AEW Collision Review – February 24, 2024

It’s AEW Collision featuring Bryan Danielson against Jun Akiyama in the main event, plus Powerhouse Hobbs facing Sammy Guevara, and more.

After a week off, the 35th edition of AEW Collison comes to us from Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri. It’s another small crowd for Collision like we see almost every week. About an hour before the show starts, there are 2,241 tickets sold according to WrestleTix. The lineup is okay but Collision is no longer being booked like a second “A” level show. Bryan Danielson is facing Jun Akiyama. FTR is going against Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty. Malakai Black has his first singles match since June of 2022 versus Bryan Keith. There are two predictable women’s matches. Powerhouse Hobbs is facing Sammy Guevara in a No DQ match. There will likely be some shenanigans allowing Hobbs to win. That contest is probably the most meaningful singles match on Collision so far in 2024 so I will give AEW some credit for that.

Before I get started I wanted to comment on the current state of AEW Collision. I can live with Collision becoming a “B” or “C” caliber show. It does make sense considering the time slot it has. There isn’t as much ratings potential on Saturday nights compared to Wednesday. However, I don’t think AEW is going about it in the best way. I’d rather see guys like Shane Taylor and Bryan Keith face each other instead of being fed to wrestlers we know will beat them every week. At least one of them would get the benefit of a win if they faced off. Same thing on the women’s side with talents like Queen Aminata and Keira Hogan. The matches are too predictable. It’s okay to showcase wrestlers like Moxley, Malakai, Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb. Do that in matches that are five minutes or less. Make them look strong. Give up and comers like Keith, Taylor and Aminata time to have good matches against opponents they have a chance to beat.

Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting. Let’s get to the action!

No DQ: “Powerhouse” Will Hobbs def Sammy Guevara – Fast-paced start from Sammy until Hobbs leveled him with a World’s Strongest Slam on the steel steps. Hobbs intimidated announcer Kevin Kelly making him take off his belt so he can whip Sammy with it. Tremendous action using chairs, the railing and steel steps. Guevara pulled out a couple of tables from under the ring. It didn’t go well for him. Hobbs destroyed Sammy with another World’s Strongest Slam through the tables. We go to a well-timed PIP break with both men down. Guevara lifted Hobbs on his shoulders and hit his finisher GTH. It was impressive that he lifted him but it didn’t look like got all of it. Hobbs kicked out at two. Sammy grabbed another table. Announcer Nigel McGuiness says “How did that go for you last time?” I thought the same thing.

Another WSS and two count for Hobbs. Now Powerhouse is setting up tables on the outside. Guevara got a couple of gimmicked beer bottles from fans and smashed them over Hobbs’ head. It wasn’t real glass. Jack Perry would not approve. Sammy has brought a tall ladder into the ring. Spectacular Senton Splash from probably 15 feet high off the ladder onto Hobbs laid out on two tables. WOW! “This is awesome” chant. Hobbs shoved the official into Sammy who was climbing to the top rope. Perfectly legal. Hobbs finished off Guevara with a World’s Strongest Slam from the middle rope through a table. Rating ***¾

Gino’s take – Outstanding opener that was similar to how Collision was booked in 2023. There has been a rivalry between the two wrestlers that’s been going on for a couple of months. This match seemed like it was part of an important rivalry even if the feud hasn’t been that great. I thought Hobbs would cheat and get a cheap win. He kind of did but it was pretty clean for a No DQ match. This should probably be the end of the program. Will winning was the right call. Powerhouse looked like just that in this match. Really good stuff to kick off Collision!

Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli are backstage talking about their time limit draw against FTR on Dynamite this week. It was the normal promo work from the Blackpool guys talking about how tough they are. It works for them. I like the rivalry between BCC and FTR. The match at Revolution should be excellent.

FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) def Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty – Okay action early with neither team gaining an advantage. The crowd was a lot louder for the first match. After a commercial break Taylor managed to gain the advantage on Dax Harwood. Dax made the hot tag to Cash. The crowd popped for a bit then got quiet again. Wheeler cleaned house. FTR won after a Dooms Day Device with Moriarty taking the pin. Rating **¾

Cash Wheeler got a mic after the match. There was a pretty loud “FTR” chant. Cash and Dax put over their rivalry with Moxley and Claudio. Both men did well.

Gino’s take – A well-worked match that wasn’t very interesting for the reasons I mentioned in my opening comments. The crowd reaction shows it wasn’t an intriguing matchup. It’s not a quiet crowd tonight. They were very loud for the opener. Taylor and Moriarty had a couple of competitive matches on Collision against Moxley and Claudio recently. It was FTR’s turn to beat them tonight. I think Taylor has been on the losing end in at least the last four Collisions. The crowd reacted more for the promo than the match.

We get a hype video for the match between Danielson and Akiyama later tonight. I assume that is the main event. This was effective. I like when AEW does video packages like this.

Thunder Rosa def Lady Bird Monroe – I think Monroe’s name might be a nod to a president or first lady in the early 1900’s. It sounds like that anyway. Thunder showed good intensity. I’m not sure how her ring gear stays on. There isn’t much to it. That’s not a complaint. Rosa won quickly with the Tijuana Bomb. Rating SQUASH

Thunder spoke to a camera after the win. She says it’s her time.

Gino’s take – I don’t mind the squash. Rosa is being built up well. It shouldn’t have taken her any longer than this to put away an unknown performer named Lady Bird. I think Thunder could use a better finisher. The Tijuana Bomb is fine as a move. It’s just not THAT impactful. While a squash here was fine she could use a rivalry sooner than later. Her going against Julia Hart and winning the TBS Title makes sense. That might be the plan. It could be on hold with Julia currently nursing an injury.

Renee Paquette interviewed Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander and Stokley Hathaway. Stokely starts talking for them until Statlander grabbed the mic from him. Stat is 1-1 against Sky Blue and challenges her to a match next week.

Bang Bang Scissor Gang came out for their match. Max Caster tried to rap but choked like Papa Doc in 8 Mile. I’m not sure if it was planned. The crowd didn’t react to his first line. It seemed like it threw him off like when Eminem got the crowd at The Shelter in Detroit to chant “F Free World, 3-1-3”.

Jay White, Colton Gunn & Billy Gunn def Jacked Jamison & Iron Savages (Bronson & Boulder) – One of the Savages does a move called “titty city”. I’ve mentioned before that their gimmick is strange. It’s not my favorite but I think it serves the right purpose of making them comical. Jay White tagged in and was on fire taking out all three of his opponents before finishing Jacked Jamison with Blade Runner. Rating *¾

Gino’s take – The announcers put it over like it was a huge win calling Bang Bang Scissor Gang a dominant faction. I don’t see it that way. The Iron Savages are goofy. Some of their selling was way over the top. It works since they are jobbers with a silly gimmick. I won’t stop talking about how much I don’t like the direction for BBSG until AEW does something with them. Jay White especially is above this. I guess he’s satisfied holding the most irrelevant title in AEW well actually ROH as part of a trio after being in the main event of the last AEW PPV. BBSG no longer cares about being destroyed by Undisputed Kingdom since they have coveted Trios gold. Got it. At least the match wasn’t long. I’m not sure what happened with Caster during his rap. The line he was able to get out was about having problems with management so it could be part of a new gimmick. Either way, it wasn’t a good look. I’m sure social media will have a field day with it. If I knew how to make a meme I’d make one of him getting punked by Eminem.

Lexy Nair interviewed Bryan Danielson. She called his match against Jun Akiyama a dream match. It’s not. They say that way too much in AEW. Danielson doesn’t respect Eddie Kingston and wants to beat his idol tonight. Eddie will be on commentary to see it. Great promo work from Bryan here.

Malakai Black makes his way to the ring while we’re shown a replay of Julia Hart and Brody King bloodying Mark Briscoe on Collison a couple of weeks ago.

Malakai Black def Bryan Keith – Keith actually got a win on Rampage as part of a trio’s match with Komander and Penta El Zero Miedo. The action is okay before the commercial. AEW has lost what was a hot crowd. These matchups aren’t intriguing at all. Black has been working over the knee of Keith. There was an awkward botchy type move in the corner. Good back and forth striking from both men. Double Stomp from the top rope by Malakai who got a near fall after German suplex. Two count after a Liger Bomb from Keith. Keith ran in to try a power move but Malakai hit The End fka Black Mass for the win. After the match, my wife Amber said “Man, I thought Bryan was going to win.” LOL, that was my favorite part of the match. Rating **½

The lights go out after the match. It’s Mark Briscoe with a kendo stick. That popped the crowd. Brody King and Buddy Matthews came out to defend Malakai. Briscoe fought them off with the kendo stick before pulling out the same spike that was used to bust him open a couple of weeks ago. He stuck the spike into the turnbuckle after Malakai got out of the way and was destroyed by the House of Black.

Gino’s take – I feel like I’m writing about the same match over and over. I like the performers and the wrestling is fine. I don’t need to beat a dead horse so I’ll just say the matches aren’t interesting at all. The crowd was practically silent most of the match. The post-match stuff with Mark Briscoe was decent but so far he’s only lost matches and gotten his ass kicked. I get that AEW is making Briscoe a sympathetic figure. One-sided rivalries like that also aren’t that interesting. Time for Mark to find some friends.

A video package airs about the Young Bucks rivalry with Sting and Darby Allin. Sting cut an outstanding promo on Dynamite that was recapped here. Unlike most of the content on Collision the story for Sting’s last match has been awesome and the Revolution card is stacked!

Serena Deeb def Lady Frost – Kierra Hogan was supposed to be in this match. She couldn’t compete due to being sick. Amber predicts a win for Lady Frost lol. You can hear a pin drop before an early PIP commercial. Deeb is firing up the crowd. It’s working. The crowd is louder for this match than the last few. Neckbreaker in the ropes and swinging neckbreaker gets a two count for Deeb. Cool looking cartwheel and move where Frost lifted and slammed Deeb. Serena has been working over the left knee of Frost and tapped her out with a single leg crab. Rating ** ¾

Serena has a microphone after the match. She says the women’s division is heating up. It kind of is but mainly because of how cold it has always been. Pretty good stuff from Serena. The crowd is behind her.

Gino’s take – Solid work from Frost and Deeb. I enjoyed this more than most of the show. I like that AEW is giving the women two matches on Collision now. It seems to be a permanent thing. Deeb and Rosa are the type of wrestlers that should be featured in the division and they are getting that. It would be nice to see them have a match against each other soon.

Eddie Kingston comes out for commentary for our main event. There is a fairly loud “Eddie” chant. The crowd might be back into the show.

Bryan Danielson def Jun Akiyama – Back and forth technical wrestling at the start before the early PIP break. There appeared to be a bad botch with both wrestlers falling off the apron during the commercial. Danielson is doing a lot of his signature moves and firing up the crowd. Huge running lariat from Jun. “This is awesome” chant. Big knee strike and piledriver from Akiyama for a near fall. German suplex from Bryan. Exploder suplex and knee strike from Jun. Both men are down. They both hit running knee strikes and are down again. Tony Schiavone says the match is a classic. It’s been good but that’s a stretch. Hard knee strike from Danielson. That seemed devastating. Danielson got the crowd behind him with a loud “YES” chant before hitting the Busaiku knee and getting the win. Rating ***¼

Bryan shook Jun’s hand after the match and then flipped off Eddie Kingston. Akiyama didn’t like that and slapped Danielson in the face. Bryan faked another handshake then kicked Jun in the nuts. I knew that was coming and it was great. That brought Kingston into the ring as he brawled with Danielson. Claudio came down to the ring to help Bryan with Eddie. That brought out FTR as well. No Jon Moxley. Tony Schiavone is talking to Tony Khan on the headset. He announces a trios match between Kingston/FTR against Moxley/Claudio/Danielson for Dynamite. There was another wild brawl in AEW in front of a crowd that wasn’t that loud to close out the show.

Gino’s take – Good but not great main event. While I don’t think this was a dream match at all I did like the story of Danielson beating Eddie Kingston’s idol with him sitting on commentary. AEW has done a terrific job building to Revolution. Eddie and Bryan may have the best build of them all. I don’t know if they actually hate each other but I sure do believe it. I’m buying what they are selling. Bryan had similar matches on Collision recently against Yuji Nagata and Hechicero. I liked this match. Both of those were quite a bit better. I’m looking forward to the trio’s match on Dynamite. I think Dynamite has been excellent recently as AEW’s clear “A” show. A quiet crowd hurts nothing more than a wild brawl. We are seeing that a lot in AEW like we did at the end of the show tonight.

Overall Rating for AEW Collision – 6.5/10

2024 Average Rating: 7.21

Final Thoughts – The opening match was splendid. The main event and show ending angle were good. They weren’t good enough to get the rating to the 7/10 level. I would call the rest of the show below average. I could tell when my wife was on her phone during most of the second hour. It’s not like these are terrible matches and the promo work was pretty good all night. I don’t need to write anything more about my complaints about shows like this. You might not know it by reading my recent reviews but I actually think AEW has been doing very well in recent weeks. Dynamite has been great and Revolution could be an all-timer. Even Rampage has improved. I wanted to be overly critical about this show because I could tell it wasn’t going to be very good based on the lineup. I might not put as much effort into my analysis unless Collision heats up again. There aren’t reviews of AEW Rampage or WWE Main Event on TJRWrestling. I think Collision is becoming that caliber of show and not really deserving of 2,500 to 3,000-word reviews.

I’ll be joining TJR’s John Canton for the AEW Revolution PPV preview next week, so I’m looking forward to that.

Please follow me on Twitter/X @GeenoEvel86. Thanks for reading!