. Shida wants to say it to her face…Harley is not on their level. Shida says she and Statlander will do what Harley can’t…beat Divine Dominion. Shida and Mina start to speak in Japanese…and Harley joins in with Japanese of her own! Statlander walks off as Harley calls after her.
Kris Statlander vs B3cca
Statlander hits a back elbow and a kick to the face, catapulting B3cca into the corner. Running uppercut, B3cca comes back with a pump kick. She climbs the ropes and nails a diving dropkick to the side of Statlander’s head. Kris is back up, lifts B3cca into a tombstone position but B3cca escapes. Flatliner from B3cca! Impressive scissor submission appllied, but Kris gets to her feet, Staturday Night Fever connects! 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Kris Statlander
Time: 1:51
Rating: N/R – Wow, I’m impressed that B3cca got to look so good here, getting in some decent offense within that short timeframe; Stat was very giving here but ultimately made short work of her opponent.
*Lexi Nair is with Divine Dominion backstage to get their thoughts on the earlier challenge. Megan Bayne isn’t concerned with another thrown together team. There are no two women that look or move like they do. It’s not a challenge, it’s their fate.
RUSH vs Adam Priest
Priest mocks RUSH’s horns and squares up to him. Overhand slap from RUSH as they get into a striking exchange. Big elbow strike knocks Priest to the mat, and RUSH lays in the boots before hitting the tranquilo pose as we go to break.
We come back, and Priest hits a diving leg drop for a close 2 count. German suplex and a knee strike from RUSH as they then spill to the outside, RUSH bouncing Priest around the ringside area. Back in the ring, RUSH prepares for the HEEERNS and nails it! Cover, 1, 2, 3.
Winner: RUSH
Time: 8:12
Rating: ** – Priest has had sporadic AEW appearances as of late, mostly being confined to ROH these days, so it’would be refreshing to see him holding his own in a context like this…or at least, it would have been, had about 70% of this match not been eaten by the commercial break. Boo!
RUSH reminds Priest that when you mess with the bull, CHU-GET-THA-HEEERRRRRNNNNSSSS!
*Konosuke Takeshita speaks backstage after Dynamite, and says that if Okada wants to face him at Double or Nothing, he will happily take his title…bitch.
*Kazuchika Okada in a separate promo responds in Japanese, and says at DoN, Takeshita will lose.
Persephone & Alex Windsor vs. Thekla & Skye Blue
Jamie Hayter is not cleared to wrestle, which is why Windsor recruited Persephone as backup. Skye and Windsor start us off, trading chops. Persephone takes it to Thekla with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before turning her attention to Blue. Windsor and Persephone fire off some double handed chops, Persephone following up with a seated dropkick for a 2 count. Windsor back in, who gets distracted by Thekla on the outside. Thekla with a double stomp off the apron to the back as we go to PIP.
We’re back, with Thekla applying the tarantula to Windsor, holding her there for a dropkick from Blue. Cover, 1, 2, kickout. Windsor comes steaming back with a desperation lariat, and both women go down. Persephone and Thekla both tag in, with Persephone eventually landing a fallaway slam. She tries a suplex but Thekla knees her way out of it. Persephone rolls up Blue, gets pushed off and Windsor tags in and delivers a double lariat to the Triangle of Madness. Double crossbody from Persephone! Blue slips free of an armdrag, looks for Code Blue but Persephone puts a stop to that. Thekla with a spear to Persephone! Windsor with a headbutt, Persephone back in, capture German suplex with a bridge! 1, 2, Thekla breaks it up. Windsor and Thekla fight on the floor, as Persephone hops to the middle rope for a diving shotgun dropkick to Skye Blue. She looks for a Gory Bomb but Julia Hart is here to spit the black mist into her eyes while the referee is distracted. Code Blue! 1, 2, 3! Blue has pinned Persephone!
Winners: Thekla & Skye Blue
Time: 10:29
Rating: ***1/4 – Really strong work here, and Persephone was showing good fire and charisma and got a great response from the crowd. Hart’s Black Mist had always resulted in somewhat of a character change in the past for whoever received it, so it’ll be interesting to see if they follow up on that with Persephone or if it was just a means to an end to help give Blue the victory.
[AEW National Championship] Jack Perry (c) vs. El Clon
Perry rallies the crowd as the bell rings, and Clon tries to do the same but gets booed. Monkey flip and a dropkick from Perry, and he goes for a slingshot crossbody to the outside but Clon meets him with a knee to the face, damn! Shotgun dropkick sends Perry under the ring, before Clon sends him into the steel steps. Perry counters a ringpost shot and hits a tiger feint kick around the ringpost! Back in the ring, a sitout powerbomb connects, Perry covers for a 2 count. Clon kicks the rope into Perry’s face and connects with a running lariat as we head to PIP break.
As we come back, both men are down, and we hear that Shida and Statlander will get their shot at the tag titles this Wednesday on Dynamite against Divine Dominion. Perry delivers a Sliced Bread #2, 1, 2, NO! Clon with an awesome kick, looks for a driver of some kind but Perry counters with a destroyer. Perry goes for the knee strike, caught, flips Perry into a kneestrike of his own for a close nearfall.
Clon looks to deliver Perry’s kneestrike, Perry sidesteps, eats a Pele kick! Powerbomb attempt from Clon, countered into a hurracanrana. Backbreaker from Clon, and he hits the inverted Made in Japan! 1, 2, NOOO. Quebrada but Perry gets the knees up and he hits a German suplex instead. Perry is up and delivers the RUNNING KNEE! 1, 2, 3!
Winner and STILL AEW National Champion: Jack Perry
Time: 9:50
Rating: ***3/4 – These guys worked together so well, cramming some tremendous action into a sub 10 minute match. I say it all the time, but Clon’s offense seems so fresh and unique with that ‘wow’ factor, and Perry easily kept up with him, leading to some good drama and decent nearfalls.
*Willow Nightingale reflects on being the Comeback Killer. She gladly accepts the nickname. Shida, Aminata and Kamille all found out the hard way. If you’re sitting at home, Willow is the TBS champion, and she is at your service!
*We catch up with The Opps backstage, with HOOK telling Samoa Joe he’s been recruiting. Anthony Bowens shows up and says HOOK said he’d answer in a week about his ‘Opps fate’, and it’s been a week. HOOK tells Bowens there are no more vacancies in the Opps…and Joe says that’s because they found their newest member. Joe slaps hands with Bowens to welcome him to the team, and it’s made official.
The Demand vs. Jericho, Bobby Lashley, & Shelton Benjamin
MVP joins commentary for this main event. Jericho and Ricochet start us off…nope, Ricochet of course immediately tags out to Kaun…oh, Liona tags in too to bring all three in the ring, but here come the Hurt Syndicate, and they all pair off. Lashley and Liona go at it as Jericho tosses Ricochet to the floor, following up with a baseball slide. Step up kneestrike from Benjamin, and Lashley hits a neckbreaker on Kaun. Elevated spike DDT to Liona from Benjamin! Jericho climbs the ropes…diving crossbody to take all three opponents out as we go to PIP.
Ricochet has an abdominal stretch on Jericho as we come back, but gets back body dropped. Kaun tags in to cut off Jericho from tagging out, and delivers a bearhug but gets his ears boxed. Tag to Lashley! Lashley takes everyone out, bringing Ricochet in the hardway and delivering shoulders to the midsection in the corner. Dominator to Bishop Kaun, 1, 2, Liona breaks it up. Lashley sends Liona to the floor, Benjamin tags in and hits a series of release German suplexes. Ricochet tries a dive, misses, and Benjamin nails another German suplex. Jericho in, drops Ricochet and looks for the Walls, ducks a blow from Liona and now looks for the Walls on him. Ricochet puts a stop to that though. Lashley is tripped and pulled to the floor, where Liona hits a Samoan drop on him. Jericho up top with Ricochet, mounted punches and an avalanche hurracanrana from the top! Kaun knocks Jericho down with a big right hand, goes up top, but Benjamin meets him there, leaping to the top rope for a superplex. Codebreaker to Ricochet! Cover, 1, 2, NO. Backslide from Ricochet gets 2, runs into an elevated splash from Benjamin, spear by Lashley, and Liona sends him to the floor. Jericho lures him to the outside though. Rollup from Jericho on Ricochet, and he gets the Walls locked in! But Liona helps pull Ricochet to the ropes for the save. Lashley takes Liona out on the outside, with Benjamin focusing on Kaun. Ricochet low blows Jericho! RICO-SAULT connects, 1, 2, 3!
Winners: The Demand
Time: 11:27
Rating: ***1/4 – Crazy that Jericho is having infinitely better matches in this latest run than he’s had in quite some time. He’s really putting a shift in, and I think being face is helping as it allows him to fire off those high spots like the avalanche hurracanranas. This was of a much higher quality than I was expecting, and The Demand really needed a big win to keep them gloating. Ricochet can run with this for a few more weeks now.
*The Demand celebrate their victory…very briefly as the broadcast fades out pretty abruptly. Looks like that’s all we have time for! Good night everyone, see you next week.
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