AEW Collision live results: Orange Cassidy vs. Tomohiro Ishii International title match
A match for the International title will take place on Saturday’s Collision.
Champion Orange Cassidy will face NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii. As with his previous run as champion, it has been pushed that Cassidy’s body is taking a toll due to all the title matches he has been granting. It comes just weeks before his title match against Roderick Strong at Revolution on March 3.
Both Deonna Purrazzo and AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm will be in action prior to their match at Revolution next month. Purrazzo will face Kiera Hogan, while Storm will take on Queen Aminata. Other matches will see Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli take on CMLL stars Star Jr. and Esfinge, Mark Briscoe will face Brody King, and Brian Cage will be in action.
An appearance by Adam Copeland is also set. After picking up a win over Minoru Suzuki, Copeland has made it clear he wants another match against former friend Christian Cage.
Live coverage for Collision begins at 8 pm ET.
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Sir Elton John welcomed us to Collision live from the Dollar Loan Center in Las Vegas, one day before “The Big Game.” Can we get sued for calling it the Super Bowl? Let’s not find out. Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, & Kevin Kelly were on the call.
Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) defeated Esfinge & Star Jr.
This lacked heat, as Esfinge and Star Jr. aren’t the level of stars as the other CMLL representatives in this feud. The match was a fine win to keep the feud going as the bigger CMLL names are in Japan for New Japan’s Fantasticamania tour. The BCC will be keeping busy though, as the post-match brawl with FTR indicated.
We got highlights of the BCC’s tainted win over the CMLL representatives, leading to this match tonight. Kevin Kelly informed us that Volador Jr, whose been a key part of this feud, helped to train both Esfinge and Star Jr. Moxley and Star Jr. started, with Star Jr. locking up Moxley in a reverse bow and arrow. Castagnoli stomped on the grounded Star Jr. to allow Moxley an easy escape. After Esfinge caught Moxley with a kick, the luchadores sent the BCC to the outside, then sent them fleeing at the tease of a dive.
Castagnoli and Esfinge tagged in, with Castagnoli snatching Esfinge up in a Giant Swing. Star Jr. tagged in and took both men to the floor with a headscissors/armdrag combination. The luchadores both scored with big dives. Star Jr. went for a springboard, but Castagnoli leveled him with a European uppercut.
After a commercial, Star Jr. took Castagnoli down with a headscissors. Both men tagged out, with Esfinge running wild on both BCC members. Esfinge locked Moxley in an Indian Deathlock pinning scenario, but Castagnoli cut off the pin. Star Jr. took down Moxley and Castagnoli before Esfinge scored a nearfall with a top rope splash. Esfinge hit a springboard lungblower, but Moxley came back with a lariat. Moxley applied a La Magistral cradle for a nearfall, once again mocking the luchadors.
Moxley and Esfinge traded shots before Star Jr snuck a tag in. Castagnoli caught Star Jr. on a crossbody attempt, before lifting him into a cutter from Moxley. Castagnoli hit Esfinge with the Ricola Bomb before Moxley scored the submission on Star Jr. with a cross-arm breaker.
After the match, Moxley grabbed the mic and told them to take that message back to the CMLL locker room. Moxley said that any team could step to them if they wanted to take a shot, leading to FTR coming out. Moxley piefaced Harwood, leading to a locker-room clearing brawl between the four men.
Daniel Garcia defeated Shane Taylor (w/ Lee Moriarty)
This was such a well-worked match. Garcia got frustrated early as Taylor overwhelmed him but stuck to his plan of targeting the big man’s leg. This felt like a win Garcia earned. Credit to both him and Taylor, who sold the leg well here. Another spotlight win for Garcia, who is on his way to a TNT Title match against Christian Cage.
Matt Menard joined commentary, as per usual for Garcia’s matches. Garcia started out ducking Taylor’s big punches, but Taylor snuck one in as the referee was breaking them up in the ropes. Garcia went to take Taylor down with a single leg, but Taylor caught him with a forearm to knock him down. Taylor caved Garcia’s chest in with a chop, but Garcia fired up with forearms. Garcia landed a Dragon Screw Leg Whip, but Taylor booted Garcia out of the ring as he started working on the leg.
