Collision
Date: April 12, 2025
Location: MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We are done with Dynasty and the long road to Double Or Nothing has begun. That could go in a few different ways but for right now, AEW has taken its foot off the gas, at least for the time being. It made for an enjoyable Dynamite and it would be nice to see the same thing happen again here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Commentary tells us that Pac is injured and therefore Jon Moxley is taking his place as an interim Trios Champion. That’s about the only option they had so there is nothing wrong with that move.

Here is FTR to explain turning on Cope at Dynasty. Wheeler talks about how the more he listened to Harwood talk about Cope, the more sense it made. The reality was that Cope only cared about himself so at Dynasty, everything clicked. Cope saw Wheeler as a helpless kid but the reality is FTR are living legends and they should be treated as such. Harwood has been realizing he needed to change and the people will understand that he is right.

After waiting for four months, the only thing they were allowed to be was Cope’s new Edgeheads. Just like every wrestler in Cope’s place, he was too selfish because he wanted them to help him win another World Title. That brings Harwood to Tony Schiavone, who wasn’t pleased with them on Dynamite. Against Nigel’s advice, Schiavone gets in the ring and says FTR was wrong.

Harwood cuts him off and brings up Schiavone talking about Harwood’s daughter. Ever the genius, Schiavone brings it up AGAIN and gets loaded into a spike piledriver. That’s enough for Nigel to get up (FTR lets Schiavone go) and step between them, which draws out Daniel Garcia. FTR shoves him down (not clear if they knew who it was) before immediately apologizing and helping him up. FTR leaves in peace. Nigel getting involved is interesting, though I’m not sure I can imagine him having a match out of this.

Toni Storm is ready for the winner of the Owen Hart Tournament and has some thoughts on the competitors:

Mercedes Mone: She’ll drain her 401k and leave her having to drink Storm’s bath water.
Kris Statlander: What a woman.
Jamie Hayter: No one has ever made a dime in wrestling pretending to be from another era.

Anyway, she’s ready for anyone.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Jamie Hayter vs. Billie Starkz

They take turns missing shots to the face to start so Starkz suckers her in with a handshake. Starkz sends her to the apron for a basement superkick to the floor but gets sent hard into the barricade. That’s broken up and Starkz hits a Swanton off the apron to the back for a big crash. Back in and Hayter hits a spinebuster for two before sending Starkz outside as we take a break.

We come back with Hayter working on a half crab but Starkz fights up for a kick out of the corner. Starkz slugs back but gets caught in a fireman’s carry into the knee for two. Some forearms rock Starkz, who gets two off a backslide. Starkz drops her again and the Swanton connects for two more. They go to the apron where Hayter gets in a headbutt and suplexes her out to the floor. Back in and they slug it out until the Hayterade finishes for Hayter at 13:56.

Rating: C+. Starkz is trying in these chances she’s getting but at the same time, you’re only going to get so much out of someone who has never won anything of note on the main roster. Other than the women’s midcard title in Ring Of Honor, there isn’t much of a resume there, certainly not compared to Hayter. I’m not sure how far Hayter is going to go, but at least she got a win here.

The Death Riders are ready to keep fighting without Pac, with Jon Moxley taking Pac’s place as a Trios Champion. Moxley isn’t sure what the Opps are teaching Hook, but chicks dig scars.

Gates Of Agony vs. ???/???

Kaun hits a running suplex to start and it’s off to Liona for the corner clotheslines. It’s back to Kaun for Open The Gates for a double pin at 1:06. Total destruction.

FTR goes to leave but Matt Menard and Angelo Parker cut them off and yell at them a lot. A match seems to be made for later.

Blake Christian vs. Anthony Bowens

Billy Gunn is here with Bowens, who takes Christian down into a front facelock to start. A rollup gives Bowens two but Christian avoids a charge and hits a quick springboard dropkick to the back. Bowens fights up without much trouble and we take a break. Back with Bowens kicking away and hitting a running Fameasser from behind. Christian gets hung up in the ropes for a spinning DDT and a near fall. Back up and a Spanish Fly gives Christian two and a 630 connects for the same. A Stunner drops Bowens again but he’s right back up with a superkick. The spinning forearm finishes for Bowens at 9:11.

Rating: C+. This was another nice win for Bowens, who is on the way to his own singles run after the Acclaimed broken up. That has me at least somewhat interesting as Bowens is feeling like he could be a star if given the chance. You have to start somewhere and beating Christian in a first (non-squash) singles match is a good way to get things going.

Post match Bowens says this is a long time coming and he is the five tool player. He doesn’t need some document to prove he is the best, so who is the best to get a beating?

Megan Bayne vs. LMK/Kelly Madan

Penelope Ford is here with Bayne, who drives Madan into the corner with the shoulders to start. LMK gets tossed aside and they’re both splashed in the corner. Fate’s Descent sends Maddan onto LMK for the double pin at 1:28. Another total squash.

We look at the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament.

Kevin Knight vs. AR Fox

They trade rollups to start and Knight hits a spinning splash for two. Knight’s springboard is cut off with an enziguri and Fox sends him outside as we take a break. Back with Knight hitting a nice dropkick and unloading in the corner. A Sky High gives Knight two but Fox kicks him down and hits a 450 for two of his own. Knight hits another dropkick but gets kicked in the face, only to come back with a springboard clothesline for the pin at 8:07.

Rating: B-. This was the “let them do their thing” for awhile match and that’s what it should have been. Fox can make almost anyone look entertaining and Knight does a lot of good on his own. Knight seems like someone who is going to be a player around here and giving him a few wins here and there will only be a good thing for him.

The Gates Of Agony want the Hurt Syndicate.

FTR vs. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker

Daniel Garcia comes out to watch as FTR jumps them to start fast. Wheeler beats on Parker on the floor as Harwood drops Menard inside. Menard is already busted open (and it’s a gusher) so Harwood hammers away even more. Menard comes back with some right hands but Wheeler cuts him off. The Shatter Machine hits Parker and a spike piledriver drops Menard. Another spike piledriver connects so Garcia begs them to start…which is actually enough to get Wheeler to cover for the pin at 3:29.

Rating: C. This wasn’t about the match of course but rather about FTR looking like killers out there. Beating up Menard and Parker is a fine way to go as they’re mainly around to take punishment. The blade job from Menard was a good one and made FTR seem that much more devastating. Good angle here, though Garcia being involved isn’t the most appealing thing.

Post match Garcia yells at FTR and checks on Menard, only to get beaten down as well. The spike piledriver plants Garcia again so security has to save him from another one. The Paragon makes the real save (ignore Nigel calling them the Undisputed Kingdom).

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Athena vs. Harley Cameron

Athena’s Ring Of Honor Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Athena backs her into the corner to start so Cameron grabs a headlock. A rollup gives Athena two and they go to a staredown, which has Athena a bit surprised. Cameron is sent to the apron for a kick to the head but Athena sends her head first into the buckle. A wheelbarrow suplex on the floor drops Cameron hard and we take a break.

Back with Athena working on a bow and arrow, which is quickly escaped. Athena strikes away for two and puts Cameron in the Tree Of Woe for some kicks to the back. A swinging neckbreaker gives Cameron two and she strikes away in the ropes. Athena rolls through a high crossbody but gets hurricanranaed back down. Cameron forearms her out of the air and gets two off a belly to back suplex. Her Finishing Move is broken up but Cameron grabs a rollup for two. Athena knocks her back down though and hits the O Face for the pin at 10:28.

Rating: B-. It’s nice to see Cameron getting to put up a fight here and she only got so far. The good thing is that Cameron now has a finishing move (Her Finishing Move) to serve as something of a threat. That’s one of the keys she has been missing and if she can string together some wins, it could get that much better. Athena needs to move on in the tournament though, even if she’s facing Mercedes Mone next and that might be it for her.

Mercedes Mone is ready to face Athena in her own hometown of Boston.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Brody King vs. Konosuke Takeshita

King powers him into the corner to start but gets caught in a quickly broken headlock. A belly to back suplex drops Takeshita and King chops away in the corner. The running backsplash misses though and Takeshita drops a middle rope backsplash to take over. They’re quickly on the apron, where King hits a Death Valley Driver to knock Takeshita silly. The running crossbody against the barricade is cut off by a jumping knee though and we take a break.

Back with King hitting a cannonball for two, meaning it’s time to trade forearms. Takeshita muscles him up for the Blue Thunder Bomb before King wins an exchange of clotheslines. Dante’s Inferno gets two but Takeshita hits a kneeling piledriver into a wheelbarrow suplex. One heck of a lariat gives Takeshita two and two running knees get the same. Another pair of running knees finish King at 12:19.

Rating: B. This was a match where the result was only so much in doubt given King’s recent record in singles matches. That’s not a bad thing though, as giving Takeshita a dragon to slay is something that works rather well. Takeshita continues to feel like he could be an outstanding hero if given the chance, and there is a good chance that’s coming one day.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was mainly focused on the tournaments and FTR and that’s not a bad thing. The show might not have been the most important in the world, but it was the kind of show that got a lot of things done in a single night. Sometimes that’s the show you need to see and it worked well enough. Maybe not a show you need to watch, but a useful one.

Results
Jamie Hayter b. Billie Starkz – Hayterade
Gates Of Agony b. ???/??? – Double pin
Anthony Bowens b. Blake Christian – Discus forearm
Megan Bayne b. LMK/Kelly Madan – Double pin
Kevin Knight b. AR Fox – Springboard clothesline
FTR b. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker – Spike piledriver to Menard
Athena b. Harley Cameron – O Face
Konosuke Takeshita b. Brody King – Running knee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: April 9, 2025
Location: Baltimore And Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re done with Dynasty and that means both Double Or Nothing and All In are on the horizon. Well the distant horizon but the horizon nonetheless. Jon Moxley is still the World Champion and will need a new challenger, which we should get closer to finding if the Owen Hart Cup continues tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynasty if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley, with the Death Riders, talks about how the roster might be talented but no one can get together to take him out. The Young Bucks have returned and Moxley sees it as a power play. He doesn’t recognize the Bucks anymore and he hasn’t in a long time. They better think before they make a move.

Jon Moxley vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Non-title and Marina Shafir is here with Moxley. They go with the grappling to start and Shibata gets on a quickly broken headscissors. Back up and they fight over a lockup until Shibata hits a rather loud chop. Shibata then stands still so Moxley can chop him, with the exchange of chops going to Shibata as Moxley staggers. An Octopus goes on but Moxley slips out and grabs a piledriver…with Shibata not even going down and kicking Moxley in the chest. Moxley goes to the eye though and gets a rear naked choke for the win at 5:39.

Rating: C+. There wasn’t much to see here as this was more about seeing Moxley get a win over someone talented. Yes Moxley cheated to get the win, but this didn’t exactly make me think much of Shibata as a result. Moxley being in the ring is slightly better than him talking, but that’s not much of a bar to clear.

Post match the Young Bucks come out, with Moxley saying something we can’t hear and leaves with Shafir. The Bucks talk about costing Swerve Strickland the World Title, which was a favor to Hangman Page, who is still their friend. As for helping the Death Riders, consider it a peace offering. The Bucks and the Death Riders have a lot in common, as they both want the locker room to rise up and make AEW better so they can change the world. They couldn’t even get the World Title so what about the Death Riders and the Elite together?

Cue Kenny Omega to say the Bucks didn’t seem to remember him as part of the Elite. The last time he saw them, they were shoving Omega off a stretcher during the height of his diverticulitis. When Omega was in high school, he had a friend with two dogs who were kind of annoying. The dogs kept relieving themselves and it became a bit hard to take, so Omega suggested that they move it to his house instead.

That’s how AEW was without Omega around to clean up after the Bucks. The last time we saw the Bucks, they were shredding documents, which was to cover up various expenses they had billed to AEW. Omega didn’t like the Bucks trying to kill the company he gave his life to so let’s just fight.

Cue Kazuchika Okada but Swerve Strickland comes through the crowd with a chair (Omega looks surprised) to chase the Elite off. Omega shows some respect/thanks to Strickland before leaving in peace. Strickland says it is time to go Buck hunting and he’s ready to blast them. The Bucks just couldn’t leave well enough alone…and here is Pac from behind to jump Strickland before their scheduled match. The more I see the Elite talking about their backstage stuff, the more it feels like a less interesting McMahons saga.

Pac vs. Swerve Strickland

We come back for the opening bell, with Swerve hitting a Snake Eyes into a running big boot. Swerve knocks him outside but Pac flips over him, only to get buckle bombed for his efforts. Pac gets sent outside…and he grabs his ankle and goes down. The referee holds Swerve back as Pac gets up and rolls back inside. Swerve hits a superkick and the Swerve Stomp finishes Pac off at 4:16.

Rating: N/A. I’m not going to rate the match, which was only getting going before Pac seemingly got injured. Assuming that’s a legitimate injury (and it seems to be given how fast they went home), we’ll just have to hope for the best. Swerve was probably going to win anyway, but they just stopped cold out there and that’s never a good sign.

Ricochet, Cru and the Beast Mortos are ready for an eight man tag for $400,000. The other three aren’t happy about the idea of Ricochet being the captain.

Mark Briscoe, Will Ospreay, Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight talk about what they might use their winnings on. Bailey wants shoes, Knight wants to go to Atlantic City, Ospreay wants to go to Disney World and Briscoe…wants to diversity his portfolio.

Commentary recaps the evening so far.

We look back at the first round of the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament, including the matches still to come.

