AEW presents a live episode of Collision tonight from the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland.
The same venue hosted Friday night’s ROH Supercard of Honor pay-per-view.
Darby Allin will once again put his AEW World Championship on the line tonight as he defends against Sammy Guevara. The TBS Championship will also be on the line, with Willow Nightingale defending against Red Velvet.
In an AEW World Trios Championship Eliminator match, the champions, The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, and Kyle O’Reilly), will wrestle former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty, Shawn Dean, and Carlie Bravo), who dropped their titles to Dalton Castle and The Outrunners on Friday.
Samoa Joe and Anthony Bowens of The Opps will team up to take on Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson.
AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion (Lena Kross and Megan Bayne) will wrestle a five-minute Eliminator challenge. Their opponents have yet to be named.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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Collision opened with Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness running down the card, and then went directly to a Jon Moxley promo.
–Moxley talked about his upcoming match with Kyle O’Reilly, and how O’Reilly had his number whenever they have stepped into the ring, and that he tapped out twice to O’Reilly. Moxley did not make excuses or deny that it happened, and by conventional logic, he acknowledged that he should stay away from Kyle O’Reilly, but he was not the same Jon Moxley he was six months ago, and he wasn’t even the same Moxley he was 24 hours earlier, so O’Reilly better be prepared for a Jon Moxley he hasn’t faced before. This was an awesome promo.
Claudio Castagnoli then spoke, saying that Brody King had quite the bark, but that he was going to see if Brody King had any real bite. PAC then stood up and said that it did not matter who you were, it was the Death Riders against the world. Yuta and Garcia agreed, and Marina Shafir challenged everyone to bring it. This segment ruled.
The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty, Shawn Dean, & Carlie Bravo) (w/ Shane Taylor)
Mark Briscoe started the match with Carlie Bravo and he quickly tagged out to Lee Moriarty after a chop from Briscoe’s redneck kung-fu. O’Reilly tagged in and began exchanging some technical wrestling with the current ROH Pure champion, including some creative transitions into pinfall attempts. Moriarty tried to hit a sunset flip, which O’Reilly immediately transitioned into an armbar that his teammates wanted nothing of, so they broke it up. O’Reilly almost locked on an ankle lock, but Moriarty scrambled.
After a series to punches on Moriarty in the corner, Orange Cassidy did a bunch of comedy spots with Charlie Bravo and Shawn Dean. Moriarty cut Cassidy off on the apron and Orange Cassidy was hit with a legdrop on the apron by Shane Taylor as they went to a commercial break on TNT. Throughout the ad break, Shane Taylor Promotions got the heat on Orange Cassidy. When the came back the old leverage with an abdominal stretch spot was being done by all four members of Shane Taylor Promotions. That was quite funny.
Orange Cassidy hit a hip toss on Moriarty and then tagged out to O’Reilly who hit several strikes on Moriarty, but as soon as he went for a submission, Bravo and Dean raced in to break it up. O’Reilly was briefly in trouble, but managed to tag out to Mark Briscoe, who came in with a great hot tag, hitting chops, forearms, and counters to everything Dean and Bravo threw at him until he called for the Jay Driller on Bravo.
Bravo countered, but was soon dumped to the floor. Orange Cassidy hit a tope suicida on Moriarty while Briscoe was going to hit a dive with an assist from a chair, but Shane Taylor got on the apron to block it. Orange Cassidy hit the Orange Punch of Cassidy, Briscoe hit the dive, then threw Bravo back in the ring before hitting the Froggy Bow and a Jay Driller for the pinfall. Very fun trios match.
Result: The Conglomeration defeated Shane Taylor Promotions
–A recap video aired of Tommaso Ciampa’s actions when he betrayed Mark Briscoe, indicating that this feud from Ciampa and Briscoe will be resuming soon.
–Will Ospreay was backstage and apologized for not answering Samoa Joe’s messages, but said that while he respected Joe, and Joe was in the match that made him want to become a professional wrestler (Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles), he needed to learn from the Ace of AEW, Jon Moxley. Moxley may have violent and vile methods, but he could bring Ospreay back to what he needed to be, and make Ospreay even better, and that is why he wants to see what he is like with Moxley in his corner. He isn’t doing this because he thinks Moxley is a good person, but that he believes Moxley is the key for him getting back on track to winning the AEW World Championship, and unfortunately for Joe, that means Joe is not going to survive the first round of the Owen. Excellent promo from Ospreay that explains his motivations clearly for anyone that doesn’t understand it – Moxley has the killer instinct that Ospreay wants.
