All Elite Wrestling returns tonight.
AEW Dynamite takes place this evening at 8/7c on TNT and HBO Max from Highland Heights, Kentucky.
AEW Collision started with Renee Paquette interviewing Lee Moriarty and Kofi, and Kofi said that it was fantastic that they are in AEW and they are so happy to be able to face the best, and Lee Moriarty is one of the best up and coming wrestlers in AEW. Moriarty was offended at this, saying that he is not an up and comer, but the best pure wrestler in the world, and it was Kofi that would have to prove himself against him. That was a good promo from Moriarty. Kofi did accidentally call the AEW wrestlers “superstars” but I’ll forgive him, as old habits die hard.
Kofi (w/ Austin Creed) vs. Lee Moriarty (w/ Shane Taylor Promotions)
This was a chance for Kofi to mix it up and work with a young guy in a new environment. Kofi clearly is loving the freedom of working in AEW and is doing stuff that I haven’t seen him do before, along with keeping up with Moriarty. Moriarty countered an arm drag from Kofi into a DDT and spiked him directly on his head. I’m not sure if it rocked him a bit, but Kofi, regardless, fell victim to Moriarty’s offence as they went into the commercial break.
Moriarty kept up the offence until they returned from break but ate a kick from Kofi in the corner. Moriarty, however, hit a huge back body drop that sent Kofi crashing to the mat. Kofi responded to this by hitting a tornado DDT off the middle rope on Moriarty. Kofi then did a double jump moonsault on Moriarty and Creed went nuts on commentary as he couldn’t remember the last time he did one.
Kofi hit a springboard attack of some kind, but I think they were out of position. That said, they recovered quickly, and Moriarty hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Kofi hit a jumping clothesline and then a legdrop. Kofi went for Trouble in Paradise, but Morarity countered into an airplane spin of sorts before locking on the Boarder City Stretch but Kofi made the ropes. As Moriarty was trying to hit some ground and pound, Kofi countered into a submission, but Moriarty made the ropes. Kofi and Moriarty tried a series of pinfall attempts and near falls until Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise for the win.
Result: Kofi defeated Austin Creed
–A wonderful video of the PAC memorial show aired, with Moxley’s promo narrating it. Nigel McGuinness delivered his own emotional speech about PAC, and Paul White continued saying PAC was truly a wonderful person.
–A tribute from the Young Bucks aired, talking about how PAC was a mentor to them and they wouldn’t be who they were today without him. I teared up watching this, as Matt and Nick talk about the proper etiquette for wrestlers in Japan, and how he invented More Bang for your Buck and told them that they needed to make their finish cooler, and how when AEW started, they said he was the guy they needed on the roster, and that they were so thankful they got to spend the last 7 years with him in AEW. Matt also said he loved going on a double date with their wives to the Cheesecake Factory. This was beautiful.
–A recap of Will Ospreay at the post-All Out press conference and how he challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match at AEW Grand Slam France. This was fantastic. This was all about how Okada was the mentor and Ospreay was the protégé. They did a great job recapping the history of Ospreay and Okada, which is extensive.
–Tony Schiavone announced that if Will Ospreay defeats Okada, he will go on to Wrestle Dream to wrestle in a Clockwork Carnage match, one that Ospreay invented in Pro Wrestling EVE. The rules are complex. Where is Scott Hudson when we need him? Here they are:
The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, & Roderick Strong) vs. Soloroto (Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto) & Griff Garrison
Orange Cassidy was fired up and hit nearly 30 punches in the corner on Garrison. The Conglomeration then hit a triple suplex on Solo and Comoroto. Aaron Solo managed to knock Cassidy down, did the Macarana, and then got hit with a Stundog Millionaire from Cassidy. Solo tried to hit a 21-Plex on Cassidy, but this did not go well, and he almost threw himself over the ropes and got beaten on by Strong and O’Reilly. Meanwhile, Nick Comoroto tried to pretend to be Brody King, but he ate an Orange Punch and faceplanted.
Result: The Conglomeration defeated Soloroto & Griff Garrison
–The Death Riders made their way down to the ring to a huge reaction from the audience and faced off with the Conglomeration as the lights went out and the Bang Bang Gang made their entrance.
The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ Gabe Kidd & Marina Shafir) vs. The Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, & Ace Austin) (w/ Juice Robinson)
Austin Gunn started the match, but it wasn’t along before the Death Riders isolated Ace Austin, the other Austin in the match. When they came back from break, Claudio Castagnoli was attempting to submit Ace Austin, and hit a European uppercut when Austin tried to dead lift fireman’s carry him. However, Austin responded with a spin kick and hit the fireman’s carry before tagging out to Colten Gunn.
The Death Riders were very over here, especially due to recent events, and all six men got great reactions when they faced off and took each other out with a six way lariat contanglement (Paul White’s invented word, not mine). Robinson and Shafir got into the ring, but Robinson was laid out by Gabe Kidd. Yuta was launched over the top rope to the floor by Castagnoli, taking out the Gunns. Garcia moved out of the way of a corner charge from Ace Austin, and the Death Riders did a series of corner charges, including Shafir dropping Austin, and Yuta taking him out with a busaiku knee before Garcia tapped out Austin with the Dragon Tamer.
Result: The Death Riders defeated The Bang Bang Gang
This was a very fun party match. Not too much else to say.
–Darby Allin was in a taped promo, saying that he thought Steven Borden’s career ended on Sunday, but as soon as they got to the hospital, he told Darby that he was not done and that they were going to win those tag titles. Allin then challenged Kyle Fletcher at Grand Slam France saying that given what he has seen this past week, with the injury of his friend and the loss of PAC, he wanted to feel alive and give Fletcher a chance to get the TNT title back. Good promo, though the background music was bizarre.
Myron Reed (w/ Zachery Wentz & Dezmond Xavier) vs. Dante Martin (w/ Sky Flight & Christopher Daniels)
Both men immediately went into an exchange of pinfall attempts, with Martin hitting a knee lift, and then Reed hitting a legdrop of sorts. Martin went for a lariat, but Reed did his nip up to dodge it, but Martin blocked a cutter and sent him to the floor. Martin ran around the ring and leaped up grabbing the top turnbuckle and sliding through the middle rope to hit a dropkick. Reed hit a sunset flip and rolled back to his feet to hit a dropkick, which he followed with another dropkick before they went to an ad break.
As they came back from the break, Martin was stomping on Reed. Both men picked up the pace after the break, exchanging counters and high flying moves, until Martin hit a great tope suicida on Reed. However, as they climbed back into the ring, Reed hit a kick on Martin and went for the cutter to the floor, but Martin landed on his feet and hit a poison rana on the floor. Martin wasted time deciding if he was going to dive off the top rope onto Martin, letting Reed counter with a cutter and hit a 450 splash for the finish.
Result: Myron Reed defeated Dante Martin
–Thekla took a camera man to Mercedes Mone locker room demanding to talk face to face. Thekla failed in her attempt to enter it, as it was locked, and no one was answering. Mone attacked Thekla from behind and laid her out with the women’s title.
Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne & Lena Kross) vs. Emily Rose & Joiya Blake
Well, Divine Dominion were not happy after losing at All Out, and they laid out Rose and Blake in less than a minute here.
Result: Divine Dominion defeated Emily Rose & Joiya Blake
–As Divine Dominion were posing, Julia Hart’s music hit, interrupting their celebration.
Julia Hart vs. Queen Aminata
This match was surprisingly hard hitting in the first few moments, with Hart driving the face of Aminata into the turnbuckle and hitting hard forearms. It seems Hart’s time in Japan has led her to hitting harder. Hart sent Aminata crashing into the guardrail and apron several times, before sending her crashing headfirst into another guardrail and sending Aminata crashing into a chair. Hart did the tarantula in the ropes, and tried to float back into the ring through the middle rope, but Aminata countered into a back breaker and hit a snap suplex.
Aminata then hit a huge kick in the corner and a double stomp off the middle rope for a 2-count. Aminata set Hart on the same chair that Hart setup earlier, and then hit a shotgun dropkick on Hart, but Aminata landed hard on her tailbone on the floor. Aminata missed a second double stomp, and turned around into a superkick from Julia Hart. Hart locked on an Octopus stretch, but Aminata powered her out and hit an air raid crash for a 2-count. Hart slipped out and locked on heartless, but Aminata powered out. Hart hit eat da feet but Aminata hit a Croyt’s Wrath and her running kick on Hart to get the win.
Result: Queen Aminata defeated Julia Hart
–The New Level were backstage and said that they were not satisfied with just the trios titles. They wanted all the titles, singles or tag, and since Kofi beat Lee Moriarty, who is the ROH Pure Champion, he would now like a shot at Bandido at AEW Grand Slam for the ROH World Championship.
–A recap video aired of Jack Perry calling out Samoa Joe, and Perry said that he was willing to risk being beaten by Joe to make an impact in AEW (and as we learn soon thereafter, a shot at getting into the Clockwork Carnage match).
–Samoa Joe cut a promo backstage saying that he understood the quest that he was on, and that he wanted to be a killer, so he had to face some. Joe said that when Jack looked at him he saw Joe as a hammer that could beat metal into a sharper form, or an anvil that helps wrought steel. Joe said that he wasn’t a tool though, but that he was the fire, and he was going to burn all of Jack Perry’s weakness away, and if there was enough left afterward, he would have to face who he truly was.
Mark Davis (w/ Rocky Romero) vs. Adam Priest
Adam Priest continues his quest to look more and more like James Gibson here in this match, as he takes it to the far bigger man with hard strikes, but Davis drops him with hard chops of his own. Paul White compared Priest to a honey badger, of which some old internet memes come to mind at that comment. Davis, however, was persistent in resisting the offence of Priest, hitting a shotgun dropkick and a senton.
Davis took Priest to the floor and ran him all around ringside, sending him crashing into the guardrails. Davis ground the forearm across the eyes of Priest and went for a corner charge, but Priest exploded out with a knee clip and a tornado DDT. Priest blocked a kick and elbowed the knee and hit chops. Priest then hit a dragon screw on Davis, ducked under an enziguri, and locked on a half crab. Paul White compared Davis to a polar bear, and that felt appropriate as Davis hit a huge German suplex on Priest.
Priest slipped out of a powerbomb, went for a backslide, got powered over, but cradled Davis for a nearefall. Davis, however, rolled out and powered Priest up into a piledriver for the pinfall.
Result: Mark Davis defeated Adam Priest
This was a very fun match. I recommend going to this match if you want to see how to do a big man vs. small man match. Excellent.
–Queen Aminata asked for a match with against Mercedes Mone at AEW Grand Slam, saying that she used to live in France, so there was no better place for them to wrestle.
–Renee Paquette did a ringside interview, saying that Jon Moxley was the kind of man that does his healing in the ring, and this was an important match for Moxley.
Jake Doyle vs. Jon Moxley (w/ Marina Shafir)
The reaction for Moxley as he came out was deafening with the fans roaring approval for him as the bell rang. It speaks to the aura Moxley carries that they chanted “Moxley’s Gonna Kill You!” at Doyle when he is quite a bit larger than Moxley. Moxley did a Pentagon style arm breaker, but Doyle was back up hitting a shoulder block soon thereafter. Doyle hit another shoulder tackle, and Moxley hit the ropes and hit one of his own that finally dropped Doyle, and the fans went nuts. Simple spot, and it worked perfectly.
This only made Doyle angry, however, and he hit a series of shoulder tackles and splashes in the corner. Moxley dodged the third corner charge, hit ten punches in the corner, but got sent crashing to the floor and into the guardrail by Doyle hitting yet another shoulder block as Mox was on the apron. Moxley responded in the ring with hard chops, but ate a huge shoulder tackle in the corner and it winded Moxley.
Moxley fired up, however, at every strike from Doyle, and started hitting harder with chops and forearms. However, Doyle flew across the ring with another shoulder tackle and Moxley was down again. Doyle hit a Vader style tackle and Moxley rolled to the floor. Moxley fired up yet again as Doyle taunted him, and Moxley hit hard forearms, but ate a lariat, and both men just started throwing lariats to try and drop each other, but they refused to go down. They then broke into punches and forearms, and then Doyle hit a huge back suplex on Moxley. Moxley came out of the corner with a giant lariat that finally dropped Doyle as they announced they were at the 10 minute mark.
Moxley hit a cutter on Doyle, who rolled to the floor, and Moxley hit a huge tope suicida to a roar from the crowd. Moxley went for a piledriver, but Doyle fought out with a back drop, but Moxley held on with a sunset flip, but Doyle rolled Moxley forward and went for a powerbomb, but Moxley fought out and hit a piledriver, but Doyle stood right back up, hit a forearm, and then a sitout powerbomb for a 2-count. Moxley slapped Doyle, flipped him off, and countered a black hole slam into a rear naked choke, forcing Doyle down to the mat before finally getting the tap out. What a fantastic match.
Result: Jon Moxley defeated Jake Doyle
(H/T: Josiah MacDonald and F4WOnline.com)
