AEW Collision Review - April 20, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW TNT Champion Adam Copeland, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston def. Action Andretti and Top Flight

Similar to the last six-man tag team match the babyfaces had, this was designed to serve as another warm-up for them before they face House of Black at Dynasty. I think it would've made more sense to do it on AEW TV beforehand and save Copeland vs. a member of House of Black for the AEW TNT Championship for the pay-per-view, but oh well. This was an enjoyable opener and I liked that Copeland and company endorsed their opponents afterward.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. CJ Esparza

Hobbs' squash was exactly what it needed to be: short, sweet and exactly to the point. I can't say the same for Don Callis' promo, though. He took way too long to announce that Hobbs' match with Jon Moxley on next Wednesday's Dynamite will be for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. There's no chance Hobbs wins, but I like that there will be something at stake and this match made him look dominant before then.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Gunns def. AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed

I feel like I've seen enough matches between these teams in the last two years to last a lifetime. Of course, we'll be getting one more match between them at Dynasty (also involving Jay White and Billy Gunn) in the Winners Take All match. This was decent, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Hopefully the heels going over here wasn't a sign that The Acclaimed and Gunn are winning at Dynasty. This feud needs to end as soon as possible.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli) def. The Don Callis Family (ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita) in a Bunkhouse Brawl

Well, they certainly put the "brawl" in Bunkhouse Brawl, I'll say that much. It was a mess from start to finish and not my cup of tea personally, but I'm sure there are those who loved it. It featured lots of brawling, some blood from Danielson, and even interference from Moxley and Hobbs. Danielson cut a passionate post-match promo about why he does this sort of stuff. I'm looking forward to his certified banger with Will Ospreay at Dynasty.

Skye Blue def. "Legit" Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch resurfaced on AEW TV last week when she unsuccessfully challenged Julia Hart for the AEW TBS Championship on Rampage (her last AEW TV match prior to that was two years ago), so Hart's tag team partner beating Hirsch here as well was logical. There wasn't much to the match and I'm not sure what the point of this was ahead of a pay-per-view neither of them are on, but it was a fine match at least.

Pac and FTR def. The Elite (The Young Bucks and AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada)

Pac just faced The Elite (albeit with different partners) on Wednesday's Dynamite and lost, so it was important that he won here to gain some momentum before he likes loses to Okada at Dynasty. It was the entertaining six-man tag team affair you'd expect from them given the level of talent involved. I actually preferred this over The Elite's Dynamite mach. Daniel Garcia helping out Pac and FTR afterward was interesting. I know he's aligned with FTR, but maybe he'll be next in line for a shot at the AEW Continental Championship?

Overall Show

I'm glad there were less matches than usual with Rampage happening immediately afterward. They made the two hours worthwhile with the main event and the Bunkhouse Brawl, which is more than I can say for your typical edition of Collision. There was also a fair amount of hype for Dynasty with a majority of the matches serving a purpose (Blue vs. Hirsch being the only exception), so it was a thumbs-up show on the whole.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews