AEW Collision: April 13, 2024 (plus Battle of the Belts X, & Rampage April 12)

April 14, 2024 3:15 PM - Season 1, Episode 42

After getting some weird looks and hot takes from wrestling fandom after airing grievances on Dynamite this week, Collision pivots back towards new business. BOTBX raises the total to four hours of wrestling, including House of Black vs. three flippy boys, Lee Moriarty vs. Shibata, Toni Storm vs. a rising joshi star, and the Don Callis Family on a mission to break BCC members before the next pay-per-view.

RAMPAGE -- April 12

Orange Cassidy defeated Alex Reynolds (w/ John Silver)

"...While Reynolds distracted the referee, Silver pulled Cassidy out of the ring and gave him a brainbuster on the floor. Back in the ring, Cassidy caught Reynolds with a sunset flip for a near fall. Reynolds came back with a back elbow, then a hangman's neckbreaker for a near fall. Reynolds dominated Cassidy through the commercial break. After the break, Cassidy made his comeback with a shotgun dropkick and stomps in the corner. Cassidy came off the top with a crossbody, then took out Silver with a tope. Reynolds caught Cassidy with a pop-up knee strike and a stuff piledriver for a near fall.

Cassidy went to the top, but Silver crotched him. Reynolds took Cassidy down with an avalanche stunner for a near fall. Silver tried to give Cassidy a brainbuster on the floor again, but Cassidy countered with a slumdog millionaire. Reynolds caught Silver with a crossbody, Cassidy took out Silver with a Orange Punch. Cassidy finished off Reynolds with the Orange Punch for the win. After the match, Renee Paquette tried to interview Cassidy, but Trent Beretta came down to ringside. Chuck Taylor came up from behind Cassidy to stop Beretta. Beretta left, then Taylor left. And Cassidy never said anything."

The dissolution of the Best Friends makes me sad, but in a "this melodrama is good for my stories" kind of way. By contrast, the Dark Order failing as heels, after previously failing as faces, makes me wonder if this company has anything left for my favorite bunch of pervs.

TBS Championship Match: Julia Hart (c) defeated Leyla Hirsch

"Hart tripped up Hirsch and gave her a neckbreaker in the ropes. Hart wrapped up Hirsch in a head scissors in the ropes (kind of like Tajiri's tarantula move) while mugging to the crowd. Hart did a cartwheel into a near bodyvice from Hirsch, who dumped her to the mat. Hirsch followed her out with a tope. Back in the ring, Hart reversed a small package and got the three out. Hart was selling her shoulder (which was taped up) after the match."

Zak Knight defeated Angelo Parker (w/ Saraya & Harley Cameron)

"Parker and Knight brawled around ringside before the match started. Knight sent Parker into the ring barricade and the time keeper's area. Parker was busted open in the brawl on the floor. When the match officially started in the ring, Knight worked over the cut on Parker's head. After a split screen break, Parker hit Knight with an implant DDT. Saraya and Cameron both got up on the apron to distract the referee Rick Knox, and Knox ejected them.

Knight kicked Parker low and hit a pop-up powerbomb for two. Knight told Parker "I'll take good care of Ruby!" and that sparked a brief comeback from Parker. Knight floored Parker with a lariat for two, then finished off Parker with a running forearm. Parker has now lost his mentor (Jericho), the girl (Soho) and the match. So what's left for him?"

Is Saraya actually declaring her love for Ruby? I mean, I kinda joked about it in weeks past, but if Saraya is going to play the jilted ex standing between the two, then the next storyline step is Ruby needs to come forward and deal with this herself.

Jay White (w/ The Gunn Club) defeated Matt Sydal

"Sydal countered a pop-up powerbomb with a rana, then caught White with a steup up rana. Sydal hit a standing mariposa. White went to the floor, and Sydal followed him out with a meteora. Back in the ring, White caught Sydal with a stunner in the ropes. White suplexed Sydal face first into the ring apron. After a split-screen break, White worked over Sydal with a chinlock. Sydal came back with a knee strike and a leg lariat. Sydal hit a series of kicks on White for a near fall. Sydal missed a move off the top, but countered a powerbomb attempt with a DDT for a near fall.

Sydal caught White with a roll up for a near fall. White hit a uranage for a near fall. White went for a sleeper suplex, but Sydal flipped through it and landed on his feet. Sydal took White down with a poisoned rana. Sydal came off the top looking for a metetora, but White stepped back and took out Sydal with the Blade Runner and got the pinfall. White really needed a squash here after getting dominated by Billy Gunn last week."

COLLISION -- April 13

House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) defeated Action Andretti, Dante Martin & Matt Sydal

"After some time on the back foot, Andretti got a tag out to Sydal, who ran wild on the House for a short period before Matthews dropped him across Black’s knees with a powerbomb. After a commercial, Sydal made his way to the corner and tagged Martin. Martin ran wild on Black, ducking a kick from Black and hitting a Pele Kick for a nearfall. Black sent Martin flying with a rising knee, where Andretti tagged in.

