AEW Collision: August 10, 2024 (& Rampage, August 9)

August 11, 2024 7:08 PM - Season 2, Episode 9

Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo give the Texas crowd a bloody bullrope match. The Outrunners nearly steal the show from FTR. Rush turns on a friend, Swerve Strickland faces a surprising challenger. Christian Cage almost goes an entire show without being an asshole.

RAMPAGE - August 9

Darby Allin defeated The Butcher

Wheeler Yuta defeated Rocky “Azucar” Romero

"Lots of matwork to start. Both guys exchanged side headlocks until Yuta caught Romero with a backdrop suplex. Yuta backed Romero into the corner for some chops, but Romero fired back. Yuta sidestepped a charge from Romero to send him to the floor, then followed up with a tope suicida. During the commercial break, Yuta caught a sliced bread #2 on the floor. Back in the ring, Romero worked a chinlock as Swerve Strickland was shown watching from the back. Romero hit the forever clothclines until Yuta came out of the corner and took Romero out with a lariat. After both guys exchanged chops, Yuta hit a reverse atomic drop and an enziguri.

Yuta went to the top rope, but Romero cut him off. Romero hit a top rope hurricanrana, then hit a Sliced Bread inside the ring for two. Romero tried it again, but Yuta countered with a cross legged tombstone piledriver. Romeo is dead, and after the hammer and tong elbows, Yuta locked in Cattle Mutilation for the submission. Great showcase for Yuta."

Private Party defeated Dave Dawson & Zane Dawson

Dustin Rhodes, who is already one-third of the Ring Of Honor 6-Man champs, decided he and Sammy Guevara will challenge Matt Taven and Mike Bennett for the ROH Tag Team Titles as well. Taven & Bennett responded to this by hitting him in the nuts.

Saraya (w/ Harley Cameron) defeated Nyla Rose

"Saraya attacked Rose from behind as she was distracted by Cameron and she fell to the floor. Back in the ring. Saraya went for a sleeper but Rose shrugged her off. Saraya worked over Rose with some forearms in the corner, but Rose reversed it into some body shots. Saraya dropped to the floor. Rose followed her out, and Saraya tied her up in the ring apron to take control. After a long commercial, Saraya tried for a sunset flip, but Rose sat on her for a near fall. Rose hit a clothesline, a side suplex and a senton. Rose went for a splash, but Saraya got her knees up. Saraya hit a knee strike and the Nightcap for a near fall. Cameron called for the “Turn the Paige” and Saraya shouted “That’s not what it’s called anymore!” Rose came back with a thrust kick for a near fall. Rose and Saraya took each other out with a double clothesline.

Rose hit a chokeslam, but Cameron got on the apron to distract the ref. This drew Rose to the outside. Saraya tried to sneak up behind Rose, but she caught Saraya with a forearm. Rose tried to suplex Saraya back into the ring, but Cameron swept Rose’s legs and Saraya fell on top of Rose. Cameron held onto Rose’s legs and Saraya got the pinfall. The Warrior/Rude finish from WrestleMania V! Love it!"

I wouldn't say that I'm pro-Saraya, but I am definitely pro-Saraya-should-not-be-portrayed-like-a-dummy-anymore, and this match is a good step in that direction. Let Harley capably handle the comedy heel shenanigans and go back to treating Saraya as legit threat and former champion who cheats because of insecurity, and from there you can move into deadly-serious heeldom or correct back into tweener if needed.

COLLISION - August 10

Darby Allin & Hologram defeated The Premier Athletes (Josh Woods & Tony Nese) (w/Mark Sterling & Ariya Daivari)

"An energetic opener here, with the crowd firmly behind Hologram as he teamed with another red-hot babyface in Darby Allin. The Athletes are an effective undercard team, with Sterling’s schtick consistently getting the desired reactions."

Until Hologram made his actual debut, I was 70% sure it was going to be Ricochet debuting under a new name. Later I learned that Hologram used to go by Aramis, and had already been scouted by Tony Khan in early 2020 to come to AEW as an original character before the pandemic messed that up. Aramis later signed to Lucha AAA, so TK waited for his contract to be up and kept the concept in his pocket for the day.

Texas Bull Rope Match – Thunder Rosa defeated Deonna Purrazzo

"This was the best match between these two, as they brought the violence to this blowoff match. Rosa came out a house of fire, sending Purrazzo to the floor and into the stairs. Rosa hit a backstabber, but Purrazzo cut Rosa off on the ropes. The two got into a tug of war around the ring post, which Purrazzo won by pulling Rosa into the post. Purrazzo followed with a straight shot with the cowbell to cut Rosa open as we went to a commercial.

After the break, a crimson Rosa yanked Purrazzo off of the top rope into a pile of chairs for a nearfall. Rosa stuck a chair into the corner and threw Purrazzo head-first into it before dropkicking the chair into her face right after. Purrazzo got cut open by the chair shots and cut Rosa off on the top rope. She repeatedly sent a chair into Rosa’s ribs before hitting a shoulder tackle. Purrazzo hit a Gotch-Style piledriver for a nearfall. Purrazzo sat Rosa on a table and hit her with the rope, but Rosa cut her off and sent Purrazzo through the table with a bulldog. Rosa hit the Tijuana Bomb to score the win and finally get her win over Purrazzo."

I am shocked that (a) this match -- which was practically guaranteed to get bloody -- got put on before 9PM, and that (b) this somehow wasn't the main event, which only happened because there were multiple women's wrestling storylines to attend to -- YAY! -- but also raised expectations for the trios match at the end.

FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)

Unfortunately I can't locate (yet) on YouTube the promo video used for the Outrunners, which reminded me of WWE's Saturday Morning Slam from back in the day. So I'll just link here the playlist from the late lamented Southpaw Regional Wrestling, which evinces a similar vibe.

In a backstage segment with Lexy Nair, Kip Sabian confronted Nick Wayne again and got a match for next Rampage. In a video segment, MJF taunted Will Ospreay and promised that he would beat up another of his friends, Michael Oku, when he goes to Revolution Pro Wrestling in London.

I'm not a fan of this rebranding of the International Championship to the "American" Championship, and I hope that it ends when MJF eventually loses that belt, but I am greatly in favor of MJF's vanity causing him to travel the world and have matches outside of North America, with other promotions -- which was the original purpose of the International belt, IIRC! Also, by challenging each of Ospreay's friends, he is secretly building a list of UK-and-former-colonies whose wrestlers he's beating. After Oku he'll need to fight an Irishman, a Welshman and a Scot, please.

Rush defeated Preston Vance

"Rush and Vance raised fists as former stablemates before Rush hammered Vance with a forearm. Rush sent Vance into the barricade and bit him. Vance came up bloody but came back with a spear and the Brodie Lee discus lariat for a nearfall. Vance went for The Bull’s Horns, but Rush tossed Vance into the corner before drilling him with The Bull’s Horns for the emphatic win. In the back, Callis looked pleased. Rush hit Vance with another Bull’s Horns before getting pulled away by the referee corps."

I guess 'El Perro Peligroso' is dead now, huh? Who'd have thought Stu Grayson got the better deal in the downsizing of the Dark order?

AEW World Championship Open Challenge Eliminator Match – Swerve Strickland (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

"A match that wouldn’t have been out of place in the G1. I’m so impressed by how Strickland has elevated himself to feel like a top-line name in AEW, alongside the Moxley’s and the Omega’s. The mood changes when he enters the room, and it’s a credit to himself and AEW that he has that feeling. A great television match here."

I suppose the greatest thing about this match is it got me hopeful for an eventual Ishii title run.

Speaking of Ishii, Kris Statlander accepted Willow Nightingale's challenge for a Wembley Stadium All In pre-show match, with Willow and Ishii vs. Statlander and Stokely Hathaway. Stokely looked none-too-pleased about this.

Hikaru Shida defeated Aleah James... quickly. Later in the episode she said she was still looking for a fight and challenged Mercedes Moné.

Bryan Danielson Sit-Down Interview with Jim Ross

"The most significant tidbit from this interview is Danielson noting that he’s likely going to need another neck surgery before the end of the year. That puts the result of the Wembley main event in doubt, with the possibility of Danielson putting the next major star of the promotion over before hanging up the boots."

...unlike that selfish jackass Sting, who wouldn't put over anyone even on his way out lol. But seriously, incredible to remember that these men go back two decades, when Danielson was fresh off Ring of Honor and JR was a talent-relations guy under Vince McMahon.

AEW World Trios Title #1 Contender Match (with special referee Christian Cage) – House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) vs. Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Juice Robinson) ended in a draw

"Matthews got in Cage’s face after he got taken out by Cage several weeks ago, but King told Matthews to focus on the match. Robinson worked over Matthews after a commercial break, with Matthews fighting off all three of his opponents on their side of the ring to get a tag. Unfortunately, referee Cage didn’t see the tag and forced King back on the apron. Matthews fought to his corner again as the crowd chanted that the ref sucked. [...] After the commercial, Colten and Robinson ran wild, with Robinson getting a nearfall on King with a senton. The House got the advantage, with Black hitting a double stomp and King hitting a lariat on Colton for a nearfall. King shrugged off Austin’s shots and laid him out with a forearm. With Colten on the outside, Austin and Robinson hit the 3:10 To Yuma on King for a nearfall. The match broke down into a Pier Six brawl before all six men were laid out.

Referee Cage, who called the match down the middle up to this point, laid in a standing ten count to all six men. At the count of nine, Matthews got to his feet. Cage speared him, then counted to ten for the double knockout draw. Killswitch & Nick Wayne hit the ring with chairs to destroy all six men. Wayne hit Austin Gunn with Wayne’s World on the floor. Cage hit a Con-chair-to to the knee of Matthews. Killswitch laid out Colten with a chokeslam onto a chair. Cage hit Black with a Killswitch – the move, not the wrestler – onto a chair. The Patriarchy stood tall with their belts as the show came to a close. This was a solid main event, as the guest ref shenanigans were saved for the end of the match. With both teams getting laid out by the Patriarchy, I expect this will lead to a three-way match at Wembley. However, with Nick Wayne having a side feud with Brit Kip Sabian, it makes me wonder if he will find his way into the Wembley match with a pair of partners."

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (1 comment total)

Update on MJF taking on Ospreay's old frenemy Michael Oku at a RevPro show on the same night Collision aired.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:52 PM on August 12