By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Collision (Episode 55)
Arlington, Texas at Esports Stadium Arlington
Aired July 27, 2024 on TNT
[Hour One] The new Collision opening aired… Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness were on commentary. Ring announcer Arkady Aura delivered the introductions for the opening match…
1. Orange Cassidy vs. Johnny TV (w/Taya Valkyrie). At one point, McGuinness comically accused Cassidy of trying to blow Valkyrie a kiss in front of her husband. TV executed a standing moonsault. Valkyrie attacked Cassidy at ringside while the referee was distracted. TV went to ringside and pulled Cassidy’s arm through the barricade. Valkyrie kissed TV on the cheek while Cassidy sold an arm injury.
TV remained in offensive control and used a swinging neckbreaker to get a two count. Cassidy came back with a rollup for a two count. Cassidy hit Stundog Millionaire and a DDT for a near fall. TV came back briefly. Cassidy avoided Starship Pain. Cassidy went for a DDT that was stuffed. TV hit another neckbreaker and then hit Starship Pain for a near fall. Cassidy hit Beach Break and the Orange Punch before getting the three count.
Orange Cassidy defeated Johnny TV in 10:35.
After the match, TV clipped Cassidy’s leg from behind. Valkyrie threw kicks at Cassidy. Willow Nightingale came out and ran off the heel couple…
Powell’s POV: A solid opening match. Is it leading to a future mixed tag team match?
Highlights aired of Christian Cage, Nick Wayne, and Killswitch beating Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn last week to win the vacant AEW Trios Titles…
Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn delivered a backstage promo. Robinson said he wouldn’t let go of Mother Wayne interfering last week. The Gunns played to the fans with their comments…
Entrances for the three-way tag team match took place…
2. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta vs. Brian Cage and Lee Moriarty (w/Shane Taylor) vs. “Top Flight” Dante Martin and Darius Martin (w/Action Andretti). Highlights aired of Moriarty beating Yuta to win the ROH Pure Championship at Friday’s Death Before Dishonor event. Dante was Cage and Moriarty heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Castagnoli executed a giant swing on Moriarty. Castagnoli ran the ropes for a move, but Darius tagged himself in and received some boos. Martin covered Moriarty, but Yuta broke up the pin. Castagnoli and Cage squared off and traded blows. They both threw several simultaneous clotheslines and neither man went down.
The Martins cleared Castagnoli and Cage to ringside and hit them with stereo dives. Cage turned Darius inside out with a clothesline on the floor and threw him back inside the ring. Moriarty hit a top rope knee drop on Darius. Legal man Yuta hooked Darius into a pin and got the three count…
Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta defeated Brian Cage & Lee Moriarty and “Top Flight” Dante Martin & Darius Martin in a three-way tag in 10:50.
Schiavone hyped Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos for after the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: The ROH feud between Moriarty and Yuta made its way over to Collision. Good work from all three teams.
Lexi Nair was about to interview Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii when Orange Cassidy and Willow Nightingale showed up. Willow spoke about her Battle of the Belts match with Deonna Purrazzo. Briscoe said they had a new member of The Conglomeration. Briscoe grabbed an infant and then delivered a worked up promo… Entrances for the next match took place…
3. Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos. The lively crowd chanted for Hologram prior to the match. Highlights aired from Death Before Dishonor of Mortos beating Komander. Mortos used his size to shoulder block Hologram from the ring to the floor heading into a PIP break that became a full screen break. [C]
Mortos stuffed a Holorgram move while seated on the ropes and then slammed him to the mat. Hologram came back with an enzuigiri followed by a kick on the apron. Hologram performed a brutal looking Destroyer. The referee checked on Mortos, who was apparently good to go.
Hologram went up top and walked the ropes before performing a senton dive onto Mortos. Hologram returned to the ring and performed a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Hologram went for a top rope move, but Mortos caught him and put him in electric chair position. Hologram executed a Poison Rana for a near fall.
Mortos came back with a couple of wicked backbreakers and a discus clothesline that turned Hologram inside out. Mortos covered Hologram for a two count. Both men ended up on the ropes. Mortos tried to press Hologram, who countered with a huracanrana. Hologram leapt from the top rope and hit a crucifix bomb that led to the three count…
Hologram defeated The Beast Mortos in 11:45.
Schiavone hyped Thunder Rosa vs. Maya World for after the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: A good lucha match with a receptive live crowd. I’m not really sure what the Hologram character is. The former Aramis wears a neon “H” on his chest and the lighting his cool during his entrance. Is there more to it or is it that simple?
Thunder Rosa made her entrance while her opponent was already inside the ring…
4. Thunder Rosa vs. Maya World. World kipped up during the opening minute and stumbled, but she regained her balance.
[Hour Two] Rosa got World seated in the corner and hit her with a dropkick. Rosa rolled World and then double stomped her. Rosa applied what was described as her version of the Camel Clutch and got the submission win…
Thunder Rosa defeated Maya World in 3:35.
Powell’s POV: A spotlight win for Rosa. The finish kind of came out of nowhere and even seemed to catch the broadcast team by surprise.
Footage aired of Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer from NJPW Dominion 2023. Schiavone hyped Ospreay vs. Archer for Wednesday’s Dynamite…
Backstage, a bunch of people were laid out. Lance Archer was responsible and he beat up more people. Archer said Ospreay should not be in line for the AEW American Championship. He said he beat him before in Dallas and would beat his ass again…
Powell’s POV: I can’t be the only person who wondered for a second if The Wyatt Sicks were doing a crossover.
Entrances for the trios match took place. The Premier Athletes came out second with Mark Sterling talking. Sterling said he advised his clients to apologize for fat shaming. Ariya Daivari took the mic and called the fans fat Texas hillbillies…
5. “The Conglomeration” Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii vs. “Premier Athletes” Josh Woods, Ariya Daivari, and Tony Nese (w/Mark Sterling). Ishii no-sold Nese chops and then worked him over with chops of his own to open the match. A short time later, Briscoe performed a flip dive onto all three opponents at ringside heading into a PIP break. [C]
Woods had a nice run where he suplexed all three opponents, but then he mugged for the camera like a meathead. O’Reilly caught him with a knee, Briscoe hit him with an uppercut, and then Ishii drilled him with a clothesline. Ishii knocked Sterling off the apron while O’Reilly took Woods down in a crossarm breaker and got the submission win.
“The Conglomeration” Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii defeated “Premier Athletes” Josh Woods, Ariya Daivari, and Tony Nese in 10:20.
Powell’s POV: A fine match, but the predictability of every match outcome is getting tiresome.
Highlights aired from AEW Dynamite of Chris Jericho beating Minoru Suzuki, followed by Katsuyori Shibata saving Suzuki from The Learning Tree…
New footage aired from after Dynamite of Chris Jericho being interviewed by Renee Paquette. Jericho had his hand wrapped and said Suzuki broke his pinkie. He said it would be very hard to wave at all the branches. Jericho said he’s not through with Suzuki even though he doesn’t know when their next match will be. Jericho said The Learning Tree is coming for Shibata, who has no friends left with Samoa Joe and Hook sidelined…
A wrestler stumbled through the entrance area and tumbled down the ramp. Lance Archer came out and headed toward the ring…
6. Lance Archer vs. a local wrestler. The local dove at Archer prior to the match, but Archer stuffed it. In the ring. Archer chokeslammed the local and then hit the Blackout for the win…
Lance Archer defeated a local wrestler in 1:00.
The FTR vs. MxM Collection match was listed as coming up next… [C]
Powell’s POV: I’m fine with a quick squash despite my criticism of the match outcomes feeling too predictable. I just assume it’s the usual formula with Archer being built up before he loses to someone higher on the food chain.
FTR made their entrance followed by MxM Collection…
7. “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. “MxM Collection” Mansoor and Mason Madden. It was noted that Madden (a/k/a Brennan Williams) was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft in 2015. The broadcast team added that he had a stop with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was scouted by Tony Khan.
Harwood wore a weight belt and appeared a little heavier than usual (presumably due to his back injury). MxM Collection took a powder at ringside heading into a PIP break. [C] Harwood caught Mansoor in an inside cradle and had him pinned, but the referee was distracted by Madden.
A short time later, Mansoor held up Harwood in Hart Attack position while Madden ran the ropes and hit a spin kick rather than a clothesline, which led to a near fall. MxM picked up a couple more two counts, but FTR hit Mansoor with the Shatter Machine and then Harwood got the pin.
“FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler beat “MxM Collection” Mansoor and Mason Madden in 12:20.
After the match, Harwood and Wheeler held their index fingers out and then Mansoor and Madden touched “just the tips” in a sign of respect…
Powell’s POV: Mansoor and Madden are oddly carrying a variation of the last known gimmick created by Vince McMahon before his fall from grace. They worked well together even if the gimmick isn’t for me. The match was laid out to be competitive, but there wasn’t much mystery regarding this match outcome, in part because FTR indicated that they will be facing the Young Bucks at Wembley Stadium.
Footage aired from after the Blood & Guts match of Max Caster celebrating Team AEW’s win while Anthony Bowens was seated on the floor. Bowens got fired up and yelled about how they always deliver for the company. Bowens yelled not to underestimate them because they will prove you wrong every single time. Caster noted that they have an AEW Tag Team Title shot and took issue with FTR talking about facing the Bucks at Wembley. Caster and Bowens questioned why FTR weren’t fighting in the cage with them for the company they claim to love. Bowens said they are coming for the Bucks and the AEW Tag Team Titles… [C]
Entrances for the main event took place…
8. Pac vs. Lio Rush. Pac was in offensive control heading into a break roughly three minutes into the match. [C] Schiavone noted that Collision will air next Saturday at 4CT/5ET (to avoid SummerSlam). Rush came back with a suicide dive and tried to fire up the crowd.
Pac eventually executed a suplex that led to a near fall. Pac went up top, but Rush rolled slowly away from the corner. Pac dropped down and took a kick from Rush, but then hit him with another suplex. Rush superkicked Pac and then performed a Poison Rana. Rush followed up with a springboard into a cutter and got a near fall.
[Overrun] Rush performed a top rope frogsplash, but Pac put his knees up. Pac turned Rush inside out with a clothesline and then applied the Brutalizer and got the submission win.
Pac defeated Lio Rush in roughly 13:00.
Powell’s POV: It would have been nice to have heard from both men going into the match to give it a sense of purpose, but it was a well worked main event. Overall, another “fine if you saw it, fine if you did not” edition of Collision. The matches were mostly good and the crowd was engaged, but there wasn’t much storyline progression. I will be back later tonight with my audio review of Collision and Battle of the Belts XI for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of Collision by grading the show below.
Join me for my live review of AEW Battle of the Belts XI in a separate report available via the main page.
“Is there more to it”
No there is not.
MxM could have scored a nice upset victory on their debut, with Dax’s recent health issues being an out for FTR losing. A loss that would have given them a story heading into the PPV. Missed opportunities.
Did they finally go a week without a severe injury on Collision? We had Riho, Castle, and Skye the last 3 weeks.