Collision recap and reactions: Trios division becomes interesting again

AEW Collision (Feb. 3, 2024) emanated from Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, TX. The show featured FTR & Daniel Garcia lighting a fire in the trios division, a Forbidden Door matchup with CMLL, a member of the roster becoming All Elite, and more.

Catch up on all the Collision details with top-notch play-by-play from Cain A. Knight.

Saturday night is alright for fighting.

Trios division becomes interesting again

The Acclaimed haven’t faced a real threat to their place atop the trios division since winning the AEW World Trios Championship from House of Black at All In in August 2023. Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Billy Gunn have put in work defending the titles over the months, however, none of the competition presented a feeling that the gold could pass hands. That is about to change with the emergence of a new trio.

FTR and Daniel Garcia are sticking together as a team, and their sights are set on trios gold.

FTR and Garcia passed a huge test last week by winning an epic cage match against the House of Black. This week, the next test was the Patriarchy. Christian Cage led Nick Wayne and Kill Switch (aka Luchasaurus) into action for the main event.

This bout was given plenty of time to work. Wayne did a great job being insufferable by slapping Dax Harwood and stealing Garcia’s dance moves. Kill Switch protected his monster status. FTR had to double-team a high low to knock him down. Christian was smarmy picking his spots.

In the climax, the match broke down. Kill Switch chokeslammed Cash Wheeler. Garcia rammed the dino into the ring post. Christian speared Garcia. Harwood slapped on the Sharpshooter to Christian. Wayne saved his patriarch on a diving cutter to Harwood.

The finish came down to Wayne and Garcia. The fancy dancer countered a springboard dive into a jackknife pin to win. FTR and Garcia swiveled their hips in Christian’s face to close the show.

FTR and Garcia are just the opponents the Acclaimed need to revitalize the trios division. That is a matchup either team could win on any given night. It would have an electric vibe through the arena.

As for the match at hand on Collision, it was a rocking main event. Everyone shined in their own way. One criticism toward AEW is booking big matches without any build. This contest falls into that category. It desperately needed a promo from Christian to explain his motivation for taking the fight. This was only the second trios bout for the Patriarchy. They previously lost to Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland. The scarcity of their trios work is why it didn’t make much sense to be tossed into this bout without any explanation.

After the match, commentary pushed hard on the idea that Garcia deserves a TNT title shot. The rationale was that pinning Wayne made Garcia worthy. That line of thinking made no sense. First off, the win came in a trios match with FTR and Garcia actively trying to establish their position in the trios rankings. Second, how does pinning Wayne bump Garcia past Adam Copeland on the ladder? That notion makes the rankings look like a mess. Christian can choose to defend against who he wants. I have no problem with that. But don’t try to snow me on the idea that Garcia is on equal footing as Copeland in deserving a TNT Championship match.

Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.

Eddie Kingston defeated Bryan Keith. Proving Ground rules for the Continental Crown. Keith was milliseconds away from victory when he ducked a spinning backfist to execute a double underhook powerbomb.

In the end, Kingston slapped on a sleeper. Keith was too feisty to go down, so Kingston transitioned for a DDT. Even though Keith was dazed, he unloaded windmill slaps to his opponent’s face. Kingston exploded for a spinning backfist on the button to win.

Afterward, Tony Schiavone announced that Keith is All Elite. Kingston gave Keith his respect. Bryan Danielson came out for his match next. He ignored Kingston and raised Keith’s arm for the crowd. This was another example of mind games on the Mad King.

That match was a straight up slobberknocker. Kingston and Keith hit each other with the proverbial kitchen sink. The All Elite signing was perfect timing, because Keith looked like the real deal on this evening. He has always done well in his role up to this point, however, he wrestled at a higher gear here. Congratulations to the Bounty Hunter.

Bryan Danielson defeated Hechicero. The CMLL luchador had a fire entrance.

Technical battle with a variety of cool submissions. Hechicero also executed a swinging hammerlock backbreaker.

For the finish, Danielson countered a submission for top position to secure a roll-up. Hechicero immediately attacked after the bell. Claudio Castagnoli made the save for his teammate.

That match was a dandy. Hechicero made a strong impression for those new to his work. The flow of the action presented him as an equal in skill to Danielson. The luchador put Danielson in a variety of precarious positions stretching his limbs, and it all looked cool. -match activity built hype for next week’s showdown between the Blackpool Combat Club and CMLL.

Hook defeated the Outrunners. Handicap match. The tag team bullied Hook around the ring, but they lost focus to flex their muscles for the crowd. After taking a double suplex, Hook popped up to demand control for victory via Redrum.

Stop it. Please, stop it. The booking of Hook has gotten out of hand. The challenge versus Samoa Joe was fun as a novelty of a young gun testing his hand against the world champ. Putting Hook in a 2-on-1 match is just silly. This criticism is solely about the booking. Hook himself wrestled well snapping sweet suplexes.

Serena Deeb defeated Queen Aminata. A neckbreaker paved the way for the Serenity Lock submission.

Solid action. Aminata pushed Deeb just enough to test her resilience coming back from injury. Deeb was never in serious trouble, but she had to earn this win.

Red Velvet defeated Vertvixen. Spinning kick for the pin.

This was basically a warm-up for Velvet on her way to facing Toni Storm next week. Not much to take away from this bout.

Notes: Jon Moxley had a message for the CMLL luchadores. He’s not mad at their attack, but there will be payback.

House of Black plan to eradicate Mark Briscoe from the history of professional wrestling. Briscoe cost them the cage match last week by slamming the door on Malakai Black’s head. The transition to feud with Briscoe makes sense, but wouldn’t FTR and Daniel Garcia still be involved to help their friend?

Swerve Strickland started his promo by putting over wrestlers like Kofi Kingston and Athena for Black History Month. He has done reprehensible things to be in this spot so close to challenging for the world title, and he doesn’t regret any of it. Swerve ordered Prince Nana not to interfere against Hangman Page. That way there will be no excuses for the cowboy. I like that twist to see Swerve backing up his bravado. It gets back to embracing the roots of competition.

Toni Storm plans to hold a public workout to show her technical side. The innuendo is worth a laugh.

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Stud of the Show: Hechicero

Coming in as an unknown to those who don’t watch CMLL, Hechicero had the kind of performance to make viewers seek out his best matches.

Match of the Night: FTR & Daniel Garcia vs. The Patriarchy

A nice blend between character and wrestling.

Grade: B-

The ring work was enjoyable across the board. The overall importance was lacking for this episode. It was partially a reset for some characters to establish motivation for new feuds. There was no peak moment that sticks in my memory bank as reason to tune in next week.

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