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AEW COLLISION REPORT – EPISODE 60
AUGUST 31, 2024
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
ARENA: DENNY SANFORD PREMIER CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON TNT
REPORT BY BRIAN ZILEM PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness
Ring Announcers: Arkady Aura
[HOUR ONE]
(1) LEE MORIARTY & THE BEAST MORTOS & JOHNNY TV vs. THE CONGLOMERATION (Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy) & HOLOGRAM
O’Reilly and Johnny started the match by exchanging kicks and grappling on the mat. Cassidy was tagged in and received a great reaction from the fans. Hologram went for a quick cover by Johnny kicked out. Moriarty and Cassidy fought over wristlocks before Cassidy tagged in Hologram. Moriarty and Hologram exchanged quick pinfalls. Hologram took down Mortos with a spinning head scissors takedown, and the fans went wild. The match broke down, and everyone did dives before Hologram hit a dive before going to a commercial break. [C]
After the break, Johnny was working over Cassidy in the corner. Cassidy made the hot tag to O’Reilly, and he ran wild. Cassidy and O’Reilly double-teamed Mortos with kicks, but he made a comeback, which included a Samoan drop comeback, which included a Samoan drop. The match broke down in the closing moments, and everyone hit big moves. Johnny went to the top rope for his finisher, but Hologram hit a reserve Spanish Fly and followed up with a crucifix pin to secure the pinfall victory for his team.
WINNERS: Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy & Hologram at 15:38
(Brian’s Thoughts: It’s Saturday, and you know what that means. AEW Collision opens the show with a fun party match. Hologram getting over outside the Esports arena shows his push so far is working.)
-A recap of the Jon Moxley return from this past Wednesday.
(2) BANG BANG GANG (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Juice Robinson) vs.THE PREMIER ATHLETES (Ariya Daivari, Josh Woods & Tony Nese w/Mark Sterling)
Josh Woods showed off his great amateur background early on and often during the match. The heels worked over Austin before he finally made the hot tag to Robinson, and he ran wild. Colten was tagged in, and he also ran wild. Colten went for a pinfall but got a near fall. In the match’s closing moments, the Gunns hit Woods with the 310 to Yuma to secure the pinfall victory.
WINNERS: Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Juice Robinson in 4:37
(Brian’s Thoughts: To do a trio’s back-to-back matches was an odd choice, but the fans had fun and were very into the Bang Bang Gang.)
-A recap of the NJPW Captial Collision show featuring Mercedes Mone was shown.
-It was confirmed that the main event will be a four-way match. The winner of the match will face Mone at All-Out for the TBS Title.
-A promo was shown, with Shida hyping up the main event.
-A recap was shown from All-In Zero Hour.
(3) FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. UNDISPUTED KINGDOM (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
Harwood and Taven exchanged headlock takeovers. Harwood laid in hard chops to Taven’s chest before he tagged in Wheeler. Taven and Bennett used quick tags and doubled-teamed Wheeler. All four men brawled, and Wheeler and Harwood, back-bodied, dropped both Taven and Bennett to the outside. The fans chanted, ” FTR.” [C]
After the break, Harwood tried to fight out of his opponent’s corner. He went for a cover, but the official was distracted. Harwood hit DDT and made the hot tag for Wheeler, and he ran wild. The fans chanted, ” FTR.” Wheeler did a jumping double clothesline. Wheeler and Harwood hit a stereo German suplex. Harwood went for a Sharpshooter, but Benett rolled him up for a near fall. In the closing moments, Harwood and Wheeler hit the Shatter Machine on Bennett and followed up with the power and glory suplex to secure the pinfall victory.
WINNERS: FTR
-Post-match GVY jumped FTR after the match.
-Thunder Rosa cut a promo to hype up the main event.
-Lance Archer was shown backstage beating up members of the security team.
(4) ACTION ANDRETTI & LIO RUSH & TOP FLIGHT (Dante Martin & Darius Martin w/Leila Grey) IRON SAVAGES (Boulder & Bronson & Jacked Jameson) & TURBO FLOYD (w/Truth Magnum)
The fans chanted for Floyd before Jameson tagged himself into the match. Boulder and Rush squared off, but Boulder bounced Rush off his shoulders like a pinfall. The face team hit a schoolboy on Bronson, but Boulder ran over the babyface team. Floyd tried to tag himself into the match but was tagged out immediately. Dante hit airplane spins on Jameson and Bronson, followed by Andretti hitting a dropkick. All four members of the Babyface team suplexed Boulder. Everything broke down in the match’s closing moments, and Dante hit nothing but the net to secure the pinfall victory.
WINNERS: Action Andretti, Lio Rush, Dante Martin & Darius Martin in 4:45
(Brian’s Thoughts: The pilot/ flight attendant gimmick is cute, but I don’t know if that will get Top Flight over as a tag team. Also, a minor thing to monitor AEW could be pushing the Outrunners as a babyface team moving forward.)
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[HOUR TWO]
Lexy Nair was backstage with Queen Aminata and Serena Deeb for an interview. Deeb said Aminata wasn’t ready for the TBS title and offered an alliance.
