AEW Collision Review - March 16, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bryan Danielson def. Katsuyori Shibata

I'm all for AEW doing more storylines and not focusing so much on packing every single show with as much wrestling as possible, but this was an obvious exception. Danielson is basically crossing off every dream match of his right now and I'm glad this was one of them. They were given a ton of time and made the most of it by having a kickass match. What a return for Shibata, who took time off from television months ago to return home for a personal matter I believe.

AEW TBS Championship Julia Hart def. Trish Adora in a House Rules Match

Random women getting shots at the AEW TBS Championship completely invalidates the power rankings that recently returned because they've done nothing to deserve a shot, but I did like the House Rules stipulation for this where the loser would be banned during House of Black vs. The Infantry later on in the show. The outcome was never in doubt, but they delivered a nice match, nonetheless.

Daniel Garcia def. Lee Moriarty

Garcia failed to beat Christian Cage for the AEW TNT Championship at Revolution and now I have no idea what's next for him other than spinning his wheels. Does Adam Copeland's upcoming rematch with Christian really need the TNT title on the line? Garcia could have benefited big time from winning it, but oh well. I assume this existed to give him a rebound victory. It was well wrestled but didn't last long enough to be anything out of the ordinary.

Pac def. Aaron Solo

Pac returned on last week's Collision and wrestled on Wednesday's Dynamite in a six-man tag team match, but this was his first singles match since last summer. He was missed. This was basically a glorified squash for him as it should have been. Post-match, he got on the mic and challenged anyone on the roster to step up, so I'm curious to see who will ultimately answer the call.

Claudio Castagnoli def. Lance Archer by Disqualification

This was quite the random match when it was announced, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Archer is a talented dude, but he's been booked so terribly in AEW that I have zero faith he'll ever be more than what he is right now. Disqualification finishes are rare in AEW, so I didn't mind that we got one here with The Righteous attacking Castagnoli. That led to Danielson and Shibata making the save. Does that mean a potential alliance between Danielson and Shibata? If so, sign me up.

Kyle O'Reilly def. "Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith

O'Reilly hasn't competed in nearly two years due to the neck injury that nearly ended his career, so similar to Pac, I'm happy he's back in the fold. It looks like he'll be getting a singles run and I'm in full favor of that. I'd be the first time since his WWE NXT run three years ago. He and Keith had a very good match that lasted long than I was expecting. Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett celebrated with O'Reilly afterward, but I'm going to guess he won't end up aligning with them.

The Infantry def. AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Wild Card Match

The Infantry confronted FTR on last week's Collision and the idea was that they'd be presented as a bigger threat starting in this tag title tournament. Sure enough, they picked up the upset victory. It was a refreshing chance of pace, but I'm also bummed House of Black have already been bumped. I realize they won last week's main event, but they still feel underutilized to me. This was a solid match in the allotted time, but it was overshadowed by the outcome.

Adam Copeland Addressed AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage

Copeland carried a box to the ring with him last week with "Spike" written on it, and we found out here that it's a piece of wood with nails sticking out of it. He even acknowledged that it was his version of Mick Foley's "Barbie" or Abyss' "Janice" from years ago. Are we really supposed to believe he's going to use that? Otherwise, this was a strong promo from Copeland ahead of what feels like the blow-off to their feud next Wednesday on Dynamite in Toronto.

Overall Show

This show was carried by the awesome opener and Copeland's closing promo. A lot of what we got in the middle was inconsequential, but at least some stars picked up momentum-building wins and the wrestling was on par with what it usually is on Collision. Thankfully, Angelo Parker vs. Zak Knight didn't happen as advertised, so that was a plus as well. Dynamite was much more must-see on Wednesday night, but this wasn't the worst way to spend a Saturday night.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews