Collision – 10.24.26

SK reviewed an eventful Dynamite after last weekend’s WrestleDream show.

Collision comes to the TNT/HBO Max airwaves LIVE tonight from The LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC. The announcers for tonight’s show include Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, and Smilin’ Paul Wight on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring introductions, and Lexy Nair on interviews and news segments. We’ve got the second match in the big Best of Five tag team series on tonight’s card, so let’s watch some wrestling!

Here’s Jay White out with The Gunns, Juice Robinson, Ace Austin, David Finlay, and Clark Connors. White has the stick and says that the group needs a new name. (I will miss you, Collision Cowboys.) White suggests that we forget about the name being the Bullet Club. White says that Finlay and Connors know him and he knows them, and would rather work with them than against them. White says we should get used to the sight of a downed Moxley being tended to by “Sweet Marina” and then suggests that Marina should….smile more. White further suggests that Marina and her “sweet Roderick” can go death ride together. White then addresses The Conglomeration and that Orange Cassidy has no business being in the same room with him. White then goes back to addressing Jon Moxley calling him a “fragile hopeless pathetic boy” before vowing to take the Continental title from him. Apparently the new name for the group is The Last Outfit and they will destroy the Death Riders. They still have two words for us, but they aren’t said because Jay White hates fun.

Here’s Lexy Nair conveniently running into The Conglomeration (Willow Nightingale, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong) and O’Reilly doesn’t care too much what the The Last Outfit has to say, and vows tonight will be the last night for the Last Outfit.

Best of Five Series: Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) – 1 win vs FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) – 0 wins

Shelley starts with Wheeler and they grapple to a standoff. Sabin tags in and Wheeler yanks Sabin into a backslide for two. Sabin grabs an elbow lock and Harwood tags in. Harwood works Sabin’s arm and Sabin grabs an inside cradle for two. Sabin tags Shelley in and they work some double team stuff on Harwood and Wheeler sending them both to the floor. BIG STOKE has a quick chat with Harwood and Wheeler as Sabin grabs a tag. Harwood grabs a headlock and bullies Sabin to a corner. A chop battle breaks out and Sabin fires off some rights before nailing Harwood with a back body drop that gets two. Wheeler grabs a blind tag and mashes Sabin down from behind. Wheeler works a side headlock and Sabin breaks out as Stokely jumps on the apron. All four men come in and FTR bails again. The Guns nail them with sliding dropkicks and Sabin crushes them both with a suicide dive. We go to commercials.

Shelley pulls Harwood into a second rope belly to back suplex as the show returns. Sabin and Wheeler battle on the apron and Wheeler prevents Shelley from tagging Sabin. Shelley fights off a Shatter Machine attempt and tags in Sabin. Sabin runs wild for a minute and hits a Helluva kick on Harwood. Sabin hits a leaping tornado DDT and covers Harwood for two. FTR try a double team backdrop and Shelley flies in to prevent it. Sabin comes flying in with a sunset flip on Harwood that gets two. Sabin and Shelley hit kicks on Harwood but Wheeler drags Sabin to the floor to prevent further damage. Sabin prevents Harwood from spiking Shelley and covers him after a crossbody for two. Sabin gets mashed by a Harwood lariat and Wheeler tags in. Sabin fights off Harwood and Wheeler but FTR fire back up with a folding press pin on Sabin that gets two. Wheeler yanks Sabin up for some uppercuts and the camera almost misses a Sabin roll up for two. Shelley gets a tag and the Guns hit a Rocket Launcher on Wheeler for two. Stokely interferes and Shelley mashes him and Harwood’s heads together. Wheeler charges into both of them and Shelley rolls him up for two. Shelley runs into a Shatter Machine and Sabin breaks up the cover at two. Sabin and Harwood go nose-to-nose and start slugging it out. They tumble to the floor and Shelley gets the boots up when Wheeler charges. Wheeler grabs a roll up with Stokely’s assistance and covers Shelley for three.

Well that was awesome. I love a good old-school tag match and this fit the bill in spades. Not too much time on the floor, a cheating heel manager, and an old-school finish with the heels cheating to win. The series is now 1-1 and Schiavone announced match three for this coming Fright Night Dynamite, so SK will have you covered with that. I loved this a bunch. 4.5*

Winners – FTR (Wheeler rolls up Shelley with assistance from Stokely) – Series tied at one win apiece

Here’s some highlights of the origins of the set up of this year’s Men’s Blood and Guts. AEW Men’s World Champion Will Ospreay has some words for the Callis group while surrounded by Darby Allin, Adam Copeland, AEW Men’s World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, and Steven Borden. Copeland says he swims in Blood and Guts and promises to beat the Family up so bad their own kids won’t even recognize them. We go to commercials.

Eight Person Mixed Tag Match: Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean, and Trish Adora) vs The Death Riders (AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castignoli, Daniel Garcia, and Marina Shafir)

The Death Riders arrive in a red truck driven by a masked Claudio before making their way out. Garcia seems to not like the cold but he made the choice to not wear pants. YOU MADE THAT CHOICE DANIEL. Taylor and Moxley go right at each other as fights break out everywhere. Taylor gets pushed into a corner where Moxley chops away. Moxley drops a million rights and lefts onto Taylor’s head but Taylor fires up with a knee as the chaos continues around the ring. Bravo tags in and scratches Moxley’s back. Bravo’s cops fire up Moxley who drops Bravo with a side suplex before tagging in Shafir. Adora tags in and Shafir grabs a double wristlock before Dean kicks her off. Adora trucks Shafir in a corner and Dean tags in. Dean threatens the BBC and that does not go well as the Death Riders start the VIOLENCE CONVEYOR BELT. We go to commercials.

Taylor tags in to smash Garcia around when the show returns. Dean hits the BBC on Garcia and STP celebrate in the corner. Bravo cuts off Garcia and rams him back into the heel corner. Garcia gets mashed by Taylor and Moxley has had enough. Moxley crushes Taylor with a tope and Dean blasts Garcia with a right. Garcia fires off a neckbreaker and tags in Castignoli. Castignoli hits a giant swing on Dean before trying to drag Bravo into one. Taylor charges in and Castignoli yanks him up for a standing suplex to Wight’s delight on commentary. Adora and Shafir get tags and Shafir yanks Adora into an armbar before transitioning into the Brutalizer. Adora gives up immediately.

I support Claudio wearing his lucha mask throughout the match! This was your typical Collision chaos tag where psychology and selling were mere afterthoughts, but the crowd ate it up and it was kind of fun watching the Death Riders operate in full babyface mode for once. I suspect that Moxley and Jay White have some major stuff coming so keeping the DR as faces will serve them well along the way, as crowds clearly want to cheer them on at this point. This was fine for what it was assuming you can reconcile this versus the actual tag match that proceeded it.  3*

Winners – The Death Riders (Shafir Brutalizer on Adora)

Post-match sees Moxley with the stick to mention Jay White’s name. Moxley says they have been at war with everyone for a long time now but puts over White making a move. Moxley says the next move is his, and drops the mic. We go to commercials.

Josh Alexander vs Blade Brown

RPG Vice are out with Alexander. Alexander just destroys Brown before inviting him to try a chop, which doesn’t go well. Alexander destroys Brown on the floor before yanking him back in for a package piledriver. Brown is out cold as Alexander puts on the ankle lock.

Alrighty then.  .5*

Winner – Josh Alexander (Ankle lock)

Post-match sees Alexander grab a mic because everyone has to yap tonight. Alexander thanks “the great wise and powerful Don Callis” for assembling the best and most dominant faction in pro wrestling history. Alexander mentions Davis and Doyle decimating the Young Bucks on Wednesday night before vowing that they’ll bring the tag titles back to the Family. Alexander puts over Kazuchika Okada and says it’s time for him to bring some gold. Alexander challenges Darby Allin for the TNT championship on Wednesday night. Alexander name drops Adam Copeland and mentions that he lives in North Carolina before saying that Copeland isn’t around because of his “smashed head” before saying he’d fight Cope for the TNT title once he has it.

Here’s Adam Copeland out to beat the crap out of RPG Vice as Alexander watches from the floor. Copeland spears Baretta and Romero and dares Alexander to join him, but here are Mark Davis and Jake Doyle out immediately for retribution. The numbers overwhelm Copeland and the Callis Family stands tall. Schiavone confirms that Darby Allin vs Josh Alexander is official for Wednesday night. (Two signs behind Schiavone – “WWE Fears AEW” and “Eric Bischoff is a cry-baby”.)

Here’s a look at Ilja Dragunov and Speedball Mike Bailey‘s match this past Wednesday night.

Swerve Strickland vs Myron Reed

Prince Nana is with Swerve, who attacks Reed before the bell sounds. Swerve pounds away before nailing Reed with the House Call. The bell sounds and Reed sends Swerve to the floor when he charges. Reed nails Swerve with a tope con hiro and tosses him back in. Reed hits Swerve with a rope-assisted leg drop and covers him for two. They slug it out mid-ring and Swerve drops Reed with a right. Swerve dumps Reed and hits a running kick from the apron. Swerve rams Reed into a post and drags him back up to the apron. Reed blocks a move and rams Swerve shoulder-first into the post. Reed leaps over the post and nails Swerve with a tope. Reed ascends and misses his move before running into two straight facebusters from Swerve. We go to a break.

Swerve and Reed are mid-ring slugging it out when the show returns. They blast each other with forearms and Swerve gets caught by a Reed stunner. Swerve dumps Reed to the floor and wants another apron kick, but Reed prevents it and drops Swerve with a cutter on the apron. Reed hits a guillotine legdrop. Reed smashes Swerve around and crushes him with an enziguri. Reed yanks Swerve up for a Hang Five and covers Swerve for two. Swerve goes to the apron and Reed wants the pescado cutter, but Swerve cuts it off and waffles Reed with a German on the apron. Swerve pushes Reed back in and Reed fires up with a poision rana. Reed nails Swerve with a 450 and covers him for two. (The crowd bought into this as a finish in a BIG way.) Swerve walks into a superkick and Reed slips as he tries to blast Swerve. Swerve yanks Reed into the Vertebreaker and follows with the Swerve Stomp to end things.

A hell of a battle here, and I liked it. Myron Reed is really getting over in his underdog babyface role, and as I mentioned, the crowd 100% thought they were going to see an upset when he nailed Swerve with the 450. A fine contest here and I’d like to see them tangle again – put Myron in the C2 please and thank you, Tony.  3.75*

Winner – Swerve Strickland (Swerve Stomp)

Post-match sees the announcers discussing the possibility of Texas Death for the trios titles match, and Wight dismisses it as being a terrible idea.

Speedball Mike Bailey and AEW National Champion Andrade El Idolo vs Steve and Robert Allen

Bailey just murders both guys with kicks and Andrade removes his pantalones to the delight of the crowd. Andrade crushes an Allen with a meteora and Bailey blasts the other one with a roundhouse kick that finishes things.

Yeah man, pants off dance off, or something. .5*

Winners – Andrade/Speedball (Speedball roundhouse on, I dunno, we’ll say Steve)

Post-match sees Andrade try to take a selfie with the Only Fans Plant of the Week, but here’s Tommaso Ciampa out to blast Andrade with the phone. Bailey chases Ciampa away before going back to check on Andrade. We go to commercials.

Divine Dominion (Lena Kross and Megan Bayne) vs WrathLander (Harley Cameron and Kris Statlander)

Bayne starts with Statlander and Bayne wins a shoulder battle. Statlander fires up with a dropkick and Kross wrecks her from behind. Kross dumps Cameron out and Statlander tries to attack both Bayne and Kross to no avail. (Schiavone shouts out Ric Flair here and wishes him well after his recent fall.) Statlander trucks Bayne and Kross and Cameron tags in. Cameron hits a helicopter rana on Kross and Statlander boots Kross in the head. Cameron slips out of the way at two as Bayne’s attempt to break up the cover goes hilariously wrong. Cameron and Statlander lose the advantage as Kross and Bayne nail them with a lariat and a dropkick respectively. Kross and Bayne smash Cameron and Statlander together as we go to commercials.

Bayne blasts Cameron with a big boot for two when the show returns. Kross and Bayne want a double team but Cameron fights them off before Bayne puts a stop to it with a German. Bayne’s cover is broken up by Statlander at two. Kross dumps Statlander and Bayne yanks Cameron up. Cameron yanks Bayne back into a crucifix bomb. Kross tags in and Cameron struggles over to tag in Statlander. Statlander chops away and blasts Kross with a huge running knee. Statlander nails Kross with a leaping cross-body from the apron and ascends for a missile dropkick that gets two. Bayne mashes Statlander from behind and yanks her up, but Cameron pulls Statlander down and they hit a bunch of double team stuff on Bayne before she bails. Kross mashes Statlander into Cameron from behind and rolls up Statlander for two. They slug it out and Kross walks into a Statlander roundhouse kick. Bayne fires off a forearm and yanks Statlander up, but Statlander slips off and pulls Kross into a helicopter slam. Here’s The Sisters of Sin out to attack Statlander and Thekla uses her belt on Statlander as the ref calls for the DQ. Here’s Willow Nightingale sprinting out with a chain to send the heels running for the hills. The Sisters retake the advantage and Thekla pounds on Nightingale with her belt. Cameron and Statlander finally return as do Kross and Bayne. The heels still have the numbers advantage and they stand tall at the end.

Well, you don’t see matches thrown out in AEW very often. This was sloppy at times, but before the abrupt and shitty finish, it was quite a battle in terms of physicality. They were throwing bombs out there, if you get my drift. I liked it up until the finish, honestly, but we have to set up these Blood and Guts matches so we are where we are with this.  3*

No winners announced – match thrown out due to Sisters of Sin interference

After commercials, Lexy Nair is with a disheveled WrathLander and Willow Nightingale. Nightingale has gathered the Brawling Birds via phone call and challenges the Sisters and Divine Dominion for Blood and Guts.

Jay White vs Kyle O’Reilly

White bails at the bell before stretching in front of Paul Wight. O’Reilly smashes White with a hamstring kick and White goes to the ropes as we’ve apparently transported to Memphis. O’Reilly goes behind and there’s some standing switches over a top wristlock. White smashes O’Reilly with a back elbow and goes to work with shoulders. O’Reilly fires up with more hamstring kicks and they start firing off forearms. O’Reilly hits a double leg and goes to some ground and pound. O’Reilly puts on an ankle lock and White goes to the ropes to break it up. White bails to the floor and O’Reilly follows out for some more violence. O’Reilly misses a charge and goes knee-first into a chair. White wants to use the chair but the ref backs him off. O’Reilly lifts a knee and runs White back in. White catches O’Reilly coming through the ropes and drops him with a dragon screw. We go to commercials.

White has O’Reilly in a corner when the show returns. White ascends but O’Reilly fights him off with some kidney shots. White eats some kicks and O’Reilly nails him with a knee when White charges. White smashes O’Reilly’s knee by hyperextending it. White drops O’Reilly with a knee lift and O’Reilly fires up with some strikes. O’Reilly yanks White into a guillotine before ramming him with another knee. O’Reilly catches a back elbow but drops White with a half-and-half bridging suplex that gets two. White gets yanked into another guillotine and White mashes on O’Reilly’s knee to escape. White snaps off another dragon screw and O’Reilly blocks a second one before yanking White into an armbar. White breaks out and pulls O’Reilly into a flatliner before bridging into a German that gets two. White chops O’Reilly’s knee and puts on the rear naked choke. White goes to O’Reilly’s eyes and runs into an O’Reilly lariat. O’Reilly hits a brainbuster and covers White for two. O’Reilly grabs an armbar and White finally makes the ropes to break it up. White bails and O’Reilly misses a flying knee attempt. White yanks O’Reilly into a Blade Runner on the floor before dragging him back into the ring. White pulls O’Reilly into a second Blade Runner and that ends things.

Well then, that was a war. If you like American-ized strong style, this was your jam. White is so much more fun as a heel, but I will miss the joyful goofy nature of the Bang Bang Gang, I have to be honest. O’Reilly is such a good pro wrestler that you barely notice that he has incredible cardio, sells well, bumps well, and knows how to hit hope and comeback spots effortlessly. White is insanely good at being a sneaky dick who can also wrestle his ass off. This was another solid match on a card with a bunch of them tonight. Find this on youtube, hopefully, if you missed it.  4*

Winner – Jay White (Blade Runner x 2)

Post-match sees Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong charge down to protect O’Reilly as White bails to the floor. Here’s the rest of The Last Outfit out to surround the ring. Cassidy and Strong get overwhelmed quickly by the sheer numbers and The Gunns want a piledriver on the ring steps. Here’s the Death Riders out from the entrance (!!) to fight off the Outfit. Marina Shafir jumps on Juice Robinson’s back to the delight of the crowd. Claudio gets mashed by Finlay and Connors but manages to fight both of them off before pressing Finlay down on the entire group. White flies in to mash Claudio in the nuts, and here’s Moxley behind White for a Death Rider before pulling out a fork. Moxley is prevented from attacking White by the rest of the Outfit and they dump Moxley to the floor. Cassidy fires off some Orange Punches on the Gunns before nailing the pile on the floor with a moonsault. Moxley inadvertently eats an Orange Punch and gets yanked into a Blade Runner before the Last Outfit retreats up the ramp.

Holy crap, an actual FUN Collision? They must do more of these live, I swear to you. There’s just a different and much better energy about the live shows in front of non-burnt out crowds that makes the good Collisions stand out so much more. Anyone who read my reviews knows that this show occasionally tests me fiercely, but tonight was not one of those nights. Now, the squashes never do much for me except give me a break and the occasional laugh, but overall, tonight was a lot of fun. 

Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.