(5) KYLE FLETCHER vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII
Don Callis joined the commentary team. Both men worked and started the match in a stiff NJPW style. Fletcher threw down Ishii for a bodyslam. The fans chanted, ” F*** Done Callis.”
[C]
After the break, both men exchanged forearms, but Ishii won the exchange. Ishii had a suplex and only got a near fall. The commentary team went over the history of suplexes. Fletcher hit a dive to the outside. The fans chanted, “This is Awesome. Both men exchanged suplexes and struggled briefly before Fletcher finally got Ishii up for a powerbomb. Ishii hit a running larrait and got a near fall. Fletcher recovered and nailed Ishii with a lawn dart. Ishii hit a hurricanrana from the top rope. The fans went wild. Ishii hit a running clothesline for a near fall. In the closing moments of the match, Ishii no sold a closeline. After hitting two Tombstone Powerdrivers, Fletcher finally put away Ishii to secure the pinfall victory.
WINNER: Kyle Fletcher in 12:45
(Brian’s Thoughts: What a great match! I know most people don’t give out awards for short sents, but Ishii should be considered AEW’S summer MVP, considering all the great work he’s done up and down the entire roster.)
-A hype video of Queen Aminata was shown.
-Lexy Nair was backstage with Pac. He said he was not content and was done waiting. Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy came backstage to accept PAC’s challenge for the trios match this Wednesday.
(6) BUDDY MATTHEWS vs. KOMANDER
Matthews grounded Komander early by holding onto a wristlock. Komander went for a dive, but Matthews caught him in mid-air. Matthews went for a powerbomb, but Komander turned it into a spinning head scissors takedown. Matthews spilled to the outside. Komander went for a dive, but Matthews caught him and drilled him with a suplex to the floor. [C]
After the break, both men brawled on the apron. Matthews nailed Komander with a knee strike, and the official checked on him to make sure Komander was ok. Both men exchanged hard strikes, which followed.
Matthews hitting a European uppercut. Komander railed to hit a posionrina and dive to the outside. Komander went for a dive. Matthews caught him, but Komander turned it into A DDT. In the match’s closing moments, Komander went for a dive from the top rope was greeted with a jumping knee to the face, and Matthews followed up with Murphy’s Law to secure the pinfall victory.
WINNER: Buddy Matthews in 10:02
(Brian’s Thoughts: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. House of Black members are much better when they don’t lean into the spooky gimmick because each member works superbly inside the ring. I don’t know if this is a slow push for Matthews building up to the Australia show in February. If so, it isn’t a bad time to start.)
-Post-match, the MX Collection changed Matthews and King to match next week.
-A hype video was shown of Serena Deeb
-Mariah May vs Nyla Rose was confirmed for this Wednesday on Dynamite.
(7) QUEEN AMINATA vs. SERENA DEEB vs. HIKARU SHIDA vs. THUNDER ROSA
As soon as the bell rang, the fans were behind Shida. Shida hit forearms and jumped knee to the corner. Deeb and Rosa went nose to nose and exchanged forearms and cops. Rosa hit a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Aminata hit suplexes on Deeb and Rosa before Shida threw him to the outside. All four women went for a suplex, which Aminata and Deeb won from the exchange. [C]
After the break, Aminata and Deeb worked together to double-team Rosa. Aminata hit running hip attacks and kicks in the corner to the face of Rosa and Shia. Deeb hit a flurry of clotheslines and continued to run wild throughout the match. Deeb locked in a single-leg crab onto Shida, but Rosa broke up the submission with a running dropkick. Rosa ran wild with running dropkicks all around. Deeb had Rosa in an Indian death lock and suplexed Shida. The match broke down, and all four women hit big moves. Shida hit a running knee on Rosa, and both women brawled on the top rope, which allowed Rosa to hit hurricanrana from the top rope. Rosa hit a DVD, but Deeb broke the pin attempt. Deeb locked in a submission, but Aminata broke up the submission attempt. In the closing moments of the match, Shida and Aminata squared off. Shida hit the Katana knee strike to secure the pinfall victory.
(Brian’s Thoughts: AEW did a great job promoting this main event to make it feel like a big deal. All four women looked great. I thought Rosa looked better than ever in the ring. Rosa was very sharp and landed stiff shots that looked awesome. Running Shida vs Mone back so soon tells me they want to have a 15-20 minute great match next Saturday at All-Out.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: There have certainly been better Collision episodes on paper, but I can’t tell you how much these types of shows benefit from great crowds episodes like this. AEW has been busy the past two to three weeks, but if they want Collision to stay afloat in the ratings, they have to promote more matches ahead of time on Dynamite. Especially since they did a great job promoting the four-way match as the main event from start to finish.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: NJPW CAPITAL COLLISION RESULTS (8/30): Lansdell’s report and analysis of Moné vs Watanabe, Kidd vs Rush, Ali vs Takahashi, and more
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Collision results (8/31): Murphy’s review of Queen Aminata vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa in a four-way, FTR vs. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher
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