Collision – June 1, 2024: The New Phenomenal

Collision
Date: June 1, 2024
Location: Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, California
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

This is a bit of a different location for a wrestling show as the southern California swing continues. The big draw this week is new #1 contender to the World Title Will Ospreay defending his International Title against Kyle O’Reilly. That should be enough to carry the show so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to get things going and he brings out FTR for a chat. They’re banged up after Anarchy In The Arena but thank everyone for the kind welcome. They’re the only members of Team AEW here and make it clear to the Elite that they are NOT dead yet. Harwood feels like he let his teammates down and he’s been struggling with that feeling all week. Is it worth it anymore? Fans: “DON’T GIVE UP!” Harwood knows it’s worth it and he’ll be here to fight against the Elite until they bury him in the ground. And that’s that. Short and to the point here, though the point was just “we’re still around”.

After Double Or Nothing, Jack Perry couldn’t stand up and said he was set on fire for AEW. He believes in AEW, even after the company turned its back on him. Fairly fired up promo here, but I’m still not buying Perry as some big, serious deal.

We look at the announcement of the qualifying matches for a TNT Title ladder match at Forbidden Door.

Roderick Strong vs. Lio Rush

The Kingdom is here with Strong, who starts fast by stomping Rush down in the corner. A suplex sets up some choking on the ropes and there’s a gutbuster to keep Rush down. The running forearms against the ropes has Rush in more trouble and Matt Taven steals Rush’s coat. Rush manages to throw him outside and hits back to back suicide dives as we take a break.

Back with Strong hitting an Angle Slam to cut off a comeback and whipping Rush hard into the corner. Rush has to beat the count back in and hits the spinning kick to the head. Rush’s DDT gets two and they both need a breather. The Kingdom offers a distraction so Rush takes them out with a moonsault. Back in and the springboard Stunner gives Rush two but another Kingdom distraction messes up the Final Hour. Strong hits End Of Heartache for the pin at 10:38.

Rating: C+. Rush got to do his rather impressive athletic stuff before losing in the end, making it a fine enough showcase for him. That being said, we’ve seen Rush before and it’s hard to believe that he is going to stay around anywhere given his history. Strong gets a win over a name opponent after losing to Will Ospreay, which was a boost he needed.

Kyle O’Reilly is ready to challenge Will Ospreay tonight. It’s not about a great match though because this is about the International Title. Ospreay is coming for the World Title so he’s overlooking O’Reilly, who isn’t leaving empty handed.

Roderick Strong comes up to Tony Khan and demands a World Title shot on Dynamite. Khan makes the match. Christopher Daniels was standing next to Khan during the exchange, making his appointment on Dynamite feel a bit unnecessary.

Daniel Garcia/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Workhorsemen

Shibata and Henry grapple against the ropes to start with Henry firing off some kicks. Shibata takes him down for a PK and it’s off to Garcia to strike away at Henry. Drake gets knocked out to the floor and we pause as he might have hurt his knee. Back in and Shibata hits an STO on Henry, followed by some rolling neckbreakers from Garcia.

We take a break and come back with Drake (apparently good to go) chopping away at Garcia, who manages to get away without much trouble. It’s back to Shibata to clean house as everything breaks down. The rapid fire chops have Henry in trouble, allowing Garcia to dance. Drake sends Shibata outside and the running knees in the corner hit Garcia. Drake’s moonsault gets a VERY hot two with Shibata making the save. Back up and Shibata sleepers Drake down into the PK for the pin at 9:55.

Rating: B. This match had no reason to be this good and they made it work VERY well. It started off as any run of the mill tag match and then wound up with the crowd totally into the possibility of an upset. I was expecting something ok at best but wound up getting a heck of a nice surprise. Rather good stuff here, with the crowd carrying it that much further.

Post match the winners pose together.

We look at Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway turning on Willow Nightingale at Double Or Nothing.

Statlander and Hathaway have a gift for Nightingale: a bunch of garbage, just like her! Statlander seems to have an open challenge for next week.

Thunder Rosa vs. Reina Dorada

Rosa takes her down and grinds away with a front facelock. An armdrag into a dropkick has Dorada in trouble and Rosa cranks on both arms. Rosa wins a forearm exchange and the Tijuana Bomb…gets two? With that not working, Rosa grabs a seated cobra clutch for the win at 3:13.

Rating: C. Pretty much just a squash for Rosa here as she needed to be boosted back up after the loss to Deonna Purrazzo at Double Or Nothing. The ending to that match should mean the feud continues and that’s not the worst idea. If nothing else, having Rosa around regularly again is nice to see for a change.

Post match Rosa says this isn’t over with Purrazzo.

Cage Of Agony vs. Danny Rose/Ricky Gee/KM

KM is probably more than a foot taller than Rose, whose chin is as high as the top rope. Toa runs them over to start and Cage hits the apron superplex on KM. All three of them throw Rose into the air for a big crash and the pin at 1:44.

After Rampage, Toni Storm, with Luther and Mariah May, is not happy with what Saraya did to May. Her Forbidden Door is WIDE open and violence is teased. Nigel McGuinness jumping to his feet as he hears about Storm being open and May being with her is hilarious.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Johnny TV

Taya Valkyrie is here with TV. Castagnoli runs him over with a shoulder to start but TV sweeps the leg and hits a running knee. That doesn’t work for Castagnoli, who runs him over and hits a running stomp for two. The rather delayed suplex puts TV down but Taya breaks up the Swing attempt. That’s enough for TV to get in a low blow for two and we take a break.

Back with Castagnoli hitting a suplex and sending him into the corner for the running uppercut. The Swing is broken up and they slug it out until TV’s flipping neckbreaker gets two. Castagnoli fights back up but has to go after an interfering Taya. Back in and TV misses Starship Pain for a rather nasty crash. Instead it’s a reverse superplex to put TV down for the Sharpshooter, with Taya interfering again for the save. The Swing sets up a running clothesline to give Castagnoli the pin at 11:20.

Rating: B-. The match was fine but Castagnoli has nothing going on right now and it made the match feel like something they put out there to fill in time. I’m glad to see Castagnoli getting a win, though giving him something to do would be better. For what felt like filler content, it could have been a lot worse.

Video on the Premiere Athletes, a stable from ROH comprised of Tony Nese, Ari Daivari and Josh Woods with Mark Sterling as their manager.

Video on the West Coast Wrecking Crew.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew

Anthony Ogogo is here with the Promotions and the Crew is Jorel Nelson/Royce Isaacs. Moriarty takes Isaacs down to start but Nelson comes in to run him over with a shoulder. A chinlock slows Moriarty down and Isaacs grabs a fisherman’s suplex for two. That’s enough for Moriarty so Taylor comes in for the trash talk and a rather loud chop as the beating begins.

Isaacs manages a knee out of the corner though and it’s back to Nelson for a missile dropkick. Taylor headbutts him into a release Rock Bottom, setting up a splash with Isaacs having to make a save. Everything breaks down and Taylor knocks Nelson silly, setting up the Marcus Garvey Driver for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C. The Crew got in a little offense here and it wasn’t quite a squash, but there was only so much to be gotten once Taylor came in to destroy. I appreciated the extra look at the Crew earlier, as it made the win over them mean that much more. That being said, it’s hard to buy that the Promotions are going to go anywhere, as they don’t exactly have a track record of doing so.

Post match Ogogo knocks Isaacs cold.

The Iron Savages and Jacked Jameson are sick of being ignored but Killswitch comes in to beat them up. Good.

International Title: Will Ospreay vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Ospreay is defending and the fans are behind him. They go to the mat to start with Ospreay’s wristlock being broken up without much trouble. A headlock takeover works a bit better before Ospreay shoulders him out to the apron. Back in and O’Reilly grabs his own headlock, which is broken up so Ospreay can knock him to the floor again. There’s the big dive and we take an early break.

Back with O’Reilly striking away to cut Ospreay off and legsweeping him down. O’Reilly starts in on the back and arm but Ospreay forearms his way out of trouble. A Phenomenal Forearm puts O’Reilly on the apron, where he snaps the bad arm over the ropes. O’Reilly changes directions by tying the knee up in the ropes for a top rope knee to put Ospreay in more trouble. Ospreay’s sunset flip attempt is countered into a cross armbreaker but Ospreay is right in the ropes. They head outside with O’Reilly hitting a running dropkick against the barricade as we take another break.

Back again with O’Reilly’s guillotine choke being reversed into a suplex. The tiger driver gives Ospreay two and things slow down a bit. O’Reilly crotches him on top and the arm is snapped across the top again. Ospreay is back with the superkick but the Oscutter is cut off. Another legsweep takes Ospreay down but he nips up for an enziguri in a great visual. A triangle choke doesn’t last long as Ospreay powerbombs his way to freedom, leaving both of them down.

Another tiger driver is countered into a dragon screw legwhip but Ospreay is back with the running elbow. The Hidden Blade is cut off with another knee to the face and they’re both down again. They slug it out from their knees with O’Reilly elbowing him down but a suplex is countered into a Stundog Millionaire. Another running elbow rocks O’Reilly and the Stormbreaker retains the title at 21:17.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was great as Ospreay continues to be pretty much untouchable as of late. The more I see from him, the more I’m reminded of a prime AJ Styles, who was doing more and more things that didn’t seem like they should be possible yet he’s making them work. At the same time O’Reilly was more than holding his own here, with the picking apart various limbs being rather logical for him. Awesome match here one of the best AEW TV matches in a long time.

Post match Ospreay’s arm is really banged up. O’Reilly pulls himself up and respect is shown.

Swerve Strickland talks about how Ospreay continues to amaze him. Swerve has never been on the main Forbidden Door card but he’s ready to steal the show like Ospreay has done. As for Roderick Strong, he’s going to get a beating for thinking he can just demand a title shot. Not much to say here but it’s good to get even basic comments from the champ.

Overall Rating: B+. Really good show this week, with the two least good (as they were far from bad) matches being completely watchable. The main event is great and the Garcia/Shibata match was way better than I was expecting. Nothing was bad on here and it set something up for Dynamite with the title match. I had a great time with this one and the main event is definitely worth a look.

Results
Roderick Strong b. Lio Rush – End Of Heartache
Daniel Garcia/Katsuyori Shibata b. Workhorsemen – PK to Drake
Thunder Rosa b. Reina Dorada – Seated cobra clutch
Cage Of Agony b. Danny Rose/Ricky Gee/KM – Triple toss to Rose
Claudio Castagnoli b. Johnny TV – Running clothesline
Shane Taylor Promotions b. West Coast Wrecking Crew – Marcus Garvey Driver to Nelson
Will Ospreay b. Kyle O’Reilly – Stormbreaker

 

 

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