Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 10.21.23

 

Hey everyone! You’ve made it to Saturday night, which means you’re just in time for AEW Collision and our live coverage here on 411mania. Welcome!

There’s already been a ton of discourse regarding tonight’s show, as Tony Khan hyped up a ‘dream match’ for the card, announcing last night on Rampage that we’ll be getting Bryan Danielson vs Andrade El Idolo. They had a cracking TV match back in 2018, and while some would say that it can’t be considered a ‘dream match’ when it’s a pairing that’s already happened, I’m super pumped to see this rematch. Danielson is on unmatched form right now, and Andrade has been king of Collision singles matches, so there is a strong recipe for greatness tonight.

Plus, Ricky Starks & Big Bill make their first defense of the AEW Tag Team Championships against BCC’s Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta, Eddie Kingston faces Jeff Jarrett in a Memphis Street Fight, and Miro sets his sights on Action Andretti, who is looking to impress CJ Perry and potentially earn a management contract. Could be a fun one tonight. Let’s go!

Location: Memphis, TN
Venue: FedExForum
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone, & Kevin Kelly

We are straight into the opening credits this week, no pre-show promos. Boo! But here comes Bryan Danielson to kick off the show, yay!

 

Match One: Bryan Danielson vs Andrade El Idolo

Lockup to start, clean break in the ropes. Go behind from both men, and another clean break against the ropes. Armbar by Andrade, Danielson flips out of it. Gory Special from Andrade in the center of the ring, Danielson counters into a pin. They trade pinfall attempts and get to their feet to face off.

Headscissor counters from both guys, neither can get an advantage. On the mat, Dragon locks in the bow and arrow stretch, Andrade flips into a pin. 1, 2, no. LeBell Lock attempt, Andrade looks for the Figure 4, but neither can lock them in. Back to their feet again, this is niiiice.

More submission attempts, all shrugged off, they are even-stevens here. We get another clean break in the ropes, but NO, a chop to the chest by Dragon and that fires up Andrade. They trade big chops. Tranquilo in the ropes from Andrade, Dragon goes for a dive and is sent to the outside, Andrade joins him but Dragon sends him shoulder first into the ringpost. Diving knee off the apron from Danielson! We head to commercial break as Andrade recuperates on the outside.

During PIP, Danielson continues to work over the arm back in the ring. And he starts doing jumping jacks as Andrade takes a moment…but Andrade heads back in for some fired-up chops, until Dragon traps the arm, bends it back on the canvas and stomps on top of it. Old school Danielson, gotta love it. Dragon maintains wrist control as Andrade attempts to kick him off, but Danielson stomps the arm as we come back from break.

They trade chops, high chops to the throat. Danielson transitions to the kicks to the injured left shoulder. Misses a flying forearm, but Andrade gets one of his own! Danielson recovers in the corner as Andrade goes for the knees, but Dragon gets up on the middle rope…but Andrade dropkicks him to the outside and follows up with a huge moonsault! And then back in the ring, a split-legged moonsault gets 2!

Andradeseats Danielson on the top buckle and goes for a superplex…Dragon holds on and headbutts him down. Diving dropkick, Dragon springs back to his feet. Yes Kicks are delivered in quick succession, but Andrade nails a dragon screw leg whip, and again. Another, but Dragon switches into the LeBell Lock but Andrade is right by the ropes.

Up top now, Danielson is hanging…Stomp from the buckles by Andrade followed by the running knees in the corner, 1, 2, no! Scoop slam on Danielson as Andrade heads to the top rope. Moonsault combo but Danielson got the knees up. Trapped arms, he stomps the head. LeBell Lock! Center of the ring…no, Andrade gets the Figure 4. He tries for the Figure 8 but Danielson dives at the ropes to break it up before it’s fully locked in. To their feet, they trade chops. Andrade goes for the back elbow, not sure if he got it fully. Danielson goes for the Busaiku knee, avoided. They trade pinning combos, until Danielson finally gets him locked down for the 1, 2, 3 at 18:49.

Your winner by pinfall: Bryan Danielson

Rating: **** – SHOCKING, Danielson and Andrade had a fantastic match, who would have thought it? That was such a great way to start to show. I loved the early portion of this, with both men presented as absolute equals in wrestling prowess. The win coming out of a ‘lucky’ pinning combination also leaves this wide open for a rematch whenever they want.

