Following his actions on AEW Dynamite, MJF opens this week’s AEW Collision from Southaven, MS.
The former AEW World Champion savagely attacked Daniel Garcia on Wednesday following his loss to Will Ospreay, bloodying him up with his Dynamite Diamond Ring and delivering a second rope tombstone piledriver, scurrying away when Ospreay made his way back to the ring.
The second men’s Owen Hart Foundation semifinal will take place as Hangman Page takes on Jay White. The winner faces Bryan Danielson this Wednesday to determine AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland’s challenger for August’s All In.
After being out since March, Riho will make her in-ring AEW return against Lady Frost. AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm will be in non-title action, taking on Trish Adora.
The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy) will take on the Iron Savages (Jacked Jameson, Bulk & Bear).
We’ll also hear from new TNT Champion Jack Perry and from the Patriarchy (Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne).
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It’s Saturday night, you know what that means. Collision starts with a recap of MJF’s attack on Daniel Garcia from this past Wednesday’s Dynamite, with words from Matt Menard telling MJF that he had better be sure that he finished the job. MJF made his way to the ring as Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
MJF Town Hall
A good reset for MJF, as his reasons for turning on the fans were strong and logical. His vendetta against the fans allows him to go after any babyface he wants, with his focus seeming to be on Will Ospreay in particular.
MJF immediately dumps on the locals, calling them inbred. MJF said that Daniel Garcia was nothing but a pawn. He was never going to give Garcia a match at All In: Wembley and was always going to stab him in the back. MJF called Garcia a Make-A-Wish kid, having offered him the biggest match of his life only for Garcia to not answer him. After what he did to Garcia, MJF said that he would never wrestle again.
MJF then threw to footage from the August 2nd, 2023, episode of Dynamite where he opened up to the fans about his mental issues and the childhood bullying he endured. Back in the ring, MJF was furious at the fans for turning on him despite him opening up about those issues. He watched from home as people chanted Thank You Joe for taking the World Title from him. The fans turned on him in favor of people like Swerve Strickland, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay.
MJF said what he did wasn’t personal to Garcia, it was personal to the fans. He was going to take everything from the fans because what they like sucks. MJF said that the fans have ruined the promotion that he built, and the only way to fix it will be with him on top. MJF said that Will Ospreay was a child, who only cared about star ratings instead of Nielson ratings. MJF challenged Ospreay to a fight right now.
Ospreay’s music hit, but Schiavone noted that Ospreay wasn’t here. MJF said that Ospreay wasn’t here because he was a two-faced coward before telling the fans that they could thank him later.
The Conglomeration were backstage with Lexy Nair. Kyle O’Reilly was bummed out after Forbidden Door, but Mark Briscoe fired them up with the word of the day: epiphany. Failure was only in the mind, and they were going to get a piece of the Iron Savages tonight. As usual, Orange Cassidy didn’t care.
The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Orange Cassidy) defeated Iron Savages (Boulder, Bronson & Jacked Jameson)
I wondered what the point of putting O’Reilly against the Undisputed Kingdom was since they feuded very recently. But if the Conglomeration is going to be a regular unit, then making this a trios feud will be fun.
The Undisputed Kingdom made their way to the commentary table. After some shenanigans with the Savage Sauce, the Savages isolated O’Reilly as we went to a commercial. After the break, Briscoe got a hot tag in and ran wild. After some cajoling from Briscoe, Cassidy tagged in and ran wild on all three Savages. Cassidy and O’Reilly hit a high knee/chop block combination, leading to Cassidy scoring the win with an Orange Punch on Bronson.
TNT Champion Jack Perry spoke backstage in the reflection of his newly won championship. He challenged the first TNT Champion for the title, but he wasn’t ready then. Perry said that he was now ready to make the sacrifices needed to be champion and spoke as if he was issuing an open challenge for the title tonight.
We got a video package highlighting Swerve Strickland’s successful AEW World Championship defense at Forbidden Door.
Hangman Adam Page was backstage with Lexy Nair. When asked why he returned now, Page said it was because of convenience. Not for him, but for them, referring to the Young Bucks. They didn’t care about what he and his family were going through, it only mattered when they found an opportunity to use him. He knew why Hangman was back, this time referring to Swerve Strickland. Pronouns, pal. Hangman promised to his dying breath to go to Wembley Stadium and right the wrongs done to him in the past. When asked about wrestling a man he’s never beaten in Jay White in tonight’s tournament match, Page walked off.
Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) defeated Trish Adora (w/ The Infantry)
Adora took an early advantage, tying Storm up in several submissions. Storm came back with a hip attack that sent Adora off the apron. Storm then took the mic and threw it to commercial after requesting a standing ovation.
After the break, Adora caught Storm with a Bossman Slam backbreaker. Adora caught Storm with a kneeling German suplex but got tripped up on a corner charge. That allowed Storm to hit a hip attack and a DDT for a nearfall. A strike exchange ended with Storm catching a lariat and hitting the Storm Zero for the win.
We got a video package previewing Willow Nightingale vs. Mariah May in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals.
After a promo for the new Brodie Lee memorial Reeboks, Christian Cage & The Patriarchy were backstage. He said that people were shocked that he allowed Bullet Club Gold to speak to him that way last week. They had to google who the champions were because of how lackluster the champions were before running them all down one-by-one. Cage planned on bringing the Trios Championships to new heights, and hoped to bring out the Jay White that everyone thought they were getting when he signed to AEW.
Cage called in Kip Sabian, who was standing near their camera shot. Sabian said that he just lost his father. Cage said that Sabian should be happy that his father wasn’t around to see what a disappointment Sabian turned out to be. Cage then had Killswitch beat up Sabian off-screen.
TNT Championship Open Challenge – Jack Perry defeated Marko Stunt to retain
What a pull, getting Perry’s old partner Stunt for his first title defense. Stunt was fantastic here, bumping like a madman for Perry as the hometown crowd went wild for him. I wouldn’t be opposed to Stunt being a regular again if he can make everyone look as good as he helped Perry look. This was perfect for what they went out there to do.
Perry looked like he saw a ghost, seeing his former Jurassic Express partner and local hero Marko Stunt accept his challenge. Perry offered Stunt the chance to leave, but Stunt instead headbutted him and laid in the shots. Perry laid him out with a clothesline and laid in shots. Stunt went for a tornado DDT, but Perry lawn darted him into the turnbuckle for a sick nearfall.
The crowd chanted for Stunt as Perry laid the boots to him. Stunt fired up, catching Perry with a hurricanrana off of a suplex attempt. Stunt hit a tornado codebreaker before going to the top rope. Perry caught Stunt off the top rope and powerbombed him into the turnbuckle. Perry then hit the Glass Jaw knee for the win.
We got a video package on Bryan Danielson’s win on Dynamite, which advanced him to the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals.
Claudio Castagnoli defeated The Beast Mortos
This was a fun first-time encounter between these two international powerhouses. Powerhomes? They’re keeping Castagnoli warm for something, possibly a title challenge.
Mortos caught Castagnoli with a chop block, but Castagnoli came back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a stomp. Mortos came back with a gamengiri and a powerslam for a nearfall. Mortos went for a rising knee in the corner but Castagnoli moved, sending Mortos over the top rope into a cameraman. Mortos avoided a baseball slide before hitting a tornillo to the floor. Castagnoli sent Mortos into the post before hitting a back suplex as we went to the commercial.
They traded strikes as we came back from the break, with Mortos scoring a nearfall with a pop-up Samoan drop. Mortos hit a step-up headbutt but ran into an uppercut. Mortos popped out of a Ricola Bomb and hit a spear for a nearfall. Castagnoli vaulted Mortos to the floor on a monkey flip attempt, then high-fived the cameraman Mortos ran into before hitting a running uppercut on the barricade.
Mortos came back, picking Castagnoli up and dropping him with a Bane-esque backbreaker for a nearfall. Castagnoli caught Mortos off the second rope with an uppercut, then hit the Giant Swing. Castagnoli hit a running lariat for the win.
Claudio Castagnoli defeated The Beast Mortos
This was a fun first-time encounter between these two international powerhouses. Powerhomes? They’re keeping Castagnoli warm for something, possibly a title challenge.
Mortos caught Castagnoli with a chop block, but Castagnoli came back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a stomp. Mortos came back with a gamengiri and a powerslam for a nearfall. Mortos went for a rising knee in the corner but Castagnoli moved, sending Mortos over the top rope into a cameraman. Mortos avoided a baseball slide before hitting a tornillo to the floor. Castagnoli sent Mortos into the post before hitting a back suplex as we went to commercial.
They traded strikes as we came back from the break, with Mortos scoring a nearfall with a pop-up Samoan drop. Mortos hit a step-up headbutt but ran into an uppercut. Mortos popped out of a Ricola Bomb and hit a spear for a nearfall. Castagnoli vaulted Mortos to the floor on a monkey flip attempt, then high-fived the cameraman Mortos ran into before hitting a running uppercut on the barricade.