Renee Paquette talks to Hangman Page, who doesn’t know what to say because he’s facing a wild card in the Owen Hart Cup. He storms into Swerve Strickland’s locker room but only finds Prince Nana. Page was NOT trying to help Swerve at Dynasty and if Swerve gets involved in his tournament matches, he’ll pick up where he left off. Nana goes to say something to Page, who cuts him off and storms out.

Ricochet/Cru/The Beast Mortos vs. Mark Briscoe/Will Ospreay/Mike Bailey/Kevin Knight

The winning team gets $400,000. Ricochet starts with Bailey but immediately tags out to Mortos instead. Bailey is fine with kicking away before scaring Ricochet outside again. Ospreay comes in and gets taken down in the corner, where Cru gets to stomp him down. Everyone comes in and Ricochet runs his mouth enough that he gets pummeled. The villains are sent into the corners for right hands to the head, followed by a toss to the floor.

A string of dives, capped off by Bailey’s moonsault, drops everyone again. Ricochet tries a dive but has to land on his feet, earning a quadruple shot to the head in a funny bit. We take a break and come back with Bailey kicking away at Mortos, who catches him with a Backstabber. Ricochet comes in but misses Bailey, instead settling for knocking Bailey’s partners to the floor.

Bailey does the same to Ricochet’s partners but gets caught with a jumping double stomp. Everything breaks down and we hit the parade of knockdowns, including Ospreay hitting a double backflip kick to drop Cru. Ricochet Death Valley Drivers Bailey, who comes back up with some crane kicks to Mortos. The Oscutter hits Mortos and Knight hits his spinning frog splash for two with a big save (they got me on that one). The Hidden Blade finishes Mortos at 12:00.

Rating: B. This was a lot of fun and I can go for the occasional adding in of a prize that isn’t a traditional title. The money means nothing going forward (in theory, as I could go for more of Briscoe’s stock tips) but it did make the match feel a bit more interesting. They had talented people doing their stuff, with that look on Ricochet’s face after he landed on his feet being great. Just a fun match here and I can always go for something like that.

We look back at FTR turning on Cope and laying him out at Dynasty. Cope is out indefinitely and Tony Schiavone goes OFF on FTR, calling it the worst thing he has ever seen in wrestling. Dax Harwood’s daughter is probably disappointed in her father too.

Here is the Hurt Syndicate to celebrate their successful title defense, albeit with an unexpected assist from MJF. They bust out the champagne for a toast but here is MJF to interrupt. MJF stands next to the team and is happy to be with them, because it means he can skip the line and get his World Title back sooner than later. He helped them retain the Tag Team Titles and now they can help him win the World Title. So what is the initiation process?

Bobby Lashley tells MJF to shut up because they didn’t need MJF’s help. The Syndicate does not need him and Lashley gets into an argument with MJF (who insults Lashley’s new glasses). MVP and Shelton Benjamin break that up and MVP says it’s time to vote, with MJF needing three thumbs up to get in. MVP is a yes and Benjamin is in the middle….but says no. That’s enough for the Syndicate to leave and MVP just shrugs at MJF. This is going to keep on and I’m curious to see how MJF tries to change the team’s minds.

Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford are ready to move forward, with Bayne being at Collision.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Kris Statlander vs. Thunder Rosa

Toni Storm is on commentary, having stolen one of the commentators’ cars and returning their keys, albeit apologizing for the tobacco juice she left in there. Statlander runs her over with a shoulder to start but Rosa grabs an armbar. Back up and Statlander hits a running dropkick but misses a slingshot elbow. The running dropkick in the ropes knocks Statlander to the floor, setting up a seated senton off the apron. Back up and Statlander knocks her to the floor as well and we take a break.

We come back with Rosa grabbing a springboard hurricanrana into a northern lights suplex for two. Statlander gets a Blue Thunder Bomb, with Storm admiring her “juicy muscles”. A Canadian Destroyer gives Rosa two but Statlander powers up and hits Staturday Night Fever for the pin at 9:46.

Rating: B-. This was a strong showing from Statlander and that’s kind of weird to see when she is in there against Rosa. While Rosa didn’t get squashed here, it was more about Statlander looking dominant. Statlander might be a long shot to win the whole thing, but she’s already on a nice start.

Don Callis is ready for Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita to win the Owen Hart Cup. The team has injuries though and now it’s time to recruit some new members.

Adam Cole is happy to have gotten his moment but Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong want their own moment. Cole says they’re back and seems to dub the team the Paragon.

Here is an angry Chris Jericho for TV Time. Jericho is no longer the Ring Of Honor World Champion as he lost his match, his tooth and his title. He gives credit where credit is due to Bandido, who won the match, albeit with help from his brother and his STOOGE of a mother. Bandido has his family but so does Jericho, who brings out Big Bill and Bryan Keith.

Jericho gets on them for losing at Dynasty but Bill cuts him off. He joined up with the Learning Tree because Jericho is one of the best ever, but he is not here to be a punching bag when things go wrong. If all Jericho is going to do is berate him, then let him know now and it’s over.

Jericho says that’s not why he brought them out here, but rather so he can yell at them for not helping him retain the Ring Of Honor World Title. But that’s not what Jericho believes at all, because he isn’t angry. He’s just disappointed. Then he hits his TV monitor with a baseball bat, shouting about how he is disappointed…..in Bill. Jericho wants Bill to fix this and leaves. I really could have gone with no Jericho for a bit but that’s just not going to happen.

We look at Anthony Bowens returning to take out Max Caster.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

The Hurt Syndicate is in the back and Lashley says they don’t need or trust MJF. Benjamin thinks MJF is kind of funny and Lashley walks off, with Benjamin going to talk to him. MJF comes in to yell about how badly the rest of the Syndicate is treating him. MJF: “I’M MJF!” MVP: “That’s the problem.” He suggests that MJF find out what the rest of the team wants and give it to them.

Chris Jericho goes to leave and bashes more things with his bat.

Death Riders vs. Opps

Yuta’s waistlock doesn’t work on Joe to start and a forearm just annoys Joe even more. Castagnoli comes in for a strike off, with Joe sending him into the corner for a jumping enziguri. Hook comes in and gets slammed by Castagnoli but sidesteps Yuta’s dive in a nice tribute. Some rolling German suplexes have Yuta in trouble but he sends Hook to the apron for a double stomp from Castagnoli.

We take a break and come back with Yuta hitting an Angle Slam on Hook. A suplex gets Hook out of trouble but Yuta knocks Joe off the apron. That means a powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination (that looked good) for two on Hook, leaving Joe to go after Castagnoli. Hook goes for Redrum but here is Jon Moxley to offer a distraction. Cue Katsuyori Shibata to choke Moxley and Redrum has Yuta down for the tap at 11:40.

Rating: B-. It was a nice enough main event tag match and I can go for seeing the Death Riders lose. While it seems like we are coming up on the Opps getting a Trios Title shot and Pac is injured, Moxley could be swapped in to defend the titles if necessary. That might be what the ending was setting up, but for now, it’s nice to see the Opps getting somewhere.

Post match Marina Shafir comes in with a chair to take down the Opps. Castagnoli gives Hook a Neutralizer onto an open chair so Joe comes in to chase them off. Joe says the Opps are coming for the Trios Titles to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was good here but the storytelling wasn’t holding up as well. The Young Bucks, the Death Riders and Jericho got a lot of focus here and that didn’t help the show. There was a lot of doubling down on stars who have not seemed to be getting the best reception in recent months and that’s quite the way to go. Hopefully we get more of the fun stuff that AEW has been doing and less of the annoying stories, because AEW can be very entertaining when they don’t go in the wrong directions.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Katsuyori Shibata – Rear naked choke
Swerve Strickland b. Pac – Swerve Stomp
Mark Briscoe/Will Ospreay/Mike Bailey/Kevin Knight b. Ricochet/Cru/The Beast Mortos – Hidden Blade to Mortos
Kris Statlander b. Thunder Rosa – Staturday Night Fever
Opps b. Death Riders – Redrum to Yuta

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 7, 2025
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re back in America for Raw and we have less than two weeks to go from Wrestlemania. That means it is likely going to be centered around the idea of hyping up the matches that have already been made. There is still time to add some new things to the card though and we might get some of that tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

After we see a lot of people come to work, we get a recap of last week’s Women’s Title match, with Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley going to a double DQ when special referee Bianca Belair was knocked down multiple times.

Here is Adam Pearce, with the Women’s Title, to get things going. Champion Iyo Sky and scheduled Wrestlemania challenger Bianca Belair are brought out, followed by Rhea Ripley (with Pearce saying she is part of Judgment Day, with Cole pointing out how wrong that has been for months). Pearce takes the blame for last week and then announces the triple threat match for the title at Wrestlemania. He even has the contract but Belair says she would have been annoyed at this a few weeks ago.

Then everything happened and she is happy that Ripley is being added to the match. Belair has been through everything so she’s ready to go through Ripley to get the title back. Ripley mocks Belair as Belair signs and then gets the contract shoved at her, with Ripley signing as well. Sky gets annoyed and hits a springboard dropkick to knock both of them down. She signs as well and then leaves with the title. The story makes enough sense but geez I could go for less multi person matches.

A four way Intercontinental Title match has been set for Wrestlemania (case in point about the multi person matches) between Bron Breakker, Penta, Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio.

Balor isn’t thrilled with the idea of Mysterio being in the match but Liv Morgan says it ups the chances of the title coming back to Judgment Day. Balor seems to agree but suggests that Mysterio doesn’t have what it takes to win at Wrestlemania.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria is defending. They grapple around to start with Valkyria getting an armbar as Bayley is getting frustrated early on. A rollup is countered into another armbar but Bayley ties up Valkyria’s arm for a rollup and a near fall. Back up and Bayley knees her in the face but can’t get the sunset bomb into the corner. Valkyria ties her up with a rocking horse before tying up the arms for a cradle and two.

Bayley gets sent to the floor for a hard dropkick through the ropes, followed by a high crossbody back inside. We take a break and come back with the exchange of forearms until Bayley sends her to the apron. A Stunner over the ropes sends Valkyria outside for the running dropkick under the corner. Bayley misses a suicide dive but grabs a Bayley To Belly on the floor.

They both beat the count and Valkyria hits an enziguri into a not great gutwrench powerbomb for two. Bayley knees her in the head for the same and now the sunset bomb into the corner connects. Back up and Valkyria hits a tornado DDT into a fisherman’s suplex for two more. Bayley counters a dropkick into a Boston crab on the bad back but lets go when Valkyria won’t give up. The Rose Plant is countered into a rollup to give Valkyria the pin at 13:24.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of win that Valkyria needed and points for actually bringing up Bayley beating her back in February. I didn’t think they would actually remember it but they did get there (eventually). I’m not sure if Bayley needs to turn heel after all this, but her frustrations are building up. Just find a good way for it to go if that is where things have to head, as otherwise it won’t have much of an impact.

Post match Bayley slaps away the handshake and goes to leave but comes back to give Valkyria a hug.

Bert Kreischer, a comedian, has a Netflix special coming up but American Made interrupts. Chad Gable thinks Kreischer wants to watch them do well but he’s not sure about this. The Alpha Academy comes in so Otis and Kreischer can rip their shirts off.

AJ Styles is ready to embarrass Logan Paul at Wrestlemania but Karrion Kross, with Scarlett, interrupts. Kross asks about what happened to the other AJ Styles, which has Styles annoyed. Styles isn’t sure what’s up with Kross and this “other” Styles, so he’ll see about a match between them next week.

LWO vs. El Grande Americano/Creed Brothers

Nice reaction for the Americano. Brutus takes del Toro down to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Wilde comes in to take Brutus down for an assisted moonsault. It’s off to Julius, who gets caught in a cross armbreaker as everything breaks down. The LWO send them into various corners and then outside for the big running flip dives. Back in and the villains hit three superplexes to take over as we go to a break.

We come back with Lee giving Julius the top rope double stomp in the Tree of Woe. Del Toro comes in to take over on Brutus, including a hurricanrana into the corner. A Swanton hits Brutus and a dive takes out Julius so it’s off to Americano for a change. That means a quick Doomsday Blockbuster attempt, which Americano reverses into a belly to belly.

Lee powerbombs Americano but gets caught with a shooting star press out of nowhere. Wilde hits a big flip dive to take Brutus out, followed by del Toro’s big corkscrew flip dive. Hold on though as Ivy Nile hands Americano something to load into his mask. A headbutt knocks Rey Mysterio to the floor and another knocks Lee off the top. Americano hits a swan dive for the pin at 10:16.

Rating: B. This was a bunch of people getting to do their insane stuff until the ending, which was a good way to keep the Americano stuff going. They’re not hiding what they’re going for with Americano and as usual with Ga…whomever is underneath that mask, it is rather entertaining stuff. I’m not sure where it’s going, but it’s working so far.

We look back at Gunther mauling Jimmy Uso last week in a great beatdown to make the feud with Jey Uso a lot more personal.

HHH Hall Of Fame video, this time on DX.

Here is Gunther for a chat, with the fans not being happy with having him around. Before he can say anything though, here is Jey Uso to interrupt. Gunther takes his jacket off but Jey knocks the microphone out of his hand. Jey slowly takes his sunglasses off and throws them away before getting a mic. He says Gunther has a mother (Gunther confirms this) and asks what they talk about. Do they talk about family stuff? Like about their family and what they had for dinner and such.

Jey has a mother too and this week he had to tell her about her oldest son (Jimmy) in a hospital bed. Jey’s mom asked “why didn’t you protect him Joshua”. The reality is he is afraid of Gunther, who had the drop on him the whole time. Gunther attacked Jimmy while Jey was tied to the ropes and now Jimmy’s blood is on Jey’s hands.

That had Jey scared, but then in his darkest moment, a light bulb went off. He realized that he isn’t afraid of Gunther anymore (big reaction for that) and before Wrestlemania, Gunther needs to hug and kiss his family. Jey is going to pray that the Lord forgive him for the man that he is about to become. He’s getting revenge for himself and his family and the title. Jey throws the mic at Gunther, who looks a bit unnerved for the first time. Uso knocked this out of the park, as he tends to do. I’m not sure if he’s going to win the title, but I’m starting to want him to.

We recap CM Punk unveiling his favor to Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns: Heyman will be in Punk’s corner at Wrestlemania. That’s some mind games and very in line for Punk.

Natalya and Maxxine Dupri are ready for their chance to go to Wrestlemania.

Rey Mysterio wants El Grande Americano at Wrestlemania and the match is set.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. War Raiders

The Raiders are defending and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe is on commentary. Kofi gets sent outside to start but jumps over Erik in the corner. That just earns him a slam, with Woods getting one of his own. Ivar slams Kofi again, setting up Erik slamming Ivar onto Kofi for a big crash. Kofi gets sent outside again and crushed against the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Ivar fighting out of the corner so Erik can come in and clean house. A big spinebuster hits Kofi and a pop up powerslam makes it worse. War Machine hits Kofi but Woods makes a diving save. Woods tries to bring in a chair but Ivar takes it away and hits him with it for the DQ at 7:48.

Rating: C+. I’m still not feeling what they’re doing with New Day as of late as having them win the titles again, which they almost have to at some point, doesn’t feel that important. Maybe they have something else for them in the future, but almost none of this feels like the big part without Big E. Maybe he shows up sooner or later, but otherwise, it feels like a filler story.

Post match Kofi hits a HARD chair shot to Ivar and New Day beats up Erik. The chair is put up in the corner and Erik goes head first into it, followed by Ivar being sent into the timekeeper’s area. A Pillmanization of Erik’s previously injured neck is loaded up but agents break it up.

We get a long video on John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, which really does feel like a bigger showdown after the last few weeks. This even gets the music video treatment.

Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio

Carlito is here with Mysterio, who gets driven into the corner. Mysterio knocks him down and hammers away, with a kick to the chest in the corner knocking Penta down. The fans are all over Mysterio, who puts his hands over his ears for a bit before dropping Penta again. Penta comes out with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a dive to the floor to take out Mysterio and Carlito.

We take a break and come back with Mysterio rolling the Three Amigos for two. The 619 is cut off and a slingshot dropkick hits Mysterio in the corner. Mysterio snaps off a Canadian Destroyer into a 619 but the frog splash hits raised knees. The Sacrifice into the Penta Driver finishes Mysterio at 9:02.

Rating: B-. Mysterio was working harder than usual here and it wound up being good stuff, though the camera work felt like they were trying something different here. What matters is getting Penta back on his winning ways after last week’s loss. Penta still feels like something special and I could go for seeing him in the Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania.

Post match Judgment Day beats on Penta but Bron Breakker makes the save and wrecks everyone (including an AMAZING Super Spear to Carlito). Then Finn Balor pops in to take out Mysterio.

Here is Paul Heyman for a chat. First and foremost, he will always be loyal to Roman Reigns. Second, he will always be loyal to his best friend, CM Punk. He will never be disloyal to either of them, so let’s get one thing perfectly clear…and here is Seth Rollins to interrupt. After doing his introduction, Rollins brings up Heyman talking about loyalty. But who is he loyal to? Rollins doesn’t think it’s either of them, before talking about Reigns using Heyman as a glorified errand boy.

Heyman seems to brush this off but Rollins brings up Reigns leaving after last week’s Wrestlemania. He didn’t take Heyman with him either, instead leaving him in the hands of Solo Sikoa and company. Did Reigns come to Heyman’s rescue? Heyman admits that he didn’t, with Rollins talking about how Reigns left Heyman to be attacked in front of his hometown and family. Punk wasn’t there either, just like he didn’t take Heyman with him when he walked out ten years ago.

The two of them love to reminisce about WarGames but who was the first choice for that team? Heyman has to admit that it was Rollins, who says “stop me when I’m telling lies”. Punk was the last choice and he joined the team to get a favor from Heyman. The reality is that Heyman should step out of this and let the three of them battle it out. Heyman won’t do that, but Rollins says it’s for Heyman’s own good. Rollins would love to do it right now, which has Heyman a bit nervous. Or angry? Something negative.

Rollins says it’s one quick stomp, because no one is here to save him. Punk usually says that it’s about making money rather than making friends, so how much is Heyman worth? Rollins shoves him and asks how much Heyman is worth. Heyman finally snaps and says don’t put your hands on him, which earns him a shove into the corner. Cue Punk and the brawl is on, with the fighting going on outside. Rollins is sent into the steps but avoids what might have been a Stomp from Punk.

Instead Rollins hits one of his own inside and tries one to Heyman, but misses on purpose. Rollins says Heyman owes him a favor, leaving Heyman looking confused to end the show. This story is all about mind games and loyalty, which could make for quite the moment when someone turns on someone else. Setting it up as more about longstanding issues is an interesting way to go and I’m getting more into this week by week. Rollins still feels like a third wheel, but him trying to get to Heyman is a good way to use him.

Overall Rating: B. This was the kind of show that was focused on pushing the Gunther/Uso feud and the triple threat stuff at the end. They also added three matches to Wrestlemania, which is quite the way to spend a single night. Hopefully they can keep this going for the last three shows before Wrestlemania, as Wrestlemania still needs some work to get it over the finish line.

Results
Lyra Valkyria b. Bayley – Rollup
El Grande Americano/Creed Brothers b. LWO – Swan dive to del Toro
New Day b. Viking Raiders via DQ when Ivar used a chair
Penta b. Dominik Mysterio – Penta Driver

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Dynasty 2025
Date: April 6, 2025
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

We’re back on pay per view, though this doesn’t feel like the biggest card. In this case, we have a main event of Jon Moxley defending the AEW World Title against Swerve Strickland. Other than that, we have a variety of title matches, plus three matches in the Owen Hart Tournaments, which get started tonight. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Nick Wayne/Cru vs. Top Flight/AR Fox

Cru bails to the floor to start so it’s Fox taking them out with a big dive. Back in and Cru neckbreakers Darius down for two but Dante sneaks in for a clothesline. Rush gets bulldogged throat first onto the middle rope but Wayne cuts Darius off and poses on the barricade. They get back inside where Rush front facelocks Darius before Andretti kicks him in the ribs.

Rush’s hard kick to the back keeps Darius down and we hit the reverse chinlock. Darius fights up and hits a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Dante. House is cleaned but Rush grabs his chain for a tug of war. Andretti comes in for a double team but Darius makes a save. Dante and Rush knock each other down, allowing the tags off to Fox and Wayne. Fox gets to clean house, including a rolling cutter to Rush, meaning it’s time for the string of running flip dives.

Back in and Fox’s Swanton hits Wayne’s raised knees, leaving Andretti to hit a handspring elbow on Darius. Rush’s springboard Stunner hits Dante but Fox hits Wayne with Lo Mein Pain. Kip Sabian and Leila Grey get in an argument on the floor though, with the distraction letting Mother Wayne shove Fox off the top. Wayne’s World finishes Fox at 11:13.

Rating: B. Totally wild match and that’s all it needed to be. Everyone was flying around and getting their stuff in, which is how you should get a show started. It made for a hot opener and there was enough of a story that the match didn’t feel completely thrown together. Rather nice choice, with the collection of high spots being exactly what this should have been.

Here is Max Caster to do his chant but the fans actually do it with him, earning some less than glowing reviews from Caster. He takes off his jacket to reveal a Ben Simmons (former Philadelphia basketball player) and says they’re just not as good as New York (and now they hate him).

Zero Hour: Max Caster vs. ???

This is another open challenge and it’s….Anthony Bowens, with Billy Gunn. They shove each other to start and Bowens hits a big rolling elbow for the win at 40 seconds.

And now, the show proper.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight

Knight is replacing the injured Jay White. They shake hands to start and fight over wrist control with Knight throwing in a flip to escape. A basement clothesline gives Knight two but Ospreay sends him outside for a slingshot dive. Back in and a Phenomenal Forearm drops Knight for two and the abdominal stretch keeps him in trouble. That’s broken up and Knight fires off some clotheslines, setting up a spinning splash for two.

The Stundog Millionaire into a spinning kick to the face gives Ospreay two of his own, followed by a running Spanish Fly. They lock hands and Knight pulls himself up for an exchange of strikes, naturally with the two of them holding hands. Knight hits a dropkick (no hands held) into a middle rope hurricanrana. Ospreay is sent outside for a dive but Knight has to counter a Styles Clash into a DDT.

A springboard dive takes Ospreay down again and another DDT gets two back inside. Ospreay kicks him in the face but the Oscutter is dropkicked out of the air in a nice counter. The top rope spinning splash gives Knight two but another springboard is countered into the Oscutter. Now the Styles Clash can connect for two, followed by another Oscutter for the same. The Hidden Blade finishes Knight at 13:47.

Rating: B-. It was a fun enough spectacle, but it didn’t exactly get to a pay per view quality level. It didn’t help that Knight was mainly there for the sake of filling for White, but he did at least have a solid performance. This was a good enough opener for the show and given the circumstances they were under, it could have been far worse.

Respect is shown post match.

We recap the Learning Tree challenging the Hurt Syndicate for the Tag Team Titles. Chris Jericho wants the Learning Tree to prove themselves so they’ve gone on a mini winning streak to get this show.

Tag Team Titles: Learning Tree vs. Hurt Syndicate

The Syndicate, with MVP, is defending. Lashley backs Keith into the corner to start so it’s off to Bill for the hoss off. Bill gets backed into the corner for the tag to Benjamin, only for Bill to clean house and knock the champs to the floor. Back in and Benjamin takes over on Bill but he can’t manage a German suplex. Lashley comes back in for a clothesline on Keith and Benjamin rams him into the barricade to really take over.

Back in again and Lashley does the delayed vertical suplex but misses a charge into the corner. The diving tag brings in Bill to clean house again, as he tends to do. Benjamin knocks him down but Bill Hulks Up (sure) into a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. Everything breaks down again and Bill hits Lashley with a Snake Eyes into a clothesline to the floor. Bill follows him but MJF (in the crowd) gets in a cheap shot so Lashley can hit the spear. The Syndicate doesn’t seem pleased but Lashley hits the spear on Knight so Benjamin can get the pin to retain at 10:29.

Rating: C+. As usual, this was Bill looking great, Keith looking fine, and the Syndicate looking like monsters. The Syndicate didn’t need MJF to retain here but that’s the big story for them going forward. I’m not sure who is next for the Syndicate, but their stuff with MJF is interesting enough for a different way to go. The Learning Tree winning the match here didn’t feel like it was in the cards, though I’ll take the Syndicate getting to beat someone up.

We recap Mercedes Mone vs. Julia Hart in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament. There isn’t much of a story here, but Mone wants to win the tournament and get another title.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mercedes Mone vs. Julia Hart

Non-title. Hart starts fast and knocks her into the corner as Harley Cameron (with the puppet) is watching in the back. Mone cuts her off and puts Hart in the Tree of Woe, only to get rolled up for two. A spinning wristdrag takes Hart down but she avoids a charge and hits some running elbows in the corner. Something close to Old School sets up a running elbow to the back to give Hart two and they head outside.

Mone rams her into the barricade, followed by the running Meteora for two back inside. The chinlock goes on to keep Hart in trouble and Mone’s dropkick gets two. Hart gets in a takedown of her own but a standing moonsault hits knees to cut her off again. Mone puts her in the Tree of Woe and does a Malakai Black sitdown. A situp lets Hart avoids a charge though and Hart hits a dive to the floor. Back in and Hart’s DDT gets two but Mone is fine enough to grab another Codebreaker.

A Tarantula sets up an Octopus on Mone, who walks it across the ring for the break, rather than stepping two feet in the other direction. Mone hits a pair of Backstabbers but Hart is back with a crucifix bomb for two. Mone’s Statement Maker is countered into a reverse Rings of Saturn, with the fans rather approving. That’s broken up as well, with the Statement Maker going on again. Somehow Hart escapes and grabs a rollup for two, only for Mone to get her own rollup for the pin at 13:02.

Rating: B-. Another nice match here with only so much drama, as Mone wasn’t likely to lose her first match in the first round of the tournament. Hart has gotten better in the ring and getting away from some of the weird evil stuff has helped her a bit. She’s not on Mone’s level, but she did well enough here to have a good match, which should be a solid sign for her future.

We recap the Trios Titles match. FTR and Cope have been having issues lately but want to show that they can still be a great team. It’s not like there are many other options to go after the Death Riders’ titles anyway.

Trios Titles: Rated FTR vs. Death Riders

The Death Riders are defending, but first we need to have the fans sing Cope’s theme song to him again. Harwood and Pac start things off and they grapple into the corner for a clean break. Pac shoulders him into a rollup for two but it’s way too early for the Brutalizer. Cope comes in and gets his arm cranked before it’s off to to Yuta, who gets booed out of the building.

Yuta gets taken into the corner and everything breaks down, with Castagnoli getting taken up top for a super powerslam. Some clotheslines put Yuta and Pac on the floor but Pac is back in to take over on Cash. Yuta grabs the chinlock but gets caught in a powerslam, only for Pac to be right there to cut off the tag attempt. Not that it matters as Harwood gets the tag a few seconds later but Castagnoli blocks the Sharpshooter attempt.

Instead, Castagnoli and Harwood grab their own Sharpshooter and scream at each other, only to let them go and slug it out. Castagnoli’s swing into Yuta’s dropkick gets two on Harwood as the fans are all over Yuta. Back to back Fastball Specials give the champs two, with Cash having to make the save.

Cope grabs the Impaler for two on Pac before a superplex into a top rope splash into a Swan Dive gets two, with Castagnoli making the save. Yuta missile dropkicks Cope, leaving Pac to Brutalizer Harwood. Cash brings Yuta over for the save and a bunch of people are down. The Shatter Machine and spear hit Yuta with Castagnoli making another save. Cash and Pac crash out to the floor off a suplex and Yuta sends Cope into Harwood. The running knee to Harwood retains the titles at 14:45.

Rating: B. As usual, the Death Riders get to retain the titles as they almost never lose anything. In this case though, that’s not the biggest surprise as Rated FTR have been falling apart more and more every week. Hopefully they move on to something else, which might result in an FTR heel turn. It’s not like they have anything else going on, though they can still work well in a match like this. Good stuff here, even if the Trios Titles aren’t the most thrilling things going on.

Post match the champs leave so Rated FTR pose together. Then Harwood piledrives Cope and grabs some chairs, but Cash won’t do the Conchairto. Instead he shoves Harwood down…and it’s a Shatter Machine to Cope, followed by a spike piledriver on the chair. Now Cash is willing to do the Conchairto, with Cope’s head being crushed. Cash even puts on a neck brace to mock Cope even more. Cope does a stretcher job.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Megan Bayne. Storm retained the title over Mariah May to end their feud but Bayne came in and laid her out. Bayne also pinned her in a tag match, meaning it’s time for Storm to defend against a monster.

Women’s Title: Megan Bayne vs. Toni Storm

Storm, with Luther, is defending and Penelope Ford is here with Bayne. After Storm’s Rocky style training montage, we’re ready to go (with Storm in a boxing robe to really hammer home the idea). Bayne powers her away without much trouble to start and then does it again for a bonus. Storm comes back with a spinning middle rope crossbody but Bayne kicks her right back down. There’s a fall away slam to drop Storm again but Bayne’s suicide dive hits Luther by mistake.

Back in and Storm hits a high crossbody for two so Ford offers a distraction. That’s enough for Bayne to hit a pump kick as Storm can’t do much to get around the power here. Bayne chokes her on the ropes and Ford gets in some posing, followed by some choking of her own, as a villain should do. Some overhead belly to belly suplexes drop Storm for two more and Ford gets up again, only for Luther to pull her away.

Storm comes back with a tornado DDT and a twisting STF to put Bayne in trouble for a change. Bayne powers out and hits a bottom rope belly to back suplex, only for Storm to catch her with a SCARY belly to back superplex (as Bayne looked to land on her head). They get back up to slug it out, with Storm getting the better of it, setting up a German suplex.

The hip attack is cut off though and Bayne muscles her up with a German suplex of her own. Storm knocks her into the corner for three straight hip attacks, followed by Storm Zero for one. Another Storm Zero is broken up and Bayne hits a sitout powerbomb. Fate’s Descent is loaded up but Storm reverses into the small package to retain at 15:24.

Rating: B-. This got a bit better once Luther and Ford left, as they were making the match a bit too busy. I’m kind of surprised that Storm won clean, but there is a chance that this isn’t going to be it between them. Bayne has felt like a top star for her brief run and there is a case to be made that Storm escaped with the title rather than really beating Bayne. I’m not sure if that is where they need to go, but Bayne is too big and too talented to be left by the wayside.

We recap Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Brisco in the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament. There isn’t much of a story here but Fletcher is coming off a loss to Will Ospreay and Briscoe tends to exist to put people over.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe

Don Callis is here with Fletcher, who dives on Briscoe at the bell to start fast. They get inside where Briscoe counters a suplex into a small package for a quick two. The fight heads outside where Briscoe grabs a quick neckbreaker, followed by a running dropkick through the ropes for two. The Bang Bang Elbow connects and Briscoe throws a bunch of chairs inside. Fletcher is fast enough to dive back inside though and suplexes Briscoe onto an open chair.

Briscoe gets hammered down in the corner and then taken outside for an apron powerbomb. Another powerbomb sends Briscoe into the barricade to hurt his back even worse. Back in and Fletcher hits a Helluva Kick but gets shoved off the top so Briscoe can nail a missile dropkick. A double clothesline gives us a double down and they trade the big forearms. Briscoe grabs a fisherman’s buster for two but a Death Valley Driver is countered into a lawn dart into the corner. Fletcher wins a strike off on the apron and hits a brainbuster (with Briscoe grabbing the rope for a bit of a break).

Another brainbuster gets two back inside and Callis is not happy on the floor. Briscoe is able to catch him on top but the cutthroat driver is broken up. Instead a basement clothesline sets up the Froggy Bow for two and Briscoe can’t believe the kickout. Now the cutthroat driver can connect for two and Fletcher goes outside, only to get caught with another Froggy Bow. Back in and Fletcher hits a running shot in the corner and the turnbuckle brainbuster gives Fletcher the pin at 16:05.

Rating: B+. This started off good and then got better, with Fletcher mostly dominating for a long portion until Briscoe fought back. Briscoe is someone who is easy to get behind and there was always the chance that he could pull off the big upset. It made for the best match of the night so far and I had a good time with it, as Briscoe continues to be able to work well with anyone.

We recap Chris Jericho defending the Ring Of Honor World Title against Bandido in a title vs. mask match. Jericho has beaten him twice but also stole the mask of Bandido’s brother Gravity, scaring their family in the process. Now it’s both about the title and the personal issue to make it bigger.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Bandido

Jericho is defending in a title vs. mask match. The Codebreaker at the bell gives Jericho two and he adds the Lionsault for the same. Bandido avoids a running boot though and sends Jericho outside for the dive. Jericho gets sent into the barricade, allowing Bandido to give his sister a kiss on the head. Back in and Bandido’s INCREDIBLY delayed one armed suplex (he held him up for about a minute) gets two so Jericho rolls to the apron, where Bandido hits a running boot.

Jericho is back up with a powerbomb onto the floor and he gets in his “steal the camera” deal. Back in and they slap it out with Jericho getting the better of things, including a dropkick to put him down. Some yelling at Bandido’s family has the fans less happy with Jericho and his super hurricanrana makes things even worse. Bandido is fine enough to hit a one armed gorilla press into a frog splash for two, only for a corkscrew crossbody to be Codebreakered out of the air in a nice looking counter.

Back up and they set up the ten paces deal but Jericho rolls him up for two instead. Bandido is back up but can’t quite get the 21 Plex, allowing Jericho to get the Walls. The rope is grabbed in a hurry and Bandido kicks him in the head. Cue Bryan Keith so Gravity cuts him off, allowing Jericho to hit Bandido in the head with a baseball bat for a delayed pin at 15:45.

Hold on though as cue Audrey Edwards to bring Bandido’s family over the barricade to say what happened (sure). That’s enough for the original referee to restart the match so Jericho goes after Bandido’s sister. Bandido is back up with the X Knee into the 21 Plex for the pin and the title at 18:01.

Rating: B-. They were rolling here and then they just had to do that stupid baseball bat thing. This felt like it was a way for Jericho to save face while losing the title, possibly even to set up one more match between them. Bandido getting the title back is a good thing, but it would have been nice to see it be a bit less messy. At least Jericho isn’t the champion for the time being though, and that is long, long overdue.

We recap Daniel Garcia defending the TNT Title against Adam Cole. They wrestled before and Cole had him beat when the time limit ran out. Therefore, it’s now no time limit and no interference, with the latter being something that should be understood but that’s not how AEW rolls.

TNT Title: Adam Cole vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is defending. They shove each other to start until Garcia hits a running boot to the face. Garcia wraps the arms around the ropes and hammers away but gets shoved to the floor. A Panama Sunrise off the apron doesn’t work and Cole seems to be favoring his leg. Back in and the limping Cole gets his leg kicked out as Garcia has a target. A running dropkick to the leg connects in the corner and a stomp to the leg (complete with dancing) has Cole down again.

Garcia gets in some nasty cranks on the leg before snapping off a neckbreaker. Cole manages a quick fireman’s carry neckbreaker onto the bad knee, allowing Garcia to come back with a clothesline. Back up and they trade strikes to the face until Cole’s superkick staggers Garcia, who falls on a collapsing Cole for two in a nice false finish. Garcia counters a superkick into an ankle lock, complete with a grapevine.

Cole makes the rope so they go outside, with Garcia sending him knee first into the steps. They climb onto the steps and Cole…I think suplexes him into the post. A Panama Sunrise off the steps drops Garcia on the floor and he collapses inside before Cole can hit the Boom. Garcia is back up with his own Panama Sunrise into the Boom for two more. With nothing else working, Garcia loads up a super piledriver but Cole shoves him off and hits another Panama Sunrise. Another Panama Sunrise sets up the Boom to make Cole champion at 15:35.

Rating: B-. This got a bit goofy with the Panama Sunrises being spammed to a pretty ridiculous degree but Cole winning isn’t a bad idea. Garcia got a lot out of being champion but Cole needed to win something after being around for so long without really accomplishing much. It wasn’t a classic or anything, but it was an entertaining back and forth match with the right finish. I think.

Respect is shown post match.

We recap the International Title match. Kenny Omega won the title last month and Ricochet and Mike Bailey co-won a tournament to get the shot. That works for Omega, who wants to face the best competition imaginable. This is designed to be three people doing a bunch of crazy spots and that’s not a bad idea.

International Title: Kenny Omega vs. Ricochet vs. Mike Bailey

Omega is defending. Ricochet drops to the floor to start and the other two take a bit of time before locking up. That doesn’t get very far as Ricochet comes back in, only to have to duck a kick from Bailey. Omega is back up with a high crossbody for two on Bailey before grabbing a cross armbreaker on Ricochet. That means a quick rope break so Bailey hits some bouncing kicks to put Omega down.

Bailey’s running hurricanrana through the ropes drops Omega again but the two of them get together to knock Ricochet down. Bailey escapes You Can’t Escape but Ricochet AA’s Bailey onto Omega on the barricade. Back in and Ricochet chokes Bailey on the ropes before putting him down with a side slam. A neckbreaker/snapdragon combination leaves Ricochet as the only one standing so he goes outside to do some commentary.

Bailey cuts that off and comes back in to kick away at Omega, who misses a quick moonsault attempt. They all get back in and trade some triple near falls (those are some new ones) for two each and the fans applaud. We get a three way slugout from their knees until Ricochet is sent outside, leaving Omega to punch Bailey. That’s broken up and Bailey hits a springboard moonsault to the floor to drop Ricochet again.

Omega dives onto both of them before they go back inside, where Ricochet winds up on top of Omega, with Bailey hitting a moonsault knees onto both of them. Bailey slugs Ricochet out to the floor but seems to injure his leg. That lets Ricochet hit a chop block, which takes out both Bailey and the referee. The referee pops back up and they all go up top, with Bailey taking Ricochet down. Omega saves himself though and hits a snapdragon each on both of them. Then he snapdragons both of them at once, just to make sure everything is even.

A bridging German suplex gives Omega two on Ricochet but Bailey is back up so both challengers can roll Omega up for two at the same time. Ricochet gets sent to the floor, leaving Bailey to miss the Ultimate Weapon on Omega. That bangs up Bailey’s knee so Omega grabs a kneebar (makes sense), which is broken up by Ricochet. Omega sends Ricochet outside again but misses a charge, allowing Bailey to kick him in the face.

Ricochet is back in with a shooting star press for two on Omega but Bailey gets the knees up to cut Ricochet off. Bailey’s strikes are cut off by Ricochet going after the knee so Bailey goes Karate Kid with a crane kick. Now the Ultimate Weapon can connect for two, with Omega using a V Trigger to break it up. Ricochet puts Bailey on top but Omega catches Ricochet in a super One Winged Angel (ow) to retain at 30:56.

Rating: A-. It was a bunch of incredibly athletic stuff and that’s what it was advertised as being. While a title change was a long shot so soon after Omega won, it was more about giving him a big showcase after his title win. The match felt incredibly choreographed, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. Definitely a fun match with some very athletic work, which is what you probably wanted coming into this one.

Post match Kazuchika Okada comes out for the staredown as they keep teasing the All In match. Omega leaves without anything happening.

We recap Swerve Strickland challenging Jon Moxley for the World Title. Strickland won the title shot last month and wants to get back to the top of the company. Moxley said a bunch of stuff about violence, as is his custom.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley, with Marina Shafir, is defending and Strickland, with Prince Nana, is dressed like superhero Static Shock. After the Big Match Intros and some circling, Strickland goes after the leg for a takedown. A Fujiwara armbar has Moxley in trouble but he slips out for an early staredown. Strickland takes him down again but has to go to the ropes to escape a Kimura. Moxley fires off some chops but gets sent to the floor for a running boot from the apron.

Back in and Moxley knocks him off the top, with Shafir getting in a cheap shot on the floor. Strickland gets thrown over the announcers’ table and Moxley loads up the steps. After dropping Strickland on the steps, Moxley goes back inside to yell a bit before hitting a piledriver for two. Moxley rips at Strickland’s bleeding face and grabs a headscissors/leg crank. That’s broken up so they trade forearms until Moxley goes for the arm again. The cross armbreaker is broken up so he grabs a triangle choke, with Strickland powerbombing him to freedom.

Strickland rolls some suplexes for two and hits a backbreaker, only to roll into a cutter. A Vertebreaker doesn’t work for Strickland as Moxley slips out and grabs the bulldog choke. That’s broken up as well and Strickland hits the House Call. Another House Call is cut off with a clothesline but Strickland pops up for another House Call. Shafir comes in with the briefcase so Nana gets in her face…and is promptly shoved out of it.

Moxley cutters Shafir by mistake and Strickland hits his own Death Rider for two. Strickland goes up but gets shoved down….and we have a ladder. They climb said ladder and fight on top, with Strickland hitting a Swerve Stomp to send Moxley crashing through the announcers’ table. Back in and they strike it out until Shafir hands Moxley a chair. Said chair is pelted at the referee’s head, leaving Strickland to hit the Vertebreaker.

Cue Hangman Page to tease a Buckshot Lariat (target unclear) but the Death Riders run in to take Page out. Page fights up and takes out the Riders so here are the Opps to brawl with them to the back. Strickland throws the chair at Moxley and hits the Swerve Stomp but there is still no referee. Instead the lights go out….and the Young Bucks are back for the EVP Trigger to Strickland. Moxley retains the title at 31:29.

Rating: B. It was the usual wild match in the main event but that ending is not going to be well received. The fans felt ready for Swerve to win the match but it didn’t happen, instead for a rather controversial tag team to come back. At the end of the day, Moxley isn’t the most thrilling champion in the world to put it mildly and this was the usual thing from him: a bunch of submissions and violence with him escaping with the title again. It’s been done to death and that ending is going to leave another sour taste in a lot of mouths.

The Bucks leave through the crowd and Strickland and Page are frustrated to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I did like the show as there were quite a few solid matches throughout with nothing bad, but the biggest problem here is that it really didn’t feel overly important. So much of the show was spent on first round tournament matches which weren’t overly dramatic. That was the case with far too many matches on this show, as the matches just kind of came and went as we are on the way to All In. It’s certainly not a bad show, but it felt like something they had to do and they didn’t have enough to warrant a pay per view card.

Results
Nick Wayne/Cru b. Top Flight/AR Fox – Wayne’s World to Fox
Anthony Bowens b. Max Caster – Rolling elbow
Will Ospreay b. Kevin Knight – Hidden Blade
Hurt Syndicate b. Learning Tree – Spear to Keith
Mercedes Mone b. Julia Hart – Rollup
Death Riders b. Rated FTR – Running knee to Harwood
Toni Storm b. Megan Bayne – Small package
Kyle Fletcher b. Mark Briscoe – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Bandido b. Chris Jericho – 21 Plex
Adam Cole b. Daniel Garcia – Boom
Kenny Omega b. Mike Bailey and Ricochet – Super One Winged Angel to Ricochet
Jon Moxley b. Swerve Strickland – EVP Trigger

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: April 5, 2025
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Don Callis

It’s the night before Dynasty and the card seems to be completely set. That means we are likely going to be seeing some final pushes towards the show, which should be at least somewhat interesting. If nothing else, maybe we can get a few matches added to the Kickoff Show, which tends to be the case at the last minute. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Don Callis Family vs. Powerhouse Hobbs/Tomohiro Ishii

Callis is not pleased with Ishii as the partner. Ishii and Takeshita trade shoulders to start and then forearm it out. Even Callis thinks that might not be a good idea for Takeshita, who gets dropped with a running shoulder. They knock each other down and it’s off to Hobbs vs. Fletcher, with the latter powering Hobbs into the corner.

Hobbs does the exact same thing as Callis goes on about how horrible Hobbs happens to be. Fletcher’s DDT doesn’t work as Hobbs stands his ground and then sends Fletcher hard into the corner. Everything breaks down and Ishii gets double forearmed as we take a break. Back with Fletcher punching Hobbs off the apron and getting in a Suck It for good measure. Ishii suplexes Takeshita and the diving tag brings Hobbs in to clean house. A Rock Bottom sends Fletcher outside and a spinebuster hits Takeshita, only for Hobbs to seem shaken up.

Ishii comes back in for a German suplex to Fletcher but the villains are back up for a double running boot in the corner. Hobbs is back in for a powerslam on Takeshita and Ishii’s lariat gets two. Fletcher hits a brainbuster for the same, followed by a Tombstone to drop Ishii. Another brainbuster gives Fletcher the pin at 13:44.

Rating: B. This was a good, hard hitting match between the four of them and Ishii taking the fall was the right call. Hobbs is someone who has lost far more often than he should and the other two are going to be protected for their runs in the Owen Hart Tournament. I’m not sure if either of them will be winning, but they seem primed for something good going forward.

We look at the mixed tag from Dynamite, with Jon Moxley attacking Willow Nightingale after the match. This led to Swerve Strickland swearing revenge but being taken out anyway to end the show.

Cru is ready for Top Flight but go up to Nick Wayne. They ask him to help with AR Fox, but he might be too valuable to help them. Cru mocks him for needing Christian Cage’s permission, so Wayne will help with Fox. But for himself.

Here is Max Caster for another open challenge.

Max Caster vs. Mark Briscoe

Red Neck Kung Fu sends Caster outside for a running flip dive, followed by the Jay Driller to give Briscoe the pin at 1:30.

Video on Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight.

Jay White is annoyed at being out of the Owen Hart Tournament but reminds Knight that he’s only getting the spot because of an injury. As for Ospreay, he’s getting to avoid White for another day. White isn’t happy with the Death Riders for his broken hand and he’ll be planning his revenge.

Cru vs. Top Flight

Leila Grey offers a distraction and Top Flight jumps Cru from behind to start fast. Top Flight rain down right hands in the corner and we settle down to Darius dropkicking Rush. Andretti comes in for a superkick and Arabian moonsault though, allowing Rush to hit a dive as we take a break.

Back with Darius and Andretti hitting stereo clotheslines, allowing a double tag to bring in Dante and Rush. A cheap shot from Andretti cuts Dante off and he tags himself in for a springboard clothesline. Everything breaks down again and we get a four way slugout until Dante and Rush are knocked outside. Andretti Falcon Arrows Darius but Dante comes in with a cradle for the pin at 8:01.

Rating: C+. They did what they could in the limited time they had here due to the break but it what you would expect from these guys. It’s a good example of taking people and putting them in the ring for the fast paced match, even if the feud has dragged on too long. I still want to see Top Flight move up but that doesn’t seem to be taking place anytime soon.

Post match the brawl is on but AR Fox makes the save. Nick Wayne runs in to take him out and a six man is announced for Zero Hour.

Jamie Hayter is impressed by Billie Starkz but warns her to be wary of Athena. Starkz says she’ll prove herself in the tournament.

We get a face to face sitdown with Adam Cole and Daniel Garcia (with their respective friends). Cole talks about how they first faced each other about two years later and Garcia hasn’t changed much. Back in the day he was confused and that’s what Garcia still is today. All Cole needed was a few more seconds to win the title and that’s what he’ll do on Sunday, which is his wrestling anniversary.

Garcia talks about the chances that Cole has had over his career but this is his last chance. Cole asks everyone else to leave and tells Garcia that he respects him…but Garcia isn’t ready. The reality is Cole has been the guy longer than Garcia has been wrestling and he’ll prove that go Garcia this Sunday. Good enough stuff here, but this feud still isn’t doing anything for me.

Pac vs. Cash Wheeler

They grapple into the corner to start until Pac pulls him down with a headlock. It works so well that he does it again before sending Wheeler into the buckle a few times. Wheeler comes back with a boot to send him outside, where Pac grabs a breather. Back in and Wheeler gets caught up top but breaks up a superplex attempt. Pac crotches him anyway and a big forearm sends Wheeler off the apron and into the camera for a unique crash. A moonsault takes Wheeler down again and we take a break.

Back with Pac grabbing a headlock and glaring at the camera in a rather menacing way. Wheeler fights up and strikes away, including a running clothesline. A powerslam gives Wheeler two but he misses a top rope splash for the big crash landing. Pac takes too long loading up the Black Arrow though and gets superplexed down for two.

Back up and Pac snaps off the rebound German suplex for two but misses the Black Arrow. Wheeler’s piledriver gets another near fall and it’s Claudio Castagnoli time. Cope cuts him off so here is Wheeler Yuta, who is cut off by Dax Harwood. That doesn’t go well as Yuta hits Harwood in the head with a hammer (as you do) but gets piledriven. The melee is enough for Pac to cradle Wheeler for the pin at 15:08.

Rating: B. Wheeler, as well as Harwood, are both talented stars but they aren’t exactly the most successful singles wrestlers. That’s what made for a problem here, as I didn’t believe that Wheeler was going to win here, because he never does. If he is going to be in singles matches over and over, he needs to win something occasionally to make him feel like a threat. If the Death Riders are retaining tomorrow, Pac losing to a rollup isn’t going to hurt him that badly.

Post match Cope and FTR are all ok before their title match.

Video on the International Title match at Dynasty.

Shane Taylor Promotions is sick of people talking about battlefields and warfare around here. They don’t seem to like the Opps. Other than battlefields and warfare, I’m sick of AEW/ROH pretending like Taylor and company are going to get anything resembling a serious push. It just isn’t going to happen at this point and these promos aren’t changing my mind.

Mike Bailey vs. Dralistico

Ricochet is on commentary and The Beast Mortos is here with Dralistico. Hold on as Dralistico bails to the floor at the bell before coming back inside to get hurricanranaed. They trade bows until Dralistico flips him off, only to get kicked down. Bailey sends him outside, where a Mortos distraction lets Dralistico take him down.

We take a break and come back with Bailey hitting a middle rope dropkick before kicking Dralistico down. The running shooting star gives Bailey two and sends Dralistico outside, where a moonsault hits him again. Back in and Dralistico’s springboard Codebreaker gets two but Bailey hits the Tornado Kick for the pin at 8:19.

Rating: C+. This is about all you can expect from Bailey, who is going to do his flips and dives and kicks and that’s about it. You know what you’re getting with him and he does fit in perfectly with the video game style matches around here. Odds are the triple threat title match at Dynasty will be a crazy spot fest, and that is tailor made for Bailey.

Post match Ricochet kicks Bailey low and hits the Spirit Gun to leave him laying.

Thunder Rosa and Kris Statlander are excited to face each other in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament. They’re friends, but this is a serious fight and Statlander grabs her by the throat, saying she’ll see her tomorrow.

Dynasty rundown.

Harley Cameron and Mercedes Mone argue over which one of them has this in their tag match.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Megan Bayne.

Mercedes Mone/Harley Cameron vs. Julia Hart/Athena

Yes Cameron has the puppet and yes Mone still hates it. Athena and Mone start things off and this could be interesting. They shove each other a bit before Mone bails over to Cameron rather quickly. Athena wrestles her down without much effort and it’s off to Hart to work on the arm. Cameron kicks her way out of trouble and hits an enziguri, allowing Athena to come back in.

Hart gets tied in the Tree Of Woe but pulls herself up to annoy Mone before flipping over her. The Octopus goes on so Cameron…throws in the puppet, which is enough of a distraction for Mone to grab a gutbuster. We take a break and come back with Cameron charging into a boot in the corner, allowing Hart to roll over and bring Athena back in.

A Samoan drop/fall away slam send Mone and Cameron flying at the same time but Cameron is back up to plant Athena on the floor. Everyone winds up down on the outside, leaving Hart to miss her moonsault back inside. Mone Backstabbers Hart, who gets caught with Cameron’s pumphandle suplex. Her Finishing Move is blocked though and Hart gets the Octopus for the tap at 12:12.

Rating: B-. This was a bit of a surprise as Hart felt like the person in there to take the fall, but I’ll take it over Athena getting beaten. While I don’t buy her as being likely to win the tournament, just having her around on the bigger show is nice to see. The match was basically a big preview of the women’s Owen Hart Cup and there are worse ideas out there.

Overall Rating: B-. Good enough show this week, especially considering the pay per view is pretty much set. This show added to the Kickoff Show and that’s about it, which isn’t a bad way to go. I don’t believe that the Kickoff Show will only have two matches, but I’ll take this over having a bunch of things being added at the last second. Nice stuff here, with the opener and Pac vs. Wheeler being pretty good.

Results
Don Callis Family b. Powerhouse Hobbs/Tomohiro Ishii – Brainbuster to Ishii
Mark Briscoe b. Max Caster – Jay Driller
Top Flight b. Cru – Cradle to Andretti
Pac b. Cash Wheeler – Cradle
Mike Bailey b. Dralistico – Tornado Kick
Julia Hart/Athena b. Mercedes Mone/Harley Cameron – Octopus to Cameron

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: April 2, 2025
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re less than a week away from Dynasty and that means it’s time for the final push towards the show. That can be a tricky thing to pull off as you’re only going to get so much out of this show with the pay per view so soon. Hopefully the action works here, though that is rarely an issue for AEW. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley/Marina Shafir vs. Willow Nightingale/Swerve Strickland

It’s a brawl on the floor to start, with Shafir hitting a snap suplex. Moxley and Shafir pull out a table and the women fight inside as we get the opening bell. Strickland sends Moxley into the steps before the pairs trade places. A dropkick rocks Moxley and Nightingale is back in with a middle rope version to put him down again.

