Collision – 11.07.26

SK reviewed this week’s Blood and Guts-centric Dynamite and well, people were talking about it.

Tonight’s episode of Collision is LIVE from Chris Jericho’s Rock & Rager At Sea at the Port of Miami, FL. The announcing team for tonight’s show includes BIRTHDAY BOY Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, and Smilin’ Paul Wight on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring introductions, and Lexy Nair on news and interviews. We’re on a boat, so let’s watch some wrestling!

This crowd seems drunk and enthusiastic, so let’s see how all this goes. The setting is pretty cool, I have to admit.

Chris Jericho vs ROH Six Man Champion Blake Christian

ROH Six Man Champion Jay Lethal accompanies Christian. Aubrey Edwards is your referee. Christian attacks at the bell and smashes Jericho around, with Lethal getting in a few licks when Christian occupies Edwards. Jericho snatches a charging Christian up for a Falcon Arrow and then removes his jumpsuit to reveal TACO CAT themed gear. Jericho hits a cross-body on Lethal and Christian and then grabs a plastic-wrapped pile of water bottles to destroy Christian. Christian ends up on the apron and Jericho joins him for some right hands. Jericho gives some beads out to some ringside fans. (One of them is in a PAC t-shirt and Jericho sends up some love to Ben – sweet moment.) Christian fires off a springboard dropkick and a plancha and we go to commercials.

Christian is crotched on a top turnbuckle when the show returns, and Jericho starts laying in chops. Jericho goes up for some right hands and a rana. Jericho hits some lariats but misses a dropkick. Christian nails Jericho with a springboard moonsault and covers him for two. Jericho shrugs off some bullying and wanders into a Christian 450 that gets two. They slug it out and Christian wins the skirmish with a shotgun dropkick to Jericho’s neck. Jericho catches a Christian 619 attempt and tries for the Lion Tamer. Christian rolls up Jericho for two and then plants Jericho with a pump kick. Jericho misses a Judas Effect and Christian follows with a Lethal Injection that gets the longest of twos. Christian tries another springboard move and Jericho catches him and turns Christian into the Walls. Christian taps immediately.

This was pretty fun in the second act mostly because Jericho was actually trying tonight. Christian is such a capable and polished wrestler, he was a good choice for this “not one iota of storyline” match to kick off a show like this. Jericho needs to make sure he’s keeping himself to matches like this, and nowhere near titles, and we’ll all be fine.  3*

Winner – Chris Jericho (Walls of Jericho)

Here’s Nick Wayne doing his new streamer/influencer gimmick and being a gigantic douche while walking around Miami. So that’s fun.

Here’s Lexy Nair introducing The New Level for some mid-ring chat. Nair wants to know if Kofi and Austin Creed have been manipulated by Swerve Strickland into this upcoming Texas Death match, and Creed assures everyone that Bandido’s attack on Kofi is the reason why they’re now fully into it. Creed promises to take a pound of flesh in response and Kofi assures everyone that they KNOW Swerve wanted a Texas Death match from the jump. Kofi says they didn’t want it at the outset because they were scared of what they have to become to win a Texas Death match. Creed vows to go to places they’ve never been before at the PPV and promises a new level of…the New Level.

I liked Kofi and Creed admonishing the storyline that they were manipulated into this, because it’s clearly just Swerve and Hangman’s never-ending bullshit that caused everyone else to ramp up to Texas Death. It’s very meta, but I also wouldn’t want to be on the business end of Creed and Kofi going to dark places, either.

Here’s a look back at Blood and Guts. That was a show, alright. It’s time for commercials.

Best of Five Tag Team Series: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (1 win) vs The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) (2 wins)

Big Stoke is with FTR. Brandon Martinez is your referee. Harwood bullies Sabin to a corner and they exchange chops. Shelley tags in and he and Sabin combine on a back body drop. Wheeler flies in and that lets Harwood take control on Shelley before they go to the floor. Shelley gets dumped into the crowd and he and Harwood start throwing bombs over the barricade at each other. Harwood catches Shelley with a dragon screw as he tries to re-enter, and here’s Wheeler in. Wheeler continues working Shelley’s injured knee and Harwood provides assistance from the floor. Shelley gets wrapped around the ringpost in the FTR corner and Harwood bashes his knee into the post a couple of times. Harwood gets kicked off and Wheeler tags in to quickly prevent Shelley from crawling to Sabin. Wheeler meets Shelley’s knees on a Vader Bomb attempt and Harwood tags in to fail miserably in preventing a tag. Sabin runs wild with lariats and sends Harwood into Wheeler before nailing him with a running pump kick. Sabin mounts Wheeler for a bunch of rights and then rolls up Harwood for two. Sabin tries a leaping move but Harwood catches him and Wheeler comes off the top rope with a sitting senton that gets two. Wheeler charges over to do more damage to Shelley’s knee and we go to commercials.

