5/18/24 AEW Collision Recap
Location: Portland, OR
Venue: Moda Center
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
by Theo Sambus
After our Collision opening credits, we head straight to ringside ready for our opening contest of the evening.
Match One: “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay vs Shane Taylor (w/ Anthony Ogogo)
Shane and Ospreay face off but the music of the Undisputed Kingdom hits and here comes Roderick Strong along with the ROH tag team champions, Bennett & Taven. Strong joins the commentary desk and Ospreay goes straight for Taylor, nailing a springboard crossbody on the outside and a flying forearm back in the ring. Ospreay attempts an Irish whip, Taylor puts the breaks on. Clothesline takes Will down. Ospreay gets knocked under the bottom rope and Taylor heads outside with him, chopping him in the chest as Strong watches on. Ospreay goes for a tornado DDT but Taylor holds on, only to get shoved into the Undisputed Kingdom. Bennett & Taven distract Ospreay briefly, and Ogogo takes a cheap shot with a big right hand to the gut.
Taylor gets Ospreay prone across the apron and hits the big leg drop. Back in the ring, a pendulum backbreaker gets 2 for Taylor. Taylor gets a series of jabs on Ospreay and locks in a bearhug but Will battles out of it. Ospreay gets chopped in the chest but he fires up with chops of his own. Handspring Pele kick! Ospreay kips up, running boot in the corner and a flying forearm from the buckles gets a 2 count. Ospreay goes for Hidden Blade but Taylor with a knee to the face! Uranage with some nice height and a big splash gets a 2 count. Ospreay on the shoulders of Taylor, goes for a hurracanrana but Taylor powerbombs him instead. Turns him inside out with a clothesline, 1, 2, no.
Standing Spanish Fly from Ospreay. Ospreay goes for the Oscutter, reversed, Taylor with a TKO. 1, 2, no. Package Piledriver attempt, avoided, but Taylor with an uppercut to Ospreay on the buckles. Ospreay gets a Cheeky Nandos, and again. He pulls him off the ropes, over his shoulders…STORM DRIVER ON TAYLOR!
Winner: Will Ospreay
Time: 9.55
Roderick Strong gets on the apron but Bennett & Taven attack from behind! Ospreay low bridges the ropes sending them to the outside and he hits a tope con hilo to take out the Kingdom.
We hear from Bryan Danielson & FTR backstage and they are here to fight because they love AEW, and they will fight night after night after night. Dax thinks Collision is going to be fun.
We switch gears and go to Moxley and Claudio backstage. He says Takeshita has a new attitude, and he came after him. Mox gets it, he’s done far worse. The secret to the BCC is that you get used to being a target. The Callis Family are in it for the fame, the gold, whereas the BCC doesn’t give a damn, they do it because it’s their nature. They don’t hunt because they’re hungry, they hunt because they’re lions. Claudio says a lot of times he’s the voice of reason, but things just keep repeating and repeating. Claudio says people stand backstage and tell you how good they are, but it’s all fake. The BCC can see through the facade. They ae dealing with the real deal right here. Mox says Takeshita started it, but the BCC will finish it.
We hear from Chris Jericho and Big Bill after Dynamite this past week. Jericho says this shows Hook is learning. He may be world champion again one day, but he’s still learning. He feels proud of him – this is serious business. Jericho will get some stitches gladly as it shows that Hook is learning. He hopes Hook wins his FTW Contenders match.
Match Two: [FTW Contender Series] HOOK vs Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie)
Johnny takes a swing at a kick but Hook backs away. Judo throw from Hook, and another. Sliding kick by Johnny TV, gets a 2 count. Elbows to the head by Johnny, cravate hold but Hook escapes with a modified suplex. Knee to the midsection in the corner and another judo throw. Johnny attempts a kick, caught, capture suplex by Hook. Jawbreaker in return from Johnny TV. They trade strikes, Taya up on the apron to distract, allowing the springboard kick to connect for Johnny TV. Starship Pain misses! Redrum locked in, Johnny TV taps.
Winner: HOOK
Time: 3:26
As Hook heads up the ramp, the music of Shibata hits and out comes The Wrestler, ready for his FTW Contender’s Series match.
Match Three: [FTW Contender Series] Katsuyori Shibata vs Rocky ‘Azuca’ Romero
Standing switches from both guys, hammerlocks reversed, with Shibata gaining early arm control. Stomp to Romero, Shibata locks in a Figure Four but Rocky quickly gets the ropes. Shibata targets the knee, runs the ropes but Romero catches him in an Octopus stretch. Shibata powers out of it, locks in another Figure Four. They roll to the ropes and the hold is broken. Forearms in the corner from Shibata, Rocky gets a boot up, spinning DDT out of the corner!
Rocky gets a grounded hammerlock and wrenches back on the other arm, hyperextending the elbow. He continues the assault on the arm, wrapping it around the ropes. Arm wringer connects, snapmare and a dropkick to the shoulder as we head to a commercial break.
We’re back as Rocky kicks away at the arm, but Shibata stands up and walks into it, laying out Rocky with a right hand. Shibata to the apron, gets a sleeper, but Romero drops out and hands the arm over the ropes. He heads to the buckles and hits a diving dropkick for a 2 count. Shibata comes right back with a kick to the back of the knee. Tight kneebar applied…Rocky once again gets the ropes. Romero in the corner now, stalling dropkick and a front suplex gets a 2 for Shibata.
Rollup by Romero, 1, 2, no. Backslide, 1, 2, no. Romero gets a heelkick and a tight cover for another 2. DVD across the knee by Shibata and a PK, and he goes back to the Figure Four…Rocky has to tap!
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata
Time: 10.01
The Iron Savages make their way out, and Jack Jameson says this place is trash, and he can’t wait for Boulder to take this place to ‘Titty City’.
Match Four: [FTW Contender Series] Bryan Keith vs Beefcake Boulder
Boulder jumps Keith, hits a powerslam for an early 2 count. Boulder pulls down the straps but Keith runs at him and BITES the nipple! Back elbow by Boulder but Keith straight back up with a leaping headbutt. Blockbuster by Bryan Keith…1, 2, 3!
Winner: ‘Bounty Hunter’ Bryan Keith
Time: 1.42
Pac is backstage as Lexy Nair attempts to get some words from him. Pac says he couldn’t care less about the Bang Bang Gang’s challenge. Pac thinks they’re funny chaps, hilarious in fact. Normally their behavior would ruffle his feathers, but not today. Pac hasn’t felt a thing in weeks. He puts out an open invitation – make him feel something. He’s begging them. Make him care.
Back from break, the Bang Bang Gang make their way to the ring. As the spotlight comes on, we see Pac on the floor in front of them, unconscious! Jay White cradles him and takes a mic saying “I bet you care now, Bastard.” Short, sweet, and effective.
We go to Christian Cage backstage, and says Nick Wayne’s match tonight is a warm up for him facing Swerve Strickland this coming week on Dynamite. Wayne says he’s changed and become a man in the year since Swerve took him out. Wayne has grown up and he can do it on his own.
Match Five: Orange Cassidy vs Isiah Kassidy
Battle of the surname spellings. OC with a leg takedown, arm drag, and Kassidy with an arm drag of his own. Backslide gets a 2 for OC. Rollup by Kassidy gets a 2 as well. Leg trip into a bow and arrow stretch by Orange, but Isiah flips into a pinfall attempt. Orange Punch misses. Kassidy heads to the floor, and OC connects with a suicide dive as we see Don Callis watching backstage. OC rolls back into the ring to break the count, rolls back out again. Hands in the pockets, and he hits a running dropkick to a seated Kassidy by the barricade. Orange sends Isiah into the opposite barricade and we see Trent Beretta walking through the crowd.
Isiah moonsaults off the barricade and gets a back suplex to Orange on the edge of the barricade. Back in the ring, tilt-a-whirl backbreaker connects for Kassidy. OC gets whipped hard into the buckles and falls to the outside. He climbs back in the ring but Kassidy meets him with a baseball slide to send him back out again. Kassidy mocks the hands in the pockets as Trent looks on.
Slingshot senton from the apron, and Kassidy starts the OC Sloth Style kicks! He chokes Cassidy against the ropes, sends him into the buckles again, and again OC falls to the floor. Isiah positions the steel steps, bounces the head of Orange off of them as Isaih says Trent owes him. Kassidy looks for a piledriver but OC hits a back body drop off the steps.
Both men re-enter the ring and come to blows in a strike exchange. Stundog Millionaire! Satellite DDT. OC throws the elbow pad at Trent, misses the Orange Punch though. Kassidy hammers away at the back of Cassidy, rollup for 2. Spin kick by Kassidy but he misses a corner attack. Orange goes back and forth on the apron but Kassidy jumps to the middle rope and hits a cutter. Both men on the apron now, they hit stereo pump kicks, and they both go down. Orange approaches Trent, Trent doesn’t do anything but Isiah gets a flying forearm to capitalise on the distraction. Silly String with ref assistance from Stephon Smith, and a modified shiranui…Kassidy to the top, swanton bomb! 1, 2, NO. Kassidy lifts OC up but gets caught with the Beach Break! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Orange Cassidy
Time: 12.08
Lexy Nair catches up with Trent Beretta at ringside. She says clearly things are far from over. Trent says it’s clear he’s a better pro wrestler than OC, and the only reason OC beat him was because he cheated. Trent says rules matter. He’s getting some good heat by the way! At Double or Nothing, Beretta wants a straight up wrestling match. And here comes OC to take him out! He pulls him over the barricade but security hold Orange back, allowing Trent to head up the ramp.
Match Six: “The Professor” Serena Deeb vs Anna Jay
Deeb with a kick to the midsection as the bell ring. Swinging neckbreaker gets a 2 for her. Deeb ties up Jay with the Lady in the Lake/Paradise Lock, and she hits the dropkick to the ass of Anna Jay. Running snapmare from Jay. Deeb gets a foot up in the corner, slides to the apron and hits the neckbreaker across the ropes. Deeb locks in an Octopus stretch but Anna reaches the ropes. Deeb with a leg pick, transitions into a modified surfboard, and she swings Anna back and forth.
Anna to the apron, Deeb catches the leg and hits a dragon screw before knocking Jay off the apron to the floor. Serena heads out after her, swinging neckbreaker on the floor! We go to commercial.
Back from break, Deeb has an abdominal stretch applied. Anna gets out of it with a snapmare, rollup for 2. Running forearm and a back elbow, running elbow in the corner. Wheelkick in the corner! Flatliner by Anna Jay gets a 2 count. German suplex by Deeb, Pepsi Twist! 1, 2, no. Anna kicks her way out of a piledriver attempt, but Deeb takes out the legs. Anna Jay with the Queenslayer out of nowhere! But has to give up the hold due to a pin attempt. Backslide by Deeb into the double underhook faceplant. Serenity Lock and Anna taps as we see Luther on the ramp.
Winner: Serena Deeb
Time: 8.34
Luther takes the flag of Serena Deeb and walks up the ramp with it…and here comes Mariah May. May and Luther hold out the flag and Toni Storm makes her way out! Storm hides behind the flag and apparently strips off. Luther and Mariah wrap her in the flag as Toni walks down the ramp wearing just the flag. Deeb goes to attack but they all run off backstage.
Match Seven: Nick Wayne vs Jack Cartwheel
Running boot from Wayne as the bell rings, and he stomps Cartwheel down in the corner. Jack cartwheels to avoid some punishment, hits a cartwheel kick to knock Wayne off the apron, and he hits a cartwheel handspring dive and EATS the floor, Wayne moves out of the way. Back in the ring, Wayne with a kick to the back. WAYNE’S WORLD as Nigel says the party is over.Wayne rolls Jack over to his knees as Wayne gives Swerve Strickland a shout out…HOUSE CALL! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Nick Wayne
Time: 2.22
Match Eight: Bryan Danielson & FTR vs Lance Archer & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent)
It’s Dax and Vincent to begin. Vincent gets Dax into the corner, rakes the eyes along the ropes. Dax with a snap suplex and a leg drop, gets a 2 count. Tag to Cash, assisted gourdbuster gets 2. Back elbow by Vincent takes Cash down though, and allows him to tag in Dutch, who continues the assault in the corner. Big body slam by Dutch, goes for another but Cash slides out and gets a dropkick. Tag to Dax, double Russian leg sweep, 1, 2, no.
Bulldog from the middle rope by Dax and now everyone gets involved and it all breaks down. Danielson and Vincent fight on the outside, Danielson driving him into the barricade and kicking him repeatedly. Running Busaiku Knee against the rail! Cash sends Dutch back into the ring, and Dutch recovers. A back elbow from Dutch takes out Dax, as Vincent tags in. Snapmare to Dax, rear chinlock applied. Dax goes for a dive, Dutch distracts him, allowing Vincent to avoid the dive and hit a sliding flatliner.
Archer in now, running elbows, misses a third. Archer brings Dax to the turnbuckles, Dax bites him in the head. Rising knee by Archer! Misses a splash. Vincent tags in, prevents Dax making the tag. Tag to Dutch, misses an elbow, and now Danielson is tagged in. Forearms by Danielson, kicks in the corner, moonsault evasion into the running elbow. Yes Kicks to Dutch on his knees, misses the roundhouse, but Dragon with a low bridge and a suicide dive to take out Dutch on the outside. Dutch back in, Danielson up top, shotgun dropkick. Cash in with drokicks to Dutch, and they hit stereo dropkicks on opposite sides of the ring. Danielson tries for the LeBell Lock to Dutch, gets it, but Archer in to break it up. Spinebuster to Cash, chokeslam to Dax! Vincent and Archer stomp Danielson down, and Vincent is the legal man now. Blue Thunder Bomb gets a 2. Archer shoves Cash out of the ring as Vincent heads to the top rope….Danielson sweeps the legs, superplex by Danielson, and Cash is there to finish off the Power and the Glory double team! Dutch accidentally hits a splash on Vincent. Archer goes for the Blackout but Busaiku Knee by Danielson connects! Cash with a tornado DDT on Dutch, rollup by Vincent, no.
Vincent is alone in the ring with FTR…back drop suplex attempt, Dax flips out of it, assists Cash into position, SHATTER MACHINE by FTR! 1, 2, 3.
Winners: Bryan Danielson & FTR
Time: 12.52
The Righteous & Archer attack after the bell. Vincent brings a chair into the ring, Archer with repeated chair shots to the midsection of Dax. Archer positions Cash for the Blackout, hits it on the chair! Vincent lays a chair on top of Dax, swanton onto the chair! But here comes Daniel Garcia! Garcia takes them all out, exploder to Dutch and a clothesline to the floor. Danielson is back up with a chair of his own now, but the Righteous and Archer back away up the ramp as Collision goes off the air.
