wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 03.02.24
Hello everybody and welcome to our final stop on the road to Revolution! We are just 24 hours away from the PPV and Sting’s last ever match before retirement. Revolution has benefitted from a decent build time, with most matches on the card serving as a culmination of weeks of storytelling, and I for one am very much looking forward to it. What do you think will take MOTN honors? Sound off in the comments below!
Much of the card is set in stone, but there are a few pieces yet to fall in place, such as the All-Star Scramble match, which will be filled by the winner of tonight’s triple threat between Penta El Zero Miedo, Dante Martin, and Bryan Keith. With that in mind, let’s head down to ringside for our taped go-home edition of Collision…
Location: Huntsville, AL
Venue: Propst Arena, Von Braun Center
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly & Tony Schiavone
Buddy Matthews makes his way to the ring as we open the show, ready for in-ring competition. Oh but Mark Briscoe pulls him out of the ring from out of nowhere! Briscoe pulls out a table but Matthews with a boot to the face to put a stop to that. Briscoe with a chairshot and Buddy rolls him in the ring but Briscoe comes right back with a dropkick. Briscoe sets up the chair and leaps off with a tope con hilo on Matthews through the propped up table at ringside!
Briscoe grabs the spike, just like last week…but here comes Brody King! Malakai Black appears too and they wrestle the spike away from him. Chairshot to King though! Chairshot to the knee of Black and Briscoe throws the chair at his face. Briscoe has the spike poised but Buddy Matthews dives into shot with a running kick to the face. Briscoe and Buddy battle up the ramp, and Briscoe gets a back body drop on Matthews and then dives off the stage with a crossbody. Briscoe grabs the pyro controls and sets off some of the flaming pyro, he’s looking to fire it off on Matthews! But security and stage hands prevent Briscoe from doing it, and the House of Black retreat backstage.
Swerve Strickland speaks after Dynamite this past Wednesday. Swerve wonders if he had been a little too nice, and maybe he’s paying for it. Hangman swerved Swerve…and now he’ll never take his eyes off him again. As for Joe, Swerve is taking that championship, he’s doing whatever it takes to win. He will become the first African American AEW World champion. Whose House? Swerve’s House!
Match One: [All-Star Scramble Qualifier] Penta El Zero Miedo vs Dante Martin vs Bryan Keith
Penta Cero Miedo’s in Martin’s face, and takes the glove off, but Keith headbutts him out of nowhere! Penta with kicks to both men, but they come back with double thrust kicks to knock Penta outside.
Headscissors by Dante, rising knee, but Penta in with a crossbody to Martin. Slingblade! And another. Kick to the back of the leg on martin, superkick and a kick to the face followed by a lungblower. Bryan Keith comes in to cut off Penta’s run, and an exploder catches Penta for a 2 count. Keith and Penta trade overhand chops and forearms, only for Martin to come in with a double crossbody to knock both men down. Dives to Keith and Penta on opposite sides of the ring as we head to PIP.
Dante poses and gloats on the outside but Keith runs round with a big boot to take him down a measure, and Penta comes in to send Keith into the steel steps. Penta kicks the hamstring of Dante and goes back to Keith, who rakes the eyes. Keith delivers kicks to the chest of both men, but Penta holds him back and Martin nails a basement dropkick. The teamwork doesn’t last long, as Penta kicks Martin in the back of the head straight after.
All three back in the ring now as they all trade superkicks. Penta and Keith with superkicks to Martin to knock him down. Penta looks for the Fear Factor but Keith drives him into the corner. Keith looks for a blockbuster, misses it, Penta with a Destroyer on Martin for 2, Keith had to break it up. Penta with a springboard but Keith blocks it, only to run into a thrust kick. Headbutt to Penta knocks him outside! Keith goes back to Dante, rollup! 1, 2, no. Sunset flip by Martin, Keith with the tiger driver! 1, 2, no.
Penta brings Keith to the apron, looking for Fear Factor but Keith with chops to break out of it. Penta eventually gets it! He rolls Keith back in the ring, and Martin dives into a kick, but comes right back with a Destroyer on the apron! Martin to the top rope, hits his big splash and gets the 3 count at 10:01.
Your winner by pinfall: Dante Martin
Rating: **3/4 – Scrappy fun but with little substance. Bryan Keith continues to hang with the AEW regulars, and it does look like he has a bright future. Martin is probably the less exciting addition to the All-Star Scramble, but he’ll no doubt contribute some big flippy spots.
Camera crews catch up with Hangman Adam Page after Dynamite. Page would rather die than have Swerve as a world champion. He did what he had to do. Swerve is hurt, and damaged, and Page had to do it. Page storms off…
Match Two: Mariah May vs Angelica Risk
May gets Risk tangled up in the ropes and chokes her out. Dropkick to the back against the ropes. Spinning backbreaker on Risk! May blows a kiss to Nigel at ringside and Nigel pretends to faint haha. May drives the boot into the throat of Risk for the full five count, and then hits a dropkick to the chest. Risk begins to fight back but a big right hand from May puts a stop to that. Knee trembler! MAY DAY connects and Mariah May picks up the win at 2:50.
Your winner by pinfall: Mariah May
Rating: N/R – Total Squash! May looked great in this though, the total package.
Before May has a chance to celebrate, here comes Toni Storm who wants to speak to Deonna Purrazzo. And that does indeed bring out the challenger!
Storm wonders if this has gone far enough. Look at what they’ve become. Is this what they trained for? Their friendship destroyed, a broken leg, a broken arm, all just to win a match…is it worth it? Storm isn’t sure, so Deonna, from the bottom of her heart, she loves her. Storm loves her determination, and she loves that there is only room for one…and that one will never be Purrazzo.
Deonna takes the mic. She loves Toni too. She loves that she has her head so far up her ass, she will lose the one thing that started this entire charade to begin with. Storm has forgotten the one important detail about her…she’s the best friend and the worst enemy. It will be hard for Storm to wipe her ass when she breaks both her arms.
Storm says “goodbye old friend”, applies the lipstick, and kisses Deonna. And they erupt into a brawl! Mariah May helps Storm, throwing Deonna off her. Purrazzo turns her attention to May and hits the stump piledriver! Deonna is ready for their championship match tomorrow and Storm is furious.
The Bang Bang Scissor Gang make their way out, and as Max Caster starts his rap, Jay White puts his arm around him, distracting him and cutting him off. Ha!
Match Three: Austin Gunn & The Acclaimed vs The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver)
Austin and Reynolds start this off, with Gunn getting the upper hand early, tagging in Caster for a double team arm drag. Reynolds drives Max into the corner and tags in Uno, but Caster fights back with a dropkick to Uno and a back body drop to Reynolds. Back suplex to Silver! Caster with a body slam to Uno, tag to Bowens…SCISSOR ME TIMBERS! The Acclaimed and Austin signal for a three way scissor party but Silver breaks it up. Pop up uppercut by Silver & Reynolds, spinning DDT by Uno to follow up, which gets a 2 count. We go to PIP as Uno targets Gunn in the corner.
Reynolds tags in, slingshot elbow to Austin for a 2 count. Silver in now, drop toe hold and stereo dropkicks get another 2 count. Silver delivers some hard kicks to the chest as Fite TV goes to commercial too.
When we come back, Austin Gunn is taking out the Dark Order on the apron, and hits a leaping reverse DDT on Uno, inadvertently assisted by the referee. Tag to Bowens! Bowens takes on both Reynolds and Uno, and then superkicks Silver. Leaping bulldog to Reynolds but Uno pulls him under the bottom rope. Silver with a suicide dive to Caster and he flexes in front of Daddy Ass, shoving him back! Dark Order hit the triple team slam on Bowens but Gunn makes the save. Twisting neckbreaker on Uno, Silver in with a German suplex in retaliation. Reynolds and Silver attacks Bowens but Reynolds accidentally hits Silver. Caster tags himself in, and hits the Mic Drop on Reynolds! 1, 2, 3! The Bang Bang Scissor Gang get the win at 8:15.