Andretti took Matthews out with a dive, but Black landed a moonsault to the floor. Black hammered Andretti with a kick. The House set up Dante’s Inferno, but the flyers hit triple superkicks. All aboard the Move Train, the last stop being Martin breaking up a King pin with a frog splash. Andretti hit a springboard 450 splash, but King kicked out at one. King caught Sydal on a Meteora attempt and crushed him in the corner. The House hit a triple-team corner attack to win, with King scoring the pin over Sydal."

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Lee Moriarty (w/ Shane Taylor & Anthony Ogogo)

"Shibata walked into Moriarty’s chops before drilling him with a forearm. Shibata chopped Moriarty to the mat before hitting a hesitation dropkick in the corner. Ogogo was back on commentary and corrected Schiavone when he brought up his interference – it was a left hook he hit Shibata with, not a jab. The two men traded boots until Shibata countered the Fang with a ripcord slap. Shibata then hit the Penalty Kick for the pin and the win. Shane Taylor attacked Shibata after the match, bringing out his opponent for Battle of the Belts tonight, Hook. Hook dropped Moriarty with a suplex before Taylor left the ring."

Daniel Garcia defeated Angelico (w/ Serpentico)

"I’m enjoying seeing Garcia work solid matches like this every week. It’s reminiscent of Bret Hart having solid, quality TV matches as he rose up the card. Angelico caught an early advantage with a high kick and a La Magistral cradle for a nearfall. Garcia countered an Angelico submission attempt with a Figure Four, which turns into a Boo/Yay sequence as both men reversed the pressure on the hold. They rolled into the ropes before Angelico popped Garcia with a right hand. Garcia hit a neckbreaker as he favored his knee. Garcia fired up with the ten punches in the corner before hitting a back suplex. Garcia locked on a leg lace submission to score the tap out win."

AEW Women's World Title Eliminator Match - Toni Storm (c) (w/ Mariah May & Luther) defeated AZM (w/ Anna Jay)

"Storm said that she would give her opponent tonight AZM a beating that would be seen in fetish magazines all over the world. I couldn’t make that up if I tried. [...] The best Timeless Toni match to date and a fantastic debut for AZM. The announcers noted AZM’s stats, noting her 450+ day reign as STARDOM High Speed Champion and that she started wrestling at age 11. [...] AZM got some chants after a speedy opening exchange that saw her lay out Storm with running kicks. Storm cut AZM off on the apron and sent her flying with a hip attack. May and Jay got into a brawl on the floor that took them to the back. AZM booted Storm from the apron as we went to a commercial.

Storm taunted AZM as we came back from break, with AZM fighting back with forearms. Storm landed a headbutt, but AZM came back with La Mistica and a head kick. AZM hit a leg-trap German suplex as the crowd chanted for both women. AZM drilled Storm with a top rope double stomp for a nearfall. Storm snatched AZM up with a Tree Slam with a nearfall. AZM caught Storm with a flash pin for a nearfall before Storm dumped her on her head with a German suplex. Storm hit the hip attack and the Storm Zero for the win."

"Tony Schiavone welcomed Thunder Rosa to the stage. Rosa thanked the fans for making her comeback so special and for making AEW what it is today. Rosa told Deonna Purrazzo that she didn’t need her help to win the Women’s Title. She didn’t need help to get her degree, earn her citizenship, or win the title the first time. She thought that Toni Storm was like her, but she’s lost her mind. A part of her died when she had to vacate the title, but she would break every bone in her body to get it back for her people. She told Storm to kiss her clone goodbye because she was going to drag her soul to hell."

Production got weird -- dare I say lazy? -- with some of the non-wrestling segments this show. For example at one point they cut from an interview segment involving Lexy Nair to a backstage segment with Athena, Billie Starkz... and Lexy Nair? Did the girl teleport? And now with this Rosa segment, she hasn't even finished getting off camera before Schiavone throws to a pre-recorded segment where Deonna Purrazzo reacts to her comments... like, am I supposed to believe Deonna had a camera crew standing by? Little things damage the viewer's immersion, I think. Rosa's promo seems good but rushed. She started off pure babyface by thanking the fans and saying how much their support means, and ended by talking about death and dragging Mariah to hell? These swings in attitude deserve a little more time to develop.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli) defeated The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs)

"What a main event. These four guys went hell-for-leather for the better part of twenty minutes, making for an exciting and fantastic main event for Collision. This is everything I want wrestling to be, just four dudes going out and beating the hell out of each other. Fletcher & Hobbs may not have won the match, but with the help of Takeshita, their mission of hurting Danielson ahead of Dynasty was accomplished. A must-watch match."