Strickland’s middle rope elbow to the back connects and he and Nightingale dance a bit. That earns them a beating from the villains again and Shafir chokes Nightingale on the ropes. Back in and Strickland grabs the JML Driver on Shafir and holds her up as Moxley teases the Death Rider to Nightingale. Both women are let go and they shove the men into each other before slugging it out on the apron. Shafir hits a powerbomb off the apron and through a table, which almost went rather wrong.

We take a break and come back with Shafir and Moxley taking turns raking Strickland’s back. Nightingale hits a Tower Of Doom and slugs away, including a Cannonball to Moxley. Nightingale’s spinebuster gets two on Shafir but Moxley gets the choke on Strickland. That’s broken up with a powerbomb to send Shafir onto Moxley and everyone is down. The women brawl to the floor, leaving Moxley and Strickland to slug it out. The rolling Downward Spiral hits Moxley but Strickland’s House Call hits Shafir, who shoved Moxley out of the way. Nightingale hits The Babe With The Powerbomb to finish Shafir at 13:32.

Rating: B-. Nice fight with the two feuds getting to beat each other up for a little while. It’s a little surprising to see Shafir take a fall, as she has been well protected for a good while now. At the same time, it’s nice to have Nightingale get the win, as she has done little more than brawling with Shafir in recent weeks.

Post match Moxley gives Nightingale a Death Rider for the big serious moment.

We look at Wheeler Yuta pinning Dax Harwood on Collision, resulting in Harwood shoving Cash Wheeler after the match.

Harwood pays his $10,000 fine and gives it to the referee. He apologizes to Wheeler as well and says it’s time for them to win the Trios Titles. Harwood goes to hug him but Wheeler says they’ll team together at Dynasty, but then they need to talk.

We see the brackets for the Men’s Owen Hart tournament:

Will Ospreay
Kevin Knight

Brody King
Konosuke Takeshita

Mark Briscoe
Kyle Fletcher

Hangman Page
Wild Card

We look at Kevin Knight almost beating Jay White, who is injured, with Knight replacing him in the tournament.

Here are the Women’s Owen Hart tournament brackets:

Jamie Hayter
Billie Starkz

Thunder Rosa
Kris Statlander

Julia Hart
Mercedes Mone

Harley Cameron
Athena

Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford

Non-title. Storm knocks her to the floor to start but Ford gets in a boot to the face on the way back in. A quick suplex hits Ford but she avoids the running hip attack in the corner. Ford gets booted down again and we take a break. Back with Ford hitting a handspring elbow in the corner, followed by a Helluva Kick.

Storm fights up and slugs away, setting up a Thesz press. Now the hip attack connects and a DDT gets two on Ford. An STF sends Ford over to the ropes and she knocks Storm outside for an apron moonsault. Back in and a gutbuster gives Ford two and she counters Storm Zero into a backdrop for two. Storm is right back with Storm Zero for the pin at 8:13.

Rating: C+. Nice outing from Ford here, though there was no reason to believe that Storm was in any serious danger. That’s what happens with most of Ford’s matches, as she hasn’t won anything significant in the better part of ever. At least she can still do some nice enough things in the ring before losing to bigger names, which is what happened again here.

Post match Megan Bayne comes out but won’t get in the ring with Storm.

Willow Nightingale is getting checked by the medics. Swerve Strickland isn’t pleased with this and swears vengeance on Jon Moxley tonight.

Here are MVP and Bobby Lashley (minus Shelton Benjamin, who couldn’t make it to the show due to bad weather) for a chat. Before they can say anything though, here is MJF to interrupt. After praising MVP’s fashion choices, MJF introduces himself to Lashley (“Bob”), who he says has been around the block.

This is AEW though, meaning it is the block that MJF built. MJF knows what it takes to set records around here, and he and the Hurt Syndicate could help each other. He puts his hand on Lashley’s shoulder, saying Lashley needs him. Lashley says that out of respect for MVP, he won’t drop MJF where he stands. He doesn’t like or trust MJF and suggests that MJF get out right now, which is what MJF does. I’m curious where this is going, but they could only do so much with Benjamin out for the week.

Learning Tree vs. ???/???

The Learning Tree offer Lashley and MVP a chair in the aisle but they’ll stand instead. Keith’s running knee into the chokeslam finishes at 1:14.

Post match Bill issues the challenge for the Tag Team Title shot at Dynasty and it seems to be on.

Mercedes Mone is ready for Julia Hart at Dynasty. She’s also ready to team up with Harley Cameron….who pops up with the puppet. Mone isn’t interested and storms off, with Cameron saying they could be the Mone Wrath Train. Taz: “I want to buy a puppet.”

Will Ospreay/Kevin Knight vs. Blake Christian/Lee Johnson

Ospreay shoulders Christian down to start so Christian grabs a quickly broken headlock. Back up and Ospreay gets in a strut and a hip swivel before handing it off to Knight for a twisting splash. Everything breaks down and the villains are dropkicked to the floor for stereo running dives. Back up and Christian drops Knight before spearing Ospreay off the apron as we take a break.

We come back with Ospreay coming in off the diving tag and starting to clean house. A springboard is broken up though and Christian hits a 450 stomp (geez). Ospreay is back up with the Stundog Millionaire though and it’s Knight coming back in to take over. Knight makes Johnson poisonrana Christian outside (yep) for a dive from Ospreay and Knight’s springboard clothesline finishes Johnson at 9:15.

Rating: B-. This was the fast paced tag match you probably expected, with Knight getting to showcase himself again. Odds are he doesn’t make it out of the first round of the Owen Hart tournament but he should be able to have an impressive performance. Other than that, Christian continues to do well and his “I’m boring” stuff is kind of amusing.

Post match, Ospreay and Knight are told that their match will take place at Dynasty. Respect is shown.

Samoa Joe says he started the Opps because things are changing around here. They’ll be watching at Dynasty.

Lance Archer vs. Brody King

They fight over a lockup to start as Don Callis joins commentary. They trade shots to the face until Archer clotheslines him to the floor. King sends him into the barricade but Archer is back with a ram into the steps. We take a break and come back with Archer missing a charge into the corner and getting dropped with a German suplex. King wins a strike off and drops a backsplash for two. A swinging Boss Man Slam and chokeslam give Archer the same but King clotheslines him down in the corner. Now the Cannonball connects to give King two and a big clothesline finishes Archer at 10:28.

Rating: C+. Well, at least King didn’t lose again. That’s not exactly glowing praise but at this point, it’s about as good as he’s going to get. The match was another big hoss fight and it went well enough. Also, a few bonus points for having King face a member of the Don Callis Family before facing Konosuke Takeshita in the tournament.

Dynasty rundown.

Cope vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli jumps him in the corner to start and they go to the floor, where Cope is sent into the barricade. Back in and Cope kicks away, followed by a running forearm off the apron. Cope forearms him against the barricade and they head back inside to trade clotheslines. The Edge O Matic gets two and a spear through the ropes takes Castagnoli off the apron. Another dive is cut off with an uppercut though and we take a break.

Back with the two of them going up top, with Cope grabbing a super bulldog. Castagnoli hits a quick double stomp into the Swing for two. The Sharpshooter goes on but Castagnoli switches into a Crossface to keep Cope in trouble. Cope reverses that into the Grindhouse, sending Castagnoli over to the ropes. They go to the apron where Castagnoli grabs a powerslam and throws Cope over the barricade.

Castagnoli demands a ten count, as we suddenly have countouts around here. Cope beats the count and boots him down but the spear is countered into Swiss Death for two. Castagnoli grabs some chairs so the referee gets rid of them, allowing Cope to get in a low blow. The spear finishes Castagnoli at 17:48.

Rating: B-. Well that was…lengthy. This was the latest long Cope match where he looked pretty good and then goes over in the end. The match helps set up the title match on Sunday, where we’re likely to see FTR and Cope come close but ultimately lose to the Death Riders. It wasn’t a bad match, but it never went to a higher gear.

Swerve Strickland is still looking for Jon Moxley but runs into Hangman Page. Security immediately runs in as Page shouts about how Swerve broke into his home. Swerve: “YOU BURNED MY HOUSE DOWN!” Page: “YOU DESERVED IT!” Swerve: “I KNOW!” That has Page confused and he storms off, but here are the rest of the Death Riders to jump Swerve. The villains throw him into some glass and then carry him into the arena. A bag of glass is poured out and Castagnoli gives Swerve a Riccola bomb into the glass. Swerve, with glass in his back, sits up and glares at Moxley to end the show.

First of all, Page and Swerve have are likely going to team together one day and it’s been a long, drawn out and well done story with both of them growing a lot. On the other hand, Swerve being slammed onto glass and then popping back up to end the show is a bit insane and not in a good way.

Overall Rating: B-. This show did enough to help boost Dynasty up, though your taste in tournaments may bring this up or down. There wasn’t anything you really needed to see, but it did set up enough things for both Dynasty and beyond, which is a good use of the show. While Dynasty doesn’t seem like the biggest show, this did boost it up a bit, which should help on Sunday.

Results
Willow Nightingale/Swerve Strickland b. Jon Moxley/Marina Sharif – Babe With The Powerbomb to Shafir
Toni Storm b. Penelope Ford – Storm Zero
Learning Tree b. ???/??? – Chokeslam
Brody King b. Lance Archer – Clothesline

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: March 29, 2025
Location: UW-Milwaukee Panthers Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re just over a week away from Dynasty and in this case, we have a title match preview before the pay per view title match. This week, Wheeler Yuta is facing Dax Harwood, which doesn’t quite feel like the biggest match in the world. Other than that, we’ll likely get some push towards the pay per view so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Toni Storm to get things going. She calls out Megan Bayne, who doesn’t show up. Storm isn’t sure what happened, as Bayne laid Storm on her back like she had just bought Storm a steak dinner. After the match, she went to her hotel, laid down (as she does on the mat here), got up, stubbed her toe, hit her head on the sink….and then got up to remember who she was.

Violence is promised at Dynasty but Penelope Ford comes through the darkness to kick Storm in the face (very nice job there as she came out of nowhere). Storm fights back but Bayne comes in and hits Fate’s Descent. Bayne tells her to bow down and throws the out cold Storm to the mat. At this point, Bayne almost has to win the title as she has dominated Storm throughout their story. If she loses, it’s going to kill her momentum.

The Death Riders aren’t happy with Cope and Claudio Castagnoli wants to take him out on Dynamite. Jon Moxley says he fears three people in his life: his mother, his sister and his wife. Then he met Marina Shafir, who promises to feed Willow Nightingale her own liver. As usual, the less talking from Moxley, the better.

Jay White vs. Kevin Knight

They wrestle around a bit and that’s good for an early standoff. Knight flips out of a wristlock to take White down but White is back up to win a battle of shoulder blocks. A hurricanrana drops White again and Knight fires off the uppercuts. White’s brainbuster gets a quick two and we take a break.

Back with White chopping him out to the floor but Knight makes the clothesline comeback. A running frog splash (that’s a new one) gives Knight two and White’s Rock Bottom is countered into a rollup for two more. White manages a German suplex to get out of trouble and the Blade Runner finishes Knight at 10:38.

Rating: B-. Nice performance from Knight here, who has done some good stuff in various places and is now getting a chance on a bigger stage. White is on his way to the Owen Hart Tournament but got to make Knight look nice enough in a win. That’s not a bad way to go and it made for a fine TV match.

Post match White shows respect and Knight gets a nice ovation. With Knight gone, White talks about how he needs the World Title shot at All In because he is a variety of nicknames. At All In, he gets to show us that it is still the Switchblade Era.

MJF threw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener. He points out that Bobby Lashley lives in Texas but the Rangers asked for him instead.

Athena was outside of Mercedes Mone’s dressing room earlier. That’s intriguing.

Mercedes Mone vs. Robyn Renegade

Non-title. They grapple to start until Renegade hits a quick dropkick. A running boot in the corner hits Mone and Renegade rolls through a middle rope high crossbody. Mone is back with a Backstabber for two but Renegade kicks her down. The moonsault misses though and Mone hits the Mone Maker into the Bank Statement for the win at 3:10.

Rating: C. Renegade has shown herself to be a reliable jobber to the stars and that was the case again here. She got in a bit of offense on Mone before Mone wrapped things up, which is about how this should have gone. It might not have been a great match or anything, but it was nice to have Mone get in the ring for a quick match for a change.

Post match Mone is happy with her win and her recent success but now she wants in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament to take the Women’s Title at All In. Tony Schiavone says Billie Starkz is in the tournament as well, but Mone says Starkz’s trainer is terrible. Cue Athena (Starkz’s trainer, or at least mentor), who drops Mone with a Forearm and loads up the O Face (top rope Stunner), which hits Renegade by mistake. I don’t buy that Athena is going to get the push that she deserves in AEW, but it’s nice to have her facing bigger competition for a change.

Queen Aminata is injured and can’t wrestle tonight but Serena Deeb comes in, mocking her for getting injured due to not listening to Deeb. Aminata isn’t going to listen to Deeb, who tells her to use the time off to think about it.

Learning Tree vs. Top Flight

Bill stares Darius down to start so it’s quickly off to Dante vs. Keith. Dante grabs an armdrag and hits a dropkick before Darius comes in to strike away in the corner. Bill comes back in for the far bigger chops to put him on the floor as we take a break. Back with Darius getting over for the tag to Dante, who is immediately dropped by Bill.

A Boss Man Slam puts Darius down but Bill’s Stinger Splash hits Keith by mistake. The string of kicks to the face into a springboard Downward Spiral drops Bill and something like a Shell Shock gets two on Keith. Bill comes back in and splashes Dante in the corner. Keith’s running knee sets up Bill’s huge chokeslam for the pin at 9:38 (with Bill’s bugged out eyes looking rather nutty).

Rating: B-. Another nice match here with Bill continuing to look like an absolute star. He’s turned into something of value as he has the intensity to back up his giant power stuff. I’m not sure I can imagine the Learning Tree getting the Tag Team Titles, but Bill being involved in a higher profile match is a good thing. It seems that Top Flight is right where they’re going to be, making them one of the more disappointing “what if’s” in AEW thus far.

Post match Cru teases coming in for the beatdown but AR Fox runs out to save Top Flight. Anytime this feud wants to end, I’d be fine with it.

Jamie Hayter is glad to be back to face Billie Starkz tonight, in the show’s main event (that’s certainly a choice). Oh and she’ll be in the Women’s Owen Hart Cup too.

Here is Adam Cole, with the Undisputed Kingdom, for a chat with Daniel Garcia, who comes complete with Matt Menard. Cole praises Garcia for their recent matches, saying they were the toughest of Cole’s AEW career. That shouldn’t work for Garcia though, as he should be bothered that he couldn’t beat Cole. They need to finish this fight and Garcia agrees, but Menard asks how many shots Cole is going to get.

Cole couldn’t beat him and Garcia doesn’t have to do this, but Garcia wants to. Garcia issues a challenge for a rematch, but the seconds get in an argument. Garcia cuts it off, saying it’s no time limit, no outside interference. That’s a weird way to go, as Garcia was acting like it was a fresh challenge, but Schiavone mentioned the match before they got out here. That’s either a really badly worded promo or Schiavone jumped the gun.

Athena, with Billie Starkz, is ready to knock Mercedes Mone out again. She’s in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament too. As for tonight, she’ll be watching Starkz’s match VERY closely, and yes that sounds like a threat.

Dax Harwood vs. Wheeler Yuta

They fight over wrist control to start and go to the mat with Yuta getting the better of things with a headlock. That’s broken up and Yuta has to bail from the threat of a Sharpshooter. A northern lights suplex gives Harwood two and they head outside, where Harwood is sent into the steps. Yuta stomps on the arm, with Nigel using the HE HAS TILL FIVE, which he thinks is a great catchphrase. Harwood is planted with a superplex and we take a break.

Back with Harwood on the other side of the barricade but fighting out with the good arm. They get back inside with Harwood working on the leg, including wrapping it around the post. The Hartbreaker around the post has Yuta in more trouble but he breaks up a traditional Figure Four.

Harwood is right back with a belly to back superplex for two but they both need a breather. Yuta’s Cattle Mutilation sends Harwood to the ropes for a change so Yuta puts it on again. Harwood breaks it up a second time and gets the Sharpshooter but the rope is grabbed again. Back up and Yuta grabs the seatbelt for the clean win at 12:24.

Rating: B. Better match than I was expecting, but egads Yuta is just not interesting. He feels like the most generic wrestler you could have today and nothing he did here made him stand out. Harwood is the guy who can work well with anyone on his own, but seeing him lose time after time has turned these matches into instances of waiting for the inevitable. That’s a weird way with the title match coming next week.

Post match Harwood is annoyed at the loss, claiming that it was only a two count. He grabs the referee so security comes in. Cash Wheeler comes in as well and gets shoved down, though Harwood might not have known who he was. They go face to face but Wheeler walks away.

Cru asks the Patriarchy what is up with AR Fox, but Nick Wayne thinks it’s the team asking him for help. They imply that he’s right, but nothing is confirmed.

Hologram vs. Blake Christian

Lee Johnson is here with Christian. They trade flips to start and both of them try dropkicks to give us a standoff. Christian offers some mocking applaud before slapping Hologram in the mask. They wind up on the floor, where Christian misses a moonsault but is able to send a charging Hologram into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Hologram flipping him into a northern lights suplex for two. Hologram loads up a dive but takes out Johnson by mistake, followed by a hurricanrana to bring Christian off the barricade. Back in and Christian puts him down, setting up a springboard 450 for two. Christian hits a powerslam but misses a Lionsault, allowing Hologram to plant him down again. The very spinning torture rack bomb puts Christian away at 8:47.

Rating: B-. So you know all those matches where Hologram has looked good and commentary talks about how awesome he is but he never seems to move up the ladder or do anything important? Of all of them that I’ve seen so far, this is the latest one. The match was entertaining as usual, but Hologram needs to do something new already.

Thunder Rosa and Kris Statlander are both in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament and they’re both ready to win, even if it means facing each other.

Jamie Hayter vs. Billie Starkz

Hayter powers her into the corner to start and then runs her over with some shoulders. Starkz gets a sloppy sunset flip for two and a kick to the head out of the corner does a bit better. Hayter takes over again and we take a break, coming back with Starkz having to go to the rope to escape a half crab. A basement superkick sends Hayter outside for a suicide dive and Starkz drops her Swanton for two.

Hayter is back up with a dropkick into the corner and we need a double breather. A brainbuster onto the knee gives Starkz two but Hayter knocks her down for the basement lariat. The Hayterade misses so Hayter kicks her in the face and grabs a German suplex for two. Hayterade is blocked again but this time Hayter goes big with a springboard Hayterade for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. What a weird choice for a main event. I’m guessing this was going with the idea of “it’s 10:00pm on a Saturday night and this is against March Madness” so they completely punted on this match. It wasn’t exactly great stuff either, as Hayter needed a win to get back after her absence but Starkz isn’t quite a top level opponent.

Athena comes out to stare down Hayter to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show ran out of steam near the end as it felt like they just stopped putting on important stuff. The first half or so is good and the action worked, but the weird main event and Hologram having the latest in his long list of interchangeable matches didn’t help. This wasn’t their best show as it might have been decent, but it only felt somewhat important throughout, which makes for a bit of a testy two hours.

Results
Jay White b. Kevin Knight – Blade Runner
Mercedes Mone b. Robyn Renegade – Bank Statement
Learning Tree b. Top Flight – Chokeslam to Dante
Wheeler Yuta b. Dax Harwood – Seatbelt
Hologram b. Blake Christian – Spinning torture rack bomb
Jamie Hayter b. Billie Starkz – Springboard Hayterade

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: March 26, 2025
Location: Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are about a week and a half away from Dynasty and that means it is time to start getting the card officially put together. With Cope out of the way for Jon Moxley, all roads lead to Swerve Strickland, who is getting the pay per view title shot. Other than that, some of the matches are announced but there is still some work to do. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence, featuring clips from the upcoming Minecraft movie.

Kenny Omega vs. Blake Christian

Non-title and Lee Johnson is here with Christian. They go with the grappling to start as Taz is right there to explain the physics and technique, which goes very well, as always. Christian fights back and hits a dropkick to the apron, where a spear sends Omega outside. Back in and Omega decks Johnson before hitting a snapdragon suplex. The V Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel to finish Christian at 4:53.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have time to do much here but that was kind of the point. Christian got in a bit of offense but Omega shrugged it off and hits his signature stuff to win. You don’t see that kind of stuff very often but it works when it’s done in the right way, which was the case with this one.

Post match Omega says he’s glad that he got to make it quick this week. That won’t be the case with Dynasty, as he has to deal with Ricochet and Speedball Mike Bailey. Cue Bailey to interrupt to say Omega is an inspiration to him and Bailey admires him. That doesn’t mean he’s going to hold anything back at Dynasty though because he’s coming for the title.

Cue Ricochet on the screen to say he’s not here in person to slap both of them in the face. He’s dressed up for the best day of his life (looking like his wedding day) until Dynasty, when he leaves with the girl and the gold. Omega says Dynasty isn’t about making friends (Omega: “I have a cat. I don’t need anymore.”) and promises to keep the title. The catchphrase takes us out.

We look at Bandido taking Gravity’s mask back from Chris Jericho on Collision.

Jericho complains about the Learning Tree screwing up and tells them to go prove themselves. With the two of them gone, Jericho says he wants Bandido’s mask, so it can be title vs. mask at Dynasty. Not at the ROH pay per view, but at Dynasty.

Here is MJF, who says Michael Jackson is a bigger star than Prince, before talking about the business card that MVP gave him. He asks MVP to join him for an answer, and gets his wish. MJF gets straight to the point and says that he wants to be in the business of hurting people, but here is the rest of the team to cut him off.

Bobby Lashley wants the card back and threatens MJF with a beating. MVP calls him off though and MJF walks away. Cue the Learning Tree to mock the Syndicate, but MVP isn’t impressed. Big Bill wants the Tag Team Titles back because he never got a rematch for the titles. The challenge is on, but MVP tells them to go win a match first. That’s an interesting way to go with MJF, and hopefully they don’t do anything stupid with the Syndicate.

Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa are ready to team up tonight, with Rosa bringing up their bad history together. Storm brushes it off and dubs the team Thunder T***. Is that swearing? Eh better safe than sorry.

Brody King vs. Kyle Fletcher

Don Callis is here with Fletcher, who jumps King before the bell. That goes badly for him as King is back with a chop and the big forearms in the corner. Fletcher fights up and stomps him down, only to get sent outside as we take a break. Back with Fletcher in control and hammering away, allowing him to pose a bit.

King gets in a knockdown of his own and hits a backdrop to send Fletcher outside. The required dive connects and the fans are rather appreciative. Fletcher manages to post him though and a top rope elbow gets two back inside. Back up and King suplexes him into the corner for a needed breather. A Death Valley Driver on the apron knocks Fletcher silly and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out but Fletcher kicks him down and hits a Tombstone for two. King knocks him silly with a clothesline but cue Mark Davis to break up the Cannonball. Fletcher kicks him in the head and hits the brainbuster onto the turnbuckle for the pin at 17:48.

Rating: B. Yes, King loses again. It makes my head spin to see King getting what seemed to be a renewed push but he’s won two matches this year (over Max Caster and a jobber) and a single tag match. If you have him lose over and over again, it stops mattering rather quickly, which is the point they’re reaching. I get that Fletcher shouldn’t lost here, but then maybe don’t have the match.

Post match the double teaming ensues but Powerhouse Hobbs comes in through the crowd for the save. So I guess we’re not going to get any kind of “next step” that was promised for Fletcher? Or was just winning another match the “next step”?

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Mark Davis

They trade clotheslines to start and Hobbs no sells a suplex. Davis knocks him down in the corner but Hobbs is back with a powerslam. The spinebuster finishes Davis at 2:36. Exactly how it should have gone with Hobbs looking dominant.

The Patriarchy, minus Christian Cage, talks about how Nick Wayne is seeing how things are changing and will address Cage face to face. Last week, you saw what happens when things go as they’re supposed to go.

Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page argue in the back.

Earlier today, we had a sitdown interview with Cope and FTR. Dax Harwood apologizes for getting too emotional last week because FTR took four months away from going after the Tag Team Titles and it didn’t work. Cope says he didn’t ask them to step away but Cash Wheeler says he can’t be between the two of them. Wheeler says he owes a lot to both guys, including Cope giving him a place to live at some point. Harwood thinks getting the Tag Team Titles back is a good idea but Wheeler thinks they should go after the Trios Titles. Works for Harwood, and the challenge is issued for Dynasty. Makes sense.

Here is Swerve Strickland for a chat. Swerve wastes no time in calling out Jon Moxley, who comes straight through the crowd. Swerve asks what happened to Moxley, because instead of being what the World Title is all about, he’s hiding behind the Death Riders. Maybe Moxley hides the title in the briefcase because he can’t bear to look at it anymore. Everything Moxley used to describe himself is now what is looking at him face to face.

Cue Claudio Castagnoli behind Prince Nana on the floor (Nana doesn’t seem to notice). Moxley asks what Swerve thinks he is, because Moxley isn’t sure. Swerve has a chance at Dynasty, but how far is he willing to go? What is Swerve going to do when the weight of the world is on his shoulders? The reality is Swerve hasn’t suffered enough. Moxley’s sport has been taken over by billionaires and talent agencies, but Swerve gives him hope for the future.

Cue Marina Shafir with a crowbar but Willow Nightingale is right there with a pipe to cut her off (though they don’t get physical). Swerve says Moxley has bled but Swerve has bled buckets. Moxley has been in Texas death matches while Swerve has won them. He’s going to win the title at Dynasty and Moxley can keep playing himself on TV. The Death Riders leave but Shafir jumps Nightingale and has to be held back. As usual, these segments work better when people stand up to the Death Riders and that was the case here from Swerve.

Samoa Joe asks Hook why he choked out Max Caster. Hook: “He’s fun to choke out.” They run into Caster and Joe chokes him out, then hugs Hook, saying he was right. They also hug Top Flight and AR Fox as it seems Katsuyori Shibata is filming. That was hilarious.

Jay White is in the Owen Hart Tournament. If anyone thinks they’re better than him, come prove it on Collision.

Top Flight vs. Devo Knight/Alex Findley

Darius wrestles Knight to the floor to start as the Learning Tree is watching backstage. Findley comes in and gets sent outside, with Dante hitting a kick to the face and a springboard high crossbody. Darius plants Knight and Dante’s frog splash finishes at 2:56.

The Learning Tree (facing Top Flight on Collision) and Cru (in the crowd) isn’t impressed.

Will Ospreay is back next week.

Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is here with Takeshita. Briscoe shrugs off a shoulder to start and fires off some Red Neck Kung Fu to take over. Back up and Takeshita knocks him down for some choking on the ropes. A big boot drops Briscoe again and a DDT on the apron sends us to a break. Back with Briscoe slugging away, including some shots to the chest in the corner.

The running flip dive through the ropes connects and the Cactus Elbow hits off the barricade. The Froggy Bow misses though and they slug it out, with the fans being rather engaged. They trade exploders until Takeshita’s running knee gets two. The Jay Driller gets the same as Takeshita puts a foot on the ropes. Takeshita kicks him in the head though and it’s the Raging Fire for the pin at 11:40.

Rating: B-. Takeshita can do just about anything in the ring at the moment and it’s fine to see him beating a name like Briscoe. While I could go for seeing Briscoe having some more success, it makes sense for him to lose here. Takeshita very well could be in the Owen Hart Tournament (if he isn’t yet) and him making a nice run would be a good way to go.

The Death Riders are in to face Cope and FTR for the Trios Titles at Dynasty.

The Hurt Syndicate is still not on the same page about MJF. MVP is the only one who seems to like him, mainly because MJF is reprehensible. If the other two don’t want MJF in, MVP will respect it, but they’re on the same page about the Learning Tree.

Penelope Ford/Megan Bayne vs. Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa

Rosa and Bayne start things off with Rosa shouting the team’s new name. Rosa’s strikes to the chest don’t work very well so it’s off to Storm, who gets taken down by Ford. A running knee is shrugged off though and Storm suplexes her down. We take a break and come back with Bayne clotheslining Rosa, allowing Ford to throw her out of the corner for two. Rosa and Ford hit a double clothesline and it’s off to Storm to take over on Bayne.

A tornado DDT on the floor drops Bayne but Ford grabs a cutter back inside. Bayne is back in with Fate’s Descent to Rosa but Storm throws her into the corner for the hip attack. That’s shrugged off and Storm is terrified that old faithful didn’t work. Bayne pump kicks Ford by mistake though and Storm gets two off a rollup. Fate’s Descent finishes Storm at 9:33.

Rating: C+. That’s something that has been done for years and it still works to this day. The result lets you see that Bayne can beat Storm and it adds more drama to their title shot at Dynasty. It was a perfectly fine match and served a purpose without actually having Ford take the pin for a change.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the show where they gave a lot more focus towards Dynasty, as matches that were already announced were advanced and something new was added. That’s the kind of show that you need to have and it made for a good one here. While there were some moves that I wasn’t feeling, this took some positive steps on the way to Dynasty and that’s what the show needs.

Results
Kenny Omega b. Blake Christian – One Winged Angel
Kyle Fletcher b. Brody King – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Mark Davis – Spinebuster
Top Flight b. Devo Knight/Alex Findley – Frog splash to Knight
Konosuke Takeshita b. Mark Briscoe – Raging Fire
Megan Bayne/Penelope Ford b. Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa – Fate’s Descent to Storm

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: March 23, 2025
Location: Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

It’s the second half of the two night Collision and hopefully it’s able to live up to the first night. The first half of the show was rather good, though as usual, it depends on what we have for an encore. We’re just a few weeks away from Dynasty so we might get something else added to the show here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Saturday night if you need a recap.

Trios Titles: AR Fox/Top Flight vs. Death Riders

The Death Riders are defending. You might be wondering why Fox and Top Flight are getting this shot when they haven’t actually teamed together in over two years (their one win as a trio came in January 2023). Well the idea seems to be they won a Trios Battle Royal in 2022, last eliminating the Blackpool Combat Club, which evolved into the Death Riders. Granted it wasn’t the same three members they’re facing here but what difference do two years and one member really make?

Darius and Yuta go to the mat to start as Nigel quotes Star Wars to mock Bryan Danielson and his teachings. Dante comes in but can’t sunset flip Castagnoli. A big forearm drops Dante again but he manages a middle rope hurricanrana to the floor. Yuta is sent to the floor for a running flip dive (with a stomp to Pac at the same time) but Pac hammers Yuta into the wrong corner. That’s broken up and it’s back to Darius to clean house. Yuta cuts that off with a rake to the face and an Angle Slam sends us to a break.

Back with Darius still in control with Pac getting to choke in the ropes. Darius gets in a pop up dropkick on Castagnoli and the diving tag brings in Dante to pick up the pace. Dante’s triple jump flip dive takes out the champs on the floor and Darius’ Swanton gets two on Yuta. Pac low blows Top Flight on the floor and Fox is surrounded. Fox tries to fight out but is quickly cut down, with a Tombstone into the Fastball Special retaining the titles at 12:11.

Rating: B-. This was good enough, despite the lack of any realistic reason for the challengers to get a shot. The Riders have held the titles almost as long as any team in history and there is no reason to believe they’ll be dropping the belts anytime soon. The issue continues to be that they barely do anything with the titles and I tend to forget they’re even champions. It doesn’t help that there are barely any teams to come after the titles in the first place, hence a team who hasn’t been together in over two years getting a shot.

Post match Cru comes in to jump Top Flight because this feud is still a thing.

We look at Daniel Garcia vs. Adam Cole going to a time limit draw last night.

Cole knows he had Garcia beaten and he knows he can do it again. The rest of the Undisputed Kingdom isn’t happy with FTR’s lack of respect.

Kazuchika Okada brags about his success this year, saying he put the b****** of the Hounds Of Hell to sleep.

Bandido vs. Johnny TV

Bandido tries to start fast but gets taken down for a kick to the face. Back up and Bandido hits some running forearms, setting up the gorilla press to take us to a break. We come back with Bandido cutting off a charge in the corner for a quick two. The X Knee into the 21 Plex finishes TV at 9:21.

Rating: C+. Thankfully we have a Supercard Of Honor coming up as that should be the end of the whole Jericho vs. Bandido stuff. In theory, Bandido takes the title there and gets to move on from everything else. There isn’t much of a reason to keep the story going, but at least Bandido is getting some wins like this one to help build him up.

Post match Bandido calls out Chris Jericho, who comes out with the Learning Tree. Jericho says Bandido should know that you can only take him for granted so long. You can ask Bandido’s family how dangerous Jericho can be and he’s sorry for making Bandido’s mother cry. That’s what you get for messing with Jericho, which is why he took Gravity’s mask. Jericho puts the mask on, triggering a brawl. Bandido is smart enough to get away from the team but steals the mask back from Jericho.

Video on Megan Bayne, who is chosen by the heavens.

Toni Storm isn’t impressed, because Hercules doesn’t have her thighs and she made love with her reflection until the sun came up. See you at Dynasty.

Harley Cameron vs. Aminah Belmont

Cameron knees her down to start and grabs a Russian legsweep. A belly to back suplex lets Cameron shout her catchphrase before Her Finishing Move finishes Belmont at 1:40.

Don Callis isn’t worried about Kyle Fletcher because they have plans for when he gets back. Fletcher comes in and says he’s going to be on Dynamite to show what is next for him. I’m thinking it’s the Owen Hart Cup so he can face Will Ospreay again?

Los Titantes del Aire vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

Harley Cameron is on commentary and has no idea who Harleygram could be. Nigel: “Right up there with Mr. JL.” Hologram rolls Mortos up to start but gets headbutted down without much trouble. Komander comes in to block Dralistico’s hurricanrana attempt and grabs a rather springboardy armdrag. Cameron gets up because she has to make a phone call as Mortos gets to clean house.

We take a break and come back with Dralistico hitting a running boot in the corner as Harleygram is here. Komander gets over to the corner for the tag to Hologram and the pace picks way up. A Canadian Destroyer plants Mortos and Hologram takes him down with a big dive to the floor. Cielito Lindo hits Mortos but Dralistico breaks up the cover. The double tag brings in Komander and Dralistico, with Komander hitting a super poisonrana.

A pop up poisonrana takes out Mortos and everyone is down. Dralistico is back with a springboard spinning poisonrana but Hologram sends him outside for a running dive. Mortos stops to look at Harleygram though, allowing Komander to do his rope walk flip dive. Back in and Hologram hits the spinning torture rack bomb on Dralistico, setting up Cielito Lindo to give Komander the pin at 12:19.

Rating: B. As usual, the match was the great collection of high spots with some drama added in. The Harleygram stuff is completely harmless fun and at least Mortos didn’t take the fall here. It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before, but at least they did their thing here and gave the fans something to like to wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Much like last night, this was basically Rampage with a few more storyline advancements than usual. It’s not a show you need to see but you won’t be annoyed if you did watch. Things should be back to normal next week and that’s a good thing to see, as there is a lot to cover before we get to the pay per view.

Results
Death Riders b. Top Flight/AR Fox – Fastball Special to Fox
Bandido b. Johnny TV – 21 Plex
Harley Cameron b. Aminah Belmont – Her Finishing Move
Los Titantes del Aire b. La Faccion Ingobernable – Cielito Lindo to Dralistico

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: March 22, 2025
Location: Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

We’re doing something different this weekend as the two hour Collision is being split into two hour long shows. The idea is to capitalize on the NCAA Tournament airing before the show, which isn’t a terrible concept. The big match this week is Adam Cole challenging Daniel Garcia for the TNT Title so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

TNT Title: Adam Cole vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is defending and there is no interference allowed. They fight over wrist control to start before Garcia stops to dance. Cole is right back with a knockdown of his own and hits his pose. Garcia headlock takeovers him down before things get a lot more aggressive in the lockup. A running dropkick puts Cole down and they go outside, where Garcia is sent knees first into the steps. Back in and a DDT on the knee keeps Garcia in trouble and we take a break.

We come back with Garcia winning a strike off and grabbing a swinging neckbreaker. Two more swinging neckbreakers set up a hanging swinging neckbreaker but Cole is back with a neckbreaker onto the knee for two. Garcia knees him out to the floor for a crash and they come back in for the five minute call. Cole’s Panama Sunrise gets two but Garcia rolls outside before Cole can do it again.

Instead Garcia grabs a German suplex on the floor but the knee gives out back inside. Another Panama Sunrise sets up the Figure Four and Garcia is in trouble. That’s broken up and Garcia gets the Dragontamer, with Cole going over to the ropes. They forearm it out on the apron and Cole hits another Panama Sunrise but Garcia falls outside. Cole gets him back in and tries the Boom, only for the time to expire at 20:00.

Rating: B-. It was good stuff but the story still feels like Cole is just doing this to give him something to do. There isn’t much fire in the whole thing and Garcia isn’t bringing things up in any way. I’m sure this will lead to one more title match, maybe at Dynasty, and I’m only so interested in seeing that take place.

Here is Max Caster for another open challenge. After mocking Anthony Bowens and getting on Omaha for not being able to do his chant, we have an answer.

Max Caster vs. Hook

Redrum finishes Caster at 46 seconds.

Serena Deeb interrupts Queen Aminata and offers her a list of 1,000 holds. Aminata is good on her own, but Deeb isn’t convinced.

Julia Hart vs. Queen Aminata

They trade early rollups for two each before Aminata suplexes her into the corner. A Rock Bottom onto the apron plants Hart and we take a break. Back with Hart hitting a standing moonsault for two but getting caught in an Air Raid Crash for the same. Hart suplexes her out of the corner but misses the moonsault. Aminata headbutts her down for two, only to miss the dropkick in the ropes. Hart uses the distraction to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:14.

Rating: C+. The ending came out of nowhere and didn’t exactly feel like the blowoff to a trilogy. That might be because there was little reason for this to be a trilogy in the first place. Hart beat her, then Aminata won a rematch in an upset, then Hart just beat her again. I’m not sure what about that is supposed to be overly interesting, but it was just ok for the most part.

Harley Quinn has NO IDEA why anyone would think she and Harleygram are the same person.

Mark Briscoe/Rocky Romero/Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Don Callis Family

Don Callis is on commentary as Takeshita shoulders Briscoe down to start. Briscoe starts clearing off the apron though and hands it off to Hobbs for the big clotheslines. Romero hits a top rope double stomp on Takeshita but Cage pulls a suicide dive out of the air. We take a break and come back with Romero grabbing a springboard tornado DDT to plant Takeshita.

Briscoe comes back in to clean house, including a fisherman’s buster for two. Everything breaks down and Hobbs gets to clean house, including a spinebuster on Takeshita. Another one takes Cage down but Takeshita gives Hobbs the Blue Thunder Bomb. Romero kicks away at Archer but gets caught in the chokeslam/powerbomb combination. Takeshita adds Raging Fire for the pin on Romero at 11:26.

Rating: B-. Kind of a downer ending here, as the villains just win over the more popular team. At least it was Romero taking the fall, as Hobbs and Briscoe shouldn’t be being pinned again anytime soon. Takeshita needs something to do after losing the title and being in a random six man is as good as anything else at the moment.

Overall Rating: B-. For a half length episode of Collision, it made for a decent Rampage. I’m not sure how necessary it was to split the show up but it works well enough for once. The action was good enough as well with the title match likely setting up a rematch on pay per view. Other than that, there isn’t much to see here, but for an hour long show, it was perfectly watchable.

Results
Adam Cole vs. Daniel Garcia went to a time limit draw
Hook b. Max Caster – Redrum
Julia Hart b. Queen Aminata – Rollup
Don Callis Family b. Mark Briscoe/Rocky Romero/Powerhouse Hobbs – Raging Fire to Romero

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6