AEW Collision live results: Ricky Starks confronts Ricky Steamboat, Dax Harwood vs. Jay White
On what has been a monumental news day for AEW, the company presents their last stop before Sunday’s All Out with tonight’s Collision from Chicago, Illinois’ United Center.
Ricky Starks will challenge legend Ricky Steamboat to a strap match for All Out following Starks’ assault on Steamboat after the former’s match with the now-fired CM Punk several weeks ago.
Former NBA superstar and occasional pro wrestler Dennis Rodman will be on hand from a venue he has had countless memorable moments in.
New AEW Trios Champions The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn will defend their titles for the first time as they face Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.
In a highly-anticipated singles match, FTR’s Dax Harwood will take on Bullet Club Gold’s Jay White.
The Outcasts, made up of new AEW Women’s Champion Saraya, Toni Storm & Ruby Soho, will face Britt Baker, TBS Champion Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida which may set up a title match for Sunday.
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AEW Collision opened with Tony Khan talking frankly about the situation with CM Punk, and how the confrontation put people in danger, including production staff, himself, and others, and at the recommendations of legal council and an AEW discipline committee, he fired CM Punk. Dave’s coverage of this on Wrestling Observer Radio will be a must listen.
Ricky Starks/Ricky Steamboat segment
Tony Schiavone opened the entertainment portion of the show by bringing Ricky Starks to the ring. Starks made his entrance with a weight belt that Cody Rhodes would be proud of, and accompanied by Big Bill.
Tony Schiavone talked about Starks about challenging Ricky Steamboat, a 70 year old man, to a strap match, and asked, “Are you freakin’ insane?” Starks said that he was tired of starting over again, and that he was going to rebuild again and do what he needed to do. He looked at Big Bill, and said off the cuff that he was proud of him, and that he could do anything he wanted to do.
Starks then tied it back to the story with Steamboat, saying that he was angry because he was suspended for 28-days, and missed All In because of it, so he wanted an answer from Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat’s great 90s WCW theme hit, and he came down with a clipboard. Steamboat said that he never once complained about Starks beating him on social media, but he heard Starks wanted this match on social media.
Steamboat said that he got a contract with his name and Starks name, because he wanted Starks to put his money where his mouth is. The contract says, Ricky Starks vs. The Dragon. Methinks The Dragon in this case might be Bryan Danielson rather than Ricky Steamboat. And right on queue, Steamboat said there was another Dragon everyone in wrestling knew, and Bryan Danielson made his way down to the ring.
Leave it to babyface Bryan Danielson to return and save AEW All Out with Moxley, Orange Cassidy, and few others. The fans chanted at Starks as he crossed his heart, and I laughed. Bryan Danielson and Ricky Starks will face off in a strap match tomorrow night at AEW All Out. Excellent stuff.
–Jon Moxley cut a promo on Orange Cassidy, saying that he was a puzzle that 31 men before him couldn’t solve. He said Cassidy was the real deal, because he was on the run of a lifetime, and the chance to beat someone on a run like him only comes once rarely. Moxley said that the difference between real wrestlers and the fake ones were that when it gets hard, the fake ones look for a way out, and he hoped Cassidy wouldn’t look for a way out. This promo was awesome.
AEW Trios Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed (Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, & Billy Gunn) defeated 2point0 (Matt Menard & Angelo Parker) & Daniel Garcia to retain
This was a good opening match. Garcia and 2point0 are truly excellent. They really helped make The Acclaimed look good here.
Bowens started the match with Parker, and Bowens quickly sent Parker to the floor, who quickly tagged out to Garcia. Garcia faced off with Billy Gunn, and ducked a chop to begin dancing in the middle of the ring. He then told Billy Gunn to suck it. Gunn hit a jab that sent Garcia to his knees. Gunn then danced. Garcia was able to start getting the heat on Bowens after Jake Hager pulled Caster and Gunn from the apron.
Garica then locked on the Dragon Tamer on Bowens and Caster was held back by Parker and Menard. Gunn was able to break it up, but only after extensive damage was done with the submission.
Bowens hit an enziguri on Garcia and then tagged out to Caster, who had a brief advantage, but soon faced Menard. This was where Nigel McGuinness said, “Where did he get that name, Daddy Magic?” Kevin Kelly said he thought it was Jericho, and McGuinness said, “I thought it was prison.” Well then. Caster tagged out to Gunn, who then ran wild and tagged out for Caster to hit the flying elbow for the win.
–The Dark Order was backstage with Lexy Nair, and she asked them about their upcoming match with MJF and Adam Cole for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. John Silver complained about his friend Budge teaming with MJF, and Alex Renyolds revealed that he helped train MJF. He was proud of his success, but he was going to show his student what it meant to be a champion.
–Ricky Starks ran into Tony Schiavone backstage and said that tomorrow night was going to be no different from any other challenge he faced, and he was going to beat Bryan Danielson.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Nick Wayne & Komander w/ Alex Abrahantes
Good tag match here, and Nick Wayne especially looked good, even in losing.
Aussie Open quickly isolated Komander and got some heat on him for a few minutes. Komander was able to hit a jaw breaker on Davis and back flip out of a back suplex before dodging a corner charge and tagging out to Wayne. Wayne hit a superkick on Davis, and then a Asai DDT on Fletcher and a tope con giro on Davis on the floor. Wayne followed up with a frog splash on Fletcher for a 2-count. Wanye called for an OsCutter, but Fletcher blocked it and hit a half-and-half suplex.
Davis tagged in and picked Wayne up for a crucifix bomb, but Komander flew in and superkicked Fletcher. Davis put Wayne down and caught Komander as he went for a Code Breaker and powerbombed him. He then held on and threw Komander back into the air before hitting a piledriver on Komander. Unfortunately for Wayne, he ate a forearms from both Aussie Open. Wayne then went for the OsCutter, or Wayne’s World, on both of Aussie Open, and they caught him and hit Coriolis for the win.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Wayne after the match and Wayne said that while he was frustrated he lost, he couldn’t stop thinking about how Darby Allin forgave AR Fox for what happened between them. Allin made his way down to the ring and told Wayne a story – he said that Nick Wayne was there when Darby Allin got into a fight with Buddy Wayne, and he didn’t talk to any of the Wayne family for three years. In that time, Buddy Wayne died, and Darby had to live with that for the rest of his life. That is why he forgave AR Fox so quickly, because you never know how much time left. Allin then asked Wayne to be in h is corner on Sunday.
Christian then came out and said he was going to slide into the DMs of Nick Wayne’s mom. Christian said that Nick Wayne was just Darby Allin’s personal petty project, and that Christian never pretended to be something he wasn’t. Kevin Kelly pointed out that Christian wasn’t the TNT Champion. Christian said that on Sunday that Nick Wayne should bring a towel to throw in because Allin was going to need it. Good promo from Christian here.
–Claudio Castagnoli was backstage with Wheeler Yuta, and he congratulated Kingston on beating Yuta, but said hit wasn’t that a big deal, because the BCC beat up Yuta everyday. Castagnoli then proceeded to hit a European uppercut on him every single time he delivered a line. He then talked about how he was going to beat Kingston with Yuta at the PPV.
–Eddie Kingston was with Katsuyori Shibata, and Kingston mocked Castagnoli for beating up Yuta, and Yuta for taking it. He then said that the reason Castagnoli couldn’t look at him was because he was afraid. He then asked Shibata what he thought of them. Shibata held up a phone with Google Translate opened, and it read, “You both suck!” and Kingston laughed. Two great promos again.
–Lexy Nair was with Saraya & Ruby Soho, and she talked about how great she was when she won the AEW Women’s World Championship. Soho then said she was going to win the TBS Championship tomorrow at AEW All Out. Nair asked about Toni Storm, and Soho insisted that Storm was fine, though she did just see her half naked in the parking lot throwing her shoes at birds. Soho then reiterated that she would beat Kris Statlander tomorrow, and that everything in the Outcasts was fine, and their trios match later tonight will show it.
–Dennis Rodman ws introduced by Tony Schiavone, and he made his way down to the ring. Before Rodman could say anything Jeff Jarrett and his crew made their way down to the ring. Jarrett indicated he was happy to see Rodman as they were in WCW together years ago, though they stretched them being at the NWO at the same time.
Jarrett also stretched it saying he was the leader of the NWO, but he wanted to make a deal with Dennis Rodman. Rodman said that he was glad to be in Chicago with AEW, and that he was happy to be back in front of the fans. Jarrett demanded an answer to his proposition. Rodman then said he could beatup Satnam Singh. Sonjay Dutt made the offer to Rodman, showing his new shirt with Rodman’s face on it. Rodman shoved Dutt. Jarrett, Lethal, and Singh tried to attack Rodman, but the Acclaimed made the save. The Acclaimed then challenged Jarrett, Lethal, and Singh to a match tomorrow for the trios title.
–A video aired for Shane Taylor, ending with him saying he was taking back his title as he hit the Greetings from Asbury Park on Keith Lee.
–Samoa Joe said that he was going to give Shane Taylor a reality check at AEW All Out. He said Taylor is going to hope he gives the performance of a lifetime, but he’s going to wish he was fighting someone else. He said Taylor hoped he was going to knock him out, but Joe was going to make an example of him and make him regret saying his name. This was an awesome promo too.
Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander defeated The Outcasts (Saraya, Ruby Soho, & Toni Storm)
Toni Storm started the match with Statlander, exchanging shoulder tackles, with Statlander showing more power, but Storm showing more speed. However, that speed was only helpful in running into a body slam. Storm yanked the hair of Statlander and then went for the hip attack in the corner, but wasted too much time, as Statlander recovered and hit a dropkick and tagged out to Baker.
Baker hit a sling blade and tagged out to Shida, hit nailed Soho with a hard forearm. Baker held the arms of Saraya back and Shida went for a forearm, but Saraya ducked and Shida almost hit Baker. This allowed Saraya and Soho to isolate Shida and hit some attacks behind the back of the referee. Storm tagged in and it looked like she killed Shida with the hip attack in the corner.
Saraya drove Shida into the announce table when the referee wasn’t looking, and Soho brought her back into the ring. Shida managed to hit Storm with an enziguri and tag out to Statlander, who ran wild, taking on both Saraya and Soho. Statlander hit a blue thunder bomb on Saraya that Soho broke up.
All six women exchanged moves until Saraya superkicked Baker, but Statlander hit a powerslam on Saraya. Storm tried to break up the pin but landed on Saraya. Saraya tagged out to Baker, who hit a fisherman’s neckbreaker on Soho, but soon got spray paint to the face from Saraya, letting Soho hit No Future for the win.
–Adam Cole was backstage and cut a promo against The Dark Order, saying they were a great tag team, but that him and MJF had no plans to drop their titles anytime soon. Cole then read a list of insults that MJF sent him via text, and Cole had to censor it, and refused to say the last one, because it horrified him, and the fans laughed. Excellent stuff.
–Statlander was backstage and said the only way that Soho could beat her was by cheating, and at this Soho came up and started screaming at her. Saraya cussed at her, and the promo ended there.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated GPA
This was one of the fastest matches I have ever seen as Hobbs killed him with a spinebuster and his music just resumed playing seconds after it ended.
–Miro’s music hit and he walked down towards the ring in his ring gear and started brawling with Hobbs. The fight spilled at to ringside, and Hobbs threw Miro into the steps while Miro threw Hobbs over the railing into the crowd. Hobbs backed away slowly after this, to cheers from the crowd at the short fight we saw.
