AEW’s final stop before All In Texas was Collision, where several Zero Hour matches were confirmed, and a big segment aired with Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland.
The promotion returned to the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland for the second night in a row and a final ticket distribution figure of 2,160, according to WrestleTix. While the number was slightly lower than the reported amount on Wednesday, the audience sounded great and I’d argue was livelier than the audience for Dynamite.
Results
*Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong over Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta
*Místico over The Beast Mortos
*Jet Speed & The Outrunners over FTR, Christian Cage & Nick Wayne (Recommended)
*Gabe Kidd over Katsuyori Shibata (Recommended)
*Willow Nightingale, Thunder Rosa, Queen Aminata & Mina Shirakawa over Athena, Megan Bayne, Julia Hart & Thekla
Swerve Strickland’s Regret
Throughout the first half of the show, they promoted footage after Dynamite went off the air. Hangman Page returned backstage after the All-Star Eight-Man tag, snubbed Renee Paquette for an interview, and entered Swerve Strickland’s locker room.
After Will Ospreay and Prince Nana exited the room, the two men sat down, and Page wanted to get several things out before his “suicide mission” against Jon Moxley this Saturday. He denied having anything to do with The Young Bucks attacking Swerve at Dynasty, and Swerve believed him.
Page reflected on the break-in that Swerve committed, stating his son still wakes up screaming, thinking Swerve is there, and that Page will always hate him for that. Therefore, he felt Swerve deserved it when he burnt down his childhood home, but expresses his regret because of the fact Swerve knew it was deserved. He asks Swerve if he regrets breaking into his home.
Swerve replied that before winning the AEW Championship, he would have expressed no regret, but after what he’s experienced and shows he’s headlined, he does regret it now. Page said he was bringing his family to Arlington this weekend, but they won’t be at the show. Swerve vowed to “steer clear” of his family.
Before Page left, Swerve said he had plans of raising his children in his childhood and raising his grandchildren there, just like he grew up there before, stating it might be time to “let go of the past”.
The scene ended with Page walking out and leaving the chain behind, which Swerve wrapped around his fist.
Zero Hour Additions
Two matches were added to Zero Hour on Saturday.
Big Boom AJ has joined with Hologram, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kyle O’Reilly to oppose Lance Archer, Hechicero, Rocky Romero, and Trent Beretta in an eight-man tag.
Big Justice and The Rizzler appeared during the segment.
After their loss in the eight-man tag, FTR and Big Stoke challenged The Outrunners for Zero Hour, setting up a rematch from last week’s episode of Collision.
During the eight-man tag, Christian Cage missed his target and speared Dax Harwood, who ended up eating the fall. Stoke said trusting Cage was a big mistake, and they will have their eyes on the AEW tag title match on Saturday, presumably setting up a future match with Christian Cage and Nick Wayne.
I Don’t Let That Shit Fly
The best promo on the show came from Mark Briscoe during a taped segment, reacting to MJF’s comments about his deceased brother on Dynamite.
Briscoe said he is coming to win the Casino Gauntlet, and despite knowing MJF would bring up Jay Briscoe to try and get under his skin, he admits it worked. He called MJF, “a piece of shit” and he disrespected his brother and his family. On Saturday, he fights but on Sunday, he has to go home to Delaware and has to be able to look his family in the eye and tell them, “I don’t let that shit fly” and must whip MJF’s ass in the battle royal.
MJF had his own promo following the match between Mistico and The Beast Mortos while holding the mask he removed at Grand Slam Mexico. MJF stated he will continue to unmask Mistico until he has none left and must show his ugly face to the world, so the match is coming; it’s just a question of when.
This is one of the best-promoted battle royals I can recall.
Teacher vs. Student
For the first time in a 1-on-1 match, Katsuyori Shibata took on Gabe Kidd, who trained under Shibata in the L.A. Dojo.
This was one of the best singles matches I believe Shibata has had since returning and showed many shades of Shibata before the catastrophic injury in April 2017. It was exceptionally hard hitting with heavy slaps by Kidd, Shibata attacking with chops, and led to a brutal sequence of nonstop striking by the teacher.
Kidd mocked Shibata by doing Hindu squats as he attacked, and both brought the intensity to the match. I’m sure it was a big deal for both to have this match.
Shibata locked on a rear-naked choke when Wheeler Yuta appeared, and Shibata relinquished the submission, allowing Kidd to hit Shibata with a low blow behind the referee’s back and hit the Drill-a-Hole piledriver to win.
I hope they run this back, but watching how seriously the two took it, there is no way this match should have been announced on a few hours’ notice without any type of promotion or ability to share their history.
It was officially announced that Kidd would team with Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta to challenge The Opps for the AEW Trios Titles on Saturday.
Sky Flight Team
A vignette with Scorpio Sky, Top Flight, Leila Grey, and Christoper Daniels aired as a follow-up to last year’s introduction of the group.
They will be identified as the Sky Flight Team with Scorpio Sky vowing that he “won’t let this go away again” after his disappearing act over nearly two years on AEW programming. Daniels is their mentor and stated, “With this team, the sky is no limit”.
Updated lineup for AEW All In Texas
*AEW Championship – Texas Deathmatch: Jon Moxley © vs. Hangman Page
*AEW Women’s Championship: Timeless Toni Storm © vs. Mercedes Moné
*Winner Takes All – AEW Continental & Int’l Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
*Young Bucks vs. Will Ospreay & Swerve Strickland
*TNT Championship: Adam Cole © vs. Kyle Fletcher
*AEW Tag Team Titles: The Hurt Syndicate © vs. Jet Speed vs. Christian Cage & Nick Wayne
*Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match: Mark Briscoe, MJF & Místico
*Women’s Casino Gauntlet Match: Kris Statlander & Megan Bayne
*AEW Trios Championship: Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata © vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & Gabe Kidd
*Zero Hour: FTR vs. The Outrunners
*Zero Hour: Big Boom AJ, Tomohiro Ishii, Hologram & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Lance Archer, Hechicero, Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta
