Collision recap and reactions: Swerve Strickland got KTFO

Saturday night is alright for fighting. AEW Collision (June 29, 2024) emanated from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. The show featured Swerve Strickland getting knocked out by Will Ospreay, a teaser for Hangman Page, Hikaru Shida one step closer to Wembley Stadium, the reveal of Chris Jericho’s mystery partner, the return of Riho, and more on the night before Forbidden Door.

Main event weigh-in

Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay took the main event slot of Collision for a weigh-in to hype the AEW World Championship bout at Forbidden Door on June 30. Swerve poked the bloke one too many times, and he found what happens. Bruv knocked him the fuck out.

Earlier in the evening, Ospreay told Don Callis that he wanted to win on his own. Callis took that declaration in stride. Ospreay also requested Kyle Fletcher to watch his back against Swerve’s posse. Callis is a man with hands in several fires. After Ospreay exited, Rush approached Callis to pick up on last week’s tease.

Fast forward to the weigh-in. Ospreay tipped the scales at 220 pounds. Swerve was the heavier fighter at 230 pounds. Tension was high for the photo op, but it was still peaceful. The peace exploded into fisticuffs during the closing statements. Ospreay is going to show why he is the best in the world. Swerve had doubts about Ospreay being able to handle the pressure. Swerve treats his role as world champion like a business. The mogul said something about offering Ospreay’s wife a contract, and that comment crossed a line. A pie-face from Ospreay led to a skirmish with security breaking them apart. Ospreay appeared to be calm, then he looped around the side to deliver a cheap shot. Swerve was knocked out cold from a Hidden Blade strike.

The weigh-in itself wasn’t anything special. The bigger context is more important. AEW has done a great job of shielding who will win. Swerve and Ospreay both had moments to stand tall this week. Ospreay pushed Swerve’s buttons on Dynamite and paid the price. Swerve did the same on Collision with a similar result. There are cases to be made on screen and off screen to predict either man will be victorious at Forbidden Door. Unpredictability is an aspect that AEW often lacks, and this should be a great example of how much that touch can increase excitement. The vibe is going to be hot when the bell finally rings.

Hangman Page teaser

The most interesting moment on Collision was a vignette teasing the return of Hangman Page. We caught a glimpse of Hangman spiraling into drunkenness with a bottle of booze at his home. Clips were cut in as memories from the cowboy’s mind of Swerve looming over his baby’s crib and the Elite suspending him. The production created neat visuals. I’m not so sure about the choice of music. It sounded too carny for the weight of the drama.

The vignette raised a lot of questions. Will Hangman have a change in attitude for his character? Will he be a babyface or a heel? Will he wrestle in cut-off jean shorts and cowboy boots to beat the summer heat? It is timely for Hangman to return, particularly with the Elite picking the wild card for the Owen Hart Cup tournament. If Hangman is not their choice, then I wonder where he fits in the landscape of AEW. Swerve could be busy with world championship business, assuming he retains against Ospreay, so Hangman’s focus would have to be turned elsewhere. So many questions. That’s a sign of a good vignette.

Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.

Orange Cassidy & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Shane Haste & Robbie Eagles. Cassidy kicked Eagles colliding into the corner, then he bounced back into a Beach Break.

Cassidy was presented as the weaker link of his team, which set up bulldozing hot tags to Ishii. I would have liked to see Cassidy handle himself stronger given the bigger picture of his showdown against Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door. Never count Cassidy out, but I would be betting hard on Sabre to win that one. TMDK wrestled well with nice slams. Once I realized it was Eagles instead of Mikey Nicholls, I knew Eagles would be eating the pin. That’s what happened. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.

Later, Cassidy felt disrespected at Sabre’s lack of attention. Sabre stepped in to clarify that respect is there. That’s why he wanted this match against a worthy adversary. It’s just that Sabre is so confident in his skills that he believes he figured out Cassidy’s game. Cassidy uncharacteristically lost his cool to threaten Sabre.

Chris Jericho’s mystery partner revealed. Jericho offered friendly advice to the medical trainer on how to tape wrists. He also shared a tip with the Learning Tree to steal a roll of tape when the trainer isn’t looking. Bryan Keith was a quick learner to swipe a box.

The second Learning Tree segment was Jericho doing a clean hand check on some dude leaving the bathroom. The third segment saw Jericho open a side room to give pointers about driving a Zamboni. Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata were huddled inside to start a brawl.

The melee made its way to the ring, then Jericho’s mystery partner was revealed. Jeff Cobb cleared the ring.

Cobb is a sweet choice for the PPV trios match. His encounter with Joe was electric, and that spinebuster was thunderous. The rest of the Learning Tree skits were harmless fun. Bryan Keith is winning me over. I like how he remains ornery. It is a good contrast to Big Bill fully embracing the Jericho cheese.

Stephanie Vaquer defeated Lady Frost. Mercedes Moné was seated ringside to observe the action. When Vaquer had control, she stared daggers at the CEO. When Frost scored with gymnastics offense, Mercedes cheered with a grin. In the end, Vaquer closed with a package backbreaker.

Afterward, Mercedes entered the ring for a staredown. Vaquer backed away to exit the ring, but it was a trap for Zeuxis to attack from behind. Vaquer’s tag team partner in CMLL stomped the CEO. When Mercedes showed a spark of fight, La Primera put her down with a package backbreaker. Vaquer stood tall with the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship and the TBS Championship.

