Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 08.24.24

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, All In weekend is upon us! The biggest AEW show of the year is less than 24 hours away, and the hype train is at full speed. As soon as Collision finishes tonight, I’m jumping on an overnight bus to London to get to Wembley Stadium in person, and I can’t wait. My biggest stress right now is working out when the pee break is going to be, because honestly that card is stacked from top to bottom. Even Jericho vs HOOK should be fun on the big stage, and there’s no obvious filler. Lots of rumors flying around about surprises – a potential Ricochet debut, maybe even Shane McMahon? What do you folks think will be the surprise of the night?

Now that the G1 is over, my big prediction is that Konosuke Takeshita will return and win the Casino Gauntlet so that TK can capitalize on the added eyes Takeshita has gained this summer. The TV build would point towards another Hangman/Swerve match down the line, but I don’t know how they’d ever top that Full Gear match last year so I’m fine with them going in a different direction. Anyway, sound off below with your thoughts!

Before all that, we have our final stop before All In as Collision emanates from Cardiff, Wales. We’ll find out the final Wild Card team for the London Ladders match, as Pac joins Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta to face Top Flight & Lio Rush. Let’s head to ringside.

 

Location: Cardiff, Wales

Venue: Utilita Arena

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone

We are LIVE to tape as Orange Cassidy comes out to a nice pop for our opening trios match.

 

Match One: The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly) vs Undisputed Kingdom

Commentary remind us that Cassidy has drawn #1 for the Casino Gauntlet tomorrow. Ishii joins commentary, and just sits there with his arms folded, looking menacing. Tremendous! Briscoe and Bennett begin this one, trading chops. Briscoe slides into a side headlock, tags in O’Reilly who knocks Bennett down with a boot to the face. Strong in, targeting the arm. Back body drop from O’Reilly, strikes to Taven, grabs the left and performs a dragon screw. OC tags in, Sloth Style kicks to both Taven and Bennett, then legit kicks to take it up a notch. Double hurracanrana! Strong goes for End of Heartache, OC with a stundog millionaire and the satelitte DDT to counter.

OC goes up top with Taven, Bennett puts a stop to that, and they look for the spike piledriver, they get it! 1, 2, no Briscoe makes the save. Strong drags OC to the UK corner and tags in Taven, but OC shoves the UK into each other. He kicks Strong off and makes the tag to Mark Briscoe. Briscoe takes on all comers, takes a run up but Strong trips him up. Sliding basement dropkick from Strong, OC follows up with a suicide dive, Taven dives too! Briscoe sets up a chair for a dive but Bennett moves the chair. Strong hits a backbreaker onto the chair while the ref isn’t looking, which gets a 2 count.

Disaster Kick into the Olympic Slam, nice combo from Taven and Strong there. Strong gets a chinlock on Briscoe, tags in Taven, who drives the knee into the throat in the corner. Suplex from Bennett, 1, 2, no. Gourdbuster from Taven, he jumps to the middle rope but Briscoe takes him over with an exploder. Tag made to O’Reilly, kitchen sink to Bennett, dragon screw to Strong, series of kicks and knees to Bennett. Rising knee to Taven and a slap to the face. Low bridge sends Taven to the apron, knee to the back, and Briscoe meets him with a blockbuster off the apron. Ankle lock to Bennett, but Bennett kicks him away. Dragon screw in the ropes from O’Reilly, tying him up and O’Reilly delivers a knee drop off the top. Froggy Bow as Briscoe tags in, now tag to OC for the elbow drop, 1, 2, no.

Roaring elbow from Bennett, gets OC on his shoulders but O’Reilly blinds tags in. Stundog Millionaire, Bennett gets O’Reilly on his shoulders and delivers a DVD, with Taven hitting the Shining Wizard for 2. Uranage backbreaker from Strong also gets a 2. Elevated backbreaker from Strong, another 2. Butterfly suplex attempt, O’Reilly with the guillotine to escape it. OC and Briscoe have the UK tied up. Ankle lock to Strong, but the Conglomeration get shoved into the pinfall to break it up. Strong catches a knee attempt from O’Reilly and hits another backbreaker, OC meets him with a DDT, Bennett with a spinebuster, and now Briscoe has the chair again. Chair-assisted flipping senton to the outside! Faceplant from Taven, misses the moonsault, O’Reilly gets the guillotine and Taven has to tap!

