AEW Collision: October 5, 2024 (& Rampage October 4)

October 5, 2024 9:06 PM - Season 2, Episode 17

Darby Allin finds his WrestleDream opponent, Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander are... both faces now(?), the battle for the soul of Wheeler Yuta continues, and the contenders for the Young Bucks tag titles all face off in a three-way.

RAMPAGE - October 4

Katsuyori Shibata & Private Party defeated The Young Bucks & Jack Perry

"Nothing like loading up a show with star power after it’s been canceled. [...] Fun party match. Top Flight v. House of Black v. Private Party for the title shot at WrestleDream will happen on Collision tomorrow night."

"Renee Paquette interviewed Kris Statlander, who called herself a “born again Kristin.” She started to put herself over, but was interrupted by Kamille, who shoulder-checked her on the way to her match."

Kamille (w/ Mercedes Moné) defeated Zoey Lynn

I had said in this week's Dynamite FF thread that Mercedes needs a "Bayley"-type to push against. Willow would have been good for the role, but if she's tied up in a title hunt (see below) and we have to turn Kris back to babyface to get there, then so be it. At least running her against Kamille first makes perfect sense, as Mercedes' enforcer is legit a bigger, stronger blonde. Kris will have to ditch Stokely for this to work, right?

Queen Aminata defeated Harley Cameron

"After a long commercial break, Cameron hit a sliding knee on Aminata for a near fall. Cameron sent Aminata to the floor with an axe kick. Back in the ring, Aminata hit a snap suplex and a lariat for a near fall. Cameron avoided a second sliding kick in the corner. Cameron countered an air raid crash with a cradle, but Aminata came back with a tilt-a-whirl neckbreaker, then hit the Queen’s Crown (a headbutt) for the pinfall. After the match, Serena Deeb jumped Aminata from behind, but Britt Baker (in a “Brittsburgh” football jersey) ran in with a chair to save Aminata."

Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Big Bill & Bryan Keith

"“Too Much Man” is on Bill’s tights, and I hope that is sticking as a secondary nickname for Bill. [...] After the break, O’Reilly went for an ankle lock, but Keith escaped and got a german suplex on O’Reilly. Bill got the tag and squashed both Cassidy and O’Reilly with avalanches. Bill hit a spinning Boss Man Slam on Cassidy. Keith hit a knee strike on Cassidy for a near fall. Keith went for the Diamond Dust in the corner, but Cassidy escaped. Cassidy went for a spinning DDT on Bill, but needed help from O’Reilly to finish the move. Cassidy hit a spinning DDT on Keith to get a near fall.

Keith hit Cassidy with an avalanche exploder, then exchanged forearms with O’Reilly. O’Reilly got the ankle lock again, and this brought Jericho to ringside to distract referee Aubrey Edwards. Rocky Romero ran in and sent Jericho into the steps, and Big Bill cut down Romero with a big boot. Cassidy hit Bill with a tope suicida. Back in the ring O’Reilly and Cassidy hit Keith with a high/lo combination leg sweep and Orange punch, and O’Reilly got the pinfall."

COLLISION - October 5

Darby Allin defeated Johnny TV

"Johnny has had some rough showings lately but came together with Allin to have a fun opener here. Darby is one of the best television wrestlers in the world, finding a way to have cool, unique matches with anybody. After the match, Allin took the mic and challenged anybody to answer his open challenge. No one did, even after Allin challenged them to not let an opportunity to make their name pass them by. The challenge seemed to go unanswered, so Allin went to leave until Brody King bumrushed him down the ramp. King powerbombed Allin on the apron before pinning him to the post. He accepted his challenge and promised violence at WrestleDream."

We got an Outrunners video, this time with FTR training with them. Dax Harwood bleached his mustache, and they donned the Outrunners shades to complete the training.

Oh man, do I get the 80s wrestling feels from this. I would have ate this up with my Ghostbusters cereal if this had aired on Saturday Morning Slam back in the day.

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson)

"I don’t get why they even bothered bringing the Vets in if they’re never going to give Gibson time to talk and get them over, especially if they’re just going to do jobs all the time. It’s a confusing use of a really good team when the tag division is dry as a bone right now, but I guess it can’t kill them if they run with the Outrunners.