Post-match, Danielson extends the hand and they both shake, mutual show of respect. The lights go out! MALAKAI BLACK IS HERE! As soon as the lights come back on, Black delivers Black Mass, knocking Danielson the F out!! Holy moly. Black vs Danielson, get in my veins!!

Darby Allin will be at Dynamite on Wednesday and he is setting his sights on Nick Wayne.

 

Match Two: Skye Blue vs Hollyhood Haley

Oh, the OVW Netflix doc Haley! Big debut spot for her. Skye and Haley go face to face but Blue kicks her down. Chop from Haley but a clothesline in response from Skye. Ground and pound punches. Leg Bulldog from Haley. Goes up top but caught, running powerbomb out of the corner from Skye Blue. Blue hits a running/rolling Code Blue for the 3 count at 1:56.

Your winner by pinfall: Skye Blue

Rating: N/R- Blue continues to impress and show more range in a definitive singles win.

 

Match Three: The Gunns (w/ Jay White) vs The Outrunners

Colten starts this one out against Turbo Floyd. Colten stomps him down in the corner and dropkicks Truth. Both Outrunners stacked in the corner now…before Austin sends Truth to the floor outside. 3:10 to Yuma on Turbo gets the pin at 1:19.

Your winners by pinfall: The Gunns

Rating: N/R – Standard fare squash here, Outrunners got no offense.

Lights go out! The man in the MJF devil mask is shown in a video…and then the lights go off again. Bullet Club Gold are spooked.

Lexi Nair is standing by with Orange Cassidy backstage, and Kris Statlander appears. Stat needs to get her pump on so chucks Lexi over her shoulders for some squats. Orange says ‘I guess’ when asked if he’s ready for his next defense.

Dave Brown joins the ringside area as Memphis’ own Jeff Jarrett comes out. The ring is already littered with weapons as we begin this one.

 

Match Four: [Memphis Street Fight] Eddie Kingston (c) vs Jeff Jarrett

They start on the entrance ramp while Eddie is making his way to the ring. Eddie gets the kendo stick and wails away on Singh, but Singh breaks the stick…and Eddie retorts with a low blow. Garbage can to the face of Eddie by Jarrett. Jeff walks Eddie over near the stage where a table is set up with snacks. Eddie has Jarrett on the table, bounces a trash can lid off his head, and opens a cooler…he starts throwing hot dogs at Jarrett! Jarrett gets the hot dog sauces, Eddie grabs them and squirts them all over Jarrett (…is a sentence I thought I’d never write).

Jay Lethal appears and gets a Lethal Combination cutter off the stage on Eddie through a table! Jeff has traffic cones now. Eddie is busted open from the table spot. Jeff grabs a barbed wire baseball bat out of a garbage can and drives it into the midsection of Eddie who is struggling back to ringside.

Low blow from Eddie gives him a breather, and he smashes a garbage can over Jeff’s head. Eddie positions Jeff near a table but Jeff reverses, suplex into the table…I AM THE TABLE…table didn’t break!  Jeff climbs on top of the table and elbow drops Eddie through it, and it broke that time.

Jeff targets the legs in the ring, smashing them with a garbage can. Again! Eddie’s knees are taking a beating. Jeff drives a bar stool into the knee and continues working over the ROH champion. Figure Four by Jeff Jarrett! Eddie flips the bird at Jay Lethal, he won’t tap. Eddie reverses and even rolls out of the way of Lethal diving with an elbow. Eddie up to his feet, knocks Lethal down and takes on both men. Kobashi chops to Lethal! Kobashi chops to Jarrett! Karen Jarrett in, distraction…Jarrett goes for a guitar shot, no Eddie hits the Backfist! 1, 2, no. Lethal Injection caught, Exploder suplex by eddie! Guitar shot to Singh….but Jarrett catches him with The Stroke. 1, 2, NO, Eddie gets the arm up! Karen gets involved, slapping Eddie. Singh in, chokeslam to Eddie. This is 5 on 1 here. The Stroke by Jarrett again, now Lethal with another Lethal Injection. 1, 2, 3. Jay Lethal will meet Eddie Kingston at Final Battle after 13:05 minutes of this.

Your winner by pinfall: Jeff Jarrett

Rating: **3/4 – God bless Eddie Kingston for doing everything to make this work. The knee work was pretty good at least, and Eddie sold like a champ. Sporadically entertaining, but the 5 on 1 stuff got a little much at the end. Still, this was miles better than that Texas Chainsaw Massacre match a while back so it could have been a hell of a lot worse!

Backstage with Lexi Nair are The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass. They have been Trios champs for 55 days. They hype up their upcoming Battle of the Belts match later tonight.

To ringside, and here comes CJ Perry! Which can only mean….IT’S REDEEMING TIME!!

 

Match Five: ‘The Redeemer’ Miro vs Action Andretti

Miro corners Action and kicks him down to a seated position, following up with a hard right hand. He pulls him up and beals him out of the corner but Andretti lands on his feet. Dropkcik to Miro! Another from a pop-up, nice. Springboard NO Miro smashes him down with a backfist. Big clothesline from the Redeemer. Another clothesline follows, and Miro throws Andretti shoulder first into the turnbuckles, which sends Action careering to the outside as we go to commercial.

Miro climbs the ropes and gestures at CJ, who gives him some polite applause. Miro sends Action into the steel steps and beats him up around the ringside area. Rear chinlock back in the ring, and Action fights back but receives a clubbing blow for his troubles. More right hands as Action tries to battle back, and he gets a big boot to cut Miro off, but Miro ploughs through with another clothesline. Chinbreaker from Andretti, blocks another right hand from Miro, and nails an enziguri. Andretti gets the 10 count punches….holds the top rope down as Miro charges, so Miro spills to the outside. Handspring sends Miro to the floor from the apron, and a tope con hilo follows!

Back in the ring, Crossbody is caught, Miro DUMPS him. Game Over, Miro blows a kiss at CJ. Andretti reverses out! Rollup, 1, 2, NO! Spinning DDT from Andretti, shotgun dropkick. Springboard 450, but Miro kicks out at 1. Action gets him up on hs shoulders, damn, but Miro slips out and hits a thrust kick before locking in the Game Over. Sits back, Andretti passes out at 9:09.

Your winner by submission: Miro

Rating: ***1/4 –  Surprisingly much more competitive than expected, and all the better for it. I really like what they’re hinting at between Miro and CJ. Could this be her way of motivating him with reverse psychology? It’s very watchable , seemingly nuanced and intriguing, and I’m here for it. Andretti got some great hope spots and I bought a few of his pin attempts. This latest Miro character arc is off to a fantastic start.

Lexi Nair is with Garcia, Parker, Menard & Anna Jay. The world wants to know, are they on the same page? Menard says they are all on the same page, and there was no dancing at breakfast…Garcia rolls his eyes as they walk off. This transitions into Ruby Soho taking interview time, telling Parker to get out of her shot (I liked that!). Soho deserves a championship shot, she is laying down the gauntlet. She is going to be a champion as it is what she deserves.

Back from commercial, we have the next Rush video package. Rush says his business model was about making money. He worked too hard to not be seen as a star. He’s tired of not being on TV because the company said he’s too dangerous.

Backstage, Eddie Kingston is being attended to. The Jay Lethal that Kingston remembered was a guy who loved pro wrestling. But now he’s Jeff Jarrett’s lapdog. Lethal is not a man anymore, he’s Jeff Jarrett’s little bitch. If Lethal is man enough, do not bring them to their match at Final Battle. The thing that will heart Kingston the most is that he will have to beat down Lethal in front of Lethal’s mother, and she will cry because she’ll know he deserves it. Find your way, Lethal. Great promo right there.

 

Match Six: FTR vs Bad Thad Brown and Darian Bengston

Cash Wheeler starts out against Brown, and Brown takes advantage of Cash having his back turned. But Cash throws Brown into Bengston. LIGHTS GO OUT….MALAKAI BLACK IS IN THE RING. Lights go out again, House of Black appear in full! 3 on 2, the bell is rung as the match is thrown out after barely a minute.

Your winners: No contest

Rating: N/R

House of Black stand tall over FTR, and then head to the back. I’m down for FTR vs HoB, but that is too many ‘lights out’ moments for one show.

 

Match Seven: [AEW World Tag Team Championships] Big Bill & Ricky Starks (c) vs Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta

Ricky does circuits to get his heartrate up as we begin.  Starks and Yuta begin, trading holds but also shoving each other’s faces in disrespect. Big Bill in, knee to the midsection of Yuta, and some blows in the corner. Big chop to the chest of Yuta, and another in the corner. Starks poses nearby as Bill chokes away at Yuta. Wheeler fights back but Bill sends him to the apron…Bill charges and launches him into the barricade. Tag to Starks, who heads outside and continues the assault. Starks throws Wheeler into the barricade as we go to PIP.

