wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 03.09.24
Image Credit: AEW
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Hello Team 411! Hope you’ve had a great week. I had a blast watching Revolution last Sunday – what a terrific show, right? One of the highly overlooked moments for me came in the Christian Cage vs Daniel Garcia match, where Christian went for the spear, only for his leg to give out due to Garcia’s targeted offense, allowing Garcia to capitalise and whip out a quick piledriver. I’m a huge sucker for limb work, and when the payoff is pulled off as perfectly as it was here, it’s a thing of beauty. Props to both men for that one!
Tonight is another taped show from earlier in the week, but it is nonetheless noteworthy as we have the in-ring AEW debut of Kazuchika Okada since officially becoming All Elite. Okada teams with the Young Bucks in six-man tag team action tonight, and I love that on day one they’ve already sown seeds for the next Okada vs Omega encounter. Get well soon, Kenny!
Location: Duluth, GA
Venue: Gas South Arena
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
Opening pyro from our new set with the tunnels, and this week’s Collision gets underway with in-ring competition as Bryan Danielson makes his way to the ring.
Match One: Bryan Danielson vs Shane Taylor
This should be a good test for Taylor. Lock up and Taylor wins the opening exchange, shoving Danielson to the mat. Taylor with a biel out of the corner, as he continues to talk trash to Dragon. Greco Roman knuckle lock, Taylor overpowers Danielson but Dragon spins and kicks his way out of it, getting some hammer and anvil elbows before releasing.
Kick to the thigh by Danielson but Taylor with a HARD right hand in retaliation! Chop to the chest of Dragon, and one more for good luck. Danielson turns the tables and unleashes kicks in the corner but Taylor reverses and gets some more chops. They fight in the middle of the ring now, Danielson goes for the leg but Taylor puts the brakes on. Danielson stomps the leg against the ropes and continues the assault, wrapping the knee around the middle rope and wrenching it. Running dropkick to the outstretched knee.
Taylor comes back with a knee trembler and a forearm to the face, knocking Danielson to the outside as we go to PIP. Taylor heads outside after him, chops him against the barricade. Snake Eyes on the ring apron before Taylor climbs back in the ring. Danielson fights back now with forearms but Taylor comes back with a series of knees to the midsection. Taylor holds the boot against the face as referee Aubrey Edwards makes the five count, and Taylor does the ‘I have til 5’ shtick! Shane backs up on the apron, and he may be thinking leg drop…nails it! That gets a two count for Taylor, so he continues the assault with headbutts and more HARD chops to the chest. Danielson avoids a shot in the corner with his moonsault evasion, and also avoids a back splash in the corner. Dragon grabs the knee and wraps it around the ringpost, slamming it repeatedly. Dragon up top, shotgun dropkick. Kicks to the thigh by Danielson which take Taylor to one knee.
Yes Kicks unleashed, finishing with the roundhouse, but it just gets a 1 count. Runnign dropkick in the corner, two in a row, but Taylor avoids a third and hits a left arm lariat. 1, 2, no. Uranage by Taylor plants Danielson, and a standing splash gets 2 for him. Taylor misses a canonball as Danielson signals for the Busaiku Knee, but NO Taylor catches him in mid air! Danielson avoids whatever Taylor was going for, kicking his way out. Busaiku Knee connects! 1, 2, 3. Danielson gets the pinfall at 13:58.
Your winner by pinfall: Bryan Danielson
Rating: ***1/2 – Shane Taylor can GO, this was such a good showing for him. You’d be hard pressed to have a bad match against Danielson, but regardless, this was good. Taylor got to look like a beast and absolutely brought it, and Danielson’s leg work was smartly peppered throughout.Now let’s capitalise on this showing and give Taylor some wins in the coming weeks.
Post-match, ‘Elevated’ hits and HERE COMES WILL OSPREAY. He grabs a mic and passes one to Danielson too. Ospreay applauds both Taylor and Danielson. Ospreay says it’s incredible watching Danielson perform at such a high level. Ospreay has noticed a few things already since being here, such as the sandwiches backstage, which are lovely. But one thing that stands out is the respect for Danielson. His enthusiasm is infectious. He inspires love of pro wrestling. Ospreay wants to thank Danielson for everything he’s done.
BUT!
Ospreay calls Danielson a cheeky little slag for interrupting his main event Dynamite celebration. Maybe Danielson has something he wants to ask Ospreay? Danielson says that’s about half right – he has something he wants to ask, but also something he wants to say to Ospreay. First, he welcomes Ospreay to AEW. Danielson saw the Takeshita match, and thinks it was one of the best damn matches he’s ever seen. But he also heard Ospreay in the post-show media scrum that Ospreay came here to prove he’s the best. Danielson wants to give him a chance to prove it. Bryan Danielson vs Will Ospreay at Dynasty on April 21st.