Sabin trips Harwood up and gets rolled up by Wheeler. Sabin ends up getting caught by Harwood and Wheeler nails Sabin with a spike piledriver that gets two. Wheeler misses a charge and Harwood tags in. Sabin fights off FTR briefly but walks into a double powerbomb. Shelley fights off Wheeler but turns into a Harwood lariat. Harwood turns back to Sabin and rolls him up for two. Harwood fires off a sheer-drop brainbuster and covers Sabin for two. Harwood ascends and misses an elbow drop. Sabin tags in Shelley and he runs wild with a bunch of chops on Harwood. Shelley yanks Harwood head first into a second rope turnbuckle and covers him for two. Shelley grabs a backslide and gets two. Shelley smashes Harwood with some chops and Wheeler charges in. Sabin gets dumped by Wheeler and Shelley yanks Wheeler into a neckbreaker. Harwood flies in and slaps on a Sharpshooter but Sabin crushes Harwood with a superkick to break that up. Sabin and Wheeler tumble to the floor and Wheeler manages to brain himself on the barricade. Shelley fires off some rights and sends Harwood towards Brandon Martinez who leapfrogs Harwood. Harwood runs into a pair of Guns superkicks and Sabin’s cover gets two. Sabin slaps on the Border City Stretch and Harwood rolls him over for two with Shelley breaking up the cover. Sabin gets dropped onto the apron and Stoke grabs Shelley’s leg. Shelley chases Stoke around and Harwood grabs Shelley by the tights to roll him up for three.

FTR were in full Arn and Tully mode tonight working Shelley’s knee and it finally paid off in the end when Shelley could not muster the strength to kick out of the tight-assisted roll up. This was another really good match between these two but it felt like they were hampered a bit by the very tight quarters around ringside. It wasn’t a major issue, mind you, but I think the environment did limit this one a bit. Still, this was very good and a true tag match will always get love from me.  3.75*

Winners – FTR (Harwood rolls up Shelley)

Here’s a look at AEW Men’s World Champion Will Ospreay and his challenger for Full Gear, Kyle Fletcher. They will go FACE TO FACE this Wednesday presumably to chat about holiday plans and the latest locker room gossip.

Arkady Aura lets us know that we have to stand and cheer for the 21 year old prodigy….

Nick Wayne vs Marcus Mathers

McGuinness explains “mogging” to a baffled Schiavone and Wight, and it’s hilarious. You might see Ghost-Mathers on another show that airs on Tubi on Wednesday nights, and isn’t that a thing! Mike Posey is your referee. Wayne bullies Mathers to a corner and just whales away with kicks before a Sliced Bread #2 gets two. Wayne eats a chop but fires off a kick in response. Mathers nails Wayne with a dropkick and a running lariat. Wayne hits a double thrust and a diving forearm to cut off Mathers flurry. Wayne lines up Mathers for some chops and gets dumped to the floor. Mathers murders Wayne with a running kick to the chest from the apron and we go to commercials.

Wayne slaps Mathers in a corner and Mathers doesn’t enjoy it. Mathers nails Wayne with a huge running lariat and a running Superman punch. Mathers blasts Wayne with a kick and ascends. He takes way too long and Wayne springs up with a right before crushing Mathers with a superplex. (Schiavone calls Wayne a “ring general” here and that’s how we get Cease and Desist letters, Tony.) Wayne lines up Mathers and nails him with a roundhouse but Mathers fires off a forward roll for two when Wayne charges. Mathers wallops Wayne with a leaping Destroyer and ascends. Wayne gets the knees up on Mathers 450 attempt and Wayne’s World ends things with the quickness.

Hey, they should keep Marcus Mathers around. He’s at least bigger than Adam Priest of the Shire, you know? Wayne’s new-found douchebag mog character is going to work for awhile but his ceiling feels like maybe TNT title at best? I guess we’ll see how far he’ll get pushed at this point, but they are certainly trying to make him into something and I very much like that – he’s YOUNG and you have to find out what you have from the young guys instead of guys like…I don’t know….Bob Lashley.  2.75*

Winner – Nick Wayne (Wayne’s World)

Post-match sees Wayne grab a mic to speak with “chat”. Wayne claims to be the captain of the ship and has been “win-maxxing” left and right. Wayne mentions beating Chris Jericho and the ship’s horn goes off. Wayne reminds the crowd of beating Jericho TWICE as he exits.

