Winter is Coming for AEW Collision.
This year’s edition will see the continuation of the Continental Classic. In Blue league matches, Kyle Fletcher will take on Mark Briscoe, and Kazuchika Okada will meet The Beast Mortos. They will look to change the trajectory of the league as Fletcher currently is far ahead with 9 points.
A Tag Team title eliminator is also set as Top Flight will face Action Andretti & Lio Rush with the winners earning a future shot against titleholders Private Party.
Willow Nightingale will take on Jamie Hayter to finalize the AEW representative in the Wrestle Dynasty International Women’s Cup.
A ten-man tag team match will see Orange Cassidy, The Outrunners, Komander and Daniel Garcia take on MxM Collection and Premier Athletes.
Other action includes Kris Statlander vs. Tootie Lynn, and Toni Storm vs. Shazza McKenzie. Storm made her return on Dynamite and wrestled on Friday’s Rampage where she defeated Harley Cameron in her first AEW match since August’s All In.
The show will begin after NBA coverage on TNT.
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This week’s Collision comes to us live (to tape) from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. I was in this building for the Dynasty PPV back in April. I was not in the building for this show. Anyway, Tony Schiovane & Nigel McGuinness are on the call as always.
Collision began with a recap of Will Ospreay’s defeat of Claudio Castagnoli, and Darby Allin making sure Castagnoli couldn’t continue his post-match attack. Backstage at Dynamite, Ospreay thanked Allin for his help. Allin had a bad feeling that the Death Riders were going to hurt someone else the same way they hurt Bryan Danielson and Chuck Taylor, and asked for Ospreay’s help. Ospreay said that he had to get his momentum back after losing at two straignt PPVs and was too busy to help. Allin warned that there may not be a Continental Classic when the Death Riders were done with AEW, so Ospreay promised to help Allin after the tournament if he needed someone in the foxhole with him.
We got promos from all four men in Continental Classic action tonight before the announcers ran down the card for tonight. Well, we got grunts from Mortos.
International Women’s Cup Qualifier Tournament Final Match – Willow Nightingale defeated Jamie Hayter
This was a very good match with two of AEW’s most popular women. Nightingale is a great representative for AEW at the Tokyo Dome, and her winning a big International tournament could get her back into the orbit of Mercedes Mone in the new year. Meanwhile, Hayter has a chance to bounce back quickly with Julia Hart returning. I enjoy Hayter attracting all of the long injured women on the AEW roster who seem to be upset that she got back before them.
The winner of this match will join ROH’s Athena, CMLL’s Persephone, and the yet-to-be-determined Stardom participant in the four-way International Women’s Cup final at New Japan’s Wrestle Dynasty event on January 5th.
The two traded shoulder block attempts before Nightingale won the exchange. The two traded flash pins before engaging in a chop battle. Hayter took Nightingale down with a DDT on the apron before the lights flashed off. They came back quickly, allowing Nightingale to come back with a cannonball off the apron.
After the commercial, Hayter came back with a superplex and a running knee for a nearfall. Hayter hit an ushigoroshi and a sliding lariat for a nearfall, channeling the spirit of NEVER Openweight Champions ahead of Wrestle Dynasty. The two hammered each other with lariats before taking each other down with big boots. Nightingale came back with Abyss’s old Shock Treatment move before hitting a Lionsault for a nearfall.
Nightingale went up for a moonsault, but Hayter snatched on a waistlock and hit a German suplex. Nightingale avoided a Hayterade and hit a Pounce, but Hayter slipped out of the Doctor Bomb to hit a big backbreaker. Nightingale ducked another Hayterade and hit the Babe With The Powerbomb to score the win and the Tokyo Dome spot.
The two women shook hands before Nightingale headed off. The lights went out again, and when they came up this time, Julia Hart dropped Hayter with a DDT. Tony Schiavone noted that this was the building where Hart had her last match before going away.
We got words from Brody King & Claudio Castagnoli after their Continental Classic losses on Wednesday’s Dynamite. King called Ricochet a coward for winning with the help of an exposed turnbuckle.
Continental Classic 2024 Blue League Match – Kazuchika Okada [7] defeated The Beast Mortos [0]
A very good match with two guys you wouldn’t have expected to be on the same roster page this time last year. Okada is currently in second place in the block with one match to go, so he’ll need some help to get through. Meanwhile, Beast Mortos is officially eliminated, as he cannot get to 7 points and reach second place.