Magnum and Drake started, with Magnum scoring with an armdrag. Floyd tagged in and worked his way up from the mat on a lock-up and posed to a pop. The Veterans got control on an Irish Whip block, but another attempt got reversed by Floyd. The Outrunners ran wild with double team moves as we went to a commercial break. The Veterans were working on Magnum after the break, with Magnum fighting for the tag and getting it. Floyd ran wild, pinballing the Veterans with bodyslams. They hit the Predator double elbow drop, but Gibson shoved Magnum off the top and isolated him. Floyd shoved Drake off the top rope on a Doomsday Device attempt, and Magnum caught Gibson in a victory roll for the win."

I have to admit I know very little about the GYV before their arrival for AEW. I know they bummed around NXT for a little while, so is it underutilizing to pair them against the more comedic tag teams?

We got a video package for Britt Baker. Baker noted that she hadn’t had a one-on-one World Title match since she lost the title back in 2022. Baker challenged Mariah May to a Women’s World Title match at the Title Tuesday Dynamite.

In other words "We haven't booked any other women strong enough to vie for the title because the Toni/Mariah stuff was so damn good. Britt can fill in while we try to elevate Willow fast." I've got an idea: how about we get Athena out of Ring Of Honor -- where she's already held the ROH Women's title for 22 frickin' months now -- and have her (with Billie Starkz in tow) on a national televised show again?

Willow Nightingale defeated Trish Adora

"After the match, May shoved the belt in Nightingale’s face and went to slap her, but Nightingale blocked the slap and bounced her around ringside. May escaped the powerbomb and bailed up the ramp."

"Wheeler Yuta was backstage with Alicia Atout. PAC, Claudio Castagnoli, & Marina Shafir entered the frame, with PAC growling that he wasn’t Yuta’s partner. Castagnoli cleared the room and allowed Yuta to get his anger out. Yuta was upset about being left in the dark and the group turning on Bryan, asking how he could trust Castagnoli again. Castagnoli cooly responded by asking if he had ever steered Yuta wrong. He handed Yuta his Trios Title and said that he would always have Yuta’s best interests in mind."

"The Yuta substory of the Moxley/Danielson story is incredibly interesting, and more of the type of storytelling that I want out of this promotion. Yuta is Danielson’s protégé, but he and Claudio ended up being the tag team of the group, with Claudio getting Yuta his first AEW Title. It’s a logical dilemma, especially with Castagnoli and Moxley playing mind games."

Wheeler Yuta defeated BEEF (w/Anthony Henry)

"For the uninitiated, BEEF is Workhorsemen Anthony Henry’s second cousin, tagging with Henry during JD Drake’s recovery period. Yuta came out hot, scoring with a Right Angle Slam as Jon Moxley & the Blackpool Combat Club watched from the crowd. Yuta dropkicked Henry off the apron, then laid in the hammer and anvil elbows before locking on the Cattle Mutilation for the quick win."

Once again earning the win with a Bryan Danielson finisher, giving some subtext to his quiet rebellion against the BCC.

The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy) (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/ Mark Sterling & Josh Woods)

"While this combination has been pretty repetitive, this was a very fun tag match. When the Conglomeration began teaming up, I wanted O’Reilly and Cassidy to end up being the regular team of the group. This match has only made me want that more, as they work very well together. I can see them as a highly useful team in the tag division."

Hologram defeated Komander, Nick Wayne, Action Andretti

"Hologram continues to win in this showcase of the depth of AEW’s roster. This was an incredibly fun four-way match with these great young athletes. Komander in particular was phenomenal in this match, but all four accounted for themselves very well here."

Kris Statlander defeated Zoey Lynn

"After the match, Mercedes Moné & Kamille came out. Moné said that while she was impressed, Statlander needed to show her respect. She sicced Kamille on Statlander, who booted her down and dropped her with the Road To Damascus."

You can check the YouTube video, but it seems like the crowd was cold for this entire angle.

AEW World Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Three Way Match – Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) defeated Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) & House Of Black (Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black)

"If Private Party were going to get this title shot, I wouldn’t have spent the last month having Jon Moxley and his crew murder them. It’s about now or never for those guys, so we’ll see if they can recapture the magic against the Bucks next week."

My conspiracy theory is that the reason that Kota Ibushi has cleared his schedule for October is that, whether Private Party win or lose, we're getting Golden Lovers vs. the Young Bucks at WrestleDream.

posted by The Pluto Gangsta