AEW Collision - Fight for the Fallen- August 19, 2023
by Doc Allen
Live from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. WrestleTix guesses attendance to be 3,174. Our hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. The Golden Vampire
The goofy looking Golden Vampire attacks Joe before the bell and it quickly becomes clear that it is CM Punk . GTS to Joe, and the mask comes off to reveal KENTA... just kidding, it's Punk. They'll fight again at ALL IN. No match, no rating, but an efficient piece of business.Jay White (with Bullet Club Gold) vs. Dalton Castle (with The Boys)
Castle vows to suplex White so hard that his brains will fall out of his butt. I'm just going to leave that there without comment. Castle goes for a waistlock, Jay escapes into the ropes. Jay throws Castle out, but The Boys get their man back in quickly for more waistlocks. Chops are exchanged, White dodges a knee lift to send Dalton crashing to ringside. BCG chase away The Boys. White slams Castle onto the ring frame. Back from commercials, Castle has reaggravated his back injury and is struggling to compete. Castle mounts a bit of a comeback and manages a suplex that unfortunately does not spill any brains out of anyone's butt. Castle tries again with a dead lift German for 2. Jay briefly regains control, but Castle surprises with a rana from the apron. The previously dead crowd chants for Castle. The Boys dive onto BCG. Jay hits a uranage for only 2. Castle dramatically escapes a chinlock, but White hits a sleeper suplex. Blade Runner ends it at 12:05. This was mostly a deliberated paced bout stuck in second gear with a quiet crowd, but they eventually got it over, **¼.Winner: Jay White
After a break, Tony Shiavone hosts Bullet Club Gold in the ring. Jay White thinks Kenny Omega should stay in the hospital rather than get exposed at ALL IN. Juice Robinson thinks The Elite are idiots if they show up at ALL IN. The Gunns complain about losing to The Young Bucks via shenanigans on Dynamite and want some competition.
Bullet Club Gold (The Gunns and Juice Robinson, with Jay White) vs. The Iron Savages (Bronson, Boulder, and JT Davidson)
The Iron Savages are a rebranded Bear Country, and this generic hoss gimmick feels like a downgrade. Still, they enjoy early control of the Gunns, but Juice takes over with ground and pound offense. Running cannonball by Juice, and BCG take a break to mock The Elite's group pose. Back from commercials, commentary would rather discuss Jay White's cardboard cutout of himself than the match, at least until Bronson gets a hot tag and DDT's the Gunns. Bronson catches a flying Robinson and slams him onto the Gunns. Double splash by Bronson gets 2. Davidson tags, only to get backdropped out immediately. The Gunns miss 3:10 to Yuma in what could be a counter or a botch, but either way the fans laughed at them. The match breaks down until Juice plants Davidson for the anticlimactic finish at 9:33. This was simply no good, *.Winners: Bullet Club Gold
Video package of recent events involving The Acclaimed. They lost Daddy Ass Billy Gunn to retirement, miss him very much, and got jumped by the House of Black. I guess Malakai Black enjoyed retiring Gunn so much, they still have their sights on The Acclaimed. The House of Black say a bunch of cryptic mumbo jumbo about this and that, and throw Gunn's boots into the trash bin.
Jose the Assistant receives an obscene phone call from Rush, who is not happy at all about what's been happening in AEW while he's been in Mexico. He responds by having Dralistico and Preston Vance abducted into a van, interrupting their party spree in Mexico. Looks like they're going to be reprogrammed to not be total losers.
Tony Shiavone chats with Ricky Starks, who has been suspended for whipping Ricky Steamboat. Ricky accuses AEW of being a nonprofit organization, because he sees people making mistakes left and right, but he's the only one getting punished. Starks brings in Big Bill to do his dirty work. They transition right into a slick Starks video package that probably cost some money.
Big Bill (with Ricky Starks) vs. Derek Neal
Corner splash by Bill, but Neal punches the jaw. Bill goes into a rage and nails a big boot. Bill's chokeslam ends it at 1:07. Bill wins and you can't teach that!Winner: Big Bill
Starks gives Neal a Steamboat-style whipping, complete with the same belt.
Darby Allin video promo, complete with footage of him and Sting invading AR Fox's wrestling school.
Willow Nightingale vs. Diamante
Willow blocks an awkward kick and pummels Diamant in the buckle. Vertical suplex by Willow gets 2. Drop toe hold by Diamante, Willow counters into a side slam. Mercedes Martinez arrives to distract Willow. Diamante capitalizes with a sleeper, but Willow snapmares her off. Running charge by Willow, but Diamante cuts her down with kicks to the knee. Back from commercials, Willow makes her comeback right on cue. Spinebuster by Willow gets 2. Diamante answers with double knees to the head. Flipping inverted DDT by Diamante gets 2. Willow counters into a missile dropkick, but Martinez pulls Diamante to safety at ringside. Kris Statlander runs in and suplexes Martinez onto the ramp. Willow POUNCES Diamante at ringside. Willow finishes with the Doctor Bomb at 11:03. This was every TV match ever until shenanigans breathed some life into it, *¾.Winner: Willow Nightingale
Backstage interview with Toni Storm, who seems to be continuing her descent into madness with a goofy hairdo and black outfit. Toni thinks the interviewers around here are very, very rude, also she's going to make sure that Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida don't make it to ALL IN. She insists that things are cool between her and Saraya.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Kevin Ku
The live crowd is thrilled to see Ku in action. Hobbs breaks their hearts with an instant takedown. Hobbs shoves away Ku's crossbody attempt. Hobbs continues his onslaught while calling out Miro. Back superplex by Hobbs, and a short arm clothesline. Spinebuster ends Ku at 2:00. Okay-ish squash, but about a minute too long.Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
Hobbs sends another message towards Miro by putting Ku in Game Over. Miro appears on the KhanTron to make the case that Hobbs is like him before he became more enlightened. The Redeemer is coming for Hobbs and redemption is going to p!ss on his cold, dead body. Who wrote tonight's zingers?
Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage (with TNT Champion Luchasaurus)
Jim Ross joins commentary. Christian is wearing the TNT title and Luchasaurus still doesn't seem to mind. They lock up and Christian disrespects Darby with a clean break in the buckles. Darby grabs a side headlock, switches to a hammerlock. Christian punches his way out and hides behind Luchasaurus. Darby tries another hammerlock, Christian throws him down. Back from commercials, Darby makes his first comeback attempt, hitting a springboard crossbody. Christian kicks out of many rapid pin attempts and snaps Darby's neck onto the top rope. Christian mocks Darby with the TNT title, daring him to crawl for it. Hammerlock power slam by Cage, followed by a hammerlock inverted DDT. Christian signals a spear, but Darby counters into Code Red for 2. Darby messes with Christian's t-shirt, and then they brutally bonk heads. Back from MORE commercials, Darby wins a hockey fight and hits a springboard Coffin Drop. Corner Coffin Drops by Darby, followed by a shotgun dropkick. Darby tries a Coffin Drop on Luchasaurus, who catches him, setting up a sneak attack by Christian. Darby counters with a drop toe hold into a chair. Darby sits Christian in the chair and hits a flying double stomp! Christian pulls himself under the ropes to hide from a Coffin Drop, and Luchasaurus pulls him from the apron, causing Darby to land spine-first onto the frame. Luchasaurus threatens to use a chair, distracting the ref from Christian's belt shot to Darby's head. Darby survives via rope break. Fans chant “this is awesome!” Darby comes back with a shotgun dropkick, but Christian answers with a sunset flip bomb and SPEAR! Darby kicks out! Clothesline by Christian, but Allin blocks the Unprettier and wins with a jackknife pin at 20:32! Tremendously executed slowburner that built to an exciting crescendo, ****.Winner: Darby Allin
Tony Shiavone puts over Darby's effort, but he falls victim to a Luchasaurus chokeslam. The dinosaur forces Tony to count to 3 while Christian covers Darby.
Final Thoughts: Really loved the main event, but just about everything else was pretty tedious, and I kept checking the clock. I got a few chuckles here and there, like when Jose the Assistant had his guys abducted. I'd recommend the main event, especially if you buy the rumors that Edge is heading to AEW, but you can probably skip the rest.
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