AEW Collision live results: Mid-South street fight, TNT title defense
Tonight’s AEW Collision from Huntsville, Alabama, will feature a Mid-South street fight, a three-way TNT title defense, and more.
Former AEW Tag Team Champions FTR will take on AEW World Champion Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta in a Mid-South street fight.
After the events of the last few weeks, TNT Champion Daniel Garcia will defend his title against Kyle O’Reilly and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty in a three-way.
The AEW women’s division will be represented as Megan Bayne will compete in an AEW singles match for the first time since February 2022 while Harley Cameron goes one-on-one with Taya Valkyrie.
Former AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm will be on hand to share some thoughts about reigning titleholder Mariah May.
In a pair of tag matches, Samoa Joe & Hook will face Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian while Chris Jericho & Bryan Keith will face The Outrunners.
The card is rounded out by the first Max Caster open challenge and The Beast Mortos in action.
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Collision comes to us live (to tape!) from Huntsville, Alabama. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
Hook & Samoa Joe defeated The Patriarchy (Kip Sabian & Nick Wayne) (w/Christian Cage)
A lifeless, paint-by-numbers opener here. Joe injected some life into this Christian/Hook feud when he returned, but it’s time to get off the pot and get the trios match or the Christian/Hook blowoff.
Hook and Wayne started off, with Hook catching Wayne with a crotch-lift suplex. Tags on both sides led to Joe walking away from a Sabian dive. After interference from Wayne on the floor, Hook was your Street Tough-In-Peril. After a few minutes, Hook caught Wayne with a T-Bone suplex and got the hot tag to Joe.
Joe ran wild on Sabian and hit the Muscle Buster for the win. After the bell, Christian attacked Joe and Hook with his non-union equivalent Money In The Bank briefcase and left them laying.
Cope was backstage. He wondered if Jon Moxley even knew what his goal was, as nobody else seemed to know what it was. Cope called Moxley a malcontent, unaware that he may be the problem with AEW. Cope said that even when he was a young gun, he respected the veterans that made it better for his generations. He paid it back by helping make the business better for people in Moxley’s generation, but Moxley was entitled and didn’t respect that. He hated how Moxley hid the AEW World Championship away and was going to beat Moxley up to take it. The challenge was made for Revolution: Cope vs. Mox for the AEW World Championship.
(This was the big promo to set up the Revolution World Title match, and much like the Cope/Mox feud, it was very unfocused. Instead of the feud being about having pride in AEW or getting revenge for the weeks of attacks up and down the roster, Cope made it about respecting your elders? A messy set-up for the PPV match.)
The Beast Mortos defeated Adam Priest
Mortos killed Priest quickly, finishing with Chuck Taylor’s Awful Waffle – now renamed the Destination Hellhole.
Max Caster came to the ring to interrupt Mortos’ celebration. He congratulated Mortos but said that he wouldn’t stand a chance against the Best Wrestler Alive. Caster kicked off the first of his Open Challenge Series.
Max Caster Open Challenge Match – Rush (w/Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) defeated Max Caster
Rush killed Caster quickly, finishing with The Bull’s Horns for the win. After the match, Rush took the microphone and reminded Mortos that LFI was a family.
(Rush is back, and he’s good as usual. We’ll see how long it lasts.)
The Outrunners were backstage with Lexy Nair, and they cut their promo on The Learning Tree.
The Learning Tree (Bryan Keith & Chris Jericho) (w/Big Bill) defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
(I was ready to complain about another heel beatdown on AEW TV this week, but Bandido came back to make the save and get some shine here. I think the world of Bandido, as I think he has high-level star potential for AEW. I’m glad to see him back here.)
Jericho & Magnum started, and the Outrunners soon ran wild with atomic drops. They dumped Jericho & Keith to the floor, but a Big Boot from Big Bill took Magnum down on the floor.
After a commercial break, Floyd tagged in and ran wild with bodyslams. Keith cut off the Predator handshake, and Jericho got Floyd in the Walls of Jericho. Floyd got out of the hold and we got a Pier Six brawl, ending with the Predator elbow drop. Big Bill interfered again to break up Total Recall, and Keith got a small package to win the match. After the match, Big Bill laid out both Outrunners as Keith pulled out a table.
Big Bill had a double chokeslam set up when Bandido came out to make the save. Bandido ran wild on the Learning Tree, putting Keith through the table with a press slam to a big pop.
Kyle Fletcher & Mark Briscoe cut promos on each other ahead of their Continental Classic rematch next week on Collision. Fletcher was upset that Briscoe spoiled his perfect record in the tournament and wanted to get his win back before Grand Slam Australia, while Briscoe said he was going to prove his win wasn’t a fluke.
(Fletcher/Briscoe was on the short-list of the best matches of the tournament, and I’m glad we’re getting the rematch.)
Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada was backstage with Lexy Nair and was immediately interrupted by Buddy Matthews laughing at him. Matthews laughed at Okada calling himself a champion, and Okada laughed off another Matthews challenge. Matthews called Okada a b*tch and left.
Harley Cameron defeated Taya Valkyrie
Cameron was the most over babyface on the show to this point, and she finally got her first win in AEW. I was wondering if they would save it for Grand Slam Australia, but it looks like she may be Mercedes Mone’s opponent for the show.
Valkyrie jumped Cameron at the bell and landed double knees in the corner for a nearfall. After a commercial break, Cameron hit a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. The crowd chanted Feel The Wrath as Cameron brought Valkyrie to the top rope, but Valkyrie took Cameron out of the corner with a powerbomb for a nearfall. Cameron came back with a Canadian Destroyer for a nearfall.
Cameron went for a senton off the top rope, but Valkyrie moved and hit a spear. Cameron kicked out at two, then rolled up Valkyrie with a crucifix pin to score the pin and her first win in AEW. Deonna Purrazzo was shown upset at her partner dropping the fall here.
During this match, Hounds of Hell vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay vs. A Mystery Member of the Don Callis Family was announced for Dynamite.
Ricochet Sit-Down Interview
A damn good piece of business to build the Dynamite match between Ricochet and Swerve Strickland. Strickland found a way to cut Ricochet’s early work down without cutting Ricochet himself down, and Ricochet found a way to hit a nerve on Swerve by bringing up Hangman Page.
Ricochet had a sit-down interview with Renee Paquette backstage. He listened to the fans that told him he belonged in AEW, and watched from afar as his peers did amazing things in AEW. But when he got there, the fans turned their backs on him and showered him with toilet paper. Swerve Strickland joined in with the mockery, and when Ricochet stabbed Strickland in the head with the scissors, he was doing it to curse at the fans as well.
Swerve Strickland entered the scene calmly, choosing to save the fight for the people in Atlanta. He shooed Paquette away and sat with Ricochet to talk. He talked about how they never saw eye-to-eye in their encounters, and how he didn’t want Ricochet in AEW to begin with. Ricochet pretended to be a superhero, and the fans rejected him for it. Meanwhile, Strickland accepted his role as the villain, and he got all the respect in the world for it. Strickland promised to show Ricochet that there was levels to this, and that Ricochet wasn’t on his.
Ricochet agreed that he wasn’t good at pretending and admitted that he never cared about the people. Ricochet said that ever since Hangman Page punked Strickland out, he hasn’t felt threatened by Strickland at all. Strickland responded by snatching the scissors out of Ricochet’s suit pocket and holding them to his throat. Strickland said that he would see Ricochet on Dynamite and left without incident.
Timeless Toni Storm Town Hall
A good promo from Toni here. I’ve…not been the target audience for this feud, but the crowd does seem to be into it, and the Grand Slam Australia match feels hot.
Timeless Toni Storm appeared on stage, announcing that she had spent the last six weeks playing the role of Toni Storm. She knows no one caught on because she was a good actress, but everyone bore witness to her metamorphosis. She didn’t do it for the fans, she did it for herself. She was embarrassed and ashamed when Mariah May stabbed her in the back and ran away from herself. She rebuilt herself from the ground up to look May in the eye, and she saw everything she needed to see. She cursed May and said that it doesn’t get realer than her. She promised that May’s time was over.
Harley Cameron was backstage with Renee Paquette outside of Mercedes Mone’s locker room. Paquette noted that Mone wasn’t there, but Cameron corrected her as Mercedes Mone entered the frame. She looked like a puppet and was connected to Cameron’s hand, but that may have just been the picture quality on my TV. Mone agreed to wrestle Cameron in Australia, and Cameron shook her hand to make it official.
Wait a minute, Mercedes Mone then walked into frame? Two Mercedes Mones? Is this a Dave Hebner situation? Saturday Night’s Main Event is back, after all. The actual Mone called Cameron a loser and said that losers don’t ride the Mone Train.
We got promos from all three competitors in the TNT Title match.
AEW TNT Title Match – Daniel Garcia (c) (w/Matt Menard) defeated Kyle O’Reilly, Lee Moriarty (w/Shane Taylor)
A solid TV defense here for Garcia, as they kept up the energy and didn’t fall into typical three-way issues. They worked hard to make sure everyone felt involved, and the result was a good match.
All three men locked up to start and broke up each other’s submissions with other submissions. O’Reilly caught Moriarty with a knee lift to send him out of the ring. Moriarty sent O’Reilly and Garcia to the floor before hitting a tope to both men as we went to a commercial.
After the break, Moriarty caught Garcia with a crossbody for a nearfall, then transitioned to a double wristlock. Moriarty hit a facebuster on O’Reilly while hitting an Eat Defeat on Garcia for a nearfall on both men. O’Reilly and Garcia teamed up to hammer Moriarty with strikes before turning on each other when Moriarty fell out of the ring.
Moriarty got back in the ring and all three men traded strikes before taking each other down with boots. Garcia took both men down with ten punches in the corner and a double clothesline. Moriarty hit a neckbreaker on Garcia for a nearfall. Garcia locked Moriarty in the Dragon Tamer, but O’Reilly caught Garcia in an armbar. O’Reilly transitioned to a triangle choke and caught Moriarty in an ankle lock.
Moriarty knocked O’Reilly loose and sent him out of the ring. Moriarty sent O’Reilly to the floor, then sent Garcia into the ropes for Taylor to punch. Moriarty locked Garcia in the Border City Stretch as Taylor held O’Reilly back. Garcia turned the hold into a jackknife pin for the win as O’Reilly was dealing with Taylor.
After the match, The Infantry came out to surround O’Reilly and Garcia. Angelo Parker joined Matt Menard to even up the numbers, and Adam Cole & Roderick Strong came out to make sure Shane Taylor Promotions left the scene. It was announced here that a three-way trios match was booked for next week’s Collision, as it would be Shane Taylor Promotions vs. The Undisputed Kingdom vs. Daniel Garcia & 2.0.
We got a video package for Penelope Ford vs. Thunder Rosa next week.
We got a video of Hologram walking the streets in street clothes. He had lightning in his fingers.
Megan Bayne defeated Hyena Hera
Bayne got a quick showcase win here with an F5.
Lio Rush & Action Andretti were outside earlier today. They weren’t in the building last week, and they weren’t there this week, so Top Flight would have to wait. Rush said that when they came back, he might take up Darius Martin on his challenge for a match.
We got a video package for Queen Aminata vs. Toni Storm on Dynamite, with Mariah May on commentary.
Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale were backstage with Lexy Nair. Statlander asked for this interview to apologize to Nightingale, but Nightingale wasn’t interested. Statlander pulled out her friendship bracelet and said that she never broke it.
(After the CM Punk/Drew McIntyre feud, I don’t want to ever see a friendship bracelet on a wrestling show again.)
Mid-South Street Fight – FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta)
This was a very good main event, as the babyfaces finally got their act together and stood together to take a chunk out of the Death Riders. The crowd was at their hottest here as well, making for a fun close to Collision.
FTR jumped the Death Riders as they came out. We got plunder and crowd brawling with ladders and trash cans. Moxley got the first nearfall on the floor by booting Harwood out of a chair. Harwood got beaten down in the ring with a chair, but Wheeler came back with a high cross and ran wild. Marina Shafir came out to send Wheeler into the post, and we went to the commercial break with Moxley clawing at Harwood’s nose with pliers. That’ll clear your sinuses.
After the commercial, Moxley laid out thumbtacks. Unfortunately, the Rule of Abyss came to be here as Moxley went into the weapon he set up. Wheeler powerbombed Moxley into the tacks and took Yuta out with a dive, but Moxley came back with a Death Rider on the floor. Harwood was by himself and fought hard, taking Yuta out with a brainbuster.
Moxley re-emerged with a giant hook – I guess he had a run-in with Captain Hook – but Harwood took it from him and crotched him with it. Shafir hit Harwood with a low blow and tried to choke him out, but Harwood backed her through a table. Harwood hit a piledriver on Moxley for a nearfall and locked on a Sharpshooter, but Claudio Castagnoli came out to cut him off. Harwood sent Castagnoli to the floor, but Moxley caught him with a cutter and hit a curb stomp onto a chair for a nearfall.
It was 3-on-2 on FTR before Jay White & Cope came out to help FTR. The fight spilled to the outside, and FTR hit Yuta with a spike piledriver through the announce table to get the win. The fight continued, with White hitting Castagnoli with the Blade Runner. Moxley was surrounded by the babyfaces and got hit with a Shatter Machine and a Spear. The babyfaces set up Moxley for a Con-Chair-To, but Castagnoli dragged Moxley to safety.