–The Conglomeration were backstage with Lexy Nair and Kyle O’Reilly talked about how he had an elimination match against Jon Moxley on Wednesday, and he was, again, going to tap out Jon Moxley and then take the Continental title from him. Mark Briscoe called out Tommaso Ciampa again, and it was announced that they would have a match on Wednesday as well. Willow Nightingale then said that she wanted more gold and was going to defeat Red Velvet tonight.
–Red Velvet was backstage and said she was angry that Nightingale was in the Owen and she wasn’t, but she was going to make up for this tonight by defeating Willow Nightingale.
Willow Nightingale vs. Red Velvet for the TBS Championship
The match started with a technical exchange that saw Red Velvet getting the advantage. Velvet also hit Nightingale quite hard several times, and botched a standing moonsault when she landed with her knees on Willow rather than her midsection. The action spilled outside and Velvet continued with hard strikes and then went for a vertical suplex on the floor. Willow Nightingale blocked it and hit a suplex of her own. That looked brutal! Very hard bump there.
Nightingale and Velvet exchanged strikes until Nightingale hit one hard forearm and then Nightingale did an airplane spin and hit a Samoan Drop for a 2-count. Nightingale then transitioned into a submission. Nightingale hit a snap suplex for a 2-count. Nightingale and Velvet ended up on the apron and Nightingale went for her rolling senton off the apron, but Velvet moved and Nightingale crashed to the mat.
Velvet hit a bulldog out of a wheelbarrow back in the ring for a 2-count, but as she hit the ropes Nightingale hit a spinebuster that got a 2-count. Nightingale went for a Oklahoma Stampede, but Velvet countered into a tornado DDT. Nightingale then countered a cravat into a powerslam, and then went for a powerbomb, but Velvet countered. Velvet put herself into a wheelbarrow again going for something, but Nightingale countered into a full nelson slam for 2.
Nightingale went to the top rope but Velvet countered it into a O’Connor roll that planted Nightingale. Velvet hit a knee strike and got a 2-count. Velvet, frustrated, got up and hit the ropes, and Nightingale hit the parallel ropes and hit a pounce before hitting the Babe with the Powerbomb for the win.
Result: Willow Nightingale defeated Red Velvet
This match started a little rough, but they worked so hard to make it work, and my goodness, they did. This was a good match by the end with Red Velvet looking very dangerous. Nightingale did a lot to sell for her in this match, and she looked like she is more than ready to step into one of the title pictures on AEW TV despite being the ROH Women’s Television Champion. Good match.
–A hype video aired showing Sammy Guevara challenging Darby Allin for the world title. He said that he beat Darby Allin 4 times in the past, and that this would be the fifth time. This was followed by a promo where Guevara said many of the same things, but also included comments where he said he would then go to Double or Nothing and shave MJF bald too, but promised to make it more like a nice fade. That was funny.
–Darby Allin was backstage and was interviewed by Lexy Nair. She asked Allin about his title match with Guevara, and Allin answered by saying that a lot of people have wondered why he would keep taking title shots week after week so close to the PPV when he could lose the title before then. Allin said that, unlike MJF, he loved AEW, and loved fighting and defending its greatest prize. He said Guevara was one of the few guys as crazy as he was, and if he succeeded in defending the title he would take Speedball Mike Bailey’s challenge for Dynamite, and that it was showtime. Great promo here from Allin. He has really turned into a good talker.
–As the announcers were talking about this we heard chaos backstage and Tommaso Ciampa and Mark Briscoe were brawling. Briscoe brought Ciampa into the ring and looked to be hit the Jay Driller on a chair, but Ciampa low blowed Briscoe. Ciampa then setup two chairs in the ring and went to suplex Briscoe on them, but Orange Cassidy and O’Reilly ran down to make the save. Briscoe then grabbed a mic and said that the match on Dynamite would be a No DQ match so they can finally settle this. This is going to be a very fun, and violent, match.