Bill works over Wheeler during the break. Starks grabs the mic and starts chanting ‘LET’S GO BILL, LET’S GO BILL’. Bill tags in Starks, who ascends the ropes with the arm of Wheeler held, does the rope walk and hits the axe handle. Claudio has yet to see any action and appears frustrated on the apron. Chops to Wheeler in the champs’ corner. Tag to Bill, who goes for Claudio and nails an elbow drop on Wheeler for 2.

Bill hits a big boot to Claudio, and Starks is there on the outside to run him into the steel steps, meaning Yuta is unable to make a tag. Big Bossman Slam from Bill gets a 2 on Wheeler. Bill charges in the corner but Yuta avoids it…but still no Claudio. Bill tags Starks and finally Yuta makes the tag to Claudio. House of fire time! Repeated clotheslines in the corner from Claudio on Starks. 20 clotheslines in a row! Claudio goes up top…ROPE WALK FROM CLAUDIO, WTF!!!!!

He grabs the legs looking for the Big Swing but Starks fights out and heads out of the ring. Claudio charges, running uppercut against the barricade. One to Big Bill too! Claudio lifts Starks above his head and presses him back into the ring, going up top for a cross body. 1, 2, no. Up top, Claudio goes for a superplex, Bill holds the leg, but Yuta dives to take him out, and Claudio nails the top rope superplex for 2. Floats over into a crossface!

Running, Sliding European uppercut to a seated Starks by Claudio, 1, 2, no. Claudio goes for the Ricola but Starks escapes and hits a tornado DDT, follows up by tagging Bill who gets a big boot. 1, 2, kickout. Bill is looking for a powerbomb but Claudio takes a knee to avoid it. Claudio gets Bill on his shoulders! But Bill drops behind. Tag to Yuta, Claudio lifts Bill, allowing Yuta to nail an elevated dropkick/slam combination for 2.

Wheeler jumps on the back of Bill and unleashes the hammer and anvil elbows but Starks helps his partner out and Bill almost takes Yuta’s head off with a clothesline. Bill takes out Claudio on the apron. Yuta fights back to avoid the chokeslam/spear combo. Doctor Bomb from Big Bill, pin by Starks but no!!

Starks goes for a spear but Yuta kicks him in the face. Tag to Claudio who takes ot Bill and gets a running lariat on Starks. Big Swing by Claudio after a tag to Yuta…after 15 swings, Yuta hits a dropkick for 2.

Bill goes for a double chokeslam but the challengers fight out of it. Big boot by Claudio, and Yuta heads up top. HOUSE OF BLACK ARE HERE! Claudio and Buddy fight outside. Starls hits a spear on Wheeler, and the Ro Sham Bo gets the 1, 2, 3 at 21:27 to allow the champs to retain.

Your winners by pinfall and STILL AEW Tag Team Champions: Ricky Starks & Big Bill

Rating: ***1/2 – Slow start with an overly long heat segment on Yuta, but this picked up to become a really fun tag team contest. House of Black have really made their presence felt tonight, so it looks like they are set to be featured heavily going forward.

Post-match, the House of Black stomp down Wheeler Yuta. Here comes Bryan Danielson, who gets stomped down as well. FTR run down to help out! But they get beaten down too. House of Black and Starks/Bill are fully in control here. JON MOXLEY’S MUSIC HITS.

Moxley takes out Bill on the outside, dives in the ring, and the Blackpool Combat Club start to rally! PIER SIX BRAWL. The faces take the advantage – BCC and FTR command the ring while House of Black and the tag champs spill to the ramp. The heels head back to the ring, but all hold off apart from Rick Starks, who thought they were all with him. Starks is a lamb to the slaughter. Shatter Machine on Starks! Death Rider from Moxley! Giant Swing from Claudio! Haha Claudio keeps the swing going as the broadcast ends.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

I'll be honest, this is a tough one to rate! The opener was pure fire, and the main event built up to be a great tag title defense, so those are the two matches you won't want to miss. I actually don’t take issue with having 3 squash matches tonight – the problem was having 2 of them back to back, which was just poor pacing. Coupled with the repeated ‘lights out’ spots, this was rare misfire in pacing, when Collision is usually so slick. Having said that, the angle advancement throughout the night was great - House of Black have reappeared on the scene in dominant, chaotic fashion, targeting high profile names, putting them in a tremendous position moving forward. Add to that the engaging Miro/CJ storyline, which is hitting every note thus far. Pacing issues aside, Collision continues to impress and engage.