The final two entrants into this Wednesday’s four-way match for Kenny Omega’s International title will be decided on tonight’s AEW Collision from El Paso, Texas.
The show will air late Eastern Standard Time on TNT due to the NBA playoffs, approximately at 11 or 11:30 PM.
In one match, Claudio Castagnoli will face rival Komander while in the other, Mascara Dorada takes on Hechicero in a CMLL showcase. The two will join Brody King in challenging Omega at Wednesday’s Fyter Fest in Denver, Colorado.
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will face Anthony Bowens in a title eliminator.
The Don Callis Family’s Rocky Romero, Trent and Konosuke Takeshita will battle Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong of Paragon & Tomohiro Ishii in a trios bout.
Another trios match features LFI’s Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos against Top Flight & AR Fox.
Mina Shirakawa will look to rebound from her loss to AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at Double or Nothing when she faces Skye Blue, competing in her first singles match in more than 300 days.
The show is rounded by The Gates of Agony in action, and a promo segment featuring FTR and Stokely Hathaway.
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Claudio Castagnoli defeated Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) to advance to the International Title Match
There was a helpful recap video of the last time Komander and Castagnoli faced off one-on-one in December, when Komander eliminated Castagnoli from the Continental Classic. Castagnoli did not forget that loss, and immediately started attacking Komander with heavy strikes, and shrugged off a shoulder tackle. Komander hit a head scissors quickly though, and ran across the top rope into an arm wringer across the ropes on Castagnoli. Castagnoli caught Komander on a spring board and transitioned smoothly into a giant swing before beating on Komander at ringside.
Castagnoli hit a big back suplex on the guard rail, which had to suck to take. Komander leaped up onto the shoulders of Castagnoli, standing vertically on it, jumping onto the ropes into a springboard moonsault, and caught Castagnoli in an armdrag before hitting a tope con giro on the floor. That was absolutely incredible. Komander went to run across the ropes, but Castagnoli ran into the ring as Komander was cross the ropes, so he decided to jump with a crossbody on Castagnoli, but Castagnoli caught him and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker out of midair.
Komander did try for a shooting star press, but Castagnoli countered, put Komander in a fireman’s carry, and walked up the ropes, which was impressive enough, but Komander transitioned into a hurricanrana off the ropes on Castagnoli before hitting a sunset bomb for a 2-count. Komander missed a twisting senton and Castagnoli hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall. This was a quick match, but it was tons of fun.
–A recap aired of the opening segment from Dynamite, where Hangman Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, and Will Ospreay had a confrontation. They really drove home that Ospreay is trying to build bridges between Swerve and Hangman, but it had frequent cuts to all the terrible things Page and Strickland did to each other. This video ruled.
–Strickland was walking backstage at Dynamite, and Swerve wanted to clarify his relationship with Hangman, saying that he owned up to what he did, and that he did deserve what Hangman did to him, but that didn’t mean they were friends. Ospreay walked up and asked the question, “Who’s the bigger threat right now? The Death Riders or Hangman Page?” Swerve didn’t like this, and he really didn’t like when Ospreay said that Hangman Page was the best wrestler in the world right now. Swerve reminded Ospreay that he beat Ospreay too. Ospreay and Swerve broke into a brawl and were separated by security. This was an awesome segment.
The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Rocky Romero, & Trent Beretta) (w/ Don Callis) defeated Paragon (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) & Tomohiro Ishii
The Don Callis family attacked early, brawling around ringside. Ishii and Strong chopped Beretta, setting him on a chair at ringside. They also set Takeshita on the chair, and O’Reilly flew off the apron with a kick that knocked both men over. Ishii chopped Romero in the corner while Don Callis went on about how much he hated Roderick Strong on commentary, and it was great. Takeshita hit a huge forearm on Strong and distracted the referee, allowing Callis attack Strong behind the referee’s back.
Strong hit an Olympic Slam on Takeshita before tagging out to O’Reilly, hitting some hard kicks, sweeping the legs of Rocky Romero and working over the arm of Beretta before hitting a German suplex. O’Reilly countered a dead lift suplex by Takeshita and hit a kitchen sink before tagging in Ishii who dared Beretta to hit him before destroying Beretta with a forearm. Takeshita tagged in and both men immediately started to hit clotheslines on each other. Takeshita finally dropped him with a German suplex, but Paragon ran in to cut off the heels from further offence.
Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Ishii, but was kicked in the face by O’Reilly. Beretta hit a half-and-half suplex on O’Reilly, and Takeshita and Ishii exchanged hard strikes. Romero sneaked in after when the referee was bumped and hit a low blow on Ishii, letting Takeshita hit a falcon arrow on Ishii for the win. Good match.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Anthony Bowens
Okada got a superstar reaction coming out, and while no one believed Bowens was winning this match, he tried his best to get them to believe, with Okada selling for him well when he was on offence as well. Okada went to the floor after some of that offence, and slowed things down, hitting a DDT on Bowens on the floor. When the came back from break, Okada was hitting an elbow drop off the top rope.