Samoa Joe & Anthony Bowens vs. Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson (w/ Blake Christian)
Lethal started the match and indicated to Bowens that he wanted Samoa Joe, facing off against his former teacher. Lethal chopped Joe, who no sold it, then Lethal did a Fargo Strut. Joe responded with a series of jabs and strikes that took the fun out of this for Lethal. It seems Lethal still has some lessons to learn from his former mentor. Lethal went to the floor and Joe tagged out to Bowens. Johnson tagged in and faced off with Bowens.
Eventually Lethal started running around the ring, and Bowens made him pay, driving him into the apron, which brought joy to Samoa Joe. Joe tagged in and hit Johnson with a senton, and then chopped Lethal who went to the top rope. This distracted Joe enough for Johnson to attack, allowing Joe to be hit with a missile dropkick from Lethal as they went to an ad break. They isolated Joe in their corner during the break, and included attacks from Blake Christian as the referee’s back was turned. Lethal hit a dropkick that dropped Joe and screamed, “I hate you!” as he punched him.
Johnson and Lethal hit a combo enziguri and dragon screw legwhip. Lethal hit the ropes but Joe hit a powerslam and tagged out to Bowens for the hot tag, who ran wild, including hitting a neckbreaker on Lethal. Bowens hit an elevated Fameasser on Lethal and then torture rack bomb of sorts for a 2-count. Bowens hit a superkick on Johnson, who ran in, and then Johnson hit one of his own, letting Lethal hit a flying elbow for a 2-count. Lethal tried to hit a Lethal Injection on Joe, but Joe countered it into a rear naked choke, but Lethal fought out, went for a figure four, and Joe countered again into the rear naked choke. Bowens then locked an arm twist on Johnson and got the submission for the win.
Result: Samoa Joe & Anthony Bowens defeated Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson
–Bowens grabbed a mic and said that while he was lost over the last year, he found himself a place he could call home, and he was learning to be the killer he knew he was. Samoa Joe took the mic and said that he was honoured that Ospreay saw his match with him as a dream match, but for Ospreay, it was going to be a nightmare. Short, simple, and effective promo.
–A hype video aired for Swerve Strickland and Bandido, which is a first round match in the Owen Hart Tournament. This included showing highlights of Swerve attacking Bandido at the ROH PPV last night, laying him out with a Vertebreaker on a chair.
–Brody King and Bandido were backstage and King promised Swerve would pay for what he did, but Bandido cut him off and said that it was his fight, and he was going to make Swerve pay for his attack.
–Divine Dominion said that their next 5 minute challenge was not going to pretty, as the first one only lasted
Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) vs. Allie Katch & Kaia McKenna
This went as you would expect, and in 1:50 Divine Dominon pinned Allie Katch.
Result: Divine Dominion defeated Allie Katch & Kaia McKenna
–A hype video aired for the AEW Women’s World Championship, with every woman commenting on the match, with the majority of dialogue given by Kris Statlander, identifying each person and how she felt about them, including how unsure she was of Hikaru Shida at the moment.
–Athena and Mina Shirakawa were backstage and cut promos on each other about their upcoming first round match in the Owen. Athena promised to send Shirakawa to the ditch where Toni Storm was, leaving her for dead.
–A recap video aired of Lio Rush vs. AR Fox, and we saw Action Andretti shoving Lio Rush from the top rope allowing Fox to hit a 450 splash for the pinfall. Nigel McGuinness was backstage earlier with Lio Rush, and Rush claimed that everything was fine. As McGuinness walked away, black ooze came out of Rush’s mouth as he took of his sunglasses to reveal red eyes.
–The War Dogs were making their entrance, and a backstage hand accidentally dropped Clark Connor’s toothpicks, which led to him beating the hand up before walking out to the ring.
