AEW Collision Review - May 11, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson) def. Top Flight

Was this a random match? Yes. Do I care that it was random? No. They had a hell of a match​ and the crowd was hot for the action. I get the feeling Danielson wants to work with as many different people as possible before his full-time career is over, so I'm certainly not complaining. Danielson explained afterward that last year's Anarchy in the Arena almost ended his career but that he's choosing to participate this year because he loves AEW.

Will Ospreay def. Lee Moriarty

Ospreay continues to kill it against every opponent he has in AEW. This was his first singles match in AEW since beating Bryan Danielson at Dynasty. Although the outcome was never in doubt, they worked a very fun sprint and Moriarty showcasing his skills a bit before eating defeat. Ospreay will challenge Roderick Stong for the AEW International Championship at Double or Nothing and this gave him another momentum boost before then.

Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony def. Evan Rivers and The Voros Twins

I'm going to assume Mogul Embassy and The Embassy as a whole is no more after Cage and Gates of Agony attacked Swerve Strickland on Wednesday's Dynamite. Obviously, their alliance with Strickland is over, but what about Prince Nana? Anyway, this served as a simple squash for them ahead of Cage's AEW World Championship Eliminator match with Strickland coming up next on Dynamite.

Daniel Garcia def. KM

Fun fact: KM actually appeared ​in an episode of that new Fallout show. I recognized him immediately. He's a good hand in the ring and put over Garcia nicely. That said, I don't understand what AEW is doing with Garcia. He had momentum coming out the Continental Classic and challenged for the AEW TNT Championship at Revolution but came up short and he's done nothing of note since. What is he being built up for now?

Dax Harwood def. "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington

Billington is the nephew of the original Dynamite Kid. That should come as no surprise considering he looks exactly like him. He's also incredibly skilled in his own right and Harwood was the perfect opponent for him in his debut. They had a very well-wrestled match as you'd expect and Billington looked impressive in defeat. Hopefully we'll be seeing him again soon and this wasn't just a one-off.

Thunder Rosa def. Robyn Renegade

Tony Schiavone mentioned on commentary that it was three years ago this weekend that Renegade made her AEW debut in a match against Rosa. Apparently it was on Dark: Elevation (I watched every episode of that show but don't recall that specific match because it produced a ton of matches in a two-year period). Renegade scored some offense, but this was all about Rosa and giving her a decisive win.

AEW TNT Champion Adam Copeland def. Kyle O'Reilly

O'Reilly is a Vancouver native, so this was the perfect main event for this show. Copeland is in the midst of a feud with Malakai Black and there was no way he was losing the title here, but they had a very entertaining main event and I appreciated that O'Reilly was made to look like a legitimate threat to the title. It was confirmed during Rampage that Copeland vs. Black for AEW TNT Championship will happen at Double or Nothing in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage match.

Overall Show

This was a significant notch above the typical edition of Collision, if only for the in-ring action. There were several standout matches on this show and it made the two hours fly by. Combine that with it being a live show with a loud crowd and it was an enjoyable episode on the whole that also did a solid job of progressing certain stories heading into Double or Nothing. Collision needs this level of star power more often.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews