#LAWTAKE - AEW COLLISION 5/11/24
It’s another three hour block of AEW programming with Collision and Rampage and I LOVE this. More three hour blocks. No funny shit.
Usually the most professional wrestling product under the AEW banner, I get a kick out of watching Collision on a Saturday night after my festivities for the evening end.
Opening with Bryan Danielson’s return (since Dynasty) alongside Claudio against Top Flight at a packed Vancouver arena (debut in this location) really showed well.
As the clock winds down to the end of Danielsons run, you have to soak up every match he’s in because he’s not wasting a single minute in the ring against whoever he faces.
Top Flight are always a reliable hand when it comes to being wrestlers to throw out for solid to good matches but surely expect a loss.
If AEW had a Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship (and no, not because they were a staple belt during the dying WCW days on TNT), Top Flight as inaugural champions for me please.
This match was banging from beginning to end in ring and in the crowd. I think what misses sometimes on Dynamite is not every crowd brings it like they once did in the earlier days. When you flip the channel to the other fellas, those arenas are RUCKUSSSSS 9.3/10 times.
The biggest babyface in AEW without a championship Will Ospreay takes on Lee Moriarty much, much to my surprise. On a star studded card, they really made sure to drive home this debut in Vancouver as being CAN’T MISS.
The Undisputed Coldness pulled up to the announce table to talk shit. I can’t wait for Ospreay to pick apart these guys weekly program by program as we get closer to Double Or Nothing.
The more I watch Will Ospreay wrestle as good as he does and effortlessly, the more Roderick Strong can kiss his title run goodbye.
Will Ospreay is still the biggest babyface in a heel faction currently trying to recruit the companies other biggest babyface, for anyone still keeping count.
With that said, Shane Taylor lays out Ospreay (which by the way better be on the cards for a Dynamite coming soon), so Interchangable Kingdom can taunt over him. What ever happened to that faction Ospreay is apart of?
Speaking of interchangeable, Brian Cage’s push begins tonight in a six man tag against local jobbers.
Cage & Gates Of Agony got the easy win as expected and then proceeded to not care about being Trios Champions and instead taunt Swerve.
Brian Cage beard is terrible.
Brian Cage referencing people being slow because “we already explained” when Tony Schiavone asked why the turn was expectedly stupid of Brian Cage. WHEN was this explained? In a backstage vignette on BTE? On Rampage After Dark? The ‘swerve’ just happened Wednesday and all you did was attack Strickland and walked off.
After Swerve attacked Gates Of Agony, Brian Cage continued to walk off.
This Wednesday on Dynamite, Brian Cage’s push hopefully ends as Swerve faces him one on one.
I can’t believe this is what’s going on with Swerve at this point of his title run. It’s still early but his opposition is aging his reign by months. Brian Cage???
Get well soon that textbook size list of wrestlers currently under AEW because we dearly miss you.
Daniel Garcia got himself a much needed, rehabilitating babyface win against a larger opponent via submission. I still feel like him getting left out of the Team AEW is a BIG miss.
Garcia vs Jack Perry is quality “pillar” AEW waiting to happen.
Next up Dax Hardwood faced Tommy Billington in our mat-technical showing of the evening (crazy to say that on the same card as a Bryan Danielson, Copeland, Ospreay, Kyle O’Reilly).
A slingshot Powerbomb put Tommy away in such quality of a match that this could have been a singles match on a AEW PPV and it would have been rated stellar. More Tommy Billington.
Dax keeps picking up singles W’s and Cash is absolutely not doing a match unless he’s tagging in it.
The Elite World Order are in the back barking and shit. Okada wants to Reignmaker Dax on Dynamite, Jack Perry wants to throw people around and kick ass, The Bucks want to bully Christopher Daniels?
Cue Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal, the bottom of the line jobber tag team, challenging the Bucks on Dynamite.
I guess what I can appreciate it with AEW at this point is I don’t have to guess long if a match will happen on the following show if I see people interact, they just get right to it in the next segment before I can finish typing this thought.
Deonna Purazzo gets Rampage, Thunder Rosa gets Collision. That should tell you who’s winning this overall feud.
Thunder Rosa really could be the TBS Champion any day now. When it’s time for her and (a wrestling) Mercedes Monè to cross paths, that’ll be a flipping doozy.
Taya & Johnny TV are making use of their television time by asking for an opponent tonight. That’s random. But hey, AEW gotta use who’s available at this point.
At this point, Adam Copeland is Collision and Collision is Adam Copeland so let him keep main eventing. He gets the best crowds when they hit some of these markets and Canada is AEW Country.
Refreshing to see the TNT title being defended frequently now that a babyface has hold of the belt again.
This is exactly what I wanted out of my Adam Copeland run - almost, any match could look different than previously.
This particularly match against Kyle O’Reilly was a mesh of that learned WWE style with more of the rangey, mat style from Kyle. In his hometown, Kyle had to apply the pressure.
Kyle beat Copeland down a vast majority of the match, if we’re being quite fair. The crowd were into this and off that interaction, Copeland had to become somewhat of the heel in the match.
This match already runs way better than the Copeland/Buddy Murphy match to me, both the latter’s even had stints in NXT.
Copeland retains after a spear, which might be one of the most protected finishers left in AEW.
9.5/10 overall Collision for me just because Brian Cage is having a feud with the World Champion. Otherwise this was very fun wrestling on a Saturday night. Every match banged. This could have been a whole entire Dynamite card how good it was.
At times, I really do wish AEW had a brand split and kept the shit separate. Let the Idiot World Order led by the EVP’s run Dynamite while Kenny Omega or another authority figure that represents Tony Khan runs Collision with a meeting in the middle for Rampage. Idk, anything to add intrigue to this feud other than the Bucks not being reprimanded for attacking the owner of the company.
What say you? Feel free to hit me with your feedback on Twitter!