AEW Collision: March 16, 2024 (& Rampage March 15)

March 17, 2024 7:20 PM - Season 1, Episode 39

Tonight on Collision: Bryan Danielson finds a Japanese legend he hasn't wrestled yet, Kyle O’Reilly returns to in-ring action, the entire Infantry gets television time, and apparently Mick Foley coached Adam Copeland on grievous bodily harm.

(Post match write-up in quotes is from Wrestling Observer, italics is me)

RAMPAGE -- March 15

The Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Orange Cassidy w/ Chuck Taylor) defeated The Dark Order's Evil Uno & John Silver

"The two guys from Dark Order, who have been a team since literally the first AEW show, are, according to Excalibur, going to “play spoiler” to Trent & Cassidy, who started teaming last week. I mean I know it’s not THIS iteration of the Dark Order that debuted 5 years ago but I still kinda feel the Dark Order should be the favorites here."

If Dark Order can't get a win as faces or heels, are they just high-profile jobbers now? Does Tony Khan not know that even comedy heels need to win every once in a while for the audience to care? I'm hoping that Hangman's heel turn means that he rejoins with Dark Order and leads them someplace but at this point I'm not banking on it.

Mariah May (as Toni Storm Classic) & “Timeless” Toni Storm (w/ Luther) vs. Kayla Sparks & Little Mean Kathleen

"After the match, Deonna Purrazzo came out with her new tag team partner… Thunder Rosa. “She’s back!” exclaimed Jericho, who I guess doesn’t watch Collision. Rosa and Purrazzo ran Toni and May off."

Delighted to see LMK get some TV time. She's my favorite partner for Nick Gage (sorry Maki Itoh, LMK all fucking day.) As Rosa will explain on Collision, the title Toni Storm is holding is a title Rosa never officially lost, only relinquished after a back injury.

Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)

Queen Aminata and Serena Deeb both cut separate promos, with Aminata looking for the Ring of Honor Women’s TV title, and Deeb just wants a championship.

Roderick Strong, Mike Bennett & Matt Taven defeated Top Flight & Action Andretti

COLLISION -- March 16

Bryan Danielson defeated Katsuyori Shibata

"An unbelievably great match. Easily the best match of Shibata’s career post-injury, as this was the first time he had the feeling and the aura of the Shibata of old. What else can be said about Bryan Danielson? He’s had an all-time great career, and this may just be the best run of his life so far. This was a MUST-SEE match."

AEW TBS Championship Open House Match – Julia Hart (c) defeated Trish Adora to retain

"Adora caught Hart in a double-arm submission, doing the splits on top of Hart to get a reaction from the crowd. Adora locked on another wild-looking submission before Hart escaped to the floor, where she sent Adora into the steps and into the barricade. After a commercial, Adora fired up with strikes and a bodyslam into the knee for a nearfall. Hart evaded a couple of charges and hit a pair of charges into the corner. Hart went for the Hartless submission, but Adora turned it into a pin cover for a nearfall. Hart laid in more shots before hitting the moonsault to score the win and retain the title."

This is so minor, but I'm a believer in storytelling even through gear psychology: I'm glad Julia's wearing her red-and-black gear with the broken heart motif rather than the generic black she had when tag teaming with Skye Blue. For me, everything about House Of Black should either be straight-ahead gothic horror or have the aura of comic-book melodrama (see later this very episode).

Daniel Garcia defeated Lee Moriarty (w/ Shane Taylor)

Strange that on an episode featuring the entire House Of Black and Daniel Garcia, that they never crossed paths, given that Garcia holds victories over Brody King and Buddy Matthews recently and was being presented as someone who possibly had Malakai Black's number as well.

PAC defeated Aaron Solo

"After the match, PAC reiterated his statement that he was back for trouble. Solo wasn’t who he had in mind, so PAC asked Tony Khan to find him some trouble before he found some himself."

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Lance Archer ended in a no contest

"The two big men traded shoulder blocks as the crowd chanted BEEF. McGuinness brought up Castagnoli’s bodyslam of Paul Wight over the top rope back at Wrestlemania 30, although he didn’t mention the show of course. [...] Castagnoli loaded up Archer for the Giant Swing, but The Righteous came out and attacked Castagnoli to cause the disqualification. Bryan Danielson came out to help, but The Righteous quickly hit him with Autumn Sunshine to take him down. Katsuyori Shibata came out with a chair to even the odds and run off Archer and the Righteous. [...] A fun battle of the big men before the rare run-in DQ from the re-introduced Righteous, setting up an interesting trios scenario for down the line."

Kyle O’Reilly defeated Bryan Keith

"This won’t make any match of the year lists, but I adore how this match was worked. O’Reilly allowed his injuries and the long layoff to get in his head early on but overcame them to beat a game Bryan Keith here. Credit to both men for the effort here, as Keith was the right opponent to highlight and match O’Reilly’s strengths. [...] Roderick Strong & The Kingdom came out to celebrate with O’Reilly, with the Kingdom lifting O’Reilly onto their shoulders."

AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Wild Card Match – The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defeated House Of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) (w/ Julia Hart)

"This was less about the tag team tournament and more about keeping the flame lit on the Briscoe/House of Black feud. The Infantry got their asses kicked but will get a chance to impress more next week against FTR. Matthews got in the ring and hit a curb stomp on Dean but pulled him up at the count of two. Hart wanted Matthews to do more damage, so Matthews went to the top rope. But as the referee dealt with Hart on the apron, Mark Briscoe came out and hit Matthews with a chair. As King chased Briscoe away, Dean rolled on top of Matthews to score the shock win. Malakai Black came out, unhappy at his team taking the loss."

It's about time that Malakai Black started caring about wins and losses. Perhaps he'll turn some of that ire onto Buddy Matthews, who literally had the match won until he decided to showboat. The Infantry occupy this great middle-ground: they are so good for high spots and leaping maneuvers, you forget that they actually are big strong lads to boot. Next week they'll probably lose, but their style will again be a good contrast with FTR's "no flips just fists" purism.

Adam Copeland Speaks

"While he was laid up, Copeland got a call from someone in his past who reminded him of who he was. He took a page out of their book, and while this wasn’t Barbie or Janice, this would work just fine. He opened the box to reveal a 2x4 with nails stuck to the end of it that he called Spike. The phone call from “Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy” worked because he remembered who he was. He and Spike were going to change Christian Cage, taking away his pride and his ego. He was going to make Cage say I Quit, and 40 years of history would come to an end in their hometown."

posted by The Pluto Gangsta