Ospreay: “YES BRUV”
Ospreay and Danielson shake hands and they are all smiles. Ospreay bows to Danielson and exits the ring.
The Young Bucks make their way out, and at the bottom of the ramp they toss a coin. As it lands, the coin drop for Okada’s entranced is cued…NICE!
Match Two: The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada vs Jon Cruz, Liam Gray & Adrian Alonis
Nicholas Jackson starts this out but immediately tags in Okada to a big pop. Alonis tries some forearms against Okada but a huge dropkick from Okada puts a stop to that. Liam Gray tags in, gets some shots in on Okada but the RAINMAKER connects. 1, 2, 3. This is over at 2:02.
Your winners by pinfall: The Elite
Rating: N/R – SQUASHMAKER. I love that the Bucks let Okada do all the work.
Post-match, Eddie Kingston tries to attack! But he gets stomped down for his troubles. But here comes Penta El Zero Miedo. Slingblades to the Bucks, but Okada nails him with the Air Raid Crash. PAC IS HERE!! THE BASTARD IS BACK! Pac storms down to the ring, boots Matthew out of the way, dropkicks Nicholas to the floor and goes face to face with Okada. Okada and Pac come to blows! Uppercut by Okada, thrust kicks by Pac, GERMAN from Pac! The Bucks pull Okada out of harms way as Pac rallies Kingston and Penta. Pac grabs a mic and wants to make it clear that the Bastard is back, and he’s looking for trouble. If they’re looking for trouble, they are barking up the correct tree. Pac channels the Wealdstone Raider with “You want some, I’ll give it ya!” You reap what you sow.
Eddie Kingston takes the mic to say “Big Business, 6-man tag, see you there!” Damn Okada’s AEW career is off to a hot start. Great to have Pac back too.
Video package hyping up Darby Allin vs Jay White, as Darby says White needs to remind everyone who he really is.
Match Three: Mariah May vs Trish Adora
May is in the Toni Storm cosplay for this. Nigel is already hilarious on commentary for this. Adora wrings the arm, hip toss and a rollup for 2. Slap by May! Headscissors connects and a running dropkick sends Adora to the outside as we head to PIP.
May goes for a delayed dropkick to the outside, and then sends Adora into the barricade. Chop to the chest, before bringing her back in the ring. Adora is wrapped up in the ropes as May chokes her out a little, then hits a dropkick to the back. Fite TV now goes to commercial too.
We’re back, as Trish Adora uses a double axe handle and a big boot to take down Mariah. Senton splash gets 2. Trish with a bridging German from her knees for another 2, that was niiiice. Headbutt by May and a running knee trembler. May Day connects and May gets the 3 at 6:15.
Your winner by pinfall: Mariah May
Rating: **1/2 – This was eaten up by commercial break, but May continues to impress, and Adora got some great shine too.
Post-match, Toni Storm appears and she is here to present the first ever Toni award. The nominees for best performance of Toni Storm are…Mariah May…and the award goes to Mariah May.
As Toni goes to celebrate with May, Deonna Purrazzo attacks from behind! May heads to the ramp to help out. Mariah May with a huge DDT on Purrazzo on the ramp, and Deonna is knocked out. Storm presents May with the shoe, which she places on Deonna’s chest, and May slips her foot back inside it, posing over the fallen Purrazzo.
Back from commercial, the music of Christian Cage hits, and here come the Patriarchy.
Match Four: Nick Wayne (w/ The Patriarchy) vs Adam Priest
Arm drag to start by Wayne, until Priest backs him into the ropes, but Wayne comes back with a shoulder block. Step up headscissors and a diving uppercut keep Wayne in control. Wayne goes for a suplex, Priest avoids it, chop to Wayne. Wayne sends him to the outside, follows him out there and hits a kick to Priest against the barricade. Priest fires back with chops but Killswitch provides a distraction. Wayne with a handspring to knock Priest off the apron, rolls him back in the ring, and a Fisherman Driver connects. Wayne does the Christian Cage rope choke, standing on the back of Priest, much to the approval of Cage. Wayne’s World connects for the academic 3 count at 3:11.
Your winner by pinfall: Nick Wayne
Rating: N/R – Another squash but nice to see a singles match for Wayne, who has just been playing Cage’s lackey as of late.
