We are back with another episode of AEW Collision, and it may be their most stacked yet. We open with the three way contest for the TNT Championship, between Darby Allin, Christian Cage, and Luchasaurus, with Sting banned from ringside. Considering the allegiances in this match, expect a two on one affair. Still, the no DQ environment plays to Darby’s strengths, as he will pull out everything possible to reclaim TNT gold. The numbers game caught up to him, however, as it becomes a slaughter. The one point of contention: who goes for the pin? Christian thinks it should be him, but the conflict is for naught this early, as Darby can’t yet be put away. The beat down continues, until Luchasaurus goes down, and Darby finds his opening. He hits a flurry of moves, capped off with a standing coffin drop. Luchasaurus takes back control, but, seeing the TNT title, he is taken aback. He picks it up for the first time in his reign, but Christian sees this, and wants it back. Luchasaurus refuses, but relents, and gives the belt, but the distraction allows Darby to smash into both of them, and hit Luchasaurus with the TNT title, then a coffin drop. He tries to get the pin, but Christian throws him out, and steals the win and the belt!
Luchasaurus looks confused and angry, but he still celebrates with Christian Cage, albeit less enthusiastically than expected. The Dino may not be, but I am happy to see Christian become a champ in AEW!
Up next, we hear from the Don Callis Family. Don is here to accept the challenge laid down by the Golden Jets Lovers, and makes clear that he’s arriving at Wrestledream with his full team. The man that beat Jericho, Sammy Guevara. The man that beat Omega, Konosuke Takeshita. To cap it off, however, is the man who beat both, Will Ospreay. This is a mega match, and it’ll be great. We hear from our TNT Champ Christian Cage next, and, in the middle of gloating and declaring himself rid of Darby, Tony Schiavone fills him in on a little something. That something is, at Wrestledream, he will defend his title against Darby Allin, two out of three falls!
We have Hook teaming with a legend, in RVD, against the remnants of an appreciation society, specifically Cool Hand Anj and Daddy Magic. Hook starts off strong, having recently faced these men with Orange and Statlander by his side. That advantage is short lived, however, as the tag experience of the former 2.0 keeps him locked down. Finally, RVD gets tagged in, and hits moves with the energy and precision of a man much younger. He eventually tags Hook back in, and, after some offense of his own, he gets taken down. He gets RVD back in, but Anna distracts, and Hager grabs a chair. Bad move, as RVD hits his iconic Van Daminator, Hook neutralizes Angelo Parker, and RVD hits the five star frog splash on Matt Menard for the win. Such a fun match!
We hear from Eddie, who makes clear, at Wrestledream, he aims to make Inoki proud, and challenge a man he feels represents what Inoki did. He is putting both of his titles on the line against Katsuyori Shibata! This is a true dream match. We hear from Dark Order next, who are delving into even more… structure building behavior. The Kingdom are angry, as they feel Best Friends cost them their shot. They feel that their bond isn’t as strong as they claim, and they’ll test it next week on Collision. We have Julia Hart, representing the House of Black, facing off with Kiera Hogan, after Willow got attacked in the back with some mist before the show, preventing her from being cleared. Kiera rushes Julia, but Hart takes control soon after, and doesn’t let go. Hogan tries to recover, but, try as she may, there is one truth she must remember: The House Always Wins. Julia wins via submission, and the assault continues after. Skye Blue tries to save her, but Brody King stands in her way, and Julia quickly pops out to hit her with the mist. Brody King makes clear the bodies will continue to pile up until Julia gets her hands on Statlander, the last one to hand her a loss.
Ol’ Vincent and Dutch are here, and they are your number one contenders for the ROH tag titles. They plan to expose Better Than You Bay Bay, and claim ROH gold once again. Now, coming out to the ring, we have Jay White, accompanied by Bullet Club Gold, facing off with Andrade El Idolo. To start off, each opponent trades holds, and Jay gets in a cheeky slap, enraging Andrade. After this, the back and forth affair continues, with Andrade and Jay both trading periods of control, and each getting close counts. Every time Jay takes over, the Bang Bang Gang gloats and taunts, like they do best. This seems to be helping Jay White, as he takes control for quite some time. Andrade finally turns it around with a double down clothesline, and, sending the momentum change, he chooses to target Jay’s leg with repeated Dragon Screw leg whips. Andrade even manages to neutralize the Bang Bang Gang with a moonsault, and hits Jay with another. He can’t quite put him away however, and Jay manages to spill Andrade to the outside, get him in, hit a super uranage, but only get two close counts. Andrade rebounds with the elbow, and hits the knees and the DDT, but Juice manages to put Jay’s leg on the ropes. It looks like Andrade has the win when going for the Figure eight, but, through massive distractions, Juice using his Collision Cowboy of the month plaque, and a Blade Runner, Jay’s singles record remains spotless. Could Andrade need the return of some ungovernable friends to take his foes out?
Ortiz is here to set the record straight. He saw how Santana spoke about him, both on the show and on social media. He feels he’s been used by Santana repeatedly, and, when he tried to confront him in person, he just walked away. We have a rivalry brewing! Shane Taylor has an old rivalry of his own, with a former tag partner. Him and Keith Lee were dominant, but, as soon as it came, he went to go work for the other billionaire. Shane still likes him, but, for his family, he’ll put anyone in the ground. First of all, however, Keith will have to beat Lee Moriarty, the newest member of Shane Taylor Promotions.
We now have our second title match of the night, as FTR defend against The Workhorsemen. Aussie Open are on commentary, as, belts or no belts, they face FTR at Wrestledream. Cash Wheeler and Anthony Henry open, exchanging holds, but its when Dax and Drake get in that all hell breaks loose. JD Drake hits as hard as any man ever has, and Dax is getting hurt. Henry then tags in, and goes on a tear until Dax reverses and hits a brain buster. Workhorsemen then nearly get the win with a lot of great offense that gets the crowd going, but, after rebounding, FTR get the win via sharpshooter. Great, fast paced match, and now the teams facing off next Sunday go at it on the mic. Aussie Open know they haven’t yet lived up to the hype, but their moment is coming, and they are winning the belts. Dax wants the most vicious form of them, and he wants them to hold nothing back.
CJ Perry is here, and she wanted to manage Miro to gold, but he’s too stubborn. Miro confronts her after saying this, and makes clear he wants to avoid temptations. She is his temptation, but hers is the fame, gold, and lights. He worries he’d be distracted trying to protect her, to which she says she doesn’t need protecting. She simply asks that he promises not to hurt any clients she takes on as a manager, but he cannot simply agree to that.
We are now at our main event, and it is time for a Texas Death Match! Ricky Starks is out first, and Danielson is next. Bryan gets attacked by Ricky before he can even take his jacket off, but Danielson manages to fend him off to gain control of the match. They brawl on the outside, and up the stairs by the fans. This continues all the way back to ringside, as Ricky throws Danielson over the barricade, and then springboards onto him and security into the crowd! After this, Ricky has a huge advantage, and, with a shot to the head via the bell, Danielson is bleeding. He is working him down, but, finally, Danielson finds an opening, smashing him with a chair. Ricky nearly claws back control, but after a spider vertical superplex and a missile dropkick, he regains control. He lays into Ricky with kicks, but, as he ran at him, Starks throws the chair at him and takes back control. He uses a strap and a chain to keep that control, but Danielson finally finds an opening via a kick. Ricky manages to keep his control, however, and chokes Danielson with a chain for an eight count. Ricky tried to choke again, but Danielson manages a reversal, and locks in a chain choke of his own. Starks breaks free, but both men then posture up for strike trading. Danielson manages to hit a huge knee, and then lays in stomps. He knew, he needed one final strike to end it. Danielson wrapped his knee in the chain, and hit one, final, shot. A ten count later, and Danielson secured the win in an amazing main event. This was the best episode of Collision yet, and Wrestledream looks like a possible PPV of the year, I can’t wait!