AEW Collision
April 13th, 2024
By: John Siino
Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky
Commentary: Tony Schiavone & Matt Menard
Beating Is Easier Than Hurting
They start the show showing highlights from last night’s NJPW Windy City Riot where Jon Moxley became the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion defeating Tetsuya Naito and we will see Moxley this Wednesday on Dynamite. We go to Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli in the back where they talk about them both having to face Will Ospreay soon, but first, they have Powerhouse Hobbs & Kyle Fletcher tonight and talk about it being easier to beat them than hurting them, as Don Callis told them to do. Claudio has faith all three of them can beat them, but people have been trying to hurt them for 20 years due to how successful they are, and throughout all the injuries Danielson has had, they can’t be stopped. Claudio talks about the work behind the camera that goes into making this look so easy and get to the level they are at. Danielson says Callis told his guys to try to hurt them, but that doesn’t fly tonight because violence is their specialty and the Don Callis Family will see it tonight, on Wednesday, and next Sunday at Dynasty.
House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Dante Martin, Matt Sydal & Action Andretti
Tony Schiavone mentions that Darius Martin is getting his pilot license today, being the reason for him not being in this match, as Action Andretti & Buddy Matthews start. Schiavone almost calls him ‘Bloody’ Matthews, which I hope becomes a gimmick of his down the run. They take turns trying to hold each other down before Andretti bounces off the ropes with a leapfrog before Matt Sydal & Malakai Black tag in next. Sydal keeps Malakai in his corner as his team all take turns on Malakai. Malakai is able to fight them off and knock Andretti right into Brody King who starts shoulder-tackling all his opponents and taking out Sydal & Martin with a big double clothesline. Brody catches Andretti on his shoulders before Malakai kicks him, Brody follows with a German Suplex, sending Andretti to the outside as Brody takes out all three opponents with a big tope suicida. Andretti is able to finally fight off Buddy and make the hot tag to Sydal who goes to town on Buddy before Malakai jumps in and they start trading kicks. Brody tries to get involved and gets knocked to the outside as Sydal is fighting off all three members of House of Black but gets stopped by Malakai who power bombs Sydal right onto Buddy’s knees, forming a backstabber as we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Buddy is kicking away at Sydal’s back, but Sydal comes back with a wicked-looking Poison Rana sending Buddy spilling to the outside. Dante & Malakai tag in, as the quick Dante springboards off the ropes and sends Malakai down with a head scissors, heads to the top rope but gets knocked down by Brody. Dante lands on his feet from a German Suplex and hits an Enziguri for a two. Dante follows this by diving onto Brody on the outside but walks into a kick by Malakai on his way back. Malakai escapes out of Lights, Camera, and Action from Andretti, who then dives into Buddy on the outside before getting a top rope moonsault from Malakai. House of Black keeps Andretti in their corner and tries Dante’s Inferno but it gets stopped by Sydal & Dante who all then start hitting superkicks on House of Black. All six go at it now with nonstop offense until Brody knocks Andretti’s head off with a clothesline but the pin attempt gets stopped by a frog splash from Dante. The babyfaces start super kicking at Brody as commentary keeps making Darius Martin flight jokes. Brody catches a Meteora attempt from Sydal and sends him right into the corner where he crushes him with a cannonball with the kicks from Buddy & Malakai as Brody covers Sydal for the pin and the win.
Winners: House of Black (Brody King, Malakai Black & Buddy Matthews) by pinfall at 14:24
They get in the camera and put out warnings to Adam Copeland and say they know he is watching, as they build up their trios match at Dynasty.
Lexy Nair is in the back with Toni Storm, Mariah May & Luther and says we saw champagne and kissing on Wednesday, as Storm says get used to this, and mentions Deonna Purrazzo cursing, the Daffodil Lightning and goes to kiss Mariah May. Lexy says she is talking about another kiss, but Mariah stops her. Storm then says she knows AZM wants her to kiss her bum tonight before building up the match for tonight.
We see footage from last Wednesday after Dynamite where Chris Jericho bumps into Taz and says he wants to explain himself to Hook, but Hook won’t answer his phone and tells Taz to ask him if he could talk to him. Taz says he can try, but Hook is his own man, he does think Jericho pissed him off, but he will try, as it’s announced that Taz will broker a meeting between Chris Jericho & Hook on this Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lee Moriarty (w/ Shane Taylor)
Lee Moriarty’s entrance now includes him sitting down by this chair ringside before unmasking, as the newest member of Shane Taylor Promotions, Anthony Ogogo, joins the commentary team for this match. Katsuyori Shibata takes Moriarty down to the mat right away and starts twisting him up before Moriarty grabs the bottom rope to break it up. As Ogogo tries to explain why he aligned himself with STP with his boxing background relating to Taylor, Moriarty & Shibata take turns taking each other down and putting on leg locks, before Shibata puts on a Figure Four. Moriarty scoots back all the way until he can grab the bottom rope, kicks off Shibata, and goes by the commentary table where Ogogo leaves the commentary table and delivers a liver punch, as Shane Taylor was distracting Paul Turner. Shibata eventually rolls back in as Moriarty gets a two-count, going into PIP.
We see during the break, they were fighting by the barricade before cutting back to the ring where Shibata is encouraging Moriarty to chop away, but Shibata isn’t impressed whatsoever. Shibata then starts jabbing and chopping away at Moriarty in the corner before hitting a running dropkick. They start training abdominal stretches before Shibata hits a Saito Suplex. They then start trading kicks, go back and forth until Shibata hits a ripcord slap and a HUGE PK for the pin and the win, as Ogogo looks pissed off at commentary.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata by pinfall at 10:43
Shane Taylor starts attacking Shibata after, as Hook, who is facing Taylor later tonight on Battle of the Belts heads to the ring and takes out Moriarty with a suplex before going face-to-face with Taylor, before Taylor backs off.
They show highlights of the women’s title matches from ROH Supercard of Honor before going to Lexy Nair who’s with Athena & Billie Starkz who call an Emergency MEM, a Minion Empowerment Meeting, and start being giddy about their wins, as Athena calls herself the forever ROH Champion and says she will make an example out of Red Velvet tonight and show the world what they have been missing.
After the break Lexy is with Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett and asks if their recent success could be due to Wardlow, which offends Strong who asks how dare Lexy make that claim and says he’s been doing it on his own just like his friend Kyle O’Reilly who has inspired him. Strong says tonight he is putting on a show called ‘The Beating of a Lifetime’.
Daniel Garcia vs. Angelico (w/ Serpentico)
Tony Schiavone brings up how Daniel Garcia isn’t too happy with what the Young Bucks did to FTR recently, as right they take turns taking each other down and going for pins as Matt Menard tells Garcia to smash him in this face, end this, and hit the shower. Schiavone starts talking about the different pronunciations for Angelico as Garcia puts him in the Figure Four. They start going back and forth with the figure four, as the crowd goes boo/yay until they roll into the ropes to break it up where they start foot fighting. Garcia tries to run the ropes, but his knee gives out as Angelico takes advantage. Garcia comes right back with a swinging neckbreaker and starts punching his injured knee. Garcia follows with a double underhook suplex and forearm in the corner, before hitting the ten punches in the corner, with a little bit of dance at the end. Garcia follows with a big slap, and a suplex and puts on a leg lock as Angelico taps out.
Winner: Daniel Garcia by submission at 5:50
We go to PAC in the back who calls out Kazuchika Okada and wants to thank him for accepting his challenge and hitting him over the head with a big lump of steel. He calls Okada very brave and as a result he has a perpetual headache that serves as a reminder of who he is. He might not be tall, handsome, a Japanese superstar, own a Ferrari, or be the flavor of the month, and calls Okada crap and says he’s better than him, and at Dynasty he’s going to relish the opportunity to prove it in front of the entire world.
AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Mariah May & Luther) vs. AZM (w/ Anna Jay)
Toni Storm starts by cornering AZM into the ropes and taunting her, but AZM comes right back with forearms and shoulder blocks that Storm laughs off. AZM follows this by stomping on Storm’s foot but gets knocked down by a shoulder block herself. The ultra-fast AZM starts running the ropes and knocks Storm down with a drop kick. AZM stays on top of Storm with some stomps and tries to climb the ropes but gets knocked down and then knocked off the apron with a hip attack that Matt Menard calls the ‘flying ass’. Anna Jay & Mariah May then start brawling and end up going to the back as AZM sends Storm into the steel steps. AZM follows with a huge PK off the apron to Storm as we go to PIP.
When we come back, they are trading strikes before AZM hits a flying headscissors and a spin kick as both men are knocked down from this. The crowd is split for both as AZM hits a shotgun dropkick off the top rope, for a two. Storm takes control and tries a suplex, but AZM sends her down and traps her in a very close pin for two. Storm is able to hit the German Suplex, followed by the black & white hip attack and the Storm Zero for the pin and the win.
Winner: Toni Storm by pinfall at 9:39
Mariah May returns with glasses of champagne for her and Storm.
Lexy Nair is backstage with Red Velvet who says she heard what Lexy’s boss said and she will stir the pot tonight and she will make an example out of Athena and show everybody why it was a mistake to come into her house.
New ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe is in the back and says he is starting to understand how House of Black operates but he doesn’t fear any evil and he, Eddie Kingston & Adam Copeland will bring the violence at Dynasty and tell House of Black to afraid, very afraid, before barking into the camera.