Mortos came back, picking Castagnoli up and dropping him with a Bane-esque backbreaker for a nearfall. Castagnoli caught Mortos off the second rope with an uppercut, then hit the Giant Swing. Castagnoli hit a running lariat for the win.
Matt Menard was backstage with Lexy Nair. He suffered a concussion in the attack by MJF on Wednesday. Daniel Garcia is back at home in Buffalo, having lost all strength in the left side of his body. He will be making a full recovery, and Menard promised him that he’d let Garcia get his hands on him first. MJF didn’t know when that would be, but when it came, he wouldn’t get dancing Daniel Garcia. MJF would get Red Death.
Serena Deeb spoke on Riho’s return backstage. She spoke on their highly acclaimed match from Double or Nothing 2021, but warned Riho that she was stronger than she was back then.
Riho defeated Lady Frost
Always good to see Riho back in action. I was live for the Deeb/Riho match from Double or Nothing 2021, and it was a standout match. It’s interesting to see a downcard feud in the women’s division. No titles or massive grudge, just two talents looking to find out who is the better woman. I like it.
Frost started with the advantage, hitting a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Riho sidestepped a Frost corner charge, getting her in position for a 619 – or an 03 if you want the area code for Shinagawa, Japan. Riho hit a high cross for a nearfall as we went to commercial.
After the break, Riho sent Frost to the floor and hit a high cross to the floor. Frost avoided a double stomp and hit the Chilla Drilla for a nearfall. They traded strikes before Frost hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Frost hit a high-arcing moonsault for a nearfall. Riho came back with a dragon suplex before hitting a leg-trap Code Red called Runhei – for reference, Kofi Kingston does a similar move called the SOS – for the win.
Shane Taylor Promotions & Top Flight were backstage with Lexy Nair, with a match set up between them for next week’s Rampage. They got in each other’s faces before leaving with no physicality.
We got a video package hyping the Samoa Joe vs. Chris Jericho Stampede Street Fight on next week’s Dynamite.
Owen Hart Foundation 2024 Men’s Tournament Semifinal Match – Hangman Page defeated Jay White
This was an awesome main event. These two had great chemistry, with White picking his spots against Page like a bullfighter sidestepping a raging bull. Several threads came together with the finish, with Jeff Jarrett and Christian Cage getting involved to set up future bouts. This was an odd match on paper, but it came together beautifully.
Ring announcer Bobby Cruise informed the crowd before the bell that the Bang Bang Gang were to be ejected from the building by order of The Young Bucks, as the Bucks continue to try and curry favor with Page. Page took the fight to White, laying in heavy strikes to White in and out of the ring. Page sent White flying with a fallaway slam, but White caught Page with a neck wringer across the ropes.
Page came back quickly, sending White to the floor with a triangle clothesline and a hard whip into the barricade. Back in the ring, White almost caught Page with a Blade Runner, but Page clawed at White’s face to escape before spinning him around in a sleeper hold.
After a commercial, Page was heavily lacerated as White caught Page’s leg with a Dragon Screw leg whip. White hammered Page with chops before clawing his eyes. White dropped Page with a DDT for a nearfall. Page hit a rolling elbow, but White caught him with a swift flatliner before hitting a deadlift German suplex.
The two fought to the apron as the announcers ran down the Dynamite card, with the addition of a Global Glory Four-Way Match between Claudio Castagnoli, Kyle Fletcher, PAC, & Tomohiro Ishii. Also announced was a match for Collision next week as Konosuke Takeshita would take on Tommy Billington in Calgary. Page sent White into the ring post before powerbombing him into the apron.
Page went for the Buckshot Lariat, but White slumped to the mat, baiting White into a small package for a nearfall. White caught Page with another Dragon Screw through the ropes, but Page came back with a pop-up powerbomb for a nearfall. Page went for another Buckshot, but White caught him with a uranage for a nearfall. White hit a sleeper suplex, but Page fought out of the Blade Runner. The two countered each other’s finishers before Page sent White into the referee.
Page got a visual cover with a Deadeye before whipping White with his belt. Jeff Jarrett came down to take the belt away from Page before getting escorted away by another referee. Christian Cage snuck into the ring to spear White, allowing Page to hit the Buckshot Lariat to clinch his spot in the tournament final. A bloody Page eyed up the Owen Trophy as the show ended.
