Results
- Darby Allin def. Clark Connors (11:46)
- Zachary Wentz & Myron Reed def. Action Andretti & Lio Rush (11:44)
- Orange Cassidy & Toni Storm def. Gino Medina & Lady Bird Monroe (1:45)
- Tommaso Ciampa def. Mark Briscoe (TNT Championship) (18:40) (Recommended)
- Kazuchika Okada def. Adam Priest (AEW International Championship) (10:38)
- Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron def. Julia Hart & Skye Blue (AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships) (11:23)
Darby Allin opens show with pinfall win, gets jumped by NJPW’s Gabe Kidd afterward
This week’s episode of AEW Collision, the final in a month-long residency at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, opened with a matchup between Darby Allin and NJPW star Clark Connors. This was Connors’ first AEW appearance since Forbidden Door back in August, and notably his first match since working NJPW’s New Year Dash card earlier this month.
Allin skateboarded his way down to ringside but was blindside attacked by Connors, who emerged from the crowd. The former Bullet Club War Dogs member had control of the match to start. Allin battled back into the match a minute in, getting a two-count after a Canadian Destroyer.
Allin attempted to climb to the top rope for his next move, but was knocked off-balance by Connors, causing him to suffer a hard fall to the outside. Connors delivered a nasty side slam onto the guardrail at ringside, then onto the ring apron as the show went to a break.
Allin took another nasty bump at the seven-minute mark, as Connors dove through the ropes and speared him onto the ring apron. Allin then went shoulder-first into the steel steps at ringside.
Connors tried to give Allin a belly-to-belly suplex onto the steps, the same bump he infamously took against PAC earlier this month, but he battled out of the move. Allin started to mount a comeback at this point, scoring a missile dropkick then coming through the ropes with a high-speed tope suicida.
Back in the ring, a move out of the corner from Darby was reversed by Connors into a Sunset Flip Powerbomb. Connors followed up with a spear, but it wasn’t enough to put Allin away.
A series of reversals ended with Allin hitting the Scorpion Death Drop. He tried to come off the top with a Coffin Drop, but Connors put up his knees to counter the move. Another sequence of reversals ended with Allin locking in the Scorpion Deathlock for the submission win in 11 minutes. Good opening match here.
Allin got on the mic afterward to describe his intention to go after the AEW World Championship. But, this speech was cut off by Connors ally Gabe Kidd, who attacked him from behind.
Connors and Kidd dropped Allin chest-first onto the steel steps at ringside. While trapping Allin under the steps, Kidd got on the mic:
“I ain’t here on Death Rider business. I’m here on Gabe Kidd time. Since Worlds End, I can’t sleep. I can’t think. I can’t move forward with this. And you say you can’t be at the top of AEW? How are you going to do that when it doesn’t stop until you are pushing up daisies? Wherever you will go, I will follow you … Until it is written that Gabe Kidd was finally the one who ended Darby Allin.”
I’m sure Allin and Kidd will deliver a good match, but I’ve had enough of him facing Death Riders and DR-adjacent characters.
Backstage, JetSpeed mentioned that they are willing to give the Don Callis Family a trios title shot. Their appearance caused the Esports Stadium to do a “horsecock” chant.
The Rascalz take down CRU to win AEW debut
Tag action was up next, with Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz making their AEW in-ring debut against Action Andretti and Lio Rush of CRU.
Wentz gave both CRU members a torneo at ringside as the show went to a commercial break. Xavier was isolated during the break, but was able to give Wentz a hot tag after the show returned. A series of moves culminated with a standing Shooting Star Press from Wentz for a two-count.
CRU knocked both Rascalz out of the ring then delivered stereo tope suicidas. Back in the ring, a springboard stunner from Rush was followed by a cutter from Andretti for a near fall onto Xavier, who had just tagged back into the bout a minute earlier.
The Rascalz scored a series of clotheslines then dropkicks to both CRU members to regain control of the match. Wentz tagged back into the match and delivered his Hot Fire Flame double-team standing Shooting Star Press onto Andretti for the pinfall win. If you haven’t seen that move before, it’s worth checking out. Fun, fast-paced performance between these two squads, the type of match that best suits The Rascalz.
In a well-shot vignette, Jamie Hayter was seen successfully recruiting Alex Windsor as her new tag partner.
Jon Moxley said he relates to Konosuke Takeshita’s competitive spirit, but wasn’t a fan of his Don Callis Family goons going after him on Dynamite. Moxley mentioned that Takeshita beat him during the Continental Classic, and that he wants to get that win back. Looks like we’re seeing that one next week.
Toni Storm books ‘Hair vs. Hair’ match for Grand Slam Australia
The duo of Orange Cassidy and Toni Storm, who teamed up twice as part of mixed tag bouts late last year, reunited for a tune-up match in the next segment. They faced off against Texas indie vet Gino Medina and current Reality of Wrestling Women’s Champion Lady Bird Monroe. This was Medina’s AEW debut, and Monroe’s return to the program after roughly two years away.
This was, expectedly, a pretty quick one. Storm gave both opponents a hip attack in the corner, then Medina was hit with Cassidy’s Orange Punch for the finish in just under two minutes. Marina Shafir and Wheeler Yuta of the Death Riders attacked the winning duo afterward, so I guess we’re still doing this feud. Yuta teased cutting Cassidy’s hair, but Storm was able to prevent him from doing that.
Storm got on the mic afterward and pitched a mixed tag match between these duos in a “Hair vs. Hair” match for AEW Grand Slam Australia. I’m over this rivalry, which is quite literally from last year, but they needed to get Storm on that card somehow.
A backstage face-to-face between Kingston & Ortiz and The Grizzled Young vets had a no-physicality rule. The GYV found a way around this by getting Big Bill and Bryan Keith to attack them and collect a bounty. GYV challenged Ortiz & Kingston to a Parking Lot Brawl for next week’s Collision.
Tommaso Ciampa earns TNT title in AEW debut
The next bout, arguably one of the most anticipated parts of this week’s episode, saw recent WWE departure Tommaso Ciampa make his AEW debut against TNT Champion Mark Briscoe. A big spot here for Ciampa, who could win gold in his first-ever appearance with the promotion.
The fight went to the ring apron at the six-minute mark, where Ciampa reversed a piledriver attempt from Briscoe into a huge Air Raid Crash. A 10-minute warning was announced as the show returned from a break.
Briscoe was in control as the show returned. He sent Ciampa out of the ring with a kick, then came through the ropes with a scissor kick. Briscoe ran Ciampa into a ringpost, then came flying off the ring apron with a blockbuster.
Ciampa caught Briscoe as he was climbing through the ropes, hitting him with a draping DDT for a near fall. Ciampa tried for another Air Raid Crash, this time off the top rope, but Briscoe escaped the move. Briscoe knocked Ciampa off the turnbuckles with a karate chop, then came out of the corner with a Froggy Bow elbow drop for a near fall.
In the corner once again, Ciampa was able to hit the Air Raid Crash upon second attempt. He went for the pin, but Briscoe kicked out at two. Ciampa dumped Briscoe out of the ring then knocked him off the apron with a knee to the head. With five minutes to go, the two brawled at ringside.
Briscoe took a table from the timekeeper’s area and attempted to put Ciampa through it, but the former #DIY member escaped his attempted move. Ciampa draped Briscoe on top of the table for a running knee strike to the head.
Ciampa celebrated to the crowd, giving Briscoe the time to climb the top rope and come flying to the outside with a huge elbow drop, putting them both through the setup table at ringside. The setup for this was a little silly, but the spot itself looked great.
Both men avoided a count-out and started a back-and-forth striking exchange in the ring. Ciampa peeled down his kneepad for an especially effective running knee strike, but Briscoe escaped it. The champ scored a Death Valley Driver, came off the top with another Froggy Bow Elbow Drop, and tried for a J-Driller, but Ciampa reversed the move into a German Suplex.
Briscoe powered up immediately after the suplex, but was floored immediately after by a running knee from Ciampa, utilizing the leg with the peeled-down kneepad. The strike dropped Briscoe and kept him down for the three-count, giving Ciampa the pinfall victory and making him the new TNT Champion. A stellar debut for Ciampa, this match was especially entertaining near the final stretch. Excited to see what Ciampa can do with the title going forward.
As Ciampa celebrated in the ring, ex-TNT champ Kyle Fletcher was seen giving him the slow clap from the stage. Looking forward to seeing that one!
Kazuchika Okada turns back Adam Priest in title bout
The co-main event of the night saw Kazuchika Okada defend his AEW International Championship against Adam Priest. This was Okada’s first time putting the International belt on the line since he dropped the Continental Championship last month, losing Unified champ status (You’re the unified champ if you hold both the Intl. and Continental belts).
Okada walked out wearing his belt still in its bag, similar to what Jon Moxley did with the AEW World Championship last year, hiding it in a briefcase. Okada faked a knee injury two minutes into this match, distracting the referee and allowing Rocky Romero to attack Priest at ringside.
Priest was gaining momentum as the show returned from a break, giving Okada a deadlift German Suplex. Priest climbed to the top for a move, but Okada rolled out of the ring to avoid anything from coming his way. Priest did a dive to the outside onto Romero, as the Okada ally was giving him more trouble.
Priest scored a top-rope leg drop as a “DPW” chant broke out in Arlington. He dodged a dropkick from Okada then locked in a Figure Four, but Okada escaped by reaching the ropes. Priest came running off the ropes for a move, causing him to charge right into another dropkick attempt from Okada.
A Rainmaker from Okada was dodged by Priest, who reversed it into a pin attempt. Okada reversed a move into a Blue Thunder Bomb of sorts, then a hard Rainmaker for the pinfall victory. We can all exhale: Kazuchika Okada wasn’t going to drop his title to Adam Priest. Jokes aside, Priest had a good showing here, and I hope we get to see more of him on TV soon.
Eddie Kingston announced in a backstage interview that he wants an eight-man parking lot brawl next week on Collision. He wants it to be him, Ortiz, and two Rascalz against the Grizzled Young Vets, Bryan Keith, and Big Bill.
Babes of Wrath successfully defend tag belts against Sisters of Sin
The headlining bout of the night saw Julia Hart and Skye Blue challenge Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships. The Sisters of Sin were given this match as a reward for staying out of Wednesday’s title bout between Kris Statlander and Thekla.
The Babes of Wrath scored a double-team senton on Blue for a two-count in the second minute of the match. Cameron hit a crossbody onto both Sisters of Sin a minute later, then dropped them both with a double clothesline as the show went into its final commercial break.
Nightingale got a hot tag against Hart as the show returned, taking her out with a series of clotheslines then a splash in the corner. She knocked Blue out of the ring with a pounce, then dropped Hart with a huge spinebuster for a two-count.
Hart came off the ropes with a hurricanrana attempt, I think, but it didn’t really work out. Nightingale tried for a powerbomb, but Hart reversed it into a rough X-Factor. Nightingale tagged Cameron back into the match, but she was immediately dropped by a thrust kick from Hart. Cameron escaped a double-team move from the Sisters of Sin.
Cameron gave Blue a knee strike then a DDT for a near fall. At ringside, Nightingale sent Hart into the steel stairs to prevent her from breaking up any pin attempts in the ring. Blue escaped a My Finishing Move attempt from Cameron, but the end was near nonetheless. Cameron gave Blue a crucifix bomb, then Nightingale, who did a blind tag back into the match, performed a double-team Side-Russian Legsweep for the pinfall win in 11 minutes. A decent match, but I definitely would’ve put the Tommaso Ciampa title change in this spot instead.
Thekla hit the ring for a post-match brawl, causing Kris Statlander to also get involved. Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford got involved to give the heel side a significant number advantage. Bayne, Ford, and the Triangle of Madness stood tall as the show came to an end.
It was announced at the end of the broadcast that Hangman Adam Page will face Mark Davis at next week’s episode of Dynamite. Here’s an updated look at Wednesday’s show:
- MJF vs. Brody King (AEW World Championship Eliminator Match)
- Hangman Adam Page vs. Mark Davis
- Kenny Omega vs. Andrade El Idolo
- Ricochet vs. Jungle Jack Perry (AEW National Championship)