Here’s a look at ROH wrestler Brady Booker who was recently on Survivor Season 51. He’s got a sort of Outrunners vibe going, so we’ll see if they make anything out of him moving forward.

The Death Riders (AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, Gabe Kidd, and Daniel Garcia) vs Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, and Shawn Dean)

Stephon Smith is your referee. Taylor’s goons attack prior to the bell and send everyone packing. Moxley is left alone for a three-on-one and gets dropped into a corner. Bravo whales away with chops but gets yanked up into a Moxley slam. Kidd gets a tag and starts blasting Bravo with about 15 headbutts in a row. Garcia tags in and he continues assaulting Bravo in a corner with dropped right hands. Garcia drops Bravo and a charging Dean with side suplexes, but here’s Taylor in to break up the flurry. Taylor yanks up Garcia for a side slam and we go to commercials.

Taylor is working over Garcia when the show returns. Garcia fights his way out of the STP corner and actually yanks Taylor over for a Saito suplex. Moxley tags in and he and Taylor square off for right hands. Moxley goes to Taylor’s eyes and bites his forehead before dropping a bunch of rights in a corner. Bravo and Dean charge in and Moxley yanks them into a double DDT. Moxley puts the sleeper on Taylor but he rumbles Moxley back into a corner to break it up. Kidd sends Taylor into a corner for the VIOLENCE CONVEYOR BELT and Kidd destroys Taylor with a lariat before the Death Riders hit the circle dance. They go to the floor and here’s Christiyan XO up on the apron to try to distract. It does in fact work, and Taylor splashes Kidd for two after Dean and Bravo dropped him with kicks. Taylor smacks Kidd with a right and STP start their own conveyor belt. Moxley breaks that up with a cutter on Taylor and Kidd yanks Bravo up for a Fisherman’s Buster that ends things.

Man, Shane Taylor Promotions are the Lords of Gooberton lately. I actually kind of like Bravo and Dean as a tag team but I guess the ROH dudes have a ceiling and it stops at “you will never ever beat the Death Riders on Dynamite or Collision”. This was every Death Riders trios match you’ve ever seen, honestly.  2.5*

Winners – The Death Riders (Kidd Fisherman’s Buster on Bravo)

Moxley has a mic and says the odds are against the Death Riders at Full Gear when they battle the Cut. Moxley vows to make Jay White earn it, and here’s AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone‘s music firing up.

Mone wants to know where Marina Shafir is and she tells Moxley to keep his bitch on a leash after Mone finishes with her at Full Gear. Moxley tells Mone that she’s not herself because she’s near Daniel Garcia and then rebukes Mone for her “foul language”. Moxley says the last Death Rider you want to piss off is Marina Shafir.

Here’s Jay White out and The Cut have surrounded the ring. The Cut attack and the numbers overwhelm Moxley, Kidd, and Garcia. Juice Robinson holds Moxley up and Ace Austin drives him down before the Gunns hit 3:10 to Yuma on Garcia. Kidd gets hit with a mounted spear, and White grabs a mic to berate Moxley. White says Moxley has asked for this, and Mone comes in to kick Moxley right in the head. White pulls Moxley into the Blade Runner, and everyone points and laughs at the fallen Death Riders. We go to commercials.

CMLL Women’s World Champion Persephone vs Mina Shirakawa

Mike Posey is back to referee this one. Persephone and Shirakawa trade wrist-locks and Persephone pounds on Shirakawa’s elbow. Persephone misses a stomp and we reset. Shirakawa fires off some kicks and trips Persephone down. Shirakawa hits a rolling rana and Persephone grabs a roll up for two. Shirakawa yanks Persephone down and gets dumped to the apron after Persephone recovers. Shirakawa ascends for a cross-body and shimmies for the crowd. Shirakawa gets kicked in the arm and Persephone yanks her up for a buckle bomb. We go to commercials.

Shirakawa tries to shake Persephone off when the show returns, and drops her with a sling blade. Shirakawa fires off a discus punch and a running back elbow before ascending. Shirakawa connects with a missile dropkick and covers Persephone for two. Shirakawa kicks Persephone’s hamstrings and misses a dragon screw. Persephone yanks Shirakawa into a cutter and covers her for two. Persephone yanks Shirakawa up and Shirakawa rolls through for a dragon screw. Shirakawa misses a kick and Persephone rolls her up for two. Persephone nails Shirakawa with a lariat and we reset. Shirakawa fires off some kicks but Persephone blocks one and crushes Shirakawa with a bridging German for two. (I’m making the “wrap it up” motion at this point.) Shirakawa hits a tornado DDT and ascends for a leaping top rope DDT that gets two as Persephone gets her foot on the bottom rope. Persephone uses the ropes and goes to the apron for a respite, but Shirakawa fires off a back elbow. Persephone bickers with Posey and the distraction allows her to drive Shirakawa off the top rope to the mat. Persephone quickly ascends for a frog splash and that ends things.

