AEW Collision live results: CM Punk, FTR & Ricky Starks eight-man tag team match
The final stop before Sunday's Forbidden Door has arrived with Saturday's live edition of AEW Collision from Toronto.
In the headliner, CM Punk will team with FTR and Ricky Starks in eight-man tag team action against Bullet Club Gold's Jay White & Juice Robinson and The Gunns.
For the first time ever, NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi will take on Swerve Strickland. This will be Tanahashi's second-ever AEW TV match.
The second women's Owen Hart Foundation match will take place as Willow Nightingale faces Nyla Rose.
Andrade El Idolo will look to go 2-0 in his return as he takes on House of Black's Brody King after defeating Buddy Matthews last week.
Powerhouse Hobbs will make his Collision debut against an opponent to be named.
Sting & Darby Allin will reveal their mystery partner for Sunday's trios match.
Other segments include Christian Cage addressing the TNT Championship situation, and Miro sharing his thoughts after his return last week.
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- In a cold open, we got promos from both teams in the eight-man tag team main event. CM Punk, FTR, & Ricky Starks questioned whether this match was wise for their opponents to take. Meanwhile, Bullet Club Gold & The Gunns said that they were ready to fight and that every show would be the Gunn Show.
Who Is The Third Man?
24 hours before the Forbidden Door is opened, AEW Collision is live from the Scotiabank Arena. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were on the call as Tony Schiovane was in the ring. He went to welcome out Darby Allin & Sting, but Chris Jericho & Minoru Suzuki came out instead. They were peeved at how Allin & Sting made them wait to find out who their partner would be at Forbidden Door. Jericho noted that Sammy Guevara wasn’t there because he was a bit miffed at how well Jericho and Suzuki got along. Jericho and Suzuki showed off their new best friend handshake before Jericho began menacing Schiovane, believing that he knew who the partner was already.
Darby Allin & Sting came out to make the save. Allin addressed Guevara, noting that his common sense may have kicked in by not coming, but if he did show up at Forbidden Door, Darby would kick his ass. Darby then turned to Jericho, noting that their partner kicked Jericho’s ass at the Tokyo Dome. With the card looking like it does, that only left one name for Jericho and Sting to pick. With the crowd chanting his name, former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito made his way to the ring. The match is official for Forbidden Door – Tetsuya Naito, Darby Allin, & Sting vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, & Minoru Suzuki.
Naito went face-to-face with Jericho as Kevin Kelly noted that Naito beat Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in 2019. Jericho backed away as Naito’s music played again to end the segment.
- We got a video package, recapping Miro’s successful return to action last week. We cut to Miro in the back. He talked about his year-long exile, and how he was summoned back. Miro said he walked alone, kneeling to no man. He renounced his god and his wife and said that he was now godless.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana)
While he’s clearly not at his physical peak, Tanahashi still has an incredible aura that makes North American crowds go wild for him. This was a good primer for any fans who didn’t know Tanahashi. He won with his big move and the announcers made it clear what a big deal he is in the New Japan landscape.
Swerve came out in a robe reminiscent of the former Crown Jewel of the Embassy, the late Jimmy Rave. Tanahashi caught Swerve with his reverse crossbody before playing his air guitar to the crowd. He gave Strickland the guitar, who mockingly played it before Tanahashi dropkicked him in the knee.
Strickland recovered and hit a headscissors that sent Tanahashi out of the ring. After more air guitar shenanigans, Strickland crotched Tanahashi and grounded him as the crowd chanted for Tanahashi. Tanahashi skinned the cat and took Strickland to the floor, but Strickland caught Tanahashi in the apron on a baseball slide. He hit a pump kick as we went to picture-in-picture break.
Back from break, Swerve was working over Tanahashi as the crowd chanted Go Ace. Tanahashi cut Swerve off and hit a somersault senton for a nearfall. Swerve avoided the Slingblade and hit a rolling facebuster for a nearfall. Tanahashi caught Swerve in a pair of rollups before hitting a Dragon Screw Leg Whip. Tanahashi hit the Slingblade for a nearfall. Tanahashi went up for the High Fly Flow but caught nothing but knees before Swerve rolled him up for a nearfall.
Swerve hit his big side kick before going to the top, but Tanahashi moved out of the way of the Swerve Stomp. Tanahashi went to the top again but lost his footing and slipped off. Swerve went to meet him at the top, but Tanahashi swatted him down. Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow and scored the win.
After the match, MJF’s music played. MJF showed up on the video screen, saying that he wasn’t actually going to be there to watch Tanahashi’s preview match. MJF said that he would embarrass Tanahashi at Forbidden Door. MJF said that after a discussion with Tony Khan, their match would be going on first at Forbidden Door. He said that he didn’t want to sit through any more of the “indie jabrones” than he had to and that Tanahashi was not on the level of the Devil.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) by disqualification
Andrade continues to impress during his comeback, as this was another quality match. He’s got a few options to help even the numbers against the House of Black.