Okada poked Mortos in the eyes and pulled his hair like a territory heel before Mortos came back with a shoulder block. Mortos went for a monkey flip, but Okada dumped Mortos over the top rope to the floor. Okada dumped Mortos back into the ring, but Mortos charged back with a spinning dive back to the floor. Mortos got greedy and went for a cannonball into the stairs, but Okada moved out of the way. Okada laid out Mortos with a DDT and blew a kiss to his Continental Title before we went to a commercial.
Mortos made his comeback when we came back from the break. Mortos hit a pair of tilt-a-whirl backbreakers before hitting the Bane-style backbreaker for a nearfall. Okada came back with a flapjack before locking on the MONEY CLIP~! It’s the damn Money Clip! Somehow, Mortos escaped the dreaded Money Clip before laying both Okada and himself out with a headbutt.
Okada came back with the big neckbreaker before landing the big elbow drop. After the middle finger pose, Okada and Mortos ducked each other’s lariats before Mortos caught Okada with one. Mortos hit a pop-up Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Okada hit his big dropkick, but Mortos immediately sat up. Okada hit a spinning lariat before landing the Rainmaker for the win and 3 points.
We got a video package highlighting Technicolor Toni Storm’s return to Dynamite before her match tonight.
Toni Storm defeated Shazza McKenzie
My hope was that Timeless Toni was a thing of the past, but Cactus Jack seems to be lost in Cleveland. (Google it, kids.)
Storm hit the hip attack and the Storm Zero for a quick win. After the match, Storm grabbed the mic. She never thought she would see the day, but she is officially All Elite. Alrighty then.
We got a recap of Mariah May beating Mina Shirakawa to retain her Women’s Title on Dynamite. Cameras caught up with May backstage after the match. May didn’t care that Toni Storm was back and promised to bury any woman who came after her title, including telling Thunder Rosa to name a time and place.
Thunder Rosa was backstage with Tony Schiavone. Rosa knew that she was a champion in her heart before Toni Storm entered the frame. She introduced herself to both of them before leaving. Rosa got back to business, naming the time and place to Mariah May. She challenged May to a Tijuana Street Fight for the Women’s Title at Worlds End.
#1 Contender Match for AEW World Tag Team Titles – Action Andretti & Lio Rush defeated Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) (w/Leila Grey)
A good match with four guys I’ve been wanting to see highlighted more in the tag division, and a solid conclusion to this TV angle. Andretti and Rush are a good team of jerks, and I believe Rush has the promo ability to get the team over.
Tag Champs Private Party told these two teams to fight it out, and the winner would get a future title shot.
Dante caught Rush in a pinning predicament to start the match. Darius and Andretti tagged in and fought to a stalemate. All four men ended up in the ring before Andretti and Rush hit dual handsprings to send Top Flight to the floor.
After the break, Dante fought to his corner to make the tag to Darius. Darius ran wild on both men, vaulting his brother over both himself and Rush to hit a tornado DDT off of Dante’s chest. Rush and Andretti came back with a flurry of strikes and a double Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. They played misdirection on Dante to take him down with a lariat.
We got a dive train that ended in Rush diving into Dante and Leila Grey on the floor. Both Martins went to check on Grey, allowing Rush and Andretti to jump them. Rush hit the Final Hour frog splash, and Andretti followed up with the springboard 450 splash to score the win and the future tag team title match.
We got a recap of the promo from last week’s Dynamite between Mercedes Mone & Anna Jay ahead of their TBS Title match on this week’s Dynamite.
Kris Statlander defeated Tootie Lynn
St. Louis chanted for the hometown woman Lynn, but Statlander got the crowd on her side with a loooooong delayed vertical suplex. Statlander hammered Lynn with a lariat and hit the Staturday Night Fever for the win in her return to television.
We got a snippet of a Dustin Rhodes promo hyping the Double Bullrope match at Final Battle, where he and Sammy Guevara will defend the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Righteous. Rhodes warned the Righteous about what would happen for saying his father’s name.
FTR narrated a video package hyping the Fight For The Fallen event on January 1st, with proceeds from the show to be donated to charity efforts in the Carolinas after the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd), Daniel Garcia, Komander & Orange Cassidy (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated The Varsity Athletes (Ari Daivari, Josh Woods & Tony Nese) & MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden) (w/Mark Sterling)
This was a ton of fun. We need more babyface armies running wild in big tag matches like this, as the crowd was red hot for the closing stretch.