Your winners by pinfall: Austin Gunn & The Acclaimed
Rating: *** – Decent showing from everyone here, although it served as a reminder that Dark Order have been criminally absent from my TV for a while! They always deliver and have great personality, which shines throughout their matches, so I don’t get why they’re not used all that much.
Lexy Nair is with Stokely Hathaway, Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale, looking towards their Zero Hour tag match tomorrow before Revolution. Hathaway says it’s all about accountability, and he apologises to them. Willow says they have to get on the same page because it’s not about friendship, it’s about Revolution. Willow warns Skye and Julia that tomorrow night, she and Stat will kick their asses. Willow seethes as we head to commercial.
Tony Schiavone is in the middle of the ring as we come back. He welcomes Wardlow to the ring, who will be competing in the All-Star Scramble match, looking for a shot at the World championship.
Wardlow says it looks like he finally got someone’s attention around here. Two years ago, he won the Face of the Revolution ladder match. One year ago, he choked out our King. This year, he’ll beat all the other ‘all-stars’. Who will it be? Wardlow vs Hangman Adam Page? He’ll slap his mustache off and send him back into depression. Maybe Wardlow vs Swerve? It’s Swerve’s House, right? He’ll kick the front door of his house down and kick him from the basement to the attic. Swerve back into your own lane and dance your ass to the back of the line. Maybe it will be Wardlow vs Samoa Joe? He’s sick of hearing the dumb hillbillies chant ‘Joe Joe Joe’. Wardlow hopes it is Joe, because everyone knows he’s in Wardlow’s spot. This time, Wardlow will finish the job. He’ll take his spot, his title, and he will beat Joe so bad he’ll be forced to put on a headset and go back to the announce table. Tomorrow night, Wardlow reminds everyone that he is still the face of the Revolution. This is no longer wrestling, this is war.
That brings out the Ocho, Chris Jericho! Jericho wants to ask Wardlow about why he’s focusing on Swerve, Page and Joe, when he needs to look at the competitors he’ll be facing tomorrow instead. Jericho is the very first AEW World champion. Before Wardlow disrespects him, he wants to remind him that it’s been four long years since he’s even been able to sniff that championship. Jericho knows he’s good enough….but is Wardlow? Wardlow is complaining so much about being overlooked…but maybe the reason people stopped chanting his name is because he wasn’t as good as he thinks he is. Jericho calls him ‘Mike’ so you know he means business!
Wardlow says Chris is right. Wardlow was this close to the top of the mountain, but then had to take a step backwards, and that continued on and it pissed him off. He let it eat away at him, and he lost his best friend because of it. Wardlow even lost himself. But then he started to remember who he is. Wardlow picked himself up, put himself back together, and came back to remind everyone who he is. He doesn’t give a damn who you are, how many titles you’ve won…he’s done eating everyone else’s scraps. So Jericho, feel free to come down to the ring.
Jericho is happy to come to the ring….but here comes Powerhouse Hobbs from behind! Hobbs gestures at Wardlow, and those two will likely come to blows during the Scramble tomorrow.
Lexy Nair is with Serena Deeb, hyping up her undefeated streak. Deeb says she is undeniable and unstoppable, putting on clinic after clinic every week. Nobody has challenged her in the ring yet. She doesn’t think the competition so far would know the difference between a wrist lock and a wrist watch. She challenges anyone to step into the Deeb Dojo. Nobody can do what she does in the ring, and she will show why she is the Final Boss.
Match Four: Private Party vs Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal
Kassidy and Sydal shove each other as this one gets underway, and Sydal with a sweet headscissors, followed by another to take Kassidy down. Quen comes in and arm drags Sydal, but Daniels joins the fray with an arm drag of his own. All four men come face to face as referee Rick Knox tries to restore order. Daniels and Quen tag in, and Quen is in the party mood. Leg trip by Quen, drop down but Daniels stands on his back and gives us the Curry Man dance! Hot and Spicy!
Sydal tags in, standing twisting moonsault for a 2 count. Daniels in with a sliding clothesline to the back of the head as we go to PIP.
Knee to the back by Kassidy on the apron, dropkick to follow up by Marqus Quen. Springboard cutter by Kassidy takes Daniels to the outside before he brings Daniels back inside, trash talking the whole time. Quen in as PP put the boots to Daniels. Isiah with a step up enziguri to Daniels before knocking Sydal off the apron. Clothesline by Isiah to Daniels, before a side headlock is applied. Daniels fights out of it, Kassidy goes for a Twist of Fate but Daniels avoids it and gets an STO. Tag to Sydal! Rising knee to Quen, and one to Kassidy.
Sydal alternates kicks between both opponents and nails a double hurracanrana on them. Air Raid Crash to Quen gets a 2 count. Sydal misses a splash in the corner, and then runs into a big boot by Quen. Kassidy heads up top, Swanton connects. 1, 2, no. Sydal with a jumping thrust kick, and a tag to Daniels, and stereo clotheslines take Private Party down. Meteora to Kassidy! Daniels avoids a Pele kick, and hits the Angels Wings! But here come Jarrett, Lethal, Sonjay et al to spoil the fun. Lethal Combination to Daniels while the referee is distracted, as Quen makes the cover and gets the 1, 2, 3. Private Party steal the win at 9:53.
Your winners by pinfall: Private Party
Rating: **3/4 – Daniels & Sydal are so good at keeping things grounded while still being exciting, and they’re good bases for Private Party here. Perfectly fine match, but another case of it all being slightly irrelevant.
Eddie Kingston reflects on his feud with Danielson in a quick video package to hype up their Revolution match. He is proud of being King of the Bums, that means he’s King of the Underdogs. Eddie had a different path in wrestling, and just because he didn’t do it Danielson’s way, Danielson hates that. He will earn Danielson’s respect tomorrow, and Danielson will have to shake his hand.
Match Five: Thunder Rosa vs Cassandra Golden
Grapple to begin and Golden shoves Rosa away. Knees to the midsection by Rosa, but again Golden shoves her off. Thrust kick by Rosa and a big sap to the chest, followed by a clothesline and some kicks to the head. Rosa sends Golden into the turnbuckles, unleashing a couple of big chops to the chest. Rosa lifts Golden up onto her shoulders but Golden boots her away, only to walk into a shotgun dropkick. Running dropkick by Rosa against the bottom buckle. Diving double stomp! Rosa stalks her prey and locks in a new submission hold for her, like a modified London Dungeon (and Nigel seems to approve!) for the tap out victory at 2:17.
Your winner by submision: Thunder Rosa
Rating: N/R – Another squash as Rosa racks up more victories, and you have to believe she’s headed for title contention soon.
Match Six: [8-man Tag Team Contest] Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, HOOK, & Daniel Garcia vs Christian Cage, Killswitch, Roderick Strong, & Brian Cage
Two Cages on one team, this is going to be recap carnage! Daddy Magic joins the commentary desk as this gets underway. It’s Trent and Brian Cage starting off in the ring together, Trent attempting a side headlock but Cage shrugging him off and shoulder blocking him down. Garcia tags in, and Cage tags out to Strong. Strong skips round the ring and spits at Orange Cassidy, before tying up with Garcia. They roll around a bit, before Strong targets the arm. Strong gets out of a headscissors but is backed into the corner and receives some chops from Garcia. Garcia goes for a piledriver but Brian Cage comes in, as does Hook. Hip toss by Hook to Strong. Garcia is about to dance but in comes Killswitch, and now both teams enter the ring for a standoff as we head to PIP.