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY... BATTLE OF THE BELTS X

FTW Championship Match – HOOK (c) defeated Shane Taylor to retain

"A good David vs. Goliath match, with the crowd behind Hook the whole way. Hook fired off with body shots, but couldn’t get Taylor up for a suplex to start off. [...] Hook hit a running knee off the apron and pummeled Taylor with punches on the floor. Back in the ring, Taylor caught Hook with a jab and body punches. Taylor laid in chops to Hook while talking trash, but Hook came back with body shots. Taylor shrugged off another suplex attempt and hammered Hook with a liver shot. Taylor talked more trash as he dumped Hook on the ropes with a gourdbuster.

After a commercial break, Taylor landed a leg drop on the apron before throwing more punches in the corner. Hook egged on Taylor to bring more shots, which Taylor obliged. Taylor threatened to send Hook back to his father in a bodybag, but Hook evaded a corner splash and fired up with strikes. Hook finally got Taylor up and over with a German suplex before following with an Exploder for a nearfall. Taylor caught Hook with a uranage before landing a big splash for a nearfall. Hook ducked a pair of shots before locking on Redrum. Taylor rammed Hook into the corner and dropped to his back, but Hook kept the hold on and got the win."

Call me a contrarian, but I was actually hoping Hook would lose, for a few reasons: (1) Tony Khan could do worse at the moment than booking a title change on a TV episode, and the FTW title being a rogue title anyway, it would be a good opportunity. Taylor seems like exactly the sort of guy to hold a "Fuck The World" belt and back it up. (2) Like it or not, this angle between Hook and Jericho is getting attention on TV, so losing here would free up the youngster to have bigger feuds and chase a new title, and (3) we could freshen up the FTW title if someone goes and defends it on ROH or on the indies.

AEW International Title Eliminator Match – Roderick Strong (c) (w/ The Kingdom & Wardlow) defeated Rocky Romero

"Strong worked a cravate to start, with Romero fighting out by going after the arm. Strong booted Romero and went to send him to the floor, but Romero held onto the ropes and baited Strong to the floor. Romero hit a kick off of the apron as we went to a commercial. Romero fired up with strikes after the commercial break, hitting Strong with a rewind kick. Taven went to cut off Romero, leading to Romero hitting him and Strong with dives. Romero hit a running Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Strong took some strikes in the corner before firing out of the corner with chops and a Sick Kick for a nearfall. Strong set up for a gutbuster, but Romero reversed into a DDT before hitting a satellite DDT for a nearfall.

Strong set Romero on the top rope, but Romero caught Strong with a top rope Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Romero went to the top rope, but Strong drilled him with a jumping knee out of the air to score the win. After the match, Kyle O’Reilly congratulated Strong before helping Romero up to his feet. Wardlow drilled Romero with a lariat before the Kingdom laid the boots to him. O’Reilly pulled them away from Romero, only for Strong to drill O’Reilly with a knee. He shouted at O’Reilly that he made the wrong choice of not joining up with the Kingdom."

The only real surprise here was how quickly this happened, I thought Roddy was going to build up some more resentment as Kyle got babyface attention from the crowd until it exploded sometime after the Dynasty PPV. Instead we get an immediate announcement that Kyle will challenge for Roddy's title in 10 days? Was there no other plan for the title in place?

ROH Women's World Championship Match – Athena (c) (w/Billie Starkz) defeated Red Velvet to retain

"Athena and Velvet fought on the apron, where Athena dumped Velvet onto the turnbuckle before dropping her on the apron as we went to a commercial. [...] Athena countered a wheelbarrow with a slam for a nearfall. Velvet cut off an ascending Athena with a head kick before bringing her down with a wheelbarrow suplex. Velvet hit a hurricane kick and a satellite DDT for a nearfall. Velvet went to the top rope, but Athena rolled to the floor. Velvet dived onto Athena, who caught her with one arm and slammed her with a Falcon Arrow. Velvet fired up but Athena booted her down.

Athena grabbed Velvet by the hair and sent her into the LED boards on the apron. Velvet caught Athena with a roll-up, but Athena kicked out and laid out Velvet with a forearm. Athena went to the top rope and hit the O-Face to score the win. After the match, Athena and Starkz beat down Velvet and went to hit her with the belt, but Queen Aminata came to make the save. She headbutted Starkz and hit an Air Raid Crash on Athena to run them off.

This was a fine main event. Velvet continued to look good as an enhancement talent while Athena gets a spotlight win on TV. Aminata has gotten some spotlight on both Ring of Honor and AEW TV lately, plus she got screwed by Starkz for the TV Title at Supercard of Honor, so her stepping up to Athena makes sense for a logical next challenger."

Hell yeah, I am prepared for Aminata vs. Athena in ROH, possibly in preparation for Athena to move to AEW and be another Mercedes Moné opponent.

posted by The Pluto Gangsta