–After running down the card for AEW All Out, an awesome hype video aired for Konosuke Takeshita and Kenny Omega set to “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” This was absolutely fantastic.
–Orange Cassidy was sitting backstage and said he didn’t want to talk right now, but he had to because this title match was nothing like what he has done before. He proved in Chicago in his match against PAC that be belonged in AEW. Then he faced Will Ospreay, and proved he could hang with the best in the world. Now, he has to face Jon Moxley, who is simply the best. Moxley was the guy that put AEW on his shoulder when AEW was down, but tomorrow, Cassidy was going to take that burden off his shoulders and carry it himself because he was the AEW International Champion. This was awesome.
Jay White (w/ Juice Robinson, Austin & Colten Gunn) defeated Dax Harwood (w/ Cash Wheeler)
As one would expect, this was a very good wrestling match.
Harwood and White started with some great classic wrestling, and even featured a funny spot where Harwood got the crowd cheering for him to grab the ropes while holding White in an abdominal stretch. White was able to get the advantage by hitting a headlock suplex into the corner. As the Gunns and Robinson were attempting to attack Harwood, Wheeler ran in with a chair to chase them off.
The referee chastised Robinson and he yelled back, “He has a chair ,you idiot!” A fair point, given the referee didn’t see anything but the chair in play. White hit a DDT on Harwood for a 2-count. Harwood hit a superplex on White a minute or so later, but missed a diving headbutt. During the break on the FITE.tv feed, JR, Nigel, and Kelly talked about who had the hardest chops they ever seen and Wahoo McDaniel was given a shout out.
Harwood tried for a slingshot suplex, but White necked him on the ropes to escape. White then came back in the ring but ate a German suplex. Harwood the hit a brain buster for a 2-count. Harwood chopped White on the floor and then went for another diving DDT, but White went to the apron. Harwood chopped White so hard he came back into the ring over the ropes. White managed to hit a dragon screw on the ropes as Harwood tried to get back in.
White hit a backdrop driver and then a Death Valley Driver for a 2-count. White hit a clothesline on Harwood, but he ate it and delivered one of his own to drop White on his head. Harwood then ducked some punches, faked him out, and hit a piledriver for a 2-count. White sent Harwood crashing into the metal post between the ropes, and then hit a uranage for a 2-count. White went for the Blade Runner, but Harwood blocked it by grabbing the ropes and White turned into a slingshot powerbomb as White screamed “No!”
Harwood put a sharpshooter on White and White made the ropes. The rest of Bullet Club Gold pulled White to the floor, and as Harwood faced off with them, White recovered and hit a Blade Runner on the floor. Harwood managed to cradle White once they got back in the ring, but as soon as White kicked out he countered with a Blade Runner for the pinfall. It looks like we might be getting Juice Robinson and Jay White one more time, maybe at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam.
The Bullet Club then laid out Wheeler after the match and started to beat on FTR. As it was looking bad, the Young Bucks ran down to make the save. The Bucks then offered a handshake to FTR, and FTR refused as a small section of fans chanted “CM Punk” but were largely drowned out.
Final Thoughts:
AEW needed to have a show like this after what happened earlier today, and they hit everything they needed to. After the show went off the air in the US, the audio could be heard from the arena, and many fans were chanting for the Elite (though some were still booing). AEW will be fine without CM Punk, but it does suck that it came to this. That said, this was still an excellent show, and did a very good job building up AEW All Out. Moxley and Orange Cassidy were key, but so was Danielson returning as a surprise. Everyone seemed they wanted to steal the show and make this PPV a success tomorrow. Great show.
New for the AEW All Out Zero Hour pre-show:
- The Over Budget Charity battle royal
- Athena, Mercedes Martinez & Diamante vs. Willow Nightingale, Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue
- AEW World Trios Champion The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn (w/ Dennis Rodman) defend against Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh & Jay Lethal (w/ Sonjay Dutt & Karen Jarrett)
New for AEW All Out:
- Strap Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks