After they laid out the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Wednesday and formally aligned with Stokely Hathaway, the new-attitude FTR will take on The Paragon’s Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong on tonight’s AEW Collision.
Live coverage begins shortly after the NBA playoff action ends on TNT.
In a title eliminator match, AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm will put a future title shot up against Queen Aminata.
ROH World Champion Bandido will have the first defense of his title reign as he takes on Dralistico. The challenger’s brother Rush will go one-on-one with AR Fox.
Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland will face Blake Christian while Max Caster will host yet another open challenge in search of his first win.
In a tornado tag team match, Cru (Lio Rush & Action Andretti) will take on rivals Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin).
Past title challenger Anna Jay returns to AEW for the first time since December against an opponent to be named.
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AEW Collision opened with Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana coming down to the ring. Before Swerve could say anything, The Young Bucks came out with mics to confront him. Nick Jackson was deeply offended at the crowd booing him, and Matt Jackson said Nick was a hot head, but Swerve’s match, which was scheduled for later, was now moved up to be the opener and Swerve had to wrestle without his gear on.
Swerve Strickland defeated Blake Christian (w/ Lee Moriarty)
Swerve hit the ropes and Moriarty tripped him, allowing Christian to get a jump on him at the start of the match. Christian hit his backflipping suicide dive on Swerve, but Swerve raked the eyes of Christian and threw him into the barricade. Christian, however, drove Swerve into the ring post and continued his short heat segment. Christian tried to hit a spear on the apron to Strickland, but he caught Christian and placed him on middle ropes before hitting aneckbreaker as Christian was draped between the ropes. That was a really cool spot.
Swerve rolled out of the way of 450 splash and popped up, hitting a House Call that immediately ceased all of Christian’s offence. Swerve hit a JML Driver for the pinfall.
Lee Moriarty attacked Swerve after the bell, but Swerve fought him off. However, the Young Bucks ran in and hit the EVP Trigger, leaving Swerve laid out as Nick Jackson did a dance to mock Swerve and Prince Nana. The Bucks went for the Meltzer Driver on Swerve, but Kenny Omega ran down to make the save. The Bucks immediately started stomping him but Omega managed to hit a snap dragon suplex on Nick Jackson, but before he could hit V-Trigger, the Matt Jackson pulled Nick from the ring. AEW then announced Mark Briscoe, Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Kenny Omega against Kazuchika Okada, Ricochet, and The Young Bucks for Dynamite next Wednesday. That match is going to rule.
–Samoa Joe talked about Jon Moxley in a backstage promo, saying Moxley was not unpredictable. He was always looking to create chaos, but Samoa Joe was not someone that would be bothered by it, and he was coming for Moxley. This promo was awesome. Samoa Joe is still one of the best promos in the business.
Toni Storm (w/ Luther) defeated Queen Aminata
Aminata overwhelmed Storm in the early part of the match, but Storm was able to hit a shoulder tackle and a basement dropkick. The fans did not believe Aminata could win, so this hurt the heat a bit, but the fans sung Storm’s theme throughout, so at least there was that. Storm ended up with a bloody nose, and Aminata knocked Storm to the floor. Aminata has a lot of potential and is improving a lot, but she does need to work a little bit on being less stiff.
Aminata and Storm exchanged… hip attacks? Posterior battles? Either way, they started hitting each other that way are some snapmares. Aminata locked in a submission attempt, but Storm leaned back for a 2-count, and then both women hit headbutts and dropped to the mat. Storm hit a Thesz Press and several punches and forearms on Aminata, hitting a few heavy shots before hitting a DDT and locked on a STF. Nigel claimed that Toni taught the move to Lou Thesz.
Aminata hit a facewash kick in the corner, sending Storm to the floor. Storm hit a drop toe hold on Aminata into a chair, but Aminata dodged the hip attack against the guardrail. Storm hit a flying body press for a 2-count, but Aminata kicked out and powered Storm up into a Beach Break for a 2-count. Storm hit a chokebomb for a 2-count, and went for Storm Zero, but Aminata cradled Storm then hit a twist and shout. Aminata missed a splash, ate a German suplex, and hit her running hip attack and a Storm Zero for the pinfall. This turned into a really good match, and the crowd got into it the harder and harder the women worked. Props to them, as this ended up being very good by the end.
–Jeff Jarrett and his crew showed up, and they were questioning where Sonjay Dutt has been of late. Dutt showed up, and they dismissed Lexy Nair. Jarrett pointed out that he wanted AEW gold in 2025, and that Sonjay was supposed to help them get there as their manager (I think?), and Jarrett said he was listening to the wrong voices. Lethal agreed, and Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Lethal all left Sonjay Dutt looking said. I really have no idea what was going on in this, and had no idea Dutt was gone or not around them. Was this something that was happening in ROH? Or was it just something that happened now? Either way, I feel like we missed at least a week or two of storytelling here.
–Max Caster was in the ring, and apparently he is just continuing his gimmick after losing to Anthony Bowens. Tony Schiavone expressed disgust when a sign said, “Let’s go Max, you’re the best wrestler alive!” which the highlight of this segment. Caster accused the streets of smelling like horse urine, and a guy in the front row nodded, knowingly. That was hilarious.
Hologram defeated Max Caster
Caster tried to attack, but Hologram hit a Spanish Fly and then a tope suicida headbutt and a portal bomb for the 3-count. The crowd was really into Hologram in this match, popping big for his moves. Come on, Tony, it’s time to do something with this guy, even an ROH title.
–A recap video aired of Master P on Dynamite, and he was interviewed backstage by Renee Paquette and he talked about his charity work and how he was not impressed by the Death Riders attacking from behind. This was a nice segment, especially for promoting the charity.
Cru (Action Andretti & Leo Rush) defeated Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) (w/ Leila Grey) in a Tornado Tag Match
Cru grabbed kendo sticks from under the ring to start an attack on Top Flight, but Top Flight stepped on them and took them away. Cru refused to get in the ring, so Top Flight put them down, baited them in, and immediately started hitting a series of double team moves on Andretti and Rush. Andretti chased Grey around the ring, and Rush managed to hit a dive on Darius Martin as he was distracted by Andretti. Cru put a garbage can over the head of Darius Martin and hit it with kendo sticks, before choking Darius Martin with the stick.
Cru beat down on both Martin brothers for the next few minutes. The match came back from the ad break as Dante Martin hit a garbage can lid on Andretti and then Lio Rush, as they started their comeback. The fans were chanting for tables, but Dante Martin grabbed a black bag of something from under the ring, and the fans booed. Just grab the table, man, then grab the bag. Lio Rush hit a stunner on Darius Martin and Andretti picked up the bag and it was filled with Mardi Gras beads, which actually popped the crowd. Dante Martin slammed Rush on the beads for a two count,.
Rush hit a drop toe hold on Darius Martin onto a chair, and Andretti followed with a dropkick. Cru suplexed Darius Martin on the chair that was setup, which looked absolutely brutal as the chair shot out from under Martin and across the ring. Leila Grey tried to stop Cru from hitting Top Flight, but she got knocked off the apron the process, with Rush then hitting a frog splash on Darius Martin, followed by a 450 Splash from Andretti for the win. This was a fun match.
Anna Jay defeated Taylor Gainey
Anna Jay hit a hook kick on Gainey, followed by a hard forearm in the corner and a spinning kick. Jay hit the Gory Bomb for the win very quickly.
Penelope Ford came down to the ring, and it seems Anna Jay will be facing Ford and Bayne for a little while, at least on TV. Bayne’s music hit, and Jay looked away, leading to Ford attacking and brawling with Jay as Bayne slowly came down to the ring. Ford held Jay in the ring so Bayne could hit a F5, leaving Jay laid out.
–A hype video aired for Mercedes Moné and Jamie Hayter for the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament. This was very good.
Bandido defeated Dralistico to retain the ROH World Championship
Dralistico flipped of the fans when they wouldn’t cheer him, and he rolled to the floor to yell at the fans and threaten to leave. Given that this is a world title match, that is not very wise. Bandido tried to honour the Code of Honor, but Dralistico refused. Bandido and Dralistico went to it with some awesome lucha to open the match, exchanging some very fast paced offence. Both men exchanged hard chops on the apron before Dralistico hit a hurricanrana to the floor on Bandido.
Dralistico did his Los Ingobernables pose, and the crowd popped. As they came back from an ad break, Bandido hit a tope suicida on Dralistico before went back into the ring and hit a Fosbury Flop and the crowd roared in approval. Bandido hit a frog splash for a two count. After an exchange, Bandido hit a kick and both men were down. Dralistico hit a code breaker off the middle rope to Bandido for a two count. Bandido managed to counter a corner charge, and then hit the 21-Plex on Dralistico for the 3-count. Good match.
–The Learning Tree was backstage, and Big Bill & Bryan Keith were talking about how they needed to start beating people up and winning for their own benefit, and not just to please Chris Jericho. They called out the Gates of Agony, saying that they were offering to let them try to make a name for themselves against the Learning Tree. This was a good promo. Simple, to the point, and sets up a match for Dynamite.
Rush defeated AR Fox
Fox got a brief moment of offence in this one, hitting a dive over the top rope, but soon defeated fox with the corner dropkick for the win.
–RPG Vice were backstage, and Trent Beretta and Rockey Romero were insulted because people were calling them underrated. Romero said he was tired of the disrespect he has faced, including not being on the Conglomeration T-shirt, and they attacked and laid out the Outrunners. Good segment here too.
–Kyle Fletcher was featured in a promo video, talking about how he wasn’t sure what was more important – winning the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, or stopping Will Ospreay from winning. Fletcher promised to make Hangman choke and lose, and Hangman said he was going to violently fight Fletcher in a way that he has never felt before, and that he needed to win the tournament so he could get the title back. AEW is keenly aware that the long term story needs to be Hangman chasing the world title, but might have Ospreay win it first. Either way, we are in for a great match with Hangman and Fletcher, and a great finals is either faces Ospreay.
The Paragon (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (w/ Stokely Hathaway)
Strong and O’Reilly spend the start of the match isolating FTR, sending them to the floor. FTR started arguing with the announcers, and Nigel McGuinness told them off for losing their focus, and said they needed to focus on the match in the ring, as he tried to maintain being unbiased, as they are clearly starting to get under his skin. I really like this aspect of the story, as Nigel is a tremendous wrestler, and two heels going after him is intriguing, especially as he is usually the heel announcer.
FTR performed an illegal tag, not holding onto the ring rope, and Harwood complained to the referee, but this only opened Wheeler to get his hands stepped on repeatedly by O’Reilly. When they came back from the break, FTR was finally able to get some offence in, throwing O’Reilly into the ring steps while beating down Strong nearby. Harwood hit a slingshot suplex on O’Reilly for a two count, calling back to Tully Blanchard. O’Reilly broke away and went for a tag, but Strong was still on the floor. Wheeler went for a bulldog but quickly switched direction and hit a lariat on and dropped O’Reilly.
O’Reilly hit a kitchen sink as Wheeler hit the ropes and tried to tag out again, but Strong was still on the floor. O’Reilly steeled himself, and hit a leg sweep on Wheeler and hard kicks on both members of FTR and both Harwood and O’Reilly went down after a double clothesline. O’Reilly went for a tag again, but Wheeler had rolled to the floor and dropped Strong on the stairs knee first, keeping him down again. O’Reilly went for a guillotine choke on Wheeler, but Harwood hit an axe handle to break the submission.
FTR continued to isolate O’Reilly, as Strong stood up again, but got thrown into the barricade by Harwood, while O’Reilly was catapulted into the bottom rope by Wheeler. O’Reilly finally managed to tag Strong in, who continued to sell his leg with every move he did, making a comeback on one leg. Strong couldn’t run from teh corner at one point, so he just turned around and went back to punches. As he came back again, Harwood grabbed him and went for a cover with his feet on the ropes.
Tony Schiavone was disgusted with Stokley Hathaway cheering FTR, calling him one of the worst human beings he knows, which was great. Harwood did a figure four around the ring post on Strong, breaking before the 5 count, but continuing to work the knee of Strong. Harwood locked on the figure four leglock in the ring, this time going for the official submission. O’Reilly came in with a flying basement dropkick to Harwood to break the hold before hitting a plancha to the floor on Wheeler. Strong tagged out to O’Reilly, who started kick and brawling with Harwood.
O’Reilly shot on Harwood and took him down into a leglock, but Wheeler broke it up with a big splash on O’Reilly. Harwood went for a piledriver, and FTR succeeded in the spike piledriver on O’Reilly for the win. What a fantastic tag match. That was a tremendous main event match and about as good as a tag team match you will see this week, if it wasn’t for the Young Bucks and Knight & Ospreay on Dynamite.
Adam Cole came down to check on his friends, and was about to be taken out by FTR and Hathaway, but Daniel Garcia ran down with a crowbar to chase the heels off to close the show. Good main event, and good closing angle that continues to build this feud with FTR and Paragon/Garcia. Daniel Garcia called out FTR, saying they couldn’t finish the job against him. Garcia said that no matter how long it took, he was going after them each week until he made them pay. Good promo.
Final Thoughts
A good, if uneventful, AEW Collision, with some stories advancing slowly, and an awesome tag team main match in the main event. This was definitely a thumbs up show, and I like the stories they are developing slowly as they move towards Double or Nothing and All In.
