The AEW Trios titles will be on the line this week on Collision.
PAC, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta will defend the titles against Top Flight and Action Andretti. Wednesday saw the Blackpool Combat Club wreak havoc during Dynamite, attacking anyone aligned with AEW. After they were jumped earlier in the show, Top Flight and Andretti attacked the BCC, but the group managed to even the odds before making their escape.
Elsewhere on the show, Ricochet will be in action, taking on AR Fox. The Outrunners will also be in action, taking on the reformed version of LFI consisting of Rush and The Beast Mortos.
Kyle Fletcher will also be in action, taking on Atlantis Jr. Fletcher, who turned his back on Will Ospreay at WrestleDream, will look to continue his newfound momentum by beating the man who defeated him at Arena Mexico earlier this year to win the Ring of Honor Television title.
Other highlights include Jamie Hayter being in action, Orange Cassidy facing Bulk Bronson, Harley Cameron taking on Kris Statlander, and Premier Athletes taking on Daniel Garcia and Private Party.
Live coverage of Collision begins at 8 pm ET. Battle of the Belts XII will immediately follow at 10 pm ET.
Collision comes to us live (to tape) from Stockton, CA. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call, with Schiavone throwing to video of AEW World Champion Jon Moxley – who is in the building tonight.
Moxley and the Blackpool Combat Club were in a pretape, with Moxley noting that nothing changed last Saturday night. The AEW World Title wasn’t for a person, it was for the position of the top dog in AEW. That position was his, but the title belt now represented everything he hated about AEW. Moxley said that while nothing came for free, they were going to give Top Flight a gift. There was no magic elevator ride to the top. Tonight would not be their coronation, but their public execution.
Ricochet defeated AR Fox
A great opener here. Fox rules, and he’s a great style match-up for Ricochet and a lot of the flyers in this promotion. Ricochet continues to get his sea legs back under him as he reacclimates to the AEW style.
These two matched speeds to start before Ricochet caught Fox with a dropkick that sent him to the floor. Ricochet followed with a suicide dive before going back into the ring with a springboard clothesline. A standing Shooting Star Press scored Ricochet a nearfall. Fox evaded Ricochet on a corner charge before hitting a roll-through suplex. Fox sent Ricochet to the floor before landing a Superman dive to the outside. Ricochet dodged another dive, but Fox caught himself on the apron and walked up the turnbuckle to hit a moonsault.
After a commercial break, Fox continued to run wild until Ricochet hit an avalanche swinging neckbreaker. Fox cut Ricochet off on the apron with a pele kick and a DDT before hitting a package powerbomb for a nearfall. The two traded big kicks and fought for position until Ricochet backflipped into a bridging German suplex for a nearfall. Fox evaded a Shooting Star Press and caught Ricochet with Lo Mein Pain. Fox followed up with a 450 splash for a nearfall.
The two traded strikes before Ricochet caught Fox with a half-and-half suplex. Ricochet hit a jumping knee and an axe kick before landing Vertigo for the win. After the match, Ricochet took the mic and called out International Champion Konosuke Takeshita. Ricochet said that Takeshita could take the title wherever he wanted, but when he came back to AEW, Ricochet would be ready to take the title from him.
Daniel Garcia & Private Party were backstage. The BCC was waging war while The Elite sat and watched. Garcia said that the Elite are too complacent to fight for the company, so they will take their titles from them and fight the war. Isiah Kassidy said that he would fight for AEW as it changed his life, and that before Wednesday, they would take care of business tonight in Stockton.
Kris Statlander defeated Harley Cameron
Cameron caught Statlander with an eye poke, keeping her off-balance early. Statlander caught Cameron with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to shut her down. Statlander clubbered on Cameron until she dodged a corner charge, hitting a tornado DDT for a one-count. Cameron laid in some shots, but Statlander ducked an enzuigiri and hit a German suplex. Statlander ran wild and hit Saturday Night Fever for the win.
After the match, Statlander took the mic and made a challenge to Kamille, saying it was time she met her match. Statlander promised to get Mercedes Mone a front-row seat.
Daniel Garcia & Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) defeated The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari, Josh Woods & Tony Nese) (w/Mark Sterling)
I could do without Daniel Garcia in an AEW shirt like Tommy Dreamer in WWE ECW, but I do like these guys coming together to fight the threat of the BCC while also dealing with their ongoing issues with the Elite. This BCC feud is centered around the long-time potential stars in AEW stepping up and becoming stars. I think an issue AEW has is that people have lost faith in stars getting a chance to elevate, and this feud seems to be a direct response to that. If they can get guys like Private Party and Top Flight over to a higher level, it can only lead to positive results.
The Athletes beat on Kassidy until he fought all three men off to get the tag to Quen. Private Party ran wild on Nese until Stokely Hathaway snuck up to ringside. He got there despite looking like a child in his father’s work clothes. That gave Nese enough time to send Kassidy to the floor for the commercial break.
After the break, Kassidy got the tag into Garcia, who ran wild. He sent all three Athletes flying with German suplexes. Garcia hit Woods with a Twist and Shout neckbreaker for a nearfall. A sharpshooter attempt got cut off by Daivari, leading to a move train that ended with Private Party dives. A Sterling distraction almost got Woods a roll-up win, but Garcia kicked out and hit a shotgun dropkick. Gin and Juice on Woods scored the win.
We got a video package for La Faccion Ingobernable ahead of their match with The Outrunners. Jake Roberts warned the Outrunners that rules and bones were meant to be broken and that his guys were only here to wreck shop.
Orange Cassidy defeated Bulk Bronson (w/ The Iron Savages)
Jacked Jameson talked trash on the way to the ring. Cassidy promptly laid him out with an Orange Punch. Cassidy then drilled Bronson with an Orange Punch before winning with the Beach Break.
Jamie Hayter defeated Brooke Havok
Hayter clobbered this woman, nuking her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before winning with the Hayterade.
Penelope Ford appeared on the Jumbotron after the match, saying that she attacked Hayter because she was tired of being left on the sidelines. Ford was out for two years, with her last TV match being a tag team match alongside Hayter. Hayter got a parade when she returned from her year-long absence, but no one cared about Ford the same way. She promised to show Hayter what two years of pent-up anger and frustration looked like.
Daniel Garcia & Private Party were backstage with Lexy Nair, happy with their win. Orange Cassidy entered the frame, with Garcia telling him that he’d beaten all of the BCC members in the past. Garcia believed that Cassidy could lead the charge against the BCC, but Cassidy said that every time he wrestled one of them, it changed him. Cassidy walked away, saying that he wasn’t a leader.
(I had forgotten that Cassidy had beaten all of the members of the new BCC, including Moxley last year at Full Gear. He can be a threat to them, but he just doesn’t have the willingness to be a leader. I’m enjoying this, and I expect Cassidy to be the first man up for Moxley with Darby Allin seemingly out of the picture for right now.)
Kyle Fletcher defeated Atlantis Jr.
This was a match I recommend you go out of your way to see. The crowd was into this match, and the background of Fletcher redeeming his loss from Mexico gave this match real juice. It felt like the crowd took to Fletcher as a higher-level heel, and this match benefitted from it.
Highlights were shown of the match these two had in Arena Mexico back in June, where Atlantis Jr. beat Fletcher for the Ring of Honor TV Title. Fletcher hadn’t forgotten, jumping Atlantis before the bell. Fletcher sent Atlantis into the barricades around ringside before Atlantis caught him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Atlantis got on the offensive, catching Fletcher with a cutter before vaulting over the top rope with a plancha. Fletcher fired back with a leg lariat that sent Atlantis off the apron.
After a commercial, Fletcher was ripping at the mask of Atlantis. Atlantis fought him off and sent him to the outside before hitting a tope suicida that drove Fletcher into the barricade. Atlantis hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Fletcher fought off a monkey flip and landed a half-and-half suplex. Fletcher teased the Tiger Driver before Atlantis caught him in a hammerlock flash pin for a nearfall.