Christian takes a swipe at Garcia but the referee gets in the middle of them, and now Garcia and Brian Cage go at it once the ref has got control again. Boot to the face and a drop toe hold by Garcia, and he dances! Uppercut by Garcia, Christian distracts him, and Brian Cage capitalises with a clothesline to knock him down. Strong and Killswitch with quick tags, stomping away on Garcia, followed by a snake eyes and a shoulder block. Now Christian tags in to take advantage of a downed Garcia as Fite goes to commercial too.
Brian Cage works over Garcia when we come back. Garcia avoids another snake eyes and climbs the buckles over Cage to deliver the 10 count punches, but Brian cuts him off, and suplexes him back inside the ring from the apron in a feat of strength. Strong in, pendulum backbreaker to Garcia and a tag to Christian Cage. He mocks Garcia a little before Strong and Brian Cage trade quick tags. Cage with a suplex attempt but Garcia reverses into a DDT! Strong in but Garcia makes the tag to Beretta! Standing Meteora to Strong, German suplex to Christian, and another. Half and half sends Christian outside. Tornado DDT to Strong, and Trent takes a run up, suicide dive to Killswitch! But no, Killswitch caught him and just chokeslams him on the apron.
Strong whiplashes Trent into the bottom rope as we go to PIP again. Meanwhile, Killswitch tags in to work over Trent in the corner, with a hard Irish whip into the opposite buckles, sending Beretta careening to the floor. Killswitch brings Trent back in the ring and delivers clubbing blows to the chest. Christian tags in, snapmare to Trent, before goading on Garcia. Cage with a sleeper hold, but Trent battles out until Christian gets a reverse DDT. He goes up top, misses a splash though.
Tag to Strong, who cuts Beretta off before he can tag in OC. Strong tucks his hands in his little trunks and mocks the OC shin kicks, but then tries a Boston Crab, only for Trent to kick his way out of it. Trent makes the tag to OC! Crossbody to Christian, dropkick to Killswitch, tornado DDT to Brian Cage, no Cage catches him but OC reverses again into a Stundog. And now OC gets the spinning DDT, 1, 2 no!
OC is distracted by Strong, Killswitch enters the ring looking for a chokeslam, but Garcia comes in with a running boot. Sick kick by Strong! Saito suplex by Garcia, SPEAR by Cage. Exploder by HOOK on Christian! Full Nelson Slam by Cage on Hook. Cage takes out OC too but the others make the save. OC and Trent tackle Killswitch as Strong is sent outside…END OF HEARTACHE by Strong on OC on the outside! We’re left with Trent and Killswitch in the middle of the ring, sleeper applied. OC is in the Stronghold on the outside, struggling.
Killswitch signals for the chokeslam, but Trent rolls him up! 1, 2, no! Thrust kick, and one more. Trent takes out Christian on the apron, but Nick Wayne takes a cheap shot and Killswitch gets the huge Extinction clothesline from behind to pick up the win at 19:15.
Your winners by pinfall: Christian Cage, Killswitch, Roderick Strong, & Brian Cage
Rating: ***1/2 – These preview tags tend to bring the goods, and this definitely served its purpose in providing that last morsel of heat for some of the PPV’s midcard matches. Trent in particular looked good with that final flurry before ultimately succumbing to the numbers game.
Post-match, it all breaks down! Cage sends Hook into the barricade. Strong talks trash in OC’s face. Matt Menard enters the ring but Killswitch with a chokeslam to Menard on a steel chair! Hook takes out Cage with a diving clothesline, and Garcia battles up the ramp against Christian Cage. They’re all still battling as we head off the air, and this will pick up tomorrow night on AEW Revolution! Good night everybody!