Cage talks trash to someone at ringside in a lucha mask, and they pull him over the barricade, and it’s ADAM COPELAND. Copeland grabs a large briefcase from under the ring, and holds up the TNT championship. Cage, Wayne and Killswitch surround the ring but they back away before Cage can open the case. ‘What’s in the box’ chant goes up. Copeland grabs a mic and tells Cage to get ready to say those two words… I QUIT.
Lexy Nair is with Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett backstage. Can Briscoe trust Jeff Jarrett, can Jarrett trust Briscoe? Jarrett says he will do anything to win tonight, and that’s all Briscoe has to focus on. Lethal says Briscoe knows he can trust him at least. Briscoe is ready.
Match Five: ‘Lionheart’ Chris Jericho vs Titán
Bow and arrow stretch by Jericho right from the off. Titán kips up out of an arm hold but gets chopped. They trade chops now and Titán flips out of the corner, gets wrist control, walks the ropes and hits a springboard hurracanrana. Tope Suicida takes out Jericho on the outside. Bit of miscommunication as Jericho is sent into the steel steps, and then back in the ring Jericho cuts off Titán on the ropes. Jericho with a top rope bulldog, which gets a 2 until Titán gets a foot on the ropes. We head to PIP.
Back suplex and the Y2j ‘come on baby’ pin, and then Jericho goes for the mask! Titán knees his way out of that, and Jericho catapults Titán throat first into the bottom rope. Titán battles back now but a boot to the midsection sends him back into the turnbuckles. Jericho misses a splash and spills to the floor, allowing Titán to capitalise with a running kick. He sends Jericho back inside the ring, kicking the legs, and they trade blows. Big boot catches Titán as he spills to the apron, Jericho misses the apron dropkick but he pulls the mask, only for Titán to hit a Pele. Top Con Hilo by Titán as Jericho recovers on the floor outside. Springboard stomp back inside the ring gets a 2 for Titán, but Jericho comes back with the butterfly backbreaker, which also gets a 2.
Jericho misses a lionsault, Titán connects with a tornado DDT off the ropes. 1, 2, no. Titán pulls himself to the top rope, DIVING DOUBLE STOMP. 1, 2, no! La Immortale from Titán is applied, but no, Jericho counters into the Walls! No, rollup by Titán, 1, 2, no. Codebreaker out of the corner as Titán attempts a springboard. 1, 2, no. Jericho misses the Judas Effect, Titán gets a spinning DVD but again Jericho kicks out. Wrist control and the rope walk again from Titán but he has gone to the well too many times, and Jericho pulls him to the canvas and locks in the Liontamer, forcing Titán to tap at 12:00.
Your winner by submission: ‘Lionheart’ Chris Jericho
Rating: *** – This was oddly plodding at times and I don’t think they were entirely on the same page for a significant portion of it. It picked up towards the end though with some hot exchanges. And we always love to see a ‘proper’ Liontamer like that!
The Gates of Agony attacks Chris Jericho post-match! But here comes Hook to make the save. Hook wields a kendo stick and he takes out the GoA, wailing away with the kendo stick. Hook and Jericho eventually stand tall.
Tony Schiavone hypes up the Tag Team Championship tournament, and welcomes to the ring FTR.
Tony says the tag tournament starts one week from tonight, as FTR look to work their way towards their 3rd tag title reign here in AEW. Wheeler reflects on being knocked down at Revolution, but FTR are determined to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. They’ve been doing this for a decade now. So what’s next for them? They have a tag tournament around the corner, and FTR are throwing their names out there.
Dax says Collision has been built on tag team wrestling. It would be easy for him to say they’re the greatest tag team of all time. But there’s one thing he’s not, he’s not a liar. He can’t confidently say they’ve been firing on all cylinders. We all go through self doubt, Dax isn’t even sure if FTR should be in the tournament. But they will give every ounce of energy, of sweat in their bodies until they can’t get up again. They want to be the first ever 3 time tag team champions in AEW.
Here comes The Infantry to interrupt. For those who don’t know them, they are the most popular, the most dynamic tag team there is. Captain Shawn Dean and Carly Bravo together make up the Infantry, and they almost didn’t make it tonight as they’re doing half off at Magic City. Bravo says when it comes to the tournament, may the best team win. They will give what the tag team division needs, a bit of a ‘revival’.
Dax thinks that’s cute and says the Revival is dead, and if they meet them in the tournament, they will be too.
Match Six: Mistico vs Angelico (w/ Serpentico)
ANGELICO SIGHTING! Automatic five stars. Both guys shake hands as we begin. Mistico wrings the arm, they flip around a little and come to a standoff. Go behind and a slam by Angelico, arm drag by Mistico and Angelico asks for a time out.