When Okada posed to flip off the audience, Bowens reached up and scissored the finger with his index and middle finger, standing up and chopping Okada. Bowens ducked a Rainmaker and hit a neckbreaker. Bowens hit a superkick to the knee of Okada, who was on the middle ropes, before hitting a DDT on Okada who was caught in the tree of woe, twisting him into it. That looked cool.
Bowens dodged the dropkick from Okada and they went into a few near falls before Okada hit a neckbreaker across his knee, and locked on the Money Clip. Bowens shoved Okada back into the corner and hit a chop, but Okada only got angry and hit a series of strikes into the ropes. Bowens hit a pump kick and elbows to the back of Okada’s head. Bowens hit a superkick and called for the Mollywhop, but Okada hit a dropkick and a Rainmaker for the pin. This was a good match.
–Lexy Nair was with Daniel Garcia was backstage, and they talked about the difficult loss he faced at Double or Nothing. Don Callis walked up as Matt Menard was trying to encourage him, and Callis offered Garcia a spot in the Don Callis family, saying that Garcia has not been mentored well by Menard. Garcia said he was tired of old men trying to tell him how to handle his career. Callis said that he was an old man, but he was a rich old man, and that he wanted Garcia to do something he hadn’t done for a long time – think.
–Tony Schiavone was in the ring and invited FTR out with Stokely Hathaway. Nigel McGuinness put the Shatter Machine over, saying that he had difficulty breathing for 4 days after the match at AEW Double or Nothing. McGuinness hoped they would honour their agreement that their grudge was over, and they wouldn’t touch Tony Schiavone or McGuinness again. Hathaway buried McGuinness saying that he belonged behind the announcer’s desk before challenging any team from Mexico to a match on Dynamite since they were in El Paso.
Atlantis Jr. and Templario answered the challenge, coming down to the ring. FTR said they respected the luchadors, but they were lucha libre legends themselves, having won titles in Mexico before. They then said that maybe they needed to go down to CMLL and win some gold. FTR said they had no issue with Altantis Jr. & Templario, but had a question for them. Harwood said that no one recognized them, saying the lucha masks were “Stupid Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers masks,” which was a good line for heat. Harwood didn’t give Atlantis Jr. a chance to respond, which got more and more heat the more he did it.
Harwood said that he liked Atlantis Sr., but that the old man should keep himself at home and stay away from FTR. Atlantis Jr. did not take to that kindly, saying that his dad was not there to defend himself, but that he would fight them. Harwood and Wheeler attacked Atlantis Jr. & Templario, but the luchadors fought back, and drove FTR from the ring. Atlantis Jr. made the challenge official for the joint CMLL/AEW show at Arena Mexico in June. This was a great segment.
–A hype video aired for Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné. This was excellent.
Mina Shirakawa defeated Skye Blue
Blue mocked Shirakawa early on, and it broke down into a striking battle that saw forearms exchanged. Shirakawa ducked under a clothesline and posed, but Blue kicked her in the back and continued her attack. Shirakawa hit a sole butt and then ran up the ropes before hitting a knee to the arm of Blue for a 2-count. Shirakawa hit a tornado DDT out of the corner as they came back from an ad break and a then a rolling elbow.
Shirakawa hit a dragon screw on the right leg of Blue, but Blue blocked a kick and hit a forearm in the corner before hitting a cheeky Nando’s kick and a powerbomb out of the corner for a 2-count. Blue hit a superkick on Shirakawa and hit the ropes to go for Code Blue, but Shirakawa responded with a spinning backfist and went to the top rope to hit a flying neckbreaker off the ropes for a 2-count. Blue countered out of the Mina Driver, but Shirakawa hit another rolling elbow before hitting the Mina Driver for the win.
–As Shirakawa was celebrating, Julia Hart attacked ran in and attacked her from behind, locking in Heartless. Toni Storm ran down to make the save and drove Hart from the ring, while Hart then pulled Blue from the ring to save her from further assault.
–A Gates of Agony hype video aired, building them up like they are unstoppable monsters. I really liked this. I think it’s time to do something with these guys. They are good workers, and it is always fun seeing two big wrestlers destroy people.
The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated Aerospace (GMO Kaminari & Cosmo Orion)
These poor young wrestlers were utterly crushed by the Gates of Agony, and I loved every second of it. Poor Kaminari got killed by Liona, while Kaun killed Orion, and they stacked them up and pinned them after a double team crucifix bomb. It was great.
–Max Caster was in a room with a bunch of fans, trying to get them to chant for him. A few did. He offered to take pictures with everyone once they signed his petition saying he was the best wrestler alive. As fans lined up for the pictures after signing, he ran out of the room and down the hall. Okay.
