Collision Review – 05.02.26

SK covered an action-packed Dynamite.

It’s time for another LIVE AND IN LIVING COLOR episode of AEW Collision, friends. Tonight’s show comes to the TNT airwaves from The Peoria Center in Peoria, IL. The announcers for tonight’s show are Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring introductions, and Lexy Nair on backstage interviews and breaking news segments. Let’s watch some wrestling!

With the return of our pal Anna Jay tonight, let’s see her and Tay Melo destroy someone’s nose!

10 Man Tag: The Death Riders (AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castignoli and PAC) and The Dogs (Clark Connors and David Finlay) vs The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz, Myron Reed, and Dezmond Xavier) and Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin)

Everyone starts fighting on the floor after introductions. Castignoli and Reed go into the ring and the bell rings as Reed nails Castignoli with an enziguri. Reed hits a tope con hilo that takes out Castignoli and PAC on the floor. Connors and Wentz go in for some one on one and Wentz ends up working him over in a corner with chops and right hands. Wentz misses a charge but catches Connors coming back at him with a flying torneo that gets two. Finlay grabs a tag and puts the boots to Wentz in the heel corner. Wentz makes an escape and tags in Reed and Xavier in succession. PAC tags in as does Darius and they duke it out mid-ring. Moxley flies in to clothesline Darius down without a tag, but then he tags in anyway. Moxley works Darius over in a corner and then bites his forehead. They start slugging it out and Darius flattens Moxley with a dropkick before tagging in Dante. Dante hits a flying lariat and Reed tags in for a chop battle with Moxley. Reed catches Moxley with a springboard dropkick. Moxley dumps Reed to the floor where he eats an immediate Shafir kick to the ribs. Castignoli tosses Reed back in but eats a Xavier flying DDT in response. Another fight breaks out on the floor and a long sequence of “everyone hits one move” ends with Castignoli uppercutting a flying Reed. We go to commercials.

Connors and Reed are going at it when the show returns. Another Pier Six breaks out so that Reed can’t make a tag. Connors and Finlay get caught in a double cutter from Reed who slowly crawls over to tag in Xavier. Xavier snaps off a cutter on Finlay and a springboard rolling double knee strike on Connors before covering Connors and getting two. Wentz tags in and he and Xavier combine on a double team superkick/double stomp that gets two as Finlay breaks up the cover. Finlay and Connors gain and advantage and hit an Alabama Jam on Wentz that gets two. Wentz fires up with a leaping knee lift that drops Connors. PAC and Darius tag in and Darius hits a couple of covers that get two. Dante tags in and mashes PAC with a springboard cross body that gets two. Darius tags in and he and Dante work over PAC before snapping off a Flatliner that gets two. Castignoli breaks up the cover and then hits a double suplex on Dante and Darius. Castignoli puts Dante in the Giant Swing and Moxley catches Dante with a dropkick in the middle of it. The Rascalz charge in as do Top Flight and they all take turns eliminating Castignoli. The Rascalz take turns mashing Finlay around until Connors recovers. Connors and Finlay combine on a high-low, and then everything turns to chaos. Darius grabs a roll up on PAC for two. The Death Riders get Darius in a corner and run their conveyor belt, and then PAC murders Darius with a lariat. PAC slaps on the Brutalizer and Darius is forced to tap.

Well, it was following tag rules right up until it wasn’t, but for a ten man opener, I guess this wasn’t horrible. It gets a bunch of people on the card, it’s probably pretty safe as long as you keep your head on a swivel, and gets something resembling a storyline over. Everyone hits BIG MOVES, Schiavone yells about how great it is, and someone wins. 3*

Winners – The Death Riders/The Dogs (PAC Brutalizer on Darius)

Here’s a look at AEW National Champion Jack Perry being driven around the desert by Luchasaurus. There’s some peeing comedy and Perry yells a bunch over the bus’s loudspeaker. We go to commercials.

AEW National Championship: Jack Perry (C) vs Mascara Dorada

There’s a handshake to start and Dorada snaps off an armdrag after some acrobatics. Perry shoots the half and works a side headlock but Dorada rolls him over for one. Perry trucks Dorada and then sends him over after some rope running. Perry hits a chop and then gets caught in a rana by the charging Dorada. Perry rope walks and hits an armdrag, so Dorada goes up and hits a double springboard armdrag off of his rope walk. Dorada hits a torneo from the ring to the floor before celebrating with the fans. A recovered Perry runs Dorada face-first into a ring post but then gets dumped into the crowd when he charges. Perry and Dorada start slugging it out on top of the barricade and Dorada snaps off a Destroyer on the barricade as we go to commercials.

There’s an exchange of superkicks when the show returns. Perry fires off a poison rana and runs right into a Dorada Code Red. Dorada fires off some forearms but Perry reverses off a charge and drops Dorada with a modified Blue Thunder Bomb that gets two. Perry fires off some chops and right hands. Perry dumps Dorada to the apron and catches him with an uppercut when Dorada tries to springboard in. Perry hits a moonsault to the floor and then dumps Dorada back in. Perry yanks Dorada up for a Liger Bomb that gets two. Perry mounts Dorada in a corner and drops a bunch of rights, but Dorada snaps Perry down with an Area Code kick. Dorada hoists Perry up for a modified electric chair cutter that gets two. Dorada positions Perry and ascends, but Perry rises to prevent anything. Dorada slugs Perry down and ascends again for a 450 that gets two. Dorada puts the boots to Perry and wants another Destroyer but Perry tosses him away. They fire off superkicks and Perry hits a rana that sends Dorada to the floor. Perry tosses Dorada back in and Perry meets Dorada’s knee on a dive. Dorada hits a Razor’s Edge faceplant that gets a LONG two. Dorada drags Perry to a corner and ascends. Dorada’s Shooting Star Press meets Perry’s knees and Perry’s cover gets two. They slug it out on a top turnbuckle and Perry fires off a rana before his jackknife cover gets three.

I think they’re really trying to make Perry into something, finally. I’m not sure how it’s going, per se, but they’re trying. Dorada is one of your more annoying technicos because he just loves to preen for the fans instead of, you know, going for pins. Like, he’s really good at what he does but the constant pausing to be like “Look at the cool move I just hit and celebrate me for hitting it” is kind of weird. Regardless, they were going for EPIC here and didn’t quite get there. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL AEW National Champion – Jack Perry (Top rope rana into a jackknife cover)

There’s a post-match exchange of pleasantries and good sportsmanship.

ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT Renee Paquette interviewed Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida after their loss against Divine Dominion. Statlander is super pissed at Shida, and Shida promises to make things up to Statlander as she galumphs away.

AEW Trios Champions The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) vs MxM TV (Mason Madden, Mansoor, and Johnny TV)

O’Reilly starts with Mansoor who eats one side kick from O’Reilly and immediately tags out to Madden. Madden gets a kick to the knee and wants no more to do with O’Reilly so he tags in TV. TV eats a chest kick and then gets mounted in the Conglom corner for ten rights from O’Reilly and ten from Strong. Cassidy tags in but MxM have had enough and come over to start a battle on the floor. The heels get the advantage and TV hits a torneo to the floor on O’Reilly and Strong. Mansoor and Madden hit their pose, and Cassidy joins them for a thumbs up. Cassidy gets leg lariated down by Madden and TV snaps off Starship Pain. TV covers Cassidy for two as O’Reilly and Strong come in to break it up. There’s some heel miscommunication that gets Mansoor crotched in a corner, and Strong goes to work on Madden with chops and a belly to back suplex. Strong uses Cassidy who goozles Mansoor onto a prone Madden. O’Reilly and Strong double-team TV and Cassidy wants TV closer. Strong and O’Reilly drag TV over so Cassidy can drop his Savage Elbow for three.

A palate cleanser of high comedy disguised as a trios match. Cassidy has some big deal happening with Dax Harwood on Dynamite this week (by the way, in case you’re getting your information from this recap after not watching the show, this upcoming week is a three hour Dynamite/Collision on Wednesday night and then a one hour special on Saturday night called Fairway To Hell) and I guess they wanted to promo that during this sprint. 2*

Winners – The Conglomeration (Cassidy Savage Elbow on TV)

Post-match sees Tommaso Ciampa wander out to point at his non-existent watch indicating how little time The Conglomeration have left with their Trios titles. We go to commercials.

Schiavone handles the terrible news regarding Rebel Tanea as best as he can while making sure she’s known and loved by the wrestling community. I think we’re all sending good thoughts Rebel’s way at this point.

Schiavone then has to throw to highlights of Jon Moxley, Motivational Trainer and his monologue to Will Ospreay. Schiavone calls it a “mind-boggling situation” and Tony….you nailed it brother.

AEW TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale (C) vs Anna Jay

This is Jay’s first match in 164 days. Nightingale grabs a quick roll up for one and then they exchange headlocks and head scissors. Nightingale invites some fire from Jay who fires up with some forearms, but then Nightingale trucks Jay on a charge. Jay grabs a sunset flip for two, and then an inside cradle that gets two. We reset and Nightingale slips a charge before walloping Jay with a bunch of lariats. Nightingale misses a senton and Jay drops her with a rolling neckbreaker that gets two. Jay puts the boots to Nightingale and then snapmares her over. Jay hits a running shotgun dropkick and covers Nightingale for one. Jay misses a charge but slugs Nightingale down to the floor. Nightingale trips Jay up on the apron and then crushes Jay with a rolling tackle on the floor. We go to commercials.

Nightingale snaps off a spinebuster that gets two when the show returns. Nightingale misses a charge and eats some back elbows from Jay. Jay hits a leg lariat and a springboard bulldog that gets two. Nightingale grabs a backslide for two. Nightingale hits a corner charge and then mounts Jay on a top turnbuckle. Nightingale ascends and fires off a superplex. Nightingale hoists Jay up for a Death Valley Driver and covers her for two. Jay fires off some elbows and a reverse thrust kick. Jay hits an X-Factor and covers Nightingale for two. Jay puts on the Queenslayer and Nightingale shakes her off by driving her into a corner. Nightingale hoists Jay but she slips off. Nightingale yanks Jay up off a charge and hits a sit-out powerbomb that gets three.

I thought Jay looked decent here after being away for so long. Nightingale keeps stringing these singles wins together but doesn’t have anything resembling a real feud, so you get these random-ass defenses on Collision and I don’t know what it’s meant to accomplish. Willow keeps winning until someone cool shows up? Perhaps. 2.5*

Winner AND STILL AEW TBS Champion – Willow Nightingale (sit-out powerbomb)

Nightingale shakes hands with Jay and hugs her before exiting.

Renee Paquette is now with Statlander and Shida live, and Shida’s way of making things up to Statlander is to have gotten them another tag match but this time it’s with Harley Cameron and Mina Shirakawa. Cameron scoffs at the notion of Shida “lowering herself” to wrestle Cameron. Everyone bickers and Stat and Shida leave. Cameron is disgusted by the whole thing. We go to commercials.

The Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia) vs The Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and Ace Austin)

Jon Moxley, Motivational Trainer joins the commentary team as Marina Shafir patrols ringside. It’s Robinson and Yuta to start. Yuta slugs Austin off the apron while Garcia trucks Robinson from behind. Garcia tags in and he and Yuta snap off elbows that drop Robinson. Yuta tags in and he and Garcia get beat up a bit by Robinson before he tags in Austin. Austin works Garcia and Yuta over before running into a Yuta thrust kick. Austin trips up Yuta and kicks him in the head before blasting him with a running dropkick. Austin gets whipped into a corner but Yuta misses his charge. Garcia distracts Austin long enough for Yuta to blast him with a dropkick. Yuta distracts the ref and Garcia and Shafir work Austin over on the floor. Garcia tosses Austin back in and Yuta covers him for two. Garcia hits a Fisherman’s suplex on Austin and that gets two. We go to commercials.

The Death Riders work their conveyor belt attack on Austin before dropping Robinson off the apron. Garcia yanks Austin into a Peruvian necktie but Austin rises up and elbows his way out of it. Austin fights his way out of the heel corner and mashes Garcia with a Death Valley Driver. Austin and Garcia make tags and Robinson runs wild on the Death Riders for a bit. Yuta gets hit with a senton and then Robinson smashes Garcia with a cross-body. Robinson pulls Garcia in front of a Yuta suicide dive and he busts himself open on the announce table. Robinson smashes a bloody Yuta with jabs and then stops to confront Shafir on the apron. Garcia grabs a roll up for two but Robinson kicks him off into Shafir at two. Robinson gets a roll up for two and then smashes Yuta with a leg lariat that gets two. Garcia breaks up the cover and Austin flies in to even things up. Garcia dumps Austin to the floor and then he and Yuta combine on a piledriver on Robinson. Yuta hits a Rocket Launcher on Robinson and he somehow kicks out at two. Yuta misses a charge but Garcia doesn’t and crushes Robinson with a dropkick. Austin hits a spinning kaman giri on Garcia but he gets immediately dropped by a Yuta rolling Samoan Drop. Yuta eats a left from Robinson before getting yanked into a front face DDT from Robinson. Robinson’s cover gets three.

I had a thought that the BBG were going to win here after the Death Rider sub-team was part of the winners in the opener and this did not disappoint in that regard. It’s nice to know that Yuta and Garcia are the geeks of the Death Riders and nothing will ever change that. The post-match stuff was the thing of note out of this unless you really think it’s funny that Yuta busted himself open hardway on a suicide dive that caught the announce table. LOLYUTA 2.75*

Winners – The Bang Bang Gang (Robinson front-face DDT on Yuta)

Post-match sees Robinson point at Moxley before Garcia and Yuta attack him and Austin from behind. Moxley seems perturbed so he goes in to join the attack, but here are Austin and Colten Gunn returning to smash the Death Riders around. Shafir prevents Moxley from being put into the 3:10 to Yuma, but she stops caring when Yuta wanders in to collect his version of the move. The Bang Bang Gang celebrate in the ring and the Gunns tell everyone that if they aren’t down with the Collision Cowboys being back, they have two words for everyone. WHERE IS CARDBLADE JAY WHITE DAMMIT?

Lexy Nair is backstage with AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion and Kross points out that Statlander and Shida crumbled at their feet. They dare Nair to come up with anyone who can defeat them, and Kross says everyone should just stop trying.

Skye Blue vs Nixi XS

Blue hits a huge high boot to start and then bullies XS around. Blue drives XS onto the apron and then pops her with a big right. Blue drives XS to the floor with a kick and then rams her head into the ring steps. Blue tosses XS back in and then drops her with a draping neckbreaker to the floor. Blue ascends after XS crawls back in but XS meets her on the second rope. Blue pulls XS down for a Cheeky Nandos and then yanks her into a powerbomb. Blue hits a running knee and then pulls XS up at two. Blue puts on the Dragon Sleeper and then slaps on bodyscissors. XS gives it up.

I’m not sure why this match happened other than Blue is from Illinois. 1*

Winner – Skye Blue (Dragon sleeper/body scissors combo)

After commercials, Schiavone and McGuinness run down the current Dynamite card.

AEW TNT Championship: Kevin Knight (C) vs HOOK

Hook is out with Katsuyori Shibata. Aubrey Edwards is your referee. Hook goes behind and shoves Knight down to start as Knight has words with Shibata. Hook works a wristlock which Knight reverses before dropping a knee on Hook’s forearm. They grapple around the ropes and exchange go-behinds. Hook tosses Knight over and they run the ropes for some athletic showing off.. Hook ducks a dropkick and goes to Shibata for some counsel. Hook takes over with some rights and lefts, but Knight reverses for some rights of his own. Hook fires off some rights and a headbutt to cut off that flurry. Hook gets dumped to the apron and then dropkicked to the floor. Knight gets blocked from doing more damage by Shibata. Shibata tries a clothesline and Knight ducks it before jumping on Hook. Hook snatches Knight up and over into the crowd as we go to commercials.

They’re slugging it out mid-ring when the show returns and Hook hits a bridging suplex that gets two. Hook works the body with rights and lefts before sending Knight into a corner. Knight flies out with some shoulders and a lariat. Knight bodyslams Hook and then hits a running UFO splash that gets two. Knight grabs a leg and blasts Hook with a forearm. Knight hits a giant rana that sends Hook to the opposite corner, and then Knight hits a running shotgun dropkick. Knight ascends and Shibata messes with the ropes to crotch Knight. Hook ascends and they brawl a bit before Hook gets sent down. Knight rises and Hook re-joins him. Hook hits a long toss suplex and then lariats Knight in a corner. Hook hits a high angle suplex and covers Knight for two. Hook hits a running kick and covers Knight for two. Hook signals for the end and wants REDRUM but Knight rolls through and gets two. Knight grabs a roll up for two and then gets sent into Shibata when Hook kicks him off. Knight crushes Hook with a clothesline and then hits a flying DDT. Knight positions Hook and ascends for the UFO Splash. Knight’s cover gets three.

I thought this was a solid main event that was worked at a normal pace and included selling! I think it’s worth it to point out when these things happen during this era of non-stop finishers and zero selling. A slowed-down Knight worked well with Hook’s ground based stuff, and this match was your Match of the Night as a result. 3.75*

Winner AND STILL AEW TNT Champion – Kevin Knight (UFO Splash)

Schiavone again runs down the known cards for this upcoming week as the credits roll and we’re out.

The two matches to seek out this week were Perry-Dorada and the main event. You could easily skip everything else and not miss anything unless you’re a Bang Bang Gang mark like me and needed to see the Collision Cowboys return. I think Knight and Darby will be a hell of a deal on Wednesday night. No major updates on Jon Moxley Dinner Theater this week but perhaps we’ll get more on Wednesday night.

Have a good rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading and commenting as always.