After a commercial, Taylor dropped Garcia with a headbutt as he tried to start a comeback. Garcia avoided a leg drop on the apron, then avoided a corner charge before firing up with strikes. Garcia hit a low dropkick before stomping a mudhole through Taylor’s bad leg. Garcia hit a pair of dropkicks to the leg, but Taylor came back with a pop-up powerbomb and a forearm for a nearfall. Taylor went for the Marcus Garvey Driver, but the leg gave out, allowing Garcia to escape. Taylor backdropped Garcia out of a piledriver, but Garcia held onto the leg and locked on a leg lock to score the submission win.
We got a recap of Sting & Darby Allin’s AEW Tag Team Title win on Dynamite, and the bloody assault on them from The Young Bucks afterwards.
Eddie Kingston was backstage with Lexy Nair. He was disgusted at the Young Bucks actions on Dynamite, comparing it to Bryan Danielson’s actions last week, stealing the spotlight from Bryan Keith. Kingston challenged Danielson to a Continental Crown Title match at Revolution, where Danielson would have to shake Kingston’s hand if he lost.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) (w/ Chance the Gila Monster)
Chance The Gila Monster is the mascot for the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. Gila Monsters are a type of lizard, common to desert climates. In the time it took for me to type that, Cage had already destroyed both Outrunners, tapping out Floyd with a Texas Cloverleaf. Chance did Prince Nana’s dance with him before Cage jumped him from behind. Before Cage could continue, Hook came out and brawled to the back with Cage.
The Undisputed Kingdom & Tomohiro Ishii were in the back with Lexy Nair. Taven and Bennett were upset at being dropped from the CHAOS group a few years ago. Strong told Ishii that he would be going after him if he won the title, noting that he’d lost a title – the ROH Television Title – to Ishii six years prior. Strong went to shake his hand, but Ishii pulled back.
Adam Copeland Addresses the Crowd
I was interested in if Garcia’s interest in the TNT Title would interfere with Copeland’s path and AEW made sure to address that here, setting up a top contender’s match for Dynamite.
Tony Schiavone welcomed Adam Copeland to the ring for an interview. Schiavone noted that with both Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page facing Samoa Joe at Revolution, Copeland was next in the rankings and had his pick of titles to challenge for. Copeland noted that if he was at Dynamite, the attack on his friends Darby Allin & Sting wouldn’t have happened and warned the Young Bucks. He noted that the other champions were otherwise booked, all except Christian Cage.
Daniel Garcia came to the ring. Garcia noted that both of them had been picking up a lot of wins lately, with him having scored a win over the Patriarchy last week. Garcia said that he wanted a shot at Cage and the TNT Title, noting that he would fight through the line if it meant holding gold. Copeland said that something had to give, so he challenged Garcia to a match on Dynamite where the winner gets the shot at Cage. Garcia accepted and shook Copeland’s hand. Copeland pulled Garcia close and told him that he would kick his face in on Wednesday.
Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, & Stokely Hathaway were backstage with Renee Paquette. Hathaway said that Skye Blue & Julia Hart could hang out at all the Hot Topic’s that they want, but that didn’t make them badasses. Statlander & Nightingale wanted Hathaway to get a match signed, but Hathaway noted that Tony Khan had his number blocked.
Brody King (w/Julia Hart) defeated Mark Briscoe
This was an awesome brawl, with Briscoe’s eagerness to use weapons being his ultimate downfall. The post-match angle tells me that there’s more for these two on deck, and I’m excited about it.
McGuinness noted on commentary that the Briscoe family was expecting an eighth child, so congratulations to Mark and the Briscoe Bunch. Now that I think about it, they have more kids than the Brady Bunch did. Briscoe peppered King with strikes, but King came back with heavy shots before landing a cannonball in the corner. King clubbered on Briscoe, landing a senton for a nearfall.
After more clubbering, Briscoe avoided a corner charge and brought King to the floor, where he hit King with a running neckbreaker off the apron. Briscoe tossed a chair into the ring and used it to vault over the ropes onto King. Briscoe set up a table on the floor, but the referee reprimanded Briscoe and got him to move away from it. King caught Briscoe on a crossbody attempt and slammed him into a chair at ringside.
After a commercial, King caught Briscoe with a Bossman Slam for a nearfall. Briscoe fired back with chops and forearms, sending King into the corner with a flying forearm. Briscoe hit the ten punches in the corner before booting King to the floor. Briscoe hit a corkscrew moonsault to King on the floor. King fought out of a fireman’s carry and leveled Briscoe with a lariat for a nearfall.
Briscoe avoided a corner charge and hit the rolling Death Valley Driver. Julia Hart distracted Briscoe as he went up for the Froggy Bow, allowing King to send Briscoe through the table on the floor. King brought Briscoe back into the ring and hit the Gonzo Bomb for the win. After the match, King held Briscoe up for Hart, who pulled out a railroad spike and jabbed Briscoe in the head. King smeared Briscoe’s blood on his cast before shouting that the House Always Wins.
Bryan Keith was backstage. He said that he was all about his paydays and was going after all the stars. He said whether they were good, bad, or ugly, they had better be ready to pay up, sucka.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Kiera Hogan
Purrazzo worked on Hogan’s arm as Schiavone noted both women’s trainers. Schiavone noted that Kiera Hogan was trained by Big Cat, which McGuinness thought meant Ernie Ladd, but Schiavone clarified as Curtis Hughes. Purrazzo was in control for most of this one, shutting down Hogan’s attempt at a comeback before scoring the win with the Venus Di Milo submission.
The announcers noted that due to NBA All-Star Weekend, there will be no episode of Collision next week. That means I have a week off. Huh. What do people do on Saturday nights?
Toni Storm (w/ Mariah May & Luther) defeated Queen Aminata
I was enthused by Steamboat Toni toning down the gimmick on Dynamite, but with her new film next week, she’s still going all in with it.
Storm made her entrance as Purrazzo was leaving, with the two crossing paths on the ramp. After early work on each other’s arms, Storm dropped Aminata with a Thesz Press. After a commercial, Storm dropped Aminata with a boot. Aminata avoided Sweet Cheeks Music, catching Storm in a small package for a nearfall before dropping her with a DDT. Aminata hit a snap suplex and a running kick for a nearfall. Aminata went to pick Storm up, but Storm caught her with a DDT for a nearfall.
Storm went for a piledriver, but Aminata caught her with an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Aminata went for a hip attack, but Storm tripped Aminata into the corner. Storm hit Sweet Cheeks Music before hitting the Storm Zero piledriver for the win. After the match, Storm took the mic and applauded her show of technical brilliance. She announced that she would be premiering a new film on Dynamite on Wednesday.
The announcers ran down the Dynamite card, with the addition of Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale.
AEW International Title Match – Orange Cassidy defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain
This one started slow, as this crowd didn’t seem into Ishii to start. But the crowd fired up as the action built up, as these two ended up having a solid Collision main event.
Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and hit Ishii with a dropkick, but Ishii didn’t budge and sent Cassidy to the floor with a shoulder block. Cassidy eventually scored with a shoulder block of his own, but his forearms did not affect Ishii. Ishii backed him into the opposite corner, where he popped him with chops.
After a commercial, Cassidy fired up with a Stundog Millionaire and a tornado DDT. Cassidy hit a dive to the outside before another tornado DDT scored a nearfall. Cassidy hit a diving DDT off the top rope for a nearfall. Cassidy hit the soft kicks before laying into Ishii in the corner. Cassidy hit a hesitation dropkick, reminiscent of longtime Ishii rival Katsuyori Shibata. Ishii fired up, trading shots with Cassidy until Ishii hit a shoulder block that spun Cassidy out.
Ishii leveled Cassidy with a forearm for a nearfall. Ishii took Cassidy to the top rope, then hit a hesitation superplex for a nearfall. Ishii hit a German suplex and started laying in chops, but Cassidy stood through them. Ishii went for a big chop, but Cassidy finally collapsed. After the referee checked on Cassidy, Cassidy popped up and went for a Beach Break, but Ishii reversed it into a powerbomb. Ishii went for a sliding lariat, but Cassidy reversed it into multiple rollups that didn’t work. Ishii hit a headbutt but then ran into an Orange Punch. Cassidy hit the Beach Break, but Ishii kicked out.
Cassidy went for the Orange Punch, but Ishii caught him with a half-and-half suplex and a lariat for a nearfall. Ishii hit the sliding lariat for a nearfall. Cassidy slipped out of the Vertical Drop Brainbuster and hit the Orange Punch, but Ishii stood through it. Ishii hit another headbutt and caught an Orange Punch, but Cassidy snatched him into an inside cradle to score the win and retain the title.
After the match, The Kingdom came out from the crowd and laid Cassidy out with a Hail Mary piledriver. Ishii and Trent Beretta ran them off, but the damage was done as Collision ended.