Winners: The Conglomeration

Time: 15:23

Rating: ***1/2 – Pretty wild start; that was a great little taste of some of the action we could see in the Casino Gauntlet. Non-stop action from six guys that know each other so well at this point.

We go to a video package for tomorrow’s Trios championships London Ladder match.

 

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Match Two: Willow Nightingale vs Harley Cameron

Big Tom Ishii is still ‘on commentary’, I love this. Cameron works over Nightingale in the corner, kick to the midsection, goes to whip Willow out but Willow cartwheels away. Shoulder tackle from the CMLL champ, body slam and a senton gets just a 1 count. Hip attack in the corner, clothesline attacks, and she goes for the Babe with the Powerbomb but it’s blocked. Side Russian leg sweep from Cameron gets 1. Willow gets Cameron on her shoulders, Cameron counters with the Sole Food and hits a running kick for 2. Elbows to the side of the neck, forearms now but Willow is She-Hulking up. Right hand from Willow, Babe with the Powerbomb connects! 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Willow Nightingale

Time: 4:09

Rating: N/R – A somewhat nothing match, but Willow got to do her thing and celebrate with Ishii in a warm-up for the Zero Hour tag match tomorrow.

 

Lexy Nair is backstage and introduces us to our official MCs for All In tomorrow, Private Party. They are on the phone to their assistant, Soquisha, and head off again. Lexy then introduces Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes, your new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Tommorrow, they issue an Open Challenge, and they’re not coming alone. Rhodes says tomorrow it will be Guevara, Rhodes, the Von Erichs and Shibata. Shibata will be an honorary Texan, and Shibata says via text-to-speech that he will lasso them a win….see what he did there?

 

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Match Three: Katsuyori Shibata vs Jay Lethal

Shibata is accompanied by Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara, and Lethal is of course with Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt. Shibata targets the arm of Lethal, but Lethal escapes with a dropkick to the face. Lethal looks for the Figure Four, Shibata kicks him away. Snapmare, grabs the arm for a wrist lock against the mat and stomps the arm. Again stomps the outstretched elbow, and then Shibata kicks him to the floor. He follows Lethal out there but gets driven into the apron. Back in the ring, Shibata delivers chops, and they begin trading chops in the corner.

Back from commercial, Lethal catches a kick from the apron and delivers a dragon screw, before locking in the Figure Four, but Shibata grabs the ropes. Kick to the back of the legs from Lethal, signals for the Lethal Injection but gets caught with a sleeper. No, jawbreakers out of it. Lethal to the top, misses a splash and jumps right into an armbar! Lethal scoots to the ropes to break it before Shibata can fully lock it in. Shibata elevated dropkick in the corner, half butterfly suplex for 2. Both men trade kicks and Lethal is the one to come out on top surprisingly! But Shibata back with an STO. Shibata signals for the Claw, applies it! And transitions into a cross-armbreaker, and Lethal taps!

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

Time: 9:50

Rating: *** – Really nice to see Lethal in a ‘proper’ singles match, and given a little time. Lethal beating Shibata at his own game with the kicks was cool, but Shibata has been perfecting the Claw, which turned the tide here. Decent!

Shibata extends the hand post-match, and Lethal shakes in a show of mutual respect.

 

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We go to CAP Wrestling Academy, where Kris Statlander is giving Stokely some wrestling training. She gives him a pep talk, and tells him to get in his booster seat and strap up as momma’s gonna take him to school. We see Stokely get a pinfall victory over a trainee, and they celebrate together. Statlander says she’ll embarrass Willow in the biggest stage of the year.

Match Four: Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway vs Nina Samuels & Kid Lykos 2

Discuss lariats take out both opponents, and she tags in Stokely. Suplex on the floor from Stat, and Stokely delivers a spinebuster to Lykos! TKO from Statlander to Lykos, and now she delivers the Babe with the Powerbomb! Stat picks up Stokely and suplexes him onto Lykos for the 1, 2, 3.