Handspring back elbow by Mistico connects as we go to PIP and a cross body follows up for Mistico. Angelico is sent to the outside but Serpentico gets up on the apron to provide a distraction, allowing Angelico to come back in the ring for a cheapshot. Jabs in the corner from Angelico, before locking in a wishbone leg submission. Mistico gets the ropes to break the hold and Fite goes to commercial too.
Headscissors takes Angelico down, tiger feint kick connects, followed by a top rope dropkick. Mistico with a suicide dive to Serpentico on the opposite side, and then dropkicks Angelico to keep him out of the ring. Mistico with a springboard hurracanrana on the outside, throws him back in the ring, and a tornilo splash for a 2 count.
Top rope swanton gets a 2, and Mistico heads back up top. He misses a moonsault but gets a drop toe hold, only for Angelico to roll through into a la mahistral. 1, 2, no. Rollup by Mistico, 1, 2 no. Clothesline in the corner, they trade clotheslines in opposite corners, and both hit roundhouse kicks, knocking both men down. Headscissors, spriongboard crossbody, into a rollup from Mistico for 2. Another headscissors into La Mistica tornado armbar, and Angelico taps at 9:47.
Your winner by submission: Mistico
Rating: **3/4 – Very flippy and a decent lucha showcase, but no real substance.
Show of respect from Angelico and Serpentico after the match, both raising Mistico’s hands.
Match Seven: [Atlanta Street Fight] Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, & Jeff Jarrett vs House Of Black
Jarrett brings the plunder to the ring, and this gets off to a hot start. Briscoe and Black battle in the ring, until Briscoe dropkicks him to the floor. Lethal hits a suicide dive to Brody King, and Briscoe dives onto Black. Lethal grabs a table, and Briscoe gets one too. Black boots Briscoe in the face as Lethal and Jarrett double team King.
Briscoe pulls out a load of chairs, and King gets set for the crossbody but Lethal drop toe holds him into a chair. Matthews sets up a table as Jarrett smacks King with a chair. Lethal and Jarrett set up King near an upright table, but King nails Lethal with al elbow shot, and then hits the running crossbody on Lethal through the table. On the opposite side of the ring, Briscoe and Matthews battle on the apron, and Matthews looks for a suplex through a table. Briscoe fights him off, but King from behind and he tosses him OVER the table into the pile of chairs!
House of Black are standing tall while their opponents are all down. Matthews stomps away at Jarrett near the announce table, while King destroys Briscoe in the ring. Black drapes a chair over Briscoe’s face and drops a knee into the chair! Ouch. King drags Briscoe outside again and powerbombs him through a table.
Black drives the back of Lethal into the ring apron, and Brody looks to powerbomb Jarrett through another table. Matthews has lighter fluid! He covers the table in lighter fluid and Black grabs the lighter. Sonjay Dutt appears and tries to hit King with a guitar, but he gets scared and runs away. Julia Hart appears behind him, and she has a can of gasoline with her! Matthews pours the gasoline over Dutt!
Meanwhile Jarrett is back up and wearing out Brody. Julia has a lighter, holding it over Dutt, but here coes Karen Jarrett with a low blow to Matthews. That allows Dutt to throw Matthews off the stage into a trash can. Hart is still there, she spits the mist into the face of Karen Jarrett!
Lethal and Jarrett take on King in the ring, dropkick/Russian Leg Sweep combo. Lethal and King to the apron now and King shrugs off Lethal’s blows. They trade forearms, Lethal goes for a DVD, can’t quite get King up though. Sleeper by King, Lehthal goes limp and drops. Jarrett with the guitar shot though! King falls backwards through a table. Black in now, and The End nails Jarrett.
Black grabs the spike, pulls Briscoe to his feet but Briscoe blocks the shot. Jay Driller by Mark Briscoe! Briscoe has the spike, but Julia distracts him. Briscoe sets up a chair, but he gets caught on a dive and powerbombed into the apron. Julia has the lighter and she sets the table on fire. POWERBOMB THROUGH THE FLAMING TABLE. They throw Briscoe back inside the ring for the 1, 2, 3 at 12:50.
Your winners by pinfall: House of Black
Rating: *** – Mileage may vary here, but they set a fast pace from the get-go and brought all the big dumb fun. The flaming table spot didn’t look all that great as the table didn’t fully ignite, but it had to SUCK for Mark as the flames didn’t go out upon impact. Briscoe is a mad man for some of those bumps Once again, Brody King is a highlight of these HoB trios matches, and I really hope we get some more singles opportunities for him soon.
Medics attend to Mark Briscoe after the match as House of Black celebrate up the ramp as we fade out to end the broadcast. Good night everyone!