Vaquer has an aura about the way she carries herself. This was a solid showcase prior to the showdown with Mercedes. The ambush tactic was a nice touch to demonstrate deviousness.

Serena Deeb defeated Kelly Madan. Open challenge squash victory via Detox slam finisher. The Professor cut a promo after the match. Deeb suffered high-profile loses lately, but she refuses to be put in wrestling purgatory. Deeb called out for anyone who thinks they can match her skill. Riho answered the call, and it appears that match will happen in the near future.

That is an interesting piece of matchmaking. Deeb versus Riho has me guessing who will win. I’m not entirely sure if the intention for Deeb is babyface or heel, but Riho is certainly the epitome of a babyface. There is a case to be made for each wrestler to win.

Hechicero defeated Kevin Blackwood. Grappling squash. A hammerlock swing into a backbreaker paved the way for a shoulder submission.

The takeaway is building the value of Hechicero’s shoulder lock as a message to MJF. Blackwood was completely trapped, unable to escape, and verbally submitted. That brings the question of what will happen if Hechicero traps MJF with the same hold.

Battle of Buffalo: Daniel Garcia defeated Butcher. The meat man tenderized his opponent for much of the match. Garcia rallied with clotheslines, but Butcher was still standing. Boom! Garcia finally clotheslined Butcher onto his keister. Garcia pounced for an angled piledriver to win.

Decent match for the hometown wrestlers. Butcher was physical. Garcia showed toughness and tenacity to weather the storm. It was nice to see respect exchanged after the match, and it makes me want to see Garcia pal with Butcher down the line. If Garcia’s star power gets big enough, he can have a fun stable with Daddy Magic, Butcher, and Blade. There was nothing to take away for Garica versus Ospreay next week, because Ospreay and Butcher are completely different types of wrestlers. This match was just a treat for the Buffalo crowd.

Owen Hart Cup quarterfinal: Hikaru Shida defeated Deonna Purrazzo. The Shining Samurai escaped an armbar by reaching the ropes with her foot. Shida dodged a pump kick, and Purrazzo got caught in the ropes. Shida climbed the corner to connect on a leaping kick. After a Falcon Arrow from Shida, roll-ups were exchanged. Shida popped up to unsheathe the Katana strike to win. Purrazzo showed poor sportsmanship to attack after the match. Thunder Rosa made the save.

That was an awesome flurry from Shida to win. I’m a little surprised that Shida pulled out victory here, because Purrazzo has been the one putting in work lately, especially coming off a strong win over Thunder. I do think Shida is the better call to advance. She has history in Wembley Stadium from last year, so her journey to return is more interesting than Purrazzo’s path.

Konosuke Takeshita, El Phantasmo, & Jack Perry defeated Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, & Lio Rush. This was a preview of the TNT Championship ladder match. Perry never agreed to be in the trios contest. He only partners with the Elite. Christopher Daniels informed him of the consequences. Perry is free to skip the match, but then Daniels will pull him out of the PPV bout.

Perry did the bare minimum to wrestle. I’m not even sure if he actually tagged in or not. He ignored his teammates early. In fact, Perry jumped off the apron to avoid a tag from Phantasmo. Perry did help break a pinfall when Phantasmo was victim to a pair of frog splashes from Lio and Dante. Perry also baited Briscoe to crash and burn on a dive outside. He even made a heartthrob pose worthy of a poster on the bedroom wall.

In the end, Perry helped his team win by shoving Dante off the turnbuckles. Takeshita took advantage for a Blue Thunder Bomb and a running knee to win.

Business picked up quickly in the aftermath. Perry grabbed the TNT title to blindside Takeshita. The challengers jockeyed for position to hold the belt, then Briscoe closed with a dive off a ladder onto the pile.

That was a fun match with cool moves. The Perry wrinkle made it interesting, and his lead created a general vibe of cautiousness between teammates. -match chaos was effective in teasing ladder match insanity for the PPV.

Notes: The Lucha Bros had a special announcement for something we’ve never seen before, but Titan and Hiromu Takahashi interrupted. LIJ proposed a trios match against Death Triangle. PAC was busy with the Owen Hart Cup, so the Lucha Bros revealed that Mistico would be their partner. Takahashi hyperventilated with excitement.

The Bang Bang Gang exchanged trash talk with the Patriarchy over the trios titles.

Video package of Jeff Jarrett’s crew offering words of support for the Last Outlaw wrestling the Elite wild card in the Owen Hart Cup tournament.

Toni Storm stood on broken glass to recite a riff on the Statue of Liberty sonnet with a slant to her match against Mina Shirakawa at Forbidden Door.

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Stud of the Show: Hikaru Shida

Whenever Shida returns from abroad, she quickly reminds the world of her excellence.

Match of the Night: Konosuke Takeshita, El Phantasmo, & Jack Perry vs. Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, & Lio Rush

Flashy action with amusing character work.

Grade: B-

This grade comes down to competition on Saturday night. I had to watch Collision while hearing a parade of salsa music in the street. The show was fine with enough hype leading into the PPV, but it wasn’t strong enough to trump the alternative. I would have much rather joined the fun outside than watch this episode. Recap done. Time to party.

Share your thoughts about Collision. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?