Winners: Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway

Time: 57 seconds

Rating: N/R – Perfect squash, exactly what was needed. This has got to be the best build for a Zero Hour match in AEW history, surely?

Stokely grabs the mic and says that was a preview of what’s going to happen tomorrow night at All In. You just witnessed the greatest tag team in the world in action.Stokely says the winner tomorrow gets to pick the stipulation for All Out. When they destroy both Willow and Ishii, their careers will be just like the “food here in England – absolutely rubbish, mate”.

 

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Next, we get a full history and breakdown of the Toni Storm/Mariah May feud, narrated by Ben Mankiewicz. “Let’s make cinema.” That was brilliant.

Match Five: HOOK vs Big Bill (w/ Bryan Keith & Chris Jericho)

HOOK still has his eye patched up and it’s….not a great look. Jericho joins Nigel and Tony on commentary. HOOK takes it right to Bill as the bell rings. Bill with a fallaway slam, and he fist bumps Keith at ringside. Slap across the face, and he chokes HOOK out on the middle rope. Body blows from HOOK but one right hand from Bill takes him down. Bill targets the eye, and hits a running splash in the corner. Bill drapes HOOK over the ropes and clubs him across the back before kicking him to the floor as we head to PIP.

Bill continues the assault, driving HOOK back-first into the ring apron, and then distracts the referee, allowing Bryan Keith to lay some shots in. Bill SPLATS HOOK into the ringpost. Haha Bill ascends the ropes to flip off the crowd, and the crowd just cheer him even louder!! He’s over, folks. Bill ragdolls HOOK with a bearhug, then mocks HOOK with the ‘Tazz folded arms’ gesture. Bill tells the crowd to shut up, and people are on their feet! Body slam, huge pop. Elbow drop, 1, 2, no. HOOK gets a low bridge but Bill gets back in the ring, misses a splash though. HOOK with mounted punches in the corner, and he gets booed! Flying clothesline doesn’t do much, but he hits a Northern lights suplex, and then poses to more boos. Keith in, exploder! Bill with the goozle, HOOK avoids the chokeslam though. Goes for a chop, HOOK locks in Redrum! And Big Bill has to tap.

Winner: HOOK

Time: 10:45

Rating: *** – Better than expected, and Bill looked good when in control, appearing more dominant as of late. This was pure fun based solely on that crowd reaction and everyone playing along with it.

 

Jack Perry in a vignette says the TNT title looks different to how Darby remembers it, and Darby is unworthy of this new iteration. The title symbolizes the sacrifices he made. If Darby plans to close the lid on that coffin, the only way that will happen is if Perry is dead inside of it.

 

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Ariya Daivari comes out, representing the Premier Athletes. He chastises Cardiff for not having a Premier League team, and says Wales needs a national hero they can all cheer for, and that man is apparently Ariya Daivari. Out comes Jeff Jarrett to another big pop!

Match Six: Jeff Jarrett (w/ Karen Jarrett) vs Ariya Daivari

Daivari and Jarrett take it in turns climbing the ropes to get a reaction from the crowd, and needless to say Jarrett is more popular. Daivari struts to try and rile up Jarrett. Arm drag, Jarrett cuts off another strut attempt and takes Daivari to each corner, bashing his head into the turnbuckles. Daivari escapes to the floor as we head to PIP. Jarrett heads out after him, so Daivari grabs Karen and hides behind her. Daivari clocks Jarrett, and they head back into the ring, where Daivari chokes him out in the ropes before TrillerTV goes to its own commercial.

Back from the break, Jarrett and Daivari fight on the outside as Jarrett drops him over the barricade. He runs Daivari into the steel steps and brings him back inside the ring, but walks right into a basement dropkick. Sleeper hold applied by Daivari, Jarrett escapes with a back suplex. Atomic drop and a side Russian leg sweep connects for 2. Enziguri from Jarrett and the leg whip in the ropes. Jarrett struts now. Daivari kicks out of a Figure Four, gets tossed to the apron, and heads up top but misses a crossbody. The Stroke connects! 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett

Time: 9:57

Rating: **1/2 – In terms of workrate, it’s nothing special, but the crowd once again made this pretty entertaining.

 

We get a video package for Hologram, looking at his 5-match win streak since debuting on Collision.

