By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Collision (Episode 59)
Taped August 21, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales at Utilita Arena Cardiff
Aired August 24, 2024 on TNT
[Hour One] Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness checked in on commentary from their desk at ringside. Ring announcer Arkady Aura delivered the introductions for the opening match while both teams had televised entrances…
1. Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, and Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett. Tomohiro Ishii sat in on commentary. Ishii wore headsets and sat with his arms crossed without speaking. Schiavone touted that this show was sold out and added that Friday’s Rampage (taped in Arlington) was also sold out.
Briscoe set up a chair and ran the ropes to launch from it, but Bennett moved it. Briscoe set up the chair again while Bennett and the referee bickered. Strong slammed Briscoe on the chair and then Bennett covered him for a two count heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
O’Reilly caught Bennett in an ankle lock, but Bennett escaped. O’Reilly gave him a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes and then hit him with a top rope knee drop. Briscoe tagged in before O’Reilly hit the move and then dropped an elbow on Briscoe from the ropes. Rinse and repeat with Cassidy hitting an elbow drop. Cassidy went for the pin, but it was broken up.
A short time later, Briscoe set up a chair and then launched into a scary flip dive due to the chair giving out. Taven put O’Reilly down, but O’Reilly avoided a follow-up springboard moonsault. O’Reilly put Taven in a submission hold and got the win…
Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, and Mark Briscoe defeated Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett in 15:20.
Powell’s POV: The match was well worked and the crowd was into it. Ishii gets my vote for best AEW broadcast team member. Kidding.
A video package aired on the feud between The Patriarchy, Bullet Club Gold, and House of Black over the AEW Trios Titles…
Willow Nightingale made her entrance and walked over to Ishii, who was still at the broadcast table, and kissed the top of his head. Harley Cameron made her entrance…
Powell’s POV: I speak from experience when I say that women can’t resist the top of a bald head. Unfortunately, they easily resist everything from the forehead down.
2. Willow Nightingale vs. Harley Cameron. Schiavone said this was Cameron’s eleventh AEW match. Cameron hit a kneeling Willow with a running knee strike for a two count. Willow came back a short-time later with Doctor Bomb and got scored the pin.
Willow Nightingale defeated Harley Cameron in 4:10.
After the match, Ishii left the broadcast table and joined Willow in the ring to raise her hand. Willow and Ishii walked to the back together…
Powell’s POV: I was hoping that silent Ishii on color commentary was going to be a full show gag. Willow going over clean was logical given that she has a mixed tag match on the pre-show. I’m just surprised they didn’t do some type of angle involving Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander since they are facing Willow and Ishii. Hathaway and Statlander are wrestling later, so perhaps we’ll get something then.
Backstage, Lexi Nair interviewed “Private Party” Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen. Cassidy said they will be the official emcees of All In. Quen got a call and they left the interview set.
ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara joined Nair on the interview set. Guevara wore as suit and said they were issuing an open challenge. Guevara said they weren’t coming alone. Rhodes mentioned The Kingdom and then spoke about how they were bringing The Von Erichs and Katsuyori Shibata. Shibata joined them and was dubbed an honorary Texan. Shibata used his phone translator to say would lasso a win at Wembley… [C]
3. Jay Lethal (w/Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (w/Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara). The entrances were televised. Lethal targeted Shibata’s knee. Shibata avoided a Figure Four attempt and then stomped the elbow of Lethal twice before sending him to ringside going into a PIP break. [C]
Lethal went for a top rope elbow drop, but Shibata caught him in an armbar on the way down. Lethal reached the ropes to break the hold. Shibata worked over a seated Lethal with elbows in the corner before dropkicking him. A short time later, Shibata put Lethal in the Iron Claw. Shibata transitioned into an armbar for the win.
Katsuyori Shibata beat Jay Lethal in 9:50.
After the match, Shibata offered Lethal a handshake, which Lethal accepted…
A video package aired on the MJF and Will Ospreay feud… [C]
Powell’s POV: Another solid television match that didn’t play into anything on the All In main card. Schiavone is plugging the show consistently and they’ve had some video packages, but the matches we’ve seen so far could take place any week.
Footage aired of Kris Statlander trying to train Stokely Hathaway at the Create A Pro wrestling school. Hathaway was shown performing some moves and pinning a trainee. Statlander said she and Hathaway would embarrass Willow Nightingale and Tomohiro Ishii at All In…
Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway made their entrance while their opponents were already inside the ring…
4. Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway vs. Kid Lykos II and Nina Samuels. Hathaway shook hand with both opponents. Statlander clotheslined Lykos and Samues and the referee strangely rewarded her for it by calling for the opening bell. Statlander hit a Doctor Bomb on Lykos and then tagged in Hathaway. Statlander picked up Hathaway in suplex style and then dropped him face first onto Lykos, which led to Hathaway getting the three count…
Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway beat Kid Lykos II and Nina Samuels in 1:00.
After the match, Hathaway got a mic and said the match was a preview of what would happen at All in. Hathaway said that when they win the mixed tag match, the careers of Willow and Ishii would be absolutely rubbish just like the food in England. Schiavone pointed out on commentary that they were in Wales…
Powell’s POV: While I’ve called for Hathaway to be a little more serious in the past, this feels like a time when he should be really hamming it up as a heel or showing a lot of fear over being forced to wrestle. Rather, the training video and the match were both surprisingly straight forward. Strange.
Ben Mankiewicz from Turner Classic Movies narrated a video package on the Toni Storm and Mariah May feud.
[Hour Two] The video package carried over into the second hour…
Entrances for the Hook vs. Big Bill match took place…
5. Hook vs. Big Bill (w/Bryan Keith). Chris Jericho sat in on commentary. Hook had his eye covered with tape. Bill got the better of Hook heading into a commercial break. [C] Bill got the better of Hook and then mocked him while the crowd cheered loudly. Bill played into it for a bit and then told the crowd to shut up.
Hook mounted Bill in the corner and threw punches at him, which drew boos from the crowd. Hook suplexed Bill and then stood up and played to the crowd, which booed again. Keith ran in and was suplexed by Hook. Bill grabbed Hook for a chokeslam and the crowd until Hook slipped away and they booed.
Bill placed Hook on the top turnbuckle in a seated position and then turned and played to the cheering crowd. Hook put Bill in Redrum and forced him to submit.
Hook defeated Big Bill in 10:45.
After the match, Jericho stood on the broadcast table and held up the FTW Title…
Powell’s POV: I strongly preferred Ishii as a guest color commentator over “Hey, Guys” Jericho. Anyway, the crowd went into business for themselves and had some fun rooting for Big Bill in an over the top manner. I’m not sure what the backstory is, but it seemed like more of a pro-Bill thing than the fans truly disliking Hook.
A Jack Perry video package aired. He spoke about recreating the TNT Title belt in his own image. He said the only way Darby Allin will close the coffin lid on him at All In is if he’s dead… [C]
A video package aired on the Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson title vs. career match at All In…
Ariya Daivari interrupted Arkady Aura’s introductions for the next match. Daivari taunted the crowd over not having a Premier League team, which didn’t get much heat. Jeff Jarrett made his entrance with Karen Jarrett and received a good crowd reaction…
6. Jeff Jarrett (w/Karen Jarrett) vs. Ariya Daivari. The live crowd sang, which Jarrett encouraged. Daivari went to the ropes and was booed, and then Jarrett went to the ropes and was cheered. Davari put Jarrett down and did the strut a couple of times to boos.
When Daivari strutted for the third time, Jarrett turned him around and punched him. The fans continued to sing. Jarrett cleared Daivari from the ring heading into a PIP break. [C] Jarrett finally strutted for a pop, then hit the Stroke and scored the pin…
Jeff Jarrett defeated Ariya Daivari in 9:55.
Powell’s POV: This didn’t seem to have anything to do with the pay-per-view either, but it’s nice to see Jarrett get so much love from the fans at this stage of his career.
A Hologram video package aired… [C]
Dustin Rhodes, Ross Von Erich, Marshall Von Erich, Katsuyori Shibata, and Sammy Guevara vs. Toa Liona, Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett in a ten-man tag match was announced for the All In pre-show. The broadcast team ran through previously advertised pay-per-view matches…
Entrances for the trios match took place. Lio Rush and Top Flight received a flat crowd reaction. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta received some cheers, and the fans popped big for Pac…
7. Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Dante Martin, Darius Martin, and Lio Rush (w/Action Andretti) for a spot in the four-way London Ladders match for the AEW Trios Titles at AEW All In. The Martins and Rush avoided Castagnoli charging them in the corner. The trio got the better of Castagnoli heading into a PIP break. [C]
Rush hit Pac with a suicide dive that drove him into the broadcast table. There was some rustling and Schiavone said he and McGuinness were trying to gather themselves. Pac came back and set up Rush for a top rope move, but the Martins cut him off.
Darius pulled Pac from the ropes and into a Stunner. The Martins hit top rope moves on Pac and covered him, but Castgnoli and Yuta broke up the pin. Moments later, Rush went for a dive, but Castagnoli caught him with an uppercut. Back in the ring, Castagnoli performed the Giant Swing on Rush. Pac followed up with a Arrow and scored the pin.
Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta defeated Dante Martin, Darius Martin, and Lio Rush in 13:00 to earn the wildcard spot in the four-way London Ladders match for the AEW Trios Titles at AEW All In.
After the match, Christian Cage’s entrance music interrupted the babyfaces’ celebration. Christian came out with Mother Wayne and told the fans he couldn’t understand them. He said the Welsh fans should move to England and learn how to speak proper English, then added they could also root for a real rugby team.
Christian and Mother Wayne walked around the ring and told the babyfaces they need to have eyes in the back of their heads. Nick Wayne and Killswitch entered the ring and hit Pac, Castagnoli, and Yuta with chairs.
“Bullet Club Gold” Juice Robinson, Colten Gunn, and Austin Gunn came out to a nice pop and pulled two tables out from underneath the ring before setting them up on the floor. The lights went out and then “House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews made their entrance.
[Overrun] House of Black walked to ringside and looked at the Bullet Club Gold trio. All six men entered the ring, causing Cage, Killswitch, and the Waynes to flee. A fight broke out between House of Black and Bullet Club Gold, and then Pac, Castagnoli, and Yuta joined in. Cage smile while holding back Wayne and Killswitch to close the show…
Powell’s POV: Good action during the main event. You had to know that Pac’s team would go over. In this case, the predictability was not a negative. Overall, a typical edition of Collision in front of a livelier crowd than usual. I am looking forward to All In, but there was nothing about this edition of Collision or Friday’s Rampage that increased my excitement for the pay-per-view. Both shows were par for the course with matches, matches, and more matches. That’s just not what I’m looking for from pay-per-view go-home shows.
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Just a guess on Big Bill: Nxt had at least one hugely popular tour of the UK, including Takeover 8 in London. Crazy that was almost a decade ago, but he and Enzo were so epically over back then.