$400,000 in storyline dollars will be on the line as part of tonight’s AEW Collision from San Antonio, Texas, as FTR teams with former rivals The Young Bucks.
Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler and the Jackson brothers take on JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) and Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus) in an eight-man tag match. All four teams were in action at last Saturday’s WrestleDream.
AEW World Champion Hangman Page will appear to address Samoa Joe and The Opps after they turned on Page following the Joe vs. Page match at WrestleDream.
PAC will take on Tomohiro Ishii as The Death Riders vs. Conglomeration feud continues.
Thekla battles former interim ROH Women’s TV Champion Mina Shirakawa while Ace Austin returns to challenge Bryan Keith in the former’s first AEW match since he debuted in August.
Hook vs. Griff Garrison, and an MxM TV open challenge round out the show.
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Hangman Adam Page opened the show with an in ring promo. Page noted that the Opps fought the Death Riders for the better part of a year, and that Hangman owed them for that, as they made sure the match between him and Jon Moxley was one on one. Page emphasized that he gave Samoa Joe a shot at the title because he owed him, and he beat him clean in the ring, as hard as it was. Hangman said that Joe was embarrassed he lost to him, and that was why they stabbed Hangman in the back.
Hangman said that the Joe, Shibata, and Hobbs have become the very thing that they hated, and they should have known better. They especially should have known better because they have seen what Hangman does to his enemies, and Joe made the fatal mistake of thinking he was hunting Hangman, but Hangman was the one hunting him. Page promised to do far worse than embarrass and beat Joe, and instead would ruin his life.
This promo was great. It had a ton of menace, as AEW fans know how dangerous Adam Page can be when he is angry. All we have to do is look at the bloody feuds with Swerve Strickland and Jon Moxley. This showed a lot of growth in the Hangman Page character, as he was clearly confident and ready to bring it to Joe.
–PAC was backstage with the Death Riders, and he cut a promo saying that he was going to take out Tomohiro Ishii and remind people that the Death Riders were the most dangerous people in AEW, and that they were the ones that really ran the place.
PAC (w/ Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, & Marina Shafir) vs. Tomohiro Ishii
The announcers noted that PAC has a metal plate in his foot due to the surgery he had that he may have been using to knock people out since he has returned. A classic wrestling trope that I love is coming back. Ishii and PAC exchanged forearms, and then had a really fast opening portion exchanging moves and dodging and countering each other. Both men exchanged shoulder tackles, but Ishii got the better of that and hit a brainbuster that caused PAC to roll to the floor.
Garcia distracted Ishii on the floor, allowing PAC to attack him from behind. Garcia then hit mounted punches on Ishii with the referee’s back turned. Ishii stood up and started baiting PAC into a forearm battle, but ate a pump kick from PAC. PAC cussed at the audience as he went to the top rope and hit a big dropkick off the ropes. As PAC sent Ishii into the guardrail a few times, Ishii fired up, so PAC took the knee out.
PAC continued to stomp on Ishii and Ishii woke up and they started exchanging hard chops until Ishii hit a big tackle. Ishii sold his shoulder, as PAC had been stomping and attacking it. Ishii hit a stalling brainbuster off the middle ropes, and PAC kicked out. Ishii hit a headbutt and a powerbomb for a two count, while still selling the shoulder. PAC necked Ishii on the ropes, but Ishii blocked a German suplex, and unfortunately for PAC, hit one of his own. PAC attacked the shoulder and hit a German suplex, but Ishii got up, ate an enziguri, fired up, and then hit a lariat, and collapsed.
PAC hit a stalling German suplex after Shafir tripped him. PAC then hit the ropes to hit a kick with his plated foot, but Ishii hit a lariat, and PAC popped up to hit a brainbuster, but Ishii kicked out. PAC dumped Ishii to the floor, and Yuta hit a busaiku knee on the floor. PAC hit the ropes again and hit a big lariat, finally scoring the pinfall. PAC did not use his plated foot, and did not need to, but there is definitely going to be something to this with the announcers explicitly talking about it. Something to pay attention to for PAC matches in the future.
Match Result: PAC defeated Tomohiro Ishii
This was an excellent opening match. Tomohiro Ishii is the greatest, and PAC is also the greatest. That is all.
Thekla vs. Mina Shirakawa
Shirakawa mocked Thekla first doing a dance and saying she was a spider. Shirakawa hit a dropkick that dropped Thekla. Shirakawa locked on a surfboard stretch before stomping on the hands of Thekla and attacking the knee. Thekla ducked under a lariat, swept the leg, and Shirakawa slipped out, posed, and ended up paying for it as Thekla continued the attack.
Shirakawa blocked an attack from Thekla and hit a DDT before returning back to working on the knee. Shirakawa noticed that Julia Hart and Sky Blue had come to ringside, distracting her, and allowing Thekla to attack from behind to send her to the floor as they went to an ad break. When they came back, Thekla had a crossface on Shirakawa, Hart and Blue attacked Shirakawa from behind, but Shirakawa tried to to fire up with forearms and a dropkick. Shirakawa hit a torneo and then attacked the knee again. Shirakawa hit a backfist for a 2-count.
Shirakawa and Thekla exchanged strikes on the top rope before Thekla hit a superplex, but stayed in the tree of woe and went for the death trap, but Shirakawa hit a running knee and a series of strikes that ended with a spinning backfist for a very close 2-count. Shirakawa and Thekla slightly botched a slingblade, then Shirakawa went for a Glamorous driver. Thekla slipped out and hit a spear with distraction from Hart and Blue, and then locked on the Death Trap for the finish.
Match Result: Thekla defeated Mina Shirakawa
–Anna Jay and Tay Melo were backstage talking about how excited they were for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament, but they are not like teams that were just thrown together. As they were talking, Nixon Newell (the former Tegan Nox, returned to her indie name) and Miranda Alize walked up to challenge them to a tag match.
–MxM TV came out for their casting call, so we will see who comes out to face them this week. They insulted the fans, then the ring announcer informed them that the open challenge was for a singles match, and the men looked excited, but Olympia from CMLL came out to face Taya Valkyrie.
Taya Valkyrie (w/ MxM TV (Mansoor, Mace Madden, & Johnny TV) vs. Olympia
Olympia knocked Valkyrie off the apron, and MxM TV caught her, but Olympia hit a dive to the floor taking everyone out. Olympia put Valkyrie in a fireman’s carry, did three squats, and then hit a sitout slam from the fireman’s carry for the pinfall.
Match Result: Olympia defeated Taya Valkyrie
I liked this squash. It highlighted Olympia and made her look like a star.
–A hype video aired for a 4-way match for the #1 Contender position for Hangman Adam Page’s world title at Full Gear. Samoa Joe, Hook, Bobby Lashley, and Ricochet will be competing.
Bryan Keith vs. Ace Austin
Austin took Keith over with a headlock, and Keith stood up and said “I wasn’t ready, ref!” which made me laugh. Ace Austin took advantage of this match to show how good he actually is, with the fans responding very well to Austin showing his high flying offence. However, Keith pulled the referee in the way when Austin went for a springboard kick, and then Keith grabbed him and hit an exploder suplex over the ropes to the floor. Keith paused to hit a running kick on the floor, told a fan to get off their phone, and then kicked Austin in the face.
Keith hit some hard chops in the ring, and told the referee to back off when he tried to stop Keith from choking Austin. Listen, Bryan, you cannot choke someone. That is illegal. Austin hit a sunset flip for a 2-count, and followed up with a legdrop, shouting out Chris Bey and the Bullet Club, before hitting a stomp and to the head for a two count. Keith responded with a brutal headbutt and a back drop driver. Austin dodged a corner charge and hit a springboard kick before hitting the Fold for the pinfall. Really good showcase for Austin here, though he did spend a lot of it selling.
Match Result: Ace Austin defeated Bryan Keith
–Don Callis was backstage with Lexy Nair, and she directly asked Callis what is going on between Takeshita and Okada. Callis claimed that families fight sometimes, and when you had a family of genetically superior wrestlers, they are going to test each other every now and then. Callis said that he was the master of the inner workings of his family, and that Okada and Takeshita were more concerned with pleasing him, and it was unity and belts that pleased him. Callis announced the Don Callis Family Summit for Dynamite, claiming he was going to get a peace price for his efforts.
–The Outrunners and Dalton Castle were backstage with Lexy Nair, and they were ready to tell the secret of their success, but Bowens and Caster were arguing so they never got to explain the secret, not realizing the promo was live. So, Castle and The Outrunners posed and yelled, and Castle claimed that was the secret.
Griff Garrison (w/ The Frat House) vs. Hook (w/ Eddie Kingston)
Hook suplexed Garrison and he spilled out to the floor. The announcers took the opportunity to plug the DC Comics sponsorship due to Hook using his Bat Signal. Garrison hit a clothesline but missed a rolling one, and Hook hit two clotheslines of his own before hitting a flying double axe handle in the middle of the ring. Hook hit another suplex and locked in Red Rum for the submission win.
Match Result: Hook defeated Griff Garrison
I am fine with Hook squashing Garrison, but this is not really the kind of matches Hook needs to improve. I hope his 4-way on Dynamite will help elevate him as a star and give him experience with 3 other very experienced main event talents in Ricochet, Lashley, and Joe.
–Olympia cut a promo in Spanish with subtitles, saying that she would challenge Mercedes Mone next week on Collision. This was good. I prefer when they let talent who do not know the language well to cut promos with subtitles.
–Jamie Hayter and Queen Aminata got a hype video for their attempt to win the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (w/ Stokley Hathaway) & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) & The Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus)
The Young Bucks noticeably got a cheer while their partners FTR got booed. It seems that the slow burn babyface turn to reuinte them with Kenny Omega is working. Though, this turned to boos once the Bucks knocked the Jurassic Express beach ball away from them, and Wheeler hit the beachball with a chairshot to bust it. That was not a sentence I ever expected to write.
The Bucks and FTR got the heat on Jet Speed initially, but Bailey hit a series of kicks on Wheeler and Jack Perry came in and countered a powerslam into a cradle, which looked really smooth. Wheeler kicked out and hit a lariat. All four men on the heel team started stomping on Luchasaurus, but Luchasaurus hit a double shoulder tackle on FTR. The Bucks swept Luchasaurus’ legs, but Perry hit a hurricanrana on Nick Jackson while Bailey hit a flying dropkick on Matt Jackson. Perry, Knight, and Bailey all hit moonsaults from the same turnbuckle to the floor on their opponents at the same time while Luchasaurus hit a standing moonsault on Harwood in the ring.
Harwood got chopped by everyone and tried to escape by diving into the front row, but Perry pulled him back and hit another chop. Harwood reversed an Irish whip and sent Perry into the ring steps, and then sent him over the announce table into the lap of Tony Schiavone before going to ad break. Perry countered a back suplex into a crossbody and tried to tag out, but FTR and the Bucks attacked the other side of the ring to prevent any tags.
Cash Wheeler decided to do the tope con giro spot with Matt Jackson instead of Nick Jackson, and then Matt Jackson teamed with Harwood to help him lock in a sharpshooter on Jack Perry. Nick Jackson then hit an x-factor over the ropes on Perry as he was in the submission. Wheeler missed a corner charge, which allowed Perry to tag out to Knight, who hit a UFO Splash on Matt Jackson but FTR broke it up. Knight leaped over the arms of FTR as they went for a double clothesline, which was incredible, and Jet Speed hit stereo pescado’s to the floor.
Hathaway threw powder into the eyes of Kevin Knight as the referee was turned around, allowing Matt Jackson to hit a superkick for a 2-count. They isolated Kevin Knight for the next few minutes, and Nick Jackson hit a spinning wheel kick, stopping any comeback. Cash Wheeler continued the assault hitting brutal chops and strikes in the corner. Harwood hit a lariat on Knight.
Luchasaurus ended up backed up by FTR, leading to Power and Glory, and then an elbow from Matt Jackson and a 450 splash by Nick Jackson for a 2-count. The Bucks and FTR went for the BTE Trigger, but ended up kneeing each other, and Luchasaurus hit a chokeslam that sent Nick Jackson moonsaulting on Dax Harwood. Luchasaurus tagged out to Bailey, who hit a spinning kick on Harwood, while Knight cut off Wheeler and hit a UFO splash for the pinfall victory.
Match Result: Jet Speed & Jurassic Express
With the members of FTR eating the pins, it seems the Young Bucks might be having a wedge driven between them and FTR. To be fair to them, it would not be hard to, given the rivalry for the two teams. The Young Bucks looked devastated at losing, and angry.
–Perry took money out of the bag and gave some to Nick Jackson to help him pay for his parking, at least. Stokley Hathaway ran into the crowd to escape Jack Perry, fist bumped a kid randomly with a huge smile, and then looked back at Perry with rage. That was awesome.
Final Thoughts
This was a pretty decent episode of Collision that saw several big matches announced for Dynamite. If you are limited in time, watch Hangman Adam Page’s promo, the opening match, and the main event.