The final Zero Hour match is made for tomorrow: Sammy Guevara, Dustin Rhodes, the Von Erichs and Katsuyori Shibata vs Cage of Agony & Undisputed Kingdom. Fine by me, gets them all on the card at least.

 

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Match Seven: [London Ladders Wild Card Qualifying Match] Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & Pac vs Top Flight & Lio Rush

Darius and Yuta begin with some early side headlock takedowns. Double team clothesline combination from Top Flight, tag to Pac. Tijeras from Dante Martin, dropkick follows, and Pac backs up to tag in Claudio. Lio Rush in too, Claudio goes for the swing but Lio claws his way up to avoid it. Lio looks like he’s going to swing Claudio instead! Castagnoli avoids it, and all members of Top Flight come in to triple team Claudio. Stereo dropkicks to Yuta and Pac, DDT to Castagnoli.

Darius chops Castagnoli in the corner, Claudio catches a dive with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and he tags in Pac. Pump kick to Darius against the buckles, Yuta in for a snap suplex, and he takes Rush and Martin off the apron. Pac back in, Darius gets the boot up and hits a double tornado DDT. Enziguri to Claudio, tossed to the outside. Dante tagged in, tosses Yuta to the floor, enziguri to Pac, Lio Rush with a bottom rope moonsault to the outside, and Dante back into the ring with a springboard crossbody. Lio Rush with repeated suicide dives to Pac, gets a 2 count.

Strikes exchanged between Pac and Lio, Falcon Arrow from Rush, 1, 2, Yuta breaks it up. Knee strike from Dante, Yuta back in with a German suplex. Rebound flatliner from Darius, Claudio in for a running uppercut. Lio hits his low spinning kick, Dante with a diving forearm. Jawbreaker from Rush on Pac, Pac grabs him for an overhead release German suplex! Dante cuts off Pac on the top rope, cutter from the buckles by Darius. Splash combinations from Top Flight, 1, 2, no! Broken up by the BCC.

Pop up European uppercut on Dante! Yuta follows with a dive to the floor on Darius. Rush gets caught on a dive with an uppercut, Claudio follows him back into the ring for the Big Swing, and Yuta connects with the dropkick at the end. Pac is perched, Black Arrow! 1, 2, 3.

Winners: Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & Pac

Time: 12:58

Rating: ***1/4 – Fun if forgettable spotty sprint, as the BCC + Pac get the spotlight before All In tomorrow. It’s an odd team to throw together the night before the biggest show of the year, but Pac does have history in teaming with BCC (plus he has big-time beef with the BBG), so not totally out there, and all three members should contribute some great moments to the match itself.

And here comes The Patriarchy! Cage tells Cardiff not to even start with him, because he can’t understand the gibberish they say. He congratulates the three winners, but says it’s no secret that he is the Godfather of Ladder matches. As such, he has some friendly advice for them. You have to have eyes in the back of your head…and at that, Killswitch and Nick Wayne attack from behind. The Patriarchy deliver chair shots, but here come the Bang Bang Gang! The Gunns pull out the tables and set them up at ringside…and the lights go out as the House of Black make their presence known.

House of Black walk past the BBG, and they all enter the ring to run off the Patriarchy. Black goes to head out after Cage, but the Gunns pulls him back in, and all hell breaks loose. We got ourselves a PIER SIX BRAWL! Buddy and Austin are the last ones in the ring, spilling to the floor to join the fray on the ramp. The fans chant ALL IN for a tremendous bit of added atmosphere. The Patriarchy back up the ramp as we head off the air.

Enjoy All In, everyone! See you back here next week!

 

7.6

The final score: review Good

The 411

Much of the All In build was already in the bag, so this was about keeping the momentum rolling and providing that last sliver of hype, even though the main programs didn’t need it. I doubt anyone was sitting on the fence at this point, but Collision did a good job at spotlighting some of the undercard – the Zero Hour tag match should be incredibly entertaining based on what we saw tonight, and the post-match stuff after the main event ramped up all the Trios division chaos to a suitable level. Also, major props to the Cardiff crowd, as they elevated what would have otherwise been a stretch of completely throwaway matches. Well done, Cardiff.