Matt Menard joined commentary. Woods and Garcia, two former ROH Pure Champions, started the match. Cassidy hit a Stundog Millionaire on Nese before Komander vaulted off of his back to hit a rana on another Athlete. Madden distracted Komander on the top rope before MxM got the heat on him to take us to the commercial break.
We came back to the Athletes clearing the ring before they got dragged to the floor. Sterling cut off a Komander dive, allowing the rare quintuple-team manuever from the Athletes and MxM for a nearfall. A Pier Six brawl broke out before Cassidy and Garcia ran wild. Komander hit the rope walk dive, tagging in Cassidy on the way across. Cassidy laid out Sterling and Woods with Orange Punches for the win.
Don Callis was backstage, unhappy at the results from Rampage where Powerhouse Hobbs got the win in a tag team match and laid out Konosuke Takeshita after the match. Callis confirmed that Hobbs vs. Takeshita for the International Title was set for Worlds End and promised that Kyle Fletcher would punch his ticket to Worlds End tonight after he beat Mark Briscoe in the main event.
Continental Classic 2024 Blue League Match – Mark Briscoe [6] defeated Kyle Fletcher [9]
An excellent match, as Fletcher has separated himself from the pack as tournament MVP so far. The build to the finish was fantastic, as Briscoe survived all of the tactics Fletcher used to get his points thus far and got the win in the closing seconds of the time limit. My match of the tournament so far, and an excellent example of round-robin tournament wrestling.
This Saturday night’s main event is an important match in the Blue League, as a win here would guarantee Fletcher a spot in the playoffs at Worlds End.
Don Callis joined commentary to praise his charge Fletcher. Fletcher got in the faces of the people in the front row before dropping Briscoe with a shoulder block. Fletcher worked on Briscoe for a while until Briscoe fired up with some strikes. Briscoe pulled Fletcher to the floor before hitting a tumbleweed dive to the floor. Briscoe rolled Fletcher into the ring, where he came back with a leg lariat. They do-si-do’ed on the apron before Briscoe hit a blockbuster and a Cactus Jack elbow off the apron.
Briscoe pinballed Fletcher around ringside before Fletcher backdropped his way free of a Jay Driller attempt. Fletcher dropped Briscoe over the barricade, then cannonballed onto Briscoe over the barricade. Briscoe came back with a chop before superplexing Fletcher off the barricade to the floor.
After a commercial break, Fletcher kept Briscoe down before Briscoe came back with strikes. Briscoe hit an exploder suplex and a Fisherman Buster for a nearfall. Fletcher hit a half-and-half suplex, but Briscoe fired out with a lariat and a Death Valley Driver. Fletcher cut off the Froggy Bow, but Briscoe knocked him off the top rope. Fletcher got the knees up on the Froggy Bow, but Briscoe moved out of the way of an elbow drop.
Fletcher avoided a Jay Driller and hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Briscoe fought out of a Last Ride powerbomb but took two big boots in response. Briscoe hit a big chop and went for the Cut Throat Driver, but Fletcher clawed at Briscoe’s eyes and rolled up Briscoe with his feet on the ropes. The referee caught him, but Fletcher countered another Jay Driller attempt with a Brainbuster for a nearfall. The announcers noted that Fletcher used those methods to score two of his wins in this tournament.
Briscoe fought out of the top rope Brainbuster, and Briscoe hit the Cut Throat Driver. Briscoe couldn’t make the cover as Fletcher rolled away to the floor. Briscoe hit a Froggy Bow to the floor and followed with a Froggy Bow in the ring for a nearfall. The one-minute call was made, and both men went for flash pins. Fletcher shoved Briscoe into the referee and tried a low blow, but Briscoe caught the leg and hit the Jay Driller to score the win.
The announcers had noted that on Dynamite, FTR had challenged the Death Riders to face them tonight on Collision. Both teams had been in the building all night, and it was here where we cut to the Death Riders in the back with a camera. Wheeler Yuta manned the camera as Moxley, Castagnoli, and PAC jumped FTR as they were leaving the building. Well, they stuck bags over their heads and dragged them outside before we heard sounds of guys getting beat up.
(This felt completely divorced from the show, and the tone of it felt off for the World Championship act. I get that they’re building to the Death Riders vs. FTR in some form for the January 1st show, but these past few weeks have been an odd way to get there.)
