Collision recap and reactions: Edgeheads reunion

Saturday night is alright for fighting. AEW Collision (Mar. 30, 2024) emanated from Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada. The show featured Matt Cardona as the surprise challenger for Adam Copeland, Top Flight pulling an upset in the tag title tournament, and more.

Catch up on all the Collision details with top-notch play-by-play from Geno Mrosko.

Edgeheads reunion

Talk about an unexpected surprise to open the broadcast. Adam Copeland issued an open challenge to defend the TNT Championship, and Matt Cardona answered the call. Cardona was previously aligned with Copeland as an Edgehead (with Brian Myers) in 2007 for WWE. This is the type of fun surprise that AEW knocks out of the park often.

The contest began with a teacher versus student element as Copeland schooled Cardona on the mat. Cardona gained control by getting dirty. He raked the eyes then shoved Copeland off the apron onto the ring steps. Cardona ripped up fan signs as cheers turned to jeers in an instant.

Copeland rallied for a flying bulldog, however, Cardona went to his bag of tricks to regain control. He suckered Copeland into a game of chase outside. As Copeland reentered the ring, Cardona kicked the ropes into Cope’s groin. Cardona hit an Impaler DDT as a way to rub it in. Copeland’s wits came back, and he caught a Radio Silence leg lariat to counter for a buckle bomb. Copeland added a sitdown powerbomb, but it wasn’t enough to win.

The finish was pretty slick. Copeland fired up the crowd in anticipation for a spear, however, he ran into Radio Silence from Cardona. After Copeland kicked out, Cardona sized up the champ to finish. The same thing happened with roles reversed. Cardona charged forward, and Copeland hit a spear to win.

Copeland and Cardona was an exhibition of fun. They worked well together blending in material from the past that works without any past knowledge and even better with memories of their WWE past. The closing sequence was pretty nifty in execution. They played the crowd well with the Radio Silence and spear spots. In my opinion, this match fit the spirit of AEW. They produced a special matchup that had history but also embraced the present to create an enjoyable experience.

Copeland had a visitor after the match. Malakai Black was in the ring apparently demonstrating his desire to challenge for the TNT strap. In typical House of Black fashion, Buddy Matthews ambushed Copeland from behind. Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston ran in for the save.

Backstage, Copeland challenged the House of Black for a trios bout at Dynasty on April 21. Instead of mist, Kingston will make sure the HoB spits blood and teeth.

Tag team tournament quarterfinals

March Madness is in full swing, and AEW is rolling with the spirit for the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament. A pair of quarterfinal bouts took place, and one of the results was a surprise. Upset city, baby! Well, an upset did occur, but I’m not so sure it was supposed to happen.

Ricky Starks & Big Bill Morrissey wrestled Top Flight. Bill gave respect to the Martin brothers for their high-flying skills, however, he compared the matchup to a #1 seed versus a #16 seed.

Little did Bill know that the so-called #16 seed was going to pull off the shocker. Top Flight utilized teamwork dropkick offense to frustrate the former tag champs. Starks used his big brain to create misdirection for Bill to use his big muscles to clobber Top Flight. That strategy allowed Starks and Bill to take control.

The match took a sideways turn when Darius Martin struck a Pele kick to Starks between the shoulder blades. Darius’ knee might have knocked Starks in the back of the head too. Starks looked off crouching on the apron, but the match quickly continued. When Darius stacked a roll-up, Starks did not kick out. The referee and commentary played it off like Starks got his shoulder up. The visual looked like Starks had his bell rung and just failed to kick out when he was supposed to. Top Flight continued with momentum for a teamwork tornado DDT. This time, the referee counted three as Starks was awkward on the mat for the pin. Top Flight was awarded the win, then the ringside medic checked on Absolute.

In a positive update after the show, Starks stated on Instagram, “I’m all good, everything checked out fine. Was being precautious.”

This finish will surely receive criticism about wrestler safety. Starks may be good now, but he clearly wasn’t good in the moment of the match. That much was evident by his failures to kick out and Tony Schiavone’s complete surprise at the winning pin. And that’s what made Top Flight’s win come across like an audible.

As for the rest of the match, it was veering positively. Bill excelled as a giant, and Top Flight showed creativity to work around his power. Starks was the ring general for his team directing traffic for advantageous opportunities.

The other contest was between FTR and the Infantry. Since FTR didn’t feel like the favorites to win it all, their strategy was not to look past any opponent. The Infantry is the Cinderella of the tournament after lucking by the House of Black. FTR was determined to end that magical run tonight.

