Tonight’s Maximum Carnage edition of AEW Collision from Cleveland, Ohio, will feature two ends of the wrestling spectrum: a violent Texas Death Match and a Continental title defense.
Former AEW World Champion Hangman Page will square off with Christopher Daniels in a Texas Death Match. The two have an extensive history outside AEW and Daniels, who hasn’t wrestled since last September, will have contend with Page in his speciality match.
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will defend against old NJPW rival Tomohiro Ishii in their first singles bout since 2020’s G1 tournament.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith will take on Cope, FTR, Powerhouse Hobbs & The Outrunners.
Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly go heads-up against The Infantry & Lee Moriarty.
The card is rounded out by Julia Hart vs. Harley Cameron, Dustin Rhodes vs. Adam Priest, and Lance Archer & Brian Cage vs. Top Flight.
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Collision started with words from Rated FTR, The Outrunners, Powerhouse Hobbs, Kazuchika Okada, & Hangman Page. Collision was live (to tape) from Cincinnati, Ohio, and our announce team was Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, & Matt Menard.
Texas Death Match – Hangman Page defeated Christopher Daniels by knockout
An ugly, vicious beating from the Hangman here as he dominated Daniels here. Daniels had some slight hope spots, but Page was unrelenting in his beating here and left him down for the count. A great match, and a great way for Daniels to go if the rumors of his retirement are true.
A vice principal no longer, Daniels came out as the Fallen Angel. Page slapped Daniels in the face and took him to the floor before drilling him with a chair to the head. Daniels was lacerated as Page pulled barbed wire out from under the ring and whipped Daniels with it as we went to the first commercial.
We came back to both men on the apron, stood over Chekov’s Table. Daniels backdropped Page into the ring, but Page threw Daniels into a chair wedged into the corner. We got a replay of Hangman dropping Daniels with a pop-up powerbomb through chairs during the commercial, and after we got back to full screen action, Page double-stomped Daniels through a table.
Daniels got up at the count of seven, with Page responding by pulling out another table with barbed wire taped all over it. Hangman set it up in the ring and looked to go for a Deadeye off the ropes, but Daniels countered with a uranage off the ropes into the barbed wire table. Daniels fired up, but Page quickly shut him down with a clothesline to the ramp. Daniels dodged a Buckshot but had an Angel’s Wings attempt countered with a backdrop into the ring.
Page went for a barbed wire assisted Buckshot, but Daniels countered with a facebuster and a Muta Lock. Page raked at Daniels’ eyes with the barbed wire to escape, but Daniels countered the Deadeye again with the Angel’s Wings. Daniels hit the Best Moonsault Ever, then sat part of the broken barbed wire table over Page and hit another one.
Page popped up at a count of nine with a bloody mouth, dropped Daniels with a lariat, and hit a Tombstone on a chair. Daniels’ arm was limp, and Page followed up with a Deadeye on a chair. Daniels got up, but Hangman dropped him with a Buckshot Lariat to the back of the head. Daniels was unmoving as the referee counted him out, giving Page the win by knockout. Page went to leave but came back to lay Daniels out with the Angel’s Wings. The referee and the ringside doctor checked on an unmoving Daniels as the announcers sold the beating he had taken.
Toni Storm Town Hall
Tony Schiavone welcomed Technicolor Toni Storm to the ring for an interview. Storm said that her dreams were coming true, as she would wrestle in the building where she saw her first wrestling match. Schiavone asked Storm about Mariah May, and Storm called her the best in the business. She said that she had yet to introduce herself to May and wanted to introduce herself to her next week on the Homecoming episode of Collision. Schiavone tried to get through to Storm that they had been in a feud, but Storm cut him off and said that since they were both Toni/Tony, then it was Toni Time.
We got a recap of Wednesday’s trios match before we cut to words from the Hurt Syndicate from after the match. MVP believed that their win made them the #1 contenders to the tag team titles and challenged Private Party to a title match on Dynamite, which was confirmed by an on-screen graphic.
The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty, Carlie Bravo, & Shawn Dean) (w/Shane Taylor)
Solid trios match here as the Kingdom finally pivots away from MJF. This had a good energy to it, and both teams would be good additions to the Trios division.
We got quick tags to start, with the Kingdom getting the first nearfall with a double suplex on Dean. Dean cut off O’Reilly from the floor, allowing STP to get heat as we went to a commercial.
O’Reilly got the tag out to Cole, who ran wild. Cole got a nearfall with a brainbuster over the knee. Strong tagged in and had a flurry of offense on Dean before getting saved by his partners on a nearfall. The Kingdom hit all of their finishers before finishing Dean off with a Total Elimination.
After the match, Shane Taylor laid out all three of the Kingdom and talked trash to Matt Menard. TNT Champion Daniel Garcia came out to take the fight to Taylor, and all the babyfaces worked together to take Taylor down and out. After the match, the Kingdom stared down Garcia before thanking him for the help.
We got a recap of the issues between the Don Callis Family, Kenny Omega, & Will Ospreay. We cut to an interview Alicia Atout held with Will Ospreay after Dynamite. Ospreay said that his battles with Omega were legendary, and they were linked through Don Callis. Ospreay said that it was time to have a chat with Omega and wanted to do it on Dynamite.
Murder Machines (Brian Cage & Lance Archer) defeated Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) (w/ Leila Grey)
A bad night at the office for Top Flight.
The Machines jumped Top Flight to start the match and pinballed them around until Darius dodged a corner charge from Archer. Cage tagged in and kept control until Darius landed an enzuigiri. Dante got a tag in and laid in some strikes before dropping Archer with a springboard cannonball. Cage and Archer quickly cut them off and hit a Chokebomb for the dominant win.
After the match, Action Andretti and his poofy coat came out to talk trash to Top Flight. Lio Rush attacked Top Flight from behind, and they laid out Top Flight.
The Learning Tree was backstage with Lexy Nair. They had none of Lexy’s muckraking and stirring the pot between the Learning Tree and the Death Riders. Jericho went over his history with Jon Moxley before saying they would prove why the Death Riders should trust them tonight.
TNT Champion Daniel Garcia & Matt Menard were backstage with Lexy Nair, but the Undisputed Kingdom interrupted them. Cole thanked Garcia again for their help before lamenting that Menard and Garcia didn’t have a third man to challenge for a trios match. Garcia said that he walked into Daily’s Place three years ago with two men he didn’t even know and left with a contract. Menard said that they would call their friend Angelo Parker to accept their challenge for next Saturday.
Max Caster Town Hall
(The end of the Acclaimed, and not a moment too soon. I was in the building at All Out 2022 for the Acclaimed’s breakout match with Swerve In Our Glory – remember them? – and they were a naturally over team of AEW originals. But they were about a year passed their sell-by date, and their Trios Title reign heavily impacted those titles in a negative manner. With that said, I have enjoyed how they’ve gone about breaking the team up, with Bowens getting fed up with Caster’s arrogance and ego. Caster in particular has done a good job of being an annoying weasel heel, and he’s gotten some good heat. I’m interested in seeing how these two do on their own.)
Max Caster was in the ring with a Louis Vuitton bag, getting booed by the crowd. He said that there had been a lot of rumors about the Acclaimed but wanted to clear the air with his partner Anthony Bowens. Bowens came to the ring, and Caster said that there was a misunderstanding between the two. Caster was upset that Bowens wouldn’t call him the Best Wrestler Alive, and Bowens immediately cut him off.
Bowens said that he had protected Caster for five years because he was his partner and he became Bowens’ best friend. Caster made him a liar, because he was an arrogant edgelord piece of s**t. The people thought he sucked, leading to Caster pulling out a framed trademark calling himself the Best Wrestler Alive. Bowens said that he was more than Caster’s partner, and that he had every tool he needed to be a World Champion. He was an ambassador for AEW, the pride of AEW, and wrestling’s five-tool player, and he didn’t need a piece of paper to prove it.
Billy Gunn came out to try and calm things down. Caster said that Gunn didn’t care about them and only attached himself to The Acclaimed to get attention for himself. (The man makes a point.) He said that Gunn made the team about himself when it should be about him, the best wrestler alive…oh, and Bowens too. Caster said that Bowens was his best friend, while Gunn’s own sons didn’t want anything to do with him. Gunn got in Caster’s face, and Caster told Bowens that if he wanted to keep the team together, he would pick him over Gunn.
Bowens threw up the scissors, but when Caster went to scissor him, Bowens gave him the middle finger. Caster threw a tantrum, telling Bowens that The Acclaimed was done because he said they were done. Caster said that he would prove that he was the Best Wrestler Alive, and that Bowens and Gunn would suck without him. Bowens and Gunn scissored one last time to end the segment.
We got footage of Swerve Strickland at a pro-am golf event, rubbing elbows with various celebrities, including recent Monday Night Raw guest Travis Scott. Does that count as a jump? Anyway, Strickland was backstage with Lexy Nair, who asked about his match with Ricochet on the February 5th Dynamite. Strickland said that this wasn’t cat-and-mouse, this was lion-and-rodent. Strickland planned on getting his hands on Ricochet far before February 5th.
AEW Continental Title Match – Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii
(The word from the tapings is that Ishii hurt his ankle or his leg during this match, which would explain why this was far from what you would expect when you see these two paired up against each other. They basically cut to the closing stretch of a good match before actually having the good match, which is unfortunate as I was looking forward to this.)
Okada was cautious to lock up with Ishii to start before Ishii laid into him with a chop. Okada raked Ishii’s eyes before Ishii dropped him with a shoulder block. Okada bailed out of the ring, but Ishii dropped Okada with another shoulder block on the floor as we went to a commercial.
After the break, the announcers noted that the doctors had to check on Ishii’s ankle during the break. Ishii hit a superplex out of the corner, but Okada caught him with a neckbreaker as he tried to follow up. Okada hit the big elbow drop and did the middle finger pose, but Ishii popped up and grabbed the finger to give Okada one of his own. Okada raked the eyes and hit a landslide, but Ishii countered a Rainmaker with a lariat of his own.
Ishii went for another lariat, but he got cut off with a dropkick. Okada went for another Rainmaker, but Ishii cut him off with a pair of headbutts. Okada caught Ishii with a short-arm lariat, but Ishii powered through and hit another headbutt. Ishii hit a sliding lariat for a nearfall. Ishii went for a brainbuster, but Okada cut him off with a dropkick to the back. Okada grabbed the ring bell from ringside but only used it as a distraction. Okada hit a ripcord low blow, then hit the Rainmaker to win and retain the title.
The Gates of Agony were backstage, putting themselves over and telling AEW to send the best they had to Daily’s Place next week. During the next match, it was made official that the Gates of Agony would take on Brody King & Buddy Matthews.
Dustin Rhodes defeated Adam Priest
Rhodes dumped Priest high on a scoop slam, then went for the Shattered Dreams before the referee cut him off because, y’know, it’s a kick to the nuts. Rhodes was undeterred, hitting the Cross Rhodes and the Final Cut for the win.
We got a highlight video for Brody King & Buddy Matthews, with the encouraging words from Will Ospreay & Adam Copeland played over their highlight reel.
Julia Hart defeated Harley Cameron
As the match began, it was announced that Julia Hart would be taking on Jamie Hayter in a rematch on next week’s Dynamite.
Cameron came out with sunglasses on, or as her people would call them, sunnies. She sold her eyes being damaged after taking the glasses off, but she brought the fight to Hart. Hart clawed at Cameron’s eyes to get control, then dug her fingers into Cameron’s eyes while having her tied up in the ropes.
After a commercial break, Hart countered a fireman’s carry into an Octopus Hold. Cameron fought out of the hold, but Hart peppered Cameron with strikes in the corner before hitting a DDT for a nearfall. Cameron fought to the ropes as Hart tried to lock on Hartless, but Hart dropped her onto the turnbuckle and hit a rabbit lariat before locking on Hartless for the quick submission win.
We got a recap of Samoa Joe’s return to AEW on last week’s Dynamite, followed by the announcement that he would take on Nick Wayne on Dynamite this coming week.
That announcement was cut short, as we cut to the back where The Learning Tree was standing over Powerhouse Hobbs. Jericho had his bat, and Big Bill walked off with Hobbs’ knee brace.
Powerhouse Hobbs, Rated FTR (Cope, Cash Wheeler, & Dax Harwood) & The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta) & The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill, & Bryan Keith)
(This main event caused a bit of a furor on social media, but it ended up being a fun fireworks match. The showcase at the end of the day was on Hobbs, who comes out of this important week looking pretty good. If he’s getting programmed with the Learning Tree moving forward, I would have him quickly put them away. The fact that I can’t definitively say whether putting the Ring of Honor World Title on him would be a positive move says everything about the state of ROH these days, but it would be a nice statement of intent to put a World Title on him.)
Hobbs was not out with his team as the match started, with Jericho and Harwood starting off with slaps and chops. Keith tagged in, but Harwood got the better of him and took him to the tecnico corner. Keith escaped to his corner and went to tag Big Bill, but Yuta tagged himself in to get pinballed by FTR. Some back and forth with Yuta and the Outrunners led to a Pier Six brawl breaking out as we went to a commercial.
After the break, Harwood was your mustache-in-peril as the Learning Tree worked him over. Jericho offered Moxley a tag, and Moxley accepted it as the two of them stared each other down. Mox hit Harwood with a piledriver before Yuta tagged in to put more work in on Harwood. Harwood ducked a Busaiku Knee and hit a German suplex, then dodged a Big Bill corner charge to tag in Cope.
Cope ran wild and went for a spear on Jericho, but Cope cut him off with a Codebreaker. Turbo Floyd tagged in and ran wild with bodyslams, eventually hitting the Predator elbow on Jericho and Keith. Another Pier Six brawl broke out, with Cope hitting Moxley with an Impaler DDT on the ramp. Cope went for a spear, but PAC cut him off as the referee was distracted. The Death Riders went to take out Cope’s leg, but Wheeler hit a dive off of the stage.
The Death Riders and Rated FTR brawled through the crowd, but Powerhouse Hobbs hobbled to ringside to tag in and fight off The Learning Tree on one leg. Hobbs and Big Bill faced off, with Hobbs winning the exchange. Jericho got hit with Total Recall, and Hobbs caught Keith trying to hit him with the ROH World Title. Hobbs hit Keith with the spinebuster to get the win.
