A Trios title match is set for Saturday’s Collision.
The newly-named Death Riders (PAC, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli) will take on The Conglomeration’s Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii. After fellow Conglomeration member Orange Cassidy was attacked by The Death Riders on Dynamite, the rest of the group came out for the save, setting up Saturday’s title match.
Also on the card is The Outrunners vs. Top Flight, in which the winners will advance to a four-way match at Full Gear for the AEW Tag Team titles, which will include new champions Private Party. After a confrontation on Rampage between Roderick Strong and Jake Roberts, Strong will now face The Beast Mortos.
Other matches will see House of Black taking on the Iron Savages and Jacked Jameson and Nick Wayne vs. AR Fox. Kris Statlander will be in action, and we’ll hear from Mariah May, The Acclaimed, Lio Rush, and Anna Jay.
Live coverage starts at 8 pm ET.
Collision began with the House of Black making their entrance for the opening match. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) defeated Iron Savages (Beefcake Boulder, Bulk Bronson & Jacked Jameson)
I don’t even like seeing the Savages get killed. A re-establishing match for the House, and some clarity on which two members would be going for the tag titles.
King booted the Savage Sauce – ugh – out of Boulder’s mouth, leading to a House of Black move train. Jameson didn’t fare any better, with Black and Matthews double-teaming him. Bronson fell on top of Jameson in a humorous way before King landed a senton onto both of the Savages. King hit a suicide dive onto all three Savages before The House hit Jameson with a triple attack in the corner to score the quick win.
After the match, Black grabbed the microphone before the lights went out. FTR – their opponents in the Full Gear Contender Series – made their way to the ring. They said they weren’t here to fight before Harwood noted that he held the AEW Tag Team Titles above his health, his family, and God. Harwood asked which two of the House of Black they would be fighting. King and Black stepped forward. Black wished them good luck before FTR left the ring.
Lio Rush was backstage. He felt a shift happening in AEW, and everyone was involved. He said that his past was creeping up on him, forcing him to make a decision. He held onto MVP’s business card, noting that it was a golden ticket to do business with people the way Rush used to agree with. Rush noted that he had won his last two matches before making a challenge to Swerve Strickland for Dynamite.
Private Party came out and took seats on the stage to watch the first Contender Series match.
Full Gear Four Way Contenders Series – The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) (w/ Leila Grey)
A solid match, given the style clash between the teams. I would rather be pushing Top Flight, but they’re in the midst of a story right now.
Magnum and Darius started off trading shoulder blocks before they tagged their partners in. Dante evaded Floyd in the corner before both teams faced off in the ring. FTR were watching in the back. After the commercial, Top Flight were double teaming Magnum. Magnum got sent to the floor and almost ran into Leila before Darius dove into Floyd on the floor. The Martins argued about Leila being in the way, allowing Magnum to fight to the corner for a tag.
Floyd ran wild with bodyslams. The Outrunners hit the Predator elbow drop, but Dante fought free of Total Recall and got the tag out to his brother. Magnum saved Floyd on a double suplex attempt, allowing Floyd to Hulk Up. Floyd caught Martin in the corner, allowing Magnum to hop in the ring and hit Total Recall for the win.
During this match, Rush vs. Strickland was confirmed for Dynamite, as well as Roderick Strong vs. Lance Archer in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
The Acclaimed were in the back. They warned La Faccion Ingobernable that they would beat them and get into the tag title match at Full Gear. The Hurt Syndicate entered the frame. MVP talked exclusively to Caster, noting that his father was an All-Pro wide receiver for the New York Jets. Bowens told MVP they weren’t interested, but MVP knew Caster still had his card.
Roderick Strong defeated The Beast Mortos
A slightly disappointing match here. Mortos’ overproduced hesitations to hurt his friend hurt the flow of the match, and the crowd wasn’t into it.
This is Strong’s second match in the series to challenge MJF at Full Gear. Strong made the challenge for this match after Jake Roberts warned him to stop recruiting his charge.