Unlike the Infantry’s effort against the House of Black, this battle with FTR was genuinely competitive. Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo rose to the occasion. The Infantry used their speed advantage to put FTR in difficult situations. In the end, FTR found the right moment to strike with the Shatter Machine for victory.

This turned out to be a really good contest. The chess match was inventive in a way to increase excitement the longer it went. The Infantry were treated like equals. There has been general criticism at times about lower level wrestlers hanging step for step with higher level wrestlers in AEW, but it worked well here given the context. This is tournament action with a championship prize, so it is easy to buy in to the idea that the Infantry elevated their game for a special performance. Heck, the Infantry had me actually believing they might score the upset when Dean speared Cash Wheeler to save Bravo from a double suplex. This sequence flowed so well as a nearfall.

Top Flight and FTR advance to meet in the tournament semifinals. The other half of the bracket playing out on Dynamite has the Young Bucks against Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta. The final takes place at the Dynasty PPV to crown the new champions.

Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.

Kyle O’Reilly defeated JD Drake. O’Reilly used a variety of leg kicks to slow down the heavyweight. He also attacked the left arm, which led to an armbar victory.

In the context of O’Reilly’s story, this was a great performance in the ring. Drake is a perfect type of opponent for O’Reilly to work off injury rust and also test himself. Even though Drake doesn’t win often, he is still dangerous. If anyone messes around, Drake will make sure they pay the price. O’Reilly was focused on his plan of action. He used agile striking offense to methodically pick the larger man apart. The flow had purpose leading into the efficient finish.

Afterward, the Undisputed Kingdom rushed into the ring to celebrate with O’Reilly again. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett lifted him onto their shoulders. Their energy was a little too high. It seems clear that this will eventually rub O’Reilly the wrong way, and that could be an interesting story leading to a showdown with Roderick Strong.

Thunder Rosa defeated Lady Frost. Thunder roared for a backstabber to set up a Tijuana bomb for victory.

Every time I watch Lady Frost, I leave impressed. She has such a unique style of gymnastics offense. For example, Frost executed a handstand to grab Thunder for a spinning Air Raid Crash. This was the type of performance that should earn Frost more screen time. And since Frost was so good, it made Thunder look stronger in comparison.

Backstage, Toni Storm was informed that Thunder will wrestle Mariah May on Dynamite in a #1 versus #2 rankings matchup. Storm praised May for plotting this scenario and planted a big kiss on the lips. I suspect that Storm thinks May’s intention was to position herself to block all contenders for the champ rather than earn a title shot herself, and it’s pretty clear that May is just rolling with the punches doing the best she can without a mastermind blueprint.

Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, & Katsuyori Shibata defeated Lance Archer & The Righteous. This was a rocking main event. The pace really picked up when Danielson slapped hands for the hot tag to Claudio. It took awhile, but Claudio eventually took Archer for a ride on the big swing.

The finish broke down into chaos with Shibata reigning supreme for a sleeper then penalty kick to pin Vincent.

The movement throughout the match was so delicious. With all the working parts, it felt like each step was part of the dance toward the climax. Everything flowed together with impact from tight saves in precarious submissions to defensive offense blocking potential saves and so forth. I like that Shibata earned the win to increase his current status after consecutive losses to Danielson and Will Ospreay. Even though Shibata is a legend, he still needs to achieve success inside the ring to maintain that image. The intensity from Archer left me wanting to see him in singles matches against Shibata and Claudio. Shibata didn’t back down from the larger man, and Claudio collided for powerful collisions with the Murderhawk Monster. I don’t know how much value this match has moving forward for storylines, but it was a blast to watch in the moment.

Notes: Billy Gunn was angry about Bullet Club Gold invading his home, so he challenged Jay White to a match on Dynamite. Max Caster proposed that all Billy’s boys stay out of it for a clean fight between Daddy Ass and Switchblade.

Christopher Daniels called out Malakai Black for a match next week on Rampage.

AEW profiled Will Ospreay’s career journey to hype the match against Bryan Danielson at Dynasty. Very cool information package.

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Stud of the Show: Claudio Castagnoli

The giant swing on Lance Archer was amazing.

Match of the Night: Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lance Archer & The Righteous

I wanted to reward Adam Copeland versus Matt Cardona, but the second half of the trios main event was so darn exciting.

Grade: B

Very solid show in terms of entertainment inside the ring.

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