Fletcher caught Atlantis with a rope-hung DDT before landing a brainbuster on the apron. Another brainbuster in the ring only got a nearfall to Fletcher’s surprise. The two men traded Tombstone positioning before trading forearms. Atlantis caught Fletcher with a Destroyer, then hit a Frog Splash as Schiavone noted that this is how he beat Fletcher in Arena Mexico. A second Frog Splash caught the knees, and Fletcher hit the top-rope brainbuster for the win. After the match, Fletcher said that he would explain his actions this week on Dynamite.
During this match, Kamille vs. Kris Statlander was announced for the Fright Night Dynamite on October 30th.
We got a highlight video of Darby Allin beating Brody King at WrestleDream.
House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) defeated Alpha Zo, Chris Nasty, & Olumide
These poor geeks got killed. Matthews pinned Alpha Zo after a cannonball crush in the corner.
Thunder Rosa was backstage with Lexy Nair. She noted that she had suffered a concussion back in August but was now cleared for action, having won a title in England in the meantime. Harley Cameron entered the frame and complained about her loss. Rosa socked Cameron in the face, leaving Cameron to mutter about feeling the Wrath of Harley Cameron.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & The Beast Mortos) (w/ Dralistico) defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
Mortos drilled Magnum with a shoulder block, leading to Magnum playing bullfighter to evade him and score with a couple of headscissor takedowns. Rush and Floyd tagged in, trading strikes until Dralistico distracted Floyd to give his team the advantage. After a commercial break, Rush teased the Bull’s Horns before booting Magnum.
Magnum got thrown to the floor, but ducked a Dralistico chop and booted Rush into the barricade. He got through Mortos to get the tag to Floyd, who ran wild with scoop slams. We got the Predator double elbow drop, but Dralistico cut off the Total Recall. Dralistico distracted the ref with a big cord before getting pinballed by Floyd. Dralistico came back to sweep Floyd’s leg on a suplex attempt and held his leg down on the pin, giving LFI the win.
LFI laid out the Outrunners after the match before FTR came out to fight them off.
Sammy Guevara had a pre-tape. He talked about how AEW changed his life, and how he felt that he owed it to AEW to give it everything he had. He watched Shelton Benjamin make his AEW debut, and personally went to Tony Khan to ask for a match against Benjamin for Dynamite. We saw a photo of a young Guevara with Butch Reed-era Benjamin, and Guevara promised another moment on Wednesday.
(I will put the odds at -250 that they do the famous springboard into a superkick spot that Benjamin did with Shawn Michaels.)
AEW World Trios Title Match – Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC & Wheeler Yuta) (c) defeated Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin)
A dominant win for the BCC, as they should be dominant this early on in the angle. I appreciate the overrun angle to get viewers to stick around for Battle of the Belts.
Andretti and PAC started, with Andretti getting the advantage on PAC until he got driven into the BCC corner. Yuta tagged in to big boos, with Andretti getting to his corner for a tag to Darius. Castagnoli tagged in quickly and hammered Darius with an uppercut. Dante tagged in, but Castagnoli laid him out with a lariat. Top Flight fought Castagnoli to the outside, but Dante got caught on a dive attempt by PAC. Darius and Andretti took out PAC and Yuta, but Castagnoli caught Dante on a dive attempt and flung him into the barricade.
After a commercial break, Dante got the tag out to Darius, who ran wild on Yuta. Yuta tagged out to PAC, who got caught with a shotgun dropkick into a German suplex. Andretti hit a springboard 450, but Castagnoli ripped Andretti off the cover with a gutwrench and powerbombed him. Yuta and Castagnoli took out the Martins, leaving Andretti to be clobbered with repeated uppercuts in the corner. PAC got the win with a Tombstone.
The BCC continued the beatdown when Jon Moxley’s music hit. Moxley and Marina Shafir made their way through the crowd before directing traffic on the beatdown. Lio Rush and Leila Grey came out to help, but they got beaten up as well. Castagnoli dragged one of the Martins up the ramp, but John Silver drilled Castagnoli with a chair. The Dark Order came out to fight, but the BCC got the upper hand as well.
Moxley took the microphone and told the Dark Order that he would give them a chance to fight for their lives. He offered the Dark Order a Trios Title match right now. I will review that match on the Battle of the Belts review.
