AEW Collision: May 25, 2024 (& Rampage 5/23)

May 26, 2024 9:03 AM - Season 1, Episode 47

It's the final AEW "go-home show" before Double Or Nothing, and the spotlight on both Rampage and Collision is on TBS Champion Willow Nightingale. Lots of tag matches on these two nights, and oh yeah HIROSHI TANAHASHI IS HERE!

RAMPAGE -- May 24

"The Bastard" PAC defeated Rocky “Azucar” Romero

Chris Jericho cut a promo from the desk about his three way match at Double or Nothing. Katsuyori Shibata ran out for the back, but Big Bill cut him off. Hook’s came up from behind Jericho and pulled him into the crowd, and they brawled to the back.

Samoa Joe defeated Dom Kubrick

Rush defeated Isiah Kassidy

"Rush hit the shotgun dropkick right away. He could have pinned Kassidy, but instead kicked him to the floor and whipped him into the steel barricades around ringside. Rick Knox did his usual bang-up job of enforcing the rules, allowing Rush to whip Kassidy and choke him with a power cable. Rush continued to dominate Kassidy during the split-screen break.

After the commercial break, Kassidy got some offense in and hit some kind of neckbreaker for a near fall. Kassidy hit a senton for another near fall, and Rush cut off the comeback with a headbutt. They took the fight to the ring apron and exchanged chops until Rush caught Cassidy with a belly to belly suplex that sent him to the floor. Back in the ring, Rush hit the diving shotgun dropkick for the pinfall. Rush barely gave Kassidy anything."

Willow Nightingale & Kris Statlander (w/ Stokley Hathaway) defeated Anna Jay & Alex Windsor

"Nightingale caught Windsor with a pounce early. Anna Jay got the tag and Statlander dropped her with a back suplex. Jay caught Statlander with a neckbreaker in the ropes. The fight went to the floor, where Jay sent Statlander into the ring steps. After a split-screen break, Windsor controlled Statlander with a cravat. Statlander got the hot tag to Nightingale, who caught Jay with a shotgun dropkick off the middle rope. Nightingale missed the cannonball in the corner, and Windsor caught her with a Shining Wizard for a near fall. Nightingale caught Windsor with a stiff clothesline, then finished her off with the gutwrench powerbomb for the pinfall.

Nightingale’s celebration was cut short by Mercedes Moné who kicked off her shoes and ran to the rign to brawl with Nightingale and Statlander. Moné tried to hit her new finisher (called the "Moné Maker") which looked ridiculous for her to try on Statlander who was so much bigger than her. Eventually the gaggle of officials came out to break up the right. Moné celebrated in the ring with the TBS title."

COLLISION -- May 25

"Five years to the day of his AEW debut, IWGP World Champion Jon Moxley is here to celebrate the five year anniversary of AEW. Before he could say anything, Don Callis came out to interrupt. Callus wanted to review his history their history together. The crowd is booing Moxley but it doesn’t sound very good. Callis mentioned the “24 stitches” that Moxley put in Callis’s head, and the crowd chanted “One More Time!” Callis made a pitch for Moxley to join the Don Callis Family, since they’re both “high functioning sociopaths.” Moxley was up for it, but only if he could put 24 more stitches in Callis’s head. of course, this was all just a set up for Takeshita to jump Moxley from behind. Takeshita “Pillmanized” Moxley’s left arm. The other members of the Blackpool Combat Club run in to chase Callis and Takeshita away."

Claudio Castagnoli & Daniel Garcia & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Lance Archer & The Righteous

"Castagnoli got Dutch up for a slam early on. Through most of the split screen break, Garica took a beating from Archer and the Righteous. Garica caught Vincent with a backdrop suplex and got the tag to Tanahashi, who the crowd went suitably nuts for. Tanahashi hit Archer with a flying forearm, but Archer came back with a cross body block. Garcia escaped a chokeslam from Archer, and pulled him to the floor with a guillotine choke. Castignoli got Dutch up for the Giant Swing, but Archer broke that up (which the crowd did not like). Castignoli got Archer up for a suplex. Tanahasi went to the top rope, but Archer caught him with a knee. The Righteous took him out with a double team cutter. Everyone started brawling on the floor, leaving Tanahashi in the ring with Vincent. Tanahashi took Vincent down with a Slingblade, then finished him off with the High Fly Flow. After the match, Tanahashi and Garica celebrated with Garcia’s signature dance."

If your girl got dyed blonde hair...
If your girl got big naturals...
If your girl can hit that High Fly Flow...
Then that ain't your girl, that's "The Ace" Tanahashi!

The Elite have gone full "campaign season attack ad" with their new hilariously self-serving, deceptively-edited promo for Anarchy In The Arena.

The Lucha Bros (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated The Gunn Club

"The Lucha Bros brought their kids to the ring with them. Or maybe they’re minis. This was the Lucha Bros first tag match since WrestleDream in 2023. By virtue of winning this match, the trios match between Death Triangle and the Bang Bang Gang will be for the World Trios Titles. The match started with a fast series of offensive exchanges by both teams. The Gunns avoided a pair of superkicks on the floor (after trying to escape the match by climbing under the ring). Back in the ring, Colton got Penta up for a suplex for a near fall.

After the split-screen break, Penta caught Colton with a superkick, and got the tag to Rey Fenix, who hit both Gunns with a springboard crossbody. Fenx took Austin down with a tijeras, and hit Colton with a big splash for a near fall. Austin crotched Fenix on the top rope, and Austin hit the Famouser for a near fall. The Gunns tried to set up the 3:10 to Yuma, but Fenix escaped. The Lucha Bros dumped Colton, and then hit the Fear Factor on Austin for the three count."

A great match, but such a weird way to set-up for tomorrow. Did they expect me to believe Fenix returned and a trios match made for Double Or Nothing, but that somehow it wouldn't be for the trios titles? Then again, this goes to my overall objection to "qualifier matches" in the first place. Sometimes AEW remembers they have a ranking system and "wins and losses matter" and sometimes it wants to me conveniently forget.

Kyle O’Reilly defeated KM

Willow Nightingale was out for some promo time. Nightingale was not happy about Moné touching her TBS Championship on Rampage last night, and promised to wreck Mercedes tomorrow night. Nightingale cut a fired up promo and the crowd was really behind her.

Willow is definitely cutting better promos then Mercedes, which is weird considering how much more camera experience the former Sasha Banks has. It's almost as if she used to work for a company that controlled and tightly scripted the words she said and now she flounders a little bit...

Four Corners Tag Match: Buddy Matthews & Brody King def. The Infantry (w/ Trish Adora), The Gates of Agony (w/ Brian Cage) and The Acclaimed (w/ Billy Gunn)

"Max Caster and Charlie Bravo started out by exchanging fast pinfall attempts. Tags were made to Brody King and Toa Leona, and that woke the crowd up. They exchanged forearms while the crowd chanted “Meat! Meat! Meat!” Other men in the match would try to break it up, and get knocked out of the ring for their troubles. Lenoa tried to run the ropes, but Murphy low-bridged him. Leona and six other guys started fighting on the floor, and Brody King flew through the ropes at them with a tope. Crazy.

After a commercial break, things have settled down with Buddy Matthews wearing out Max Caster with a chinlock. Caster came back with a superkick, the Infantry came in and hit Matthews with a superkick. Brody King came in and got a triple superkick. Lenoa took out both members of the Infantry with a crossbody. Leona hit King with an avalanche in the corner. Kaun hit a shotgun dropkick on Matthews. The Infantry tried to get something going again, and got cut off by King.

The story of the match kept going back to Kaun and King squaring off. Kaun caught King with a Samoan Drop. The Infantry took four guys out on the floor with top rope crossbody blocks. Back in the ring, they tried to suplex King, but he blocked it. Murphy and King took out the Infantry again while The Acclaimed and Gates of Agony brawled to the black. King and Matthews finished off one of the Infantry with a cannonball/sliding dropkick combination in the corner."

Mariah May defeated Leyla Hirsch

"Nigel was on a roll on commentary tonight. At the outset of the match, he wondered if Hirsch moving from Moscow to New Jersey at 8 years old was an upgrade. May rubbed Hirsch’s face in her bosom, then drop her with a Samona Drop and a shotgun dropkick. After a split-screen break, Hirsch was in control while the crowd chanted “She’s Legit!” for Hirsch. Hirsch missed a moonsault, and May came back with clotheslines and a backdrop suplex.

May hit a shotgun dropkick off the top for a near fall. May took Hirsch down out of the corner with a handstand lariat. May went for a hip attack, but Hirsch avoided it and hit a German suplex. May hit a headbutt and running knee to get the pinfall. Nigel gave Mariah a one man standing ovation after the match."

Bryan Danielson & FTR defeated Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh

"Danielson and Jarrett had a pretty good exchange in the open, while both Tony and Nigel noted that Danielson had never beaten Jarrett. Cash Wheeler was the victim of the heat segment during the commercial break. Wheeler kicked out of a figure-four attempt from Jarrett and got the tag to Dax Harwood. Harwood caught Lethal with a small package for a near fall. Singh caught Harwood from behind with a chop, setting him up for a Lethal Combination from Jay.

Singh got the tag, grabbed Harwood by the throat and dropped him repeatedly to the mat. While his teammates watched from chairs, Singh wore down Harwood with a claw and dumped Wheeler to the floor. Singh missed a charge in the corner, and tags were made to Danielson and Jarrett. Jarrett and Danielson stole the show with their next exchange. Daneislon hit a pair of corner dropkicks and took Jarrett down for the LeBell Lock, but Lethal broke that up. Danielson and Wheeler took out Lethal and Jarrett with dives. On the other side of the ring, Harwood sent Singh into the ringpost.

Back in the ring, Danielson and FTR triple-teamed Singh with kicks. FTR gave Singh the “FTR Trigger” and Danielson followed up with the Busaiku Knee. Lethal hit both members of FTR with the Lethal Injection, but Danielson took him out with a clothesline. Karen Jarrett tried to give Jeff his guitar, but Aubrey Edwards cut her off. This was just a distraction so Sonjay Dutt could slide Jarrett a chair. Jarrett swung the chair at Danielson, who ducked and Jarrett caught Singh with the chair instead. Danielson nailed Jarrett with a Busaiku Knee, and FTR finished off Lethal with the Shatter Machine so Danielson could pin Jarrett. Really fun main event.

After the match, Cash Wheeler cut a fired up promo about the virtues of AEW. “Wrestling is better off because of AEW!” They may be limping into Double or Nothing, but they’ll be the only four guys walking out of the match. Dax Harwood cut his own fired up promo about fighting for AEW and the fans of AEW."

posted by The Pluto Gangsta