Mortos was conflicted for a moment before dropping Strong with a lariat. Strong bounced back with a leg lariat, but Mortos hammered Strong in the corner before hitting a powerslam for a nearfall. Strong popped Mortos with a jumping knee before scoring a nearfall with an Olympic Slam. Mortos hit Strong with a headbutt but continued to shake his head in frustration at the situation. Strong came back with strikes before Mortos popped him up into a Samoan drop.
After a commercial break, Strong fought back with flying forearms that staggered Mortos. A running clothesline dropped Mortos before the Sick Kick scored a nearfall. Mortos caught Strong with a twisting backbreaker. Mortos powerbombed Strong over his knee before scoring with a spinning lariat for a nearfall. Mortos once again hesitated to finish Strong, and that allowed Strong to escape a move and hit the jumping knee for the win.
After the match, Lance Archer got the jump on Strong and laid him out with the Blackout ahead of their Falls Count Anywhere match on Dynamite. If Strong wins that match, he will get the match with MJF at Full Gear.
We got a recap of Mariah May’s defense of the Women’s Title last week before getting words from the champ. May said that she hated women’s wrestling. Since winning the women’s title, May realized that she was surrounded by the “weakest, saddest little sh*ts she’d ever seen.” Her prime was being wasted by the lack of competition around her, and she would accept the blame for killing women’s wrestling.
Anna Jay was in the back with Lexy Nair to respond to May’s words. She noted that she hadn’t just competed with May, she had beaten her. Since she was the only person to beat May since All In, she made one more challenge for the title. Jay challenged May to a no-disqualification match for the title and vowed that she would never challenge May again if she lost.
(I felt the finish to their title match left the door open for a rematch, but I’m not sure this feud required a third match with Mina Shirakawa returning on Dynamite.)
We got a recap of Dynamite’s main event, which featured the return of Powerhouse Hobbs and Will Ospreay.
(A little detail I liked about Hobbs’ return is that, according to Ricochet, Hobbs’ contract with the Don Callis Family expired one year to the day of his joining the group.)
Kris Statlander defeated Ashley Vox
This was a far more effective way to build up a title match than ATTEMPTED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE.
I was still writing the note about Hobbs’ return when this match ended. Statlander won with Saturday Night Fever. Mercedes Mone, fresh off of her VEHICULAR HOMICIDE ATTEMPT on Dynamite, snuck up on Statlander after the match and locked her in the Bank Statement before referees pulled her away.
La Faccion Ingobernable was angry in the back. Rush was angry at Beast Mortos for showing mercy in his match and reminded him what LFI was all about. Jake Roberts warned The Acclaimed that they were simply sparrows looking for a nut and that if you messed with the bull, you’d get the horns.
AEW TNT Title Match – Jack Perry (c) defeated Action Andretti
A solid match here. Andretti gets a lot of grief in the places I frequent, which I don’t understand. He’s a perfectly serviceable high flyer on this roster, slotted exactly where he should be slotted. Perry vs. Daniel Garcia at Full Gear should be a big-time title defense.
Perry caught Andretti with a chop block in the opening exchanges before sending him into the post. Perry dumped Andretti on the apron before dumping him on the steps. After a commercial break, Andretti caught Perry with an inside cradle for a nearfall. Andretti fought through the injured back to score with a handspring elbow and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall.
Perry fought to the apron and kneed Andretti in the back, but Andretti countered with a Death Valley Driver to the apron. Andretti hit a springboard 450 splash for a nearfall. Perry evaded a split-legged moonsault but ran into a Spanish Fly-style powerslam for an Andretti nearfall. Perry went on the offensive, scoring with a buckle bomb and a brainbuster for a nearfall. Andretti countered the Glass Jaw knee with a rollup before scoring with a springboard kick. Perry got his knees up on a running Shooting Star Press attempt before hitting two Glass Jaw knees for the win.
After the match, Perry grabbed the mic but was interrupted by Daniel Garcia. Perry handed Garcia the mic. Garcia said that he disagreed with Perry about a lot of things, but he most strongly disagreed that the two of them were anything alike. Perry was a multi-millionaire nepobaby who only fought for himself, while Garcia fought for his friends and his people. Garcia said that he would never be anything like Perry, but he would be the TNT Champion at Full Gear. Perry accepted the challenge but said that Garcia wasn’t ready.
Julia Hart was cheerleading on a football field before a veiled figure shot her with an arrow. She jolted awake before the vignette ended.
We got a video of The Outrunners shilling their merch.
Lexy Nair found Daniel Garcia & Matt Menard backstage. Menard gave Garcia a pep talk, telling Garcia to prove everyone who believed in him right at Full Gear.
Nick Wayne (w/Mother Wayne & Kip Sabian) defeated AR Fox
Before he made his entrance, Wayne was on the jumbotron noting that today was the anniversary of Fox’s father passing away. He said that Fox should be happy that his father was dead so he wouldn’t have to see the beating Wayne gave him. Fox responded by jumping Wayne during his entrance with a pair of big dives. Wayne dropped Fox into the steps and crotched him on the barricade.
After a commercial, Fox dove onto Wayne on the floor to make his comeback. Fox hit a swanton bomb for a nearfall. Fox caught Wayne with a enzuigiri, but Wayne countered a Fox cutter into a Dragon suplex for a nearfall. There was a spectacular Fox sequence that ended in a powerbomb for a nearfall. Fox caught Wayne with Lo Mein Pain, but Sabian cut off a 450 Splash attempt. Wayne caught Fox with a butterfly Destroyer for the win.
After the match, Sabian held Fox down as Mother Wayne pulled out a picture of Fox with his father. She pulled out a stapler and watched as her son stapled the picture to Fox’s face.
MxM Collection was backstage with Lexy Nair. They took up Johnny TV’s offer for a collab, but Johnny couldn’t do a trios match as he already had a match for next week against Daniel Garcia. Johnny agreed to let them come to ringside with him.
AEW World Trios Title Match – Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC & Wheeler Yuta) (c) defeated The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Tomohiro Ishii)
A solid main event with all of the side characters to the Cassidy/Moxley World Title match, but nothing on this show rose above solid. A muted two hours of action.
The opening exchanges led to Briscoe getting driven into the Death Rider corner. Briscoe fought over to his side of the ring and dumped Yuta and Castagnoli to the floor before hitting the chair-assisted dive to the outside. O’Reilly went for an armbar on Yuta, but PAC stomped on O’Reilly to break it up. After a commercial, the Death Riders were still working over O’Reilly. PAC hit a double stomp out of the Demolition Device position for a nearfall.
The Death Riders ran wild on O’Reilly with a train of strikes in the corner before PAC hit a Tombstone. Briscoe broke up the pin, but the Death Riders dumped him and Ishii at ringside before getting back to O’Reilly. O’Reilly caught Yuta in an ankle lock, then dropped him with a clothesline before tagging in Ishii. Ishii ran wild with German suplexes before scoring a nearfall on PAC with a brainbuster.
Briscoe and Castagnoli tagged in, with Briscoe running wild on both Castagnoli and PAC. Briscoe hit a Fisherman’s Buster on Castagnoli for a nearfall. O’Reilly and Ishii double teamed Yuta, hitting Chasing the Dragon before Briscoe hit the Froggy Bow for a nearfall broken up by PAC. We got a move train that left everyone down.
Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir walked out from the crowd, but before Moxley could get in the ring, Orange Cassidy made his way out from the entrance ramp. Yuta stared down Cassidy, allowing O’Reilly to catch Yuta in an ankle lock. Castagnoli and PAC got disposed of on the floor, but Castagnoli threw a chair into the ring to distract the referee. Yuta sent O’Reilly to the floor, where Shafir hit him with the briefcase. Yuta hit O’Reilly with the Busaiku Knee to score the fall and retain the titles.
Moxley was happy after the match, but Cassidy hit Yuta with the Orange Punch and dove onto Moxley on the floor. The Death Riders and the Conglomeration got into a huge brawl, ending with Cassidy diving onto the pile off of the announce table. Cassidy and Moxley stared each other down on opposite sides of the barricade to end the show.
During this match, Britt Baker vs. Penelope Ford was announced for Dynamite, and Mariah May vs. Anna Jay in a No-DQ match for the Women’s Title was announced for next week’s Collision.