The War Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) & Mark Davis vs. The Rascalz (Zachery Wentz, Dezmond Xavier, and Myron Reed)
The Rascalz took it right to Mark Davis, triple teaming him as the match started, which is one way to deal with the size difference, but as they sent Davis to the ropes, Finlay and Connors pulled Davis to the floor to save him. They then decided to make a charge together, but got knocked back to the floor. The Rascalz then tried to hit a dive, but the War Dogs cut them off, and Davis caught Xavier and dropped him. Davis missed a corner charge and at repeated kicks from Xavier, who tagged out to Wentz, and then they resumed the trios attack on Davis, laying him out after some effort.
David Finlay came in, caught Xavier and sent him flying into his own partners before the Dogs and Davis triple teamed Wentz. Turnabout is fair play, it seems. Finlay proceeded to get the heat on Wentz, and Connors was more than happy to take cheap shots as he did. Connors tagged in but Wentz was able to knock Davis off the apron and then shove Connors away. Wentz crawled towards his corner, but Connors cut him off. It was around this moment that Tony Schiavone compared Roddy Piper to Nigel McGuinness, saying Piper would take of his skirt, wrestle, and then go to the commentary desk. McGuinness, with disgust (and correctly) said, “It’s a kilt, Schiavone!”
As the Rascalz tried to hit a triple team move, Finlay hit a uranage into a back breaker, but the Rascalz hit double poisonranas on Finlay and Connors, then Xavier hit a superplex on Davis. The Rascalz then hit dives onto everyone, and Reed and Wentz flipped Xavier into a dropkick on Davis before all three hit different high flying moves, but the Dogs made the save.
Connors hit a pounce that sent Wentz almost flying into the guardrail. Reed went for a cutter over the ropes on Davis, but Davis blocked it and killed Reed with a lariat and piledriver before sending Reed into the Last Clip by the Dogs for the pinfall.
Result: The War Dogs & Mark Davis
–Anna Jay was backstage and said that she just came back, and she was not killed, like Willow Nightingale predicted. Tay Melo walked into the screen and said that she was also back, so it seems the women’s tag division has another team, and we might get a match between Nightingale and Anna Jay in the future if Nightingale retains the title at Double or Nothing.
Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara for the AEW World Championship in a No Count Out Match
Guevara hit a curb stomp on Allin onto the AEW title to start the match, setup a table at the entrance area, and then setup a ladder. Guevara put Allin on the table and then climbed the ladder, and hit a senton bomb off the top of the ladder on Allin through the table. Guevara put Allin into the ring for a two count. Guevara went for Go to Hell, but Allin blocked it and locked on the Scorpion Death Lock, but it seemed that Allin got dizzy and fell to the mat. The referee pulled Guevara away, but he hit a springboard splash for a 2-count, and Allin still kicked out somehow.
Allin manged to fight back into a position to do a Coffin Drop, but Guevara shoved him from the ropes, and Darby crashed butt first onto the ropes, then flipped backwards to the floor hitting his face on the apron on the way down. Schiavone’s call here was excellent, calling it with shock. Guevara hit a kick on the floor, and Allin was laid out again, but he kept getting up. Guevara then hit the three amigos in the ring for a 2-count. Guevara hit a superkick on Allin for another near fall.
Allin blocked a kick from Guevara, who flipped backwards, but Allin hit a shotgun dropkick. Allin then went for a tope suicida, but Guevara countered into a cutter. Guevara then went for a springboard into a cutter in the ring, but Allin caught him in a rear naked choke, forcing Guevara to go to the ropes to break it. Allin then went for a coffin drop on the apron, but before he could, Guevara rolled across the apron. Guevara then hit a flying double stomp onto the standing Allin, which was insane, for a 2-count.
Guevara managed to hit Go to Hell twice a few minutes later, and then Guevara hit a frog splash for another 2-count. Guevara setup a table on the floor, as we are well into overrun territory on the show right now. Guevara then went for a 630 splash to the floor through the table, but Allin moved and Guevara crashed through the table. Allin then rolled Guevara in and hit a Coffin Drop for the pinfall.
Result: Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara
Allin looked half dead at the end of this match, which is showing the story of his reign thus far – he is getting worn down. This main event match was excellent, if not a bit too long. That said, it was still very good.
Final Thoughts
This was not as good as last week’s one hour Collision, but it was still a good show. We got some good promos from Moxley and Ospreay, and some development of stories heading into AEW Double or Nothing. All in all, a thumbs up show.
