The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 10.07.23

The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 10.07.23

Live from Salt Lake City, UT

Your hosts are Ian Riccaboni & Nigel McGuinness. Yes! Great to have Ian back.

AEW World tag team title: FTR v. Big Bill & Ricky Starks

Starks already beat one Wheeler last week so clearly he’s ready for this. Ricky goes right after Dax’s bad shoulder and runs him, and Cash, into the post, and then hits the tornado DDT for two. Dax fights back while the doctor checks on Cash, so Bill comes in and clotheslines Dax to the floor. Bill preps the announce table and chokeslams Wheeler through that. Back in the ring, Bill misses a charge and hits the post himself, but Dax is lacking a partner to tag. So he tries a Sharpshooter instead, and Bill shoves him off and then chokeslams him. Starks wants another one, so Bill obliges, and then Ricky gets greedy and demands one more for good luck. And that’s STILL not enough, so Bill lets Ricky come in with the spear, and they WIN THE TAG TEAM TITLES at 4:54?!? Holy shit, I was not expecting that. Well that’s definitely a push for Starks, as they completely squashed FTR there. I did not have Big Cass winning a major title in 2023 on my bingo card. *1/2. This one had big Andre & Haku beating Demolition vibes for me.

Bryan Danielson v. Kyle Fletcher

They trade headlocks to start and Kyle hits him with kicks to escape that. They do a test of strength and Bryan takes him down with an anklelock, but Kyle makes the ropes. Apparently he has until 5 to break or he risks disqualification. So Bryan hits him with kicks and wraps him up in the surfboard and then beats on him with shots to the neck before beating him down on the mat. That gets two. Fletcher fights back and tosses him for a dive, but Bryan basically guides him headfirst into the guardrail for a crazy bump from Fletcher. Back in the ring, Fletcher somehow manages to not have a broken neck and comes back with chops in the corner to put him down. Fletcher with slams while holding onto the arm, but Danielson comes back with a lariat and beats on him with the kicks for two. And then Bryan throws his own chops and shows him to do it, before following with a rana off the top. But then Fletcher catches a kick in the corner and hits him with a brainbuster for two. Bryan flips out of the corner, then dodges a charging Fletcher and beats on him with chops again, before grabbing the ankle and rolling into an anklelock and then rolling further into a german suplex for two. Fletcher fires back with his own dragon suplex and both guys are out, but Fletcher recovers first with an enzuigiri and Michinoku Driver for two. Fletcher with a dragon sleeper and he drops down like an inverted DDT on the back of Danielson’s head. They head to the top and Fletcher beats on him with elbows to further hurt the shoulder and brings him down with another dragon sleeper attempt, but Bryan gets a reversal into a European clutch for the pin at 16:00. This brings out the Gates of Agony for an attack, but Claudio and Yuta make the save on behalf of the BCC and chase them off. Unsurprising that Fletcher has one of his best ever singles matches with Danielson. ****

Meanwhile, Big Bill and Ricky chat with Tony Schiavone about their title win, and apparently they’re STARS. And Ricky declares that there will be no rematch.

ROCK HARD JUICE ROBINSON & The Gunns v. Metalik, Gravity & Angelico

Gravity does the slow motion walk at Austin to start, and Juice is very impressed. But Austin slugs him down anyway, so Gravity speeds it up and flips into an armdrag takedown. Over to Juice and he gets frustrated by Metalik, who gets a bulldog for two. The luchadors trap Juice in the corner and work him over, but he escapes and it’s over to Colten with a dropkick on Metalik to take over. Juice with a clothesline, but he misses a blind charge on Gravity before recovering with a leg lariat to put him down again. Juice beats him down with chops into a senton, for two, and then slams him down by the mask and follows with the LEFT HAND OF GOD to really lay him out. Austin comes in for his own punches, and Colten wants a piece of that action and gets cradled for two as a result. Hot tag Angelico and he wraps Colten up in a deathlock while holding another submission move on Austin, but Juice breaks that up with another LEFT HAND OF GOD. Over to Metalik and he comes in with a springboard rana on Austin, but ROCK HARD JUICE ROBINSON tags in and the Gunns hit Metalik with the 310 to Yuma before Juice finishes with Pulp Friction at 9:32. Fun match! ***. And then Jay White and his stolen AEW World title join us, along with Cardblade for the full Bang Bang Gang celebration. Jay wonders if MJF is over at Adam’s house nursing his wounds? (Juice: “Creepy!”). Unfortunately for Hangman Page, he hasn’t earned a shot at Jay White’s AEW World title yet, so it’s a non-title match on Title Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nick Wayne explains that he turned on Darby Allin in order to get back at him for abandoning Nick, and now he’s got a real father figure.

World Trios title: The Acclaimed v. The Iron Savages

Jack Jameson has a posedown with Billy to start, and Bronson comes in and apparently threatens to toss Billy’s salad. That might get over with a very specific demographic I suppose. Over to Bowens for a double-team elbow and that gets two. Boulder hits Bowens with a faceplant to take over and gets two, and then tosses him for a splash from Bronson on the floor. Back in the ring, they work Bowens over in the corner and Bronson gets a sitdown splash for two. Boulder with a corner splash, but he misses a charge and lands on the floor. The Savages manage to cut off the tag and tease more ass-eating, but Boulder misses a moonsault and it’s hot tag Caster. He manages to hit death valley drivers on both Savages and goes up with a flying bodypress on Jameson for two. The Savages regroup with a double chokeslam on him for two, but Billy and Bowens hit Boulder with a double suplex to setup the Scissor Me Timbers on Boulder. And then Jameson falls victim to the mic drop at 9:45. Another fun match, although I don’t know what’s up with all the ass-eating. **1/2

Meanwhile, Toni Storm gets crazier by the day and continues to look like the biggest star in the women’s division.

Timeless Toni Storm v. Kiera Hogan

Ian is repulsed by the idea of scripts in wrestling, and then Kiera has the audacity to tear her copy of it and Toni gives an offended “HOW DARE YOU?” and attacks. This immediately gets over. Kiera makes a comeback with a superkick for two, but Toni slams her down by the hair to take over again. Hip attack misses and Kiera spanks her from the floor, and Toni retreats to the corner selling that vicious attack. A second hip attack works this time and she throws to the commercial, although I’m watching on Fite so we don’t have any. And indeed it’s TIME FOR A TITTY SLAP and she beats on Hogan outside, before missing a charge and allowing Hogan to smack her on the ass again. Does she just walk into the Lourve and start throwing trash at the Mona Lisa, too? Back in the ring, Toni gets a sitdown splash for two and chokes her out on the ropes. Hogan comes back with a missile dropkick and she gets her own hip attack in the corner for two. Storm catches her with a short powerbomb for two, but Hogan rolls her up for two and makes the comeback. Toni bites the ass to cut that off and then follows with a german suplex to set up the close-up and hip attack. And the Storm Zero finishes at 8:23. This act continues to get over big. Toni is killing it. **3/4

Meanwhile, Ruby Soho may have lost the title eliminator to Shida, but she’s fine with it. And Saraya doesn’t need her to win, so it’s also fine that she’s banned from ringside for the title match.

ROH World title: Eddie Kingston v. Komander

Komander takes him down with a wristlock, so Eddie beats on him with chops in the corner and follows with an exploder. Eddie with another suplex and he beats on Komander with chops, but Komander makes a comeback and Eddie cuts him off and chops away in the corner again. Komander fights back again with forearms and a spinning bodypress for two. Standing shooting star gets two. Eddie bails to the floor and Komander hits him with a flip dive over the corner post and back in for a 450 that gets two. To the top again and Eddie chops him down and they slug it out up there. Eddie with a superplex, but Komander falls on top for two. Eddie with a uranage for two. Lariat gets two. Backfist misses and Komander counters him into a DDT for two. Cradle is reversed by Eddie for two, and he hits the backfist to finish at 10:00. As with many Eddie matches, this was a bit of a style clash and Komander seemed to have trouble adjusting to Kingston’s style. **1/2.

Adam Copeland joins us, and he admits that things didn’t exactly to plan on Dynamite and he’s pretty confused about it. Sure, Christian is a dick, but they’ve been best friends for 40 years even though Christian is “in his Bond villain phase” with the turtlenecks and Nick Wayne as the Persian cat sitting in his lap. So Christian pops up on the KhanTron and he’ll give the answer on Tuesday, but wonders if Adam is going to be able to make it there? So this brings out Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne and Edge manages to fight them off alone before falling victim to a chokeslam. But then Darby Allin makes the save with a chair while Nick Wayne cowers, but Luchasaurus regroups and takes out Darby as well. And no one makes the save as Nick gives Darby a conchairto on the arm to end the show.

I liked this show a lot more than this week’s Dynamite, as it was much less talk and had the right mix of action and storyline stuff I enjoy.