Man, that felt LONG. Like I get that Mina is a solid opponent and should get her shine, but this thing just kept on going. This was functionally fine and everyone worked hard but they could have cut four-five minutes off this and still accomplished what they were trying to accomplish. We’ll all just move on as clearly Persephone is still coming for Aminata.  2.5*

Winner – Persephone (frog splash)

Post-match sees Persephone keep going with the violence and pulls Shirakawa up for what looks like a Razor’s Edge. Here’s AEW TBS Champion Queen Aminata down to send Persephone scampering to the floor.

Here’s Lexy Nair in a chaotic and bloody scene with The Cut, who are furious about an unseen attack on Juice Robinson. Robinson has gone to a LOCAL MEDICAL FACILITY and Jay White promises to squeeze every drop of blood out of the Death Riders and….(Schiavone fills in the blank here that the attack might have come from Orange Cassidy’s newly gifted fork. Thanks for that, Tone.) We go to commercials.

Here’s Mark Davis and Jake Doyle yelling about the Young Bucks when the show returns. They promise to bring the tag titles to the Don Callis Family.

AEW National Championship: Andrade El Idolo (C) vs Tommaso Ciampa

Aubrey Edwards will referee this one. Ciampa has a word with Edwards about Andrade’s pantalones and while she’s checking, Ciampa attacks. They start waffling each other with lariats and chops. They go nose-to-nose and continue slugging it out. Andrade whales Ciampa with a leaping lariat and nips up to a pop. Andrade removes his belt and Ciampa attacks from behind. Andrade rolls Ciampa into Three Amigos and covers Ciampa for two. We go to commercials.

Ciampa has Andrade mounted on a turnbuckle as the show returns. Ciampa starts firing in right hands and Andrade slips down for a sunset flip powerbomb that gets two. Ciampa goes to the apron and Andrade rolls Ciampa through a slam on the apron (This was ugly as shit and there’s some rain happening that might have caused it.) Andrade ascends for the double leaping moonsault and that gets two. Andrade is up first and Ciampa chases him into a corner with a lofted boot. Ciampa yanks Andrade up for the Psycho Driller and that gets two. Ciampa now decides it’s time for the pantalones to be removed and starts tearing at them. Ciampa tosses the pants and the fans seem perturbed that Andrade didn’t get to do it. Ciampa pushes Andrade towards a corner where Edwards is, and then Andrade slips a Ciampa charge that sees him blast Edwards with a standing splash. (Ref bump – DRINK). Andrade pulls Ciampa into the DM and of course Edwards is in no shape to count, so Andrade gets the visual pin. Andrade checks on Edwards and Ciampa goes low when Andrade turns back to him. Ciampa hits the running knee strike and covers Andrade. Edwards finally makes her way over and counts two. Ciampa bitches at Edwards before lowering the knee pad. Ciampa charges right into an Andrade back elbow and that gets two. Andrade pulls Ciampa into a double underhook DDT and that gets two. Andrade drops his own pad and mashes Ciampa with a knee strike that gets two. Ciampa ducks a kick attempt and rolls Andrade up for two. Ciampa grabs a jackknife roll up and captures the National title!

Well, that felt like it kind of went weirdly when the rain started falling. They clearly had to keep everything in-ring and avoid the ropes as much as possible but the shift really didn’t hurt this. The crowd was a bit more subdued for this than I would have expected but still popped a bunch during the finishing sequence. These two have very good chemistry but they’ve been fighting each other for a long time and you’d expect nothing less.  3.5*

Winner AND NEW AEW National Champion – Tommaso Ciampa (jackknife roll up)

Speedball Mike Bailey emerges post-match to tend to Andrade as Ciampa leaves through the crowd with members of his family. Ciampa puts the title around his daughter’s shoulders and has some verbals with Bailey. Schiavone runs through a million upcoming matches and we’re out.

For a show on a boat that luckily avoided rain until the very end, this was a decent enough show. Now, that is on a Collision scale, where live shows are almost always better, and atmosphere shows like this one have an inherent advantage. The Andrade-Ciampa match and the FTR-MCMG match were the major highlights here, and the obvious ramping up of violence between the Death Riders and The Cut set some more things up for Full Gear. We’ll call tonight a win and move on to the big Wednesday night supershow.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Sunday.