Tony Schiavone introduces Thunder Rosa, almost forgetting which pay-per-view is coming up (he’s had a long week), and brings up what Toni Storm did on Wednesday by rubbing her face paint off and brings up how Rosa can redeem herself after never losing the AEW Women’s Championship. Rosa first thanks the fans here in attendance and those watching at home, and calls out Deonna Purrazzo and says she doesn’t need her before bringing up all the accomplishments she’s done by herself. Rosa asks what happened to Storm, and brings up ThunderStorm and says she has another opportunity coming up at Dynasty and brings up the locker room, with some real passionate words. She tells Storm to kiss her clone goodbye and she made a big mistake by trying to erase the mask on her face and how Storm doesn’t want to see what’s under there, and you don’t want to kill what’s already dead.
We cut to Deonna in the back who says if Rosa doesn’t want her help, it’s fine as she’ll help herself. Deonna says she doesn’t think Storm embodies what it means to be a World Champion, but she does as she is the Virtuosa and she can make excuses why she’s not the champion, or she can do something about it. And if she can’t get one Toni Storm, she might as well get the other and challenges Mariah May for next week and says she’ll break her arm.
They announce that the Young Bucks vs. FTR AEW World Tag Team Championship match at Dynasty will now be a Ladder Match.
We go to Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs in the back, where Hobbs tells Fletcher to focus on tonight and guarantees that Bryan Danielson won’t be able to walk out on his own tonight.
Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Bryan Danielson) vs. The Don Callis Family (Powerhouse Hobbs & Kyle Fletcher)
All four start brawling right away to start the match and take it to the outside as Bryan Danielson attacks Kyle Fletcher against the barricade and Claudio Castagnoli sends Powerhouse Hobbs into the ring LED. BCC starts double-teaming on Fletcher, before Claudio sends Hobbs back into the ring, as Danielson sends Fletcher over the barricade. Claudio stays on top of Hobbs, as we learn The Elite will face PAC, Daniel Garcia & Penta El Zero Miedo on this upcoming Dynamite. Hobbs is able to counter Claudio with a suplex, before tagging out to Fletcher. Stephon Smith tries to get control and keeps Hobbs separated, but he still attacks Claudio on the outside as we go to PIP.
We come back to see Fletcher on top of Claudio with a sleeper hold, but Claudio is able to power out and hit a Gutwrench Suplex and make the hot tag to Danielson who enters with a shotgun dropkick on Fletcher and kicks Hobbs off the apron. Danielson stays on top of Fletcher as the crowd is fully behind him before Danielson hits his kicks on Fletcher. Danielson dives onto Hobbs on the outside, and they topple back but Hobbs gets right back up and starts slamming Danielson on the apron before Danielson sends Hobbs into the ring post and hits him with a running knee off the apron. Fletcher goes out and takes out Danielson with a kick but Claudio quickly takes out Fletcher with an uppercut. Claudio attacks Hobbs sending him over the barricade with a huge uppercut, before Fletcher and Danielson join them into the crowd as well. They start making their way back into the ring as we go to another PIP.
We come back just in time to see Fletcher exposing the floor, but the mat keeps falling down, kind of funny. Luckily this helps Danielson reverse the move and backdrop Fletcher on the floor. They finally go back inside the ring, as Fletcher & Danielson are on the top rope, where Danielson escapes out of a superplex, but Hobbs joins in and puts Daniels on his shoulders just for Claudio to break that up. Hobbs clotheslines Claudio, sending them both to the outside as Danielson hits an avalanche belly-to-back suplex on Fletcher for a two, but quickly puts on the LeBell Lock, but Hobbs runs in to break it up with a headbutt. Danielson is able to fight them both off and makes the hot tag to Claudio who goes to town on Hobbs with a flurry of uppercuts in the corner, before giving Fletcher a bunch as well. Claudio delivers the Giant Swing on Hobbs to a big reaction from this crowd before putting on the Sharpshooter. Fletcher tries to break it up with kicks, but Claudio keeps it on for a bit before all four start going at it including the Town Business spine buster from Hobbs to Claudio for two. All four start trading chops and strikes with each other before Danielson takes out Fletcher on the outside with a tope suicida. Claudio follows with a Death Valley Driver for two, and uppercuts for another two, but gets tripped up by Fletcher as Hobbs hits a clothesline and the World’s Strongest Slam, which Danielson breaks up the count for. Hobbs tries to bring in a chair but Stephon Smith takes it away. Hobbs & Fletcher start clearing the commentary table as Claudio hits a hurricanrana off the table to Fletcher, sends him back inside, and hits the Neutralizer to get the pin and the win.
Winners: Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Bryan Danielson) by pinfall at 25:47
As soon as the match ends, Konosuke Takeshita runs in and helps Hobbs & Fletcher attack Claudio & Danielson as the crowd starts chanting for Jon Moxley. Takeshita takes out Danielson with a brain buster on the ramp, as Claudio chases them off with a chair as they transition into Battle of the Belts X.