La Facción Ingobernable (Rush, Dralistico, & The Beast Mortos) defeated Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) & AR Fox (w/ Leyla Grey)
Rush immediately ripped of the turnbuckle pad on his side of the ring and tried to send AR Fox into it. This did not go well for Rush, as Top Flight and AR Fox were soon hitting dives on everyone after Fox blocked the turnbuckle smash. Poor Paul Turner, the referee, could only stand there as bodies were flying all over the ring, hitting kicks, dives, and suplexes back and forth with no sense of proper tag team wrestling, so I’m just calling this a lucha libre rules six man at this point based on that.
Rush did a tranquilo pose after kicking Fox in the face, which got a huge pop from this lucha libre knowledgeable audience. Mortos hit some hard kicks and strikes in the corner before hitting a powerslam on Fox. Rush threw Dante Martin into the guardrail viciously, with Martin bouncing off it like he was a rubber ball. When they came back from the ad break, Top Flight hit a shotgun dropkick into a German suplex on Mortos, before sending Dralistico flying across the ring into a cutter from AR Fox. That was awesome.
Dralistico hit a springboard into a Canadian Destroyer on Darius Martin for a 2-count. Mortos and Rush double teamed Fox, allowing Dralistico to hit a springboard into a code breaker on Dante Martin and a tope con giro on Fox. Mortos hit a through the middle ropes torneo to the floor on Dante Martin, before Rush finally hit The Horns on Darius Martin in the corner for the win. This was a great party match.
–La Facción Ingobernable attacked Top Flight and Fox after the bell, but Mike Bailey and Komander ran down to make the save, driving LFI from the ring.
–Mark Briscoe was cutting a promo back in his home with his ring, saying that his son thought he quit on Dynamite when he passed out in the bulldog choke. Briscoe said that he couldn’t take that, saying that he would never quit, and that he wanted Moxley in a one-on-one match, not for the title, but for pride, and proving to his kids that he not a quitter. He told Moxley to man up. This was reminiscent of those great Briscoe promos in ROH, and I loved this.
Mascara Dorada defeated Hechicero
Before the match began, a short highlight video of Herchicero aired as he made his way down to the ring, showing him holding his own against MJF and Orange Cassidy as the announcers put over hoe dangerous he is. A video also aired for Mascara Dorada, doing the same. This is great. I have greatly enjoyed when AEW does this, even when I am familiar with the talent because it often reminds me of things I forget.
A lot of mat work was done in the early parts of this match, with Dorada trying to fight out of a surfboard stretch and then trying one of his own, getting it to applause from the crowd. However, Dorada, may have paid for that attempt, as Hechicero kept baiting him into doing what he wanted, dodging to the floor, and frustrating Dorada. Dorada ran at the ring post while on the apron, grabbing it, swinging around it, and hit a hurricanrana on Hechicero. Fantastic spot.
Hechicero hit the ropes and hit a spiking headscissors take over that planted Dorada on his head. That was got a lot of reaction from the audience. Hechicero attempted to remove the mask of Dorada, which the fans gave him a lot of boos for. Hechicero hit a pumphandle throw, sending Dorada flying across the ring and a hard chop in the corner. Dorada popped out of the corner with a hurricanrana, but Hechicero hit a lariat to go back to slowing it down and working over Dorada.
Dorada hit an enziguri from the apron and sent Hechicero to the floor, hitting a torneo over the top ropes to the floor, getting a great reaction from the crowd as they chanted “Mascara!” Dorada hit a crossbody, but Hechicero launched Dorada into the air and back into a sleeper in a way that I can’t possible explain unless you see it. Both wrestlers exchanged pinfall attempts. Dorada hit a Code Red for a nearfall. Hechicero wrapped Dorada’s knee in the ropes and stomped on them before hitting a flying elbow off the ropes for a 2-count.
Both men exchanged chops, hitting each other hard, before Dorada did a tilt-a-whirl back stabber on Hechicero. Dorada went for a dive off the top ropes, but he slipped after the knee work from Hechicero. Hechicero placed Dorada on the ropes, but Dorada slipped out and hit a super poisonrana from the ropes and a shooting star press to follow it for the pinfall. That was an awesome match.
Final Thoughts
This was a tremendous episode of Collision. While definitely not an A-show in the way Dynamite is, the wrestling on this show was so good. I am all for more lucha libre being on Collision to make it stand out as different from Dynamite. The major angle that went down was Swerve and Ospreay, and I hope they replay that extensively on Dynamite as well, especially as the show is four hours next week.
AEW Fyter Fest Card
Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe
La Facción Ingobernable vs. Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, & Komander
Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue
FTR vs. Atlantis Jr. & Templario
Thekla’s in ring debut
AEW International Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King vs. Mascara Dorada