Andrade came into this match with his pectoral area taped up. Andrade kept King at bay, hitting a headscissors in the ring before low-bridging King to the floor. King got on the apron, but Andrade sent King into the post. Andrade hit a moonsault over the ring post to King on the floor, but only got a one-count when he rolled King into the ring. Andrade worked over King’s knee before King lifted him onto the top rope and chopped him to the floor as we went to picture-in-picture break.
King chopped Andrade down as we came back from break. Andrade fought back with elbows, but King lifted Andrade onto the apron and hammered him in the chest. He tried locking on the hanging sleeper, but Andrade hung him up on the ropes. Andrade dropkicked King into the turnbuckle before hitting a Dragon Screw in the ropes. Andrade continued his work on King’s knee, then hit a running forearm to take him down.
Andrade hit a big lariat in the corner before hitting the running knees in the corner for a nearfall. King fought out of the hammerlock DDT, hitting a rolling elbow on Andrade on the top rope. He struggled to get Andrade up into a fireman’s carry but powered through and hit a running Death Valley Driver into the corner. King followed up with a cannonball but his knee buckled on a Gonzo Bomb attempt. Andrade went for the Figure Four, but Julia Hart got on the apron with his mask. The distraction didn’t work, as Andrade ducked a rolling lariat and hit a big back elbow. He locked on the Figure Four and bridged up, but Buddy Matthews came out and jumped Andrade to cause the disqualification.
They beat up Andrade after the bell, with Matthews sending Andrade into a lariat before lifting him into King’s Gonzo Bomb. From the video board, Malachi Black watched on as his House stood tall.
- In the ring, Tony Schiovane welcomed out TNT Champion Luchasaurus & Christian Cage. Christian came out with the title belt over his shoulder, having never allowed Luchasaurus to even hold the belt after winning it last week. The crowd chanted for Christian as he talked about how he left Collision last week in a bad mood. He knew he would come to Toronto in a few days, and now he’s in an even worse mood! Christian goes on the cheap heat offensive against his own hometown, noting that Toronto bred losers and lived with mediocrity. Christian said that the TNT Title Open Challenges were over, saying that people had to earn the title shot like he did. Christian took a potshot at Cody Rhodes before giving a speech as if he was the champion.
- We got pre-tape promos from everyone in the men’s bracket of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament before we got a rundown of the bracket. CM Punk and Satoshi Kojima will kick off the tournament at Forbidden Door, while the other three matches will take place on next week’s Collision. We got a highlight video of Skye Blue winning her tournament match before looking at the women’s bracket, leading into our next match.
Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Women's Tournament Quarter-Final Match: Willow Nightingale defeated Nyla Rose (w/ Marina Shafir)
A fine television match to get Nightingale onto the next round while heating her up for her AEW Women’s Title match on Sunday.
The winner of this match will take on the winner of Athena vs. Billie Starkz, which will take place on the Forbidden Door pre-show. After Rose clubbered on her for a moment, Nightingale cartwheeled out of an Irish Whip and hit an enzuigiri. Rose cut off a chop, leading to a test of strength that Nightingale turned into an inside cradle for a nearfall. Rose bailed to the floor, where Shafir’s distraction allowed Rose to send Nightingale into the post as we went to picture-in-picture break.
Nightingale fought back out of the corner as we came back. She hit a middle rope dropkick for a nearfall as she shook out the arm. Nightingale couldn’t get Rose up for the powerbomb, allowing Rose to hit a suplex and a gourdbuster for a nearfall. Rose got Nightingale up for the Beast Bomb, but Nightingale fought out and hit a Pounce. Nightingale followed it up with the Babe With The Powerbomb for the win.
After the match, The Outcasts surrounded the ring to menace Toni Storm’s opponent at Forbidden Door, but Skye Blue made her way to the ring with a chair to make the pre-emptive save.
- Backstage, Lexy Nair was with Scorpio Sky. Sky ran down his accomplishments while noting that he allowed success to change him. Sky said that he was his true self now after his injury layoff and that he was back.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Jeremy Prophet
Hobbs came out on his own, no QTV members in sight. Hobbs got a jumpstart on Prophet before crushing him in the corner with back elbows. Prophet tried to get a roll-up, but Hobbs didn’t even go down. Hobbs bludgeoned Prophet with lariats to both the front and back of the head. The main event spinebuster ended proceedings here.
- We got a rundown of next week’s Collision card. The men’s Owen Hart Tournament quarterfinals will take place – Hobbs vs. Dustin Rhodes, Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong, Ricky Starks vs. Juice Robinson – as well as MJF’s in-ring Collision debut.
Jay White, Juice Robinson & The Gunns defeated CM Punk, FTR & Ricky Starks
The most important goal of this match was to showcase the reaction for CM Punk outside of Chicago. And was there ever a strong reaction for Punk. The crowd was fired up either way. A whole lot of people were chanting for Punk, and a whole lot of people were booing Punk. Punk was eating it all up, of course. The match itself was much like last week’s main event. It was good, but it could’ve done with less time in the middle. Again, it’s to get Punk on screen as long as physically possible. It also gave Jay White a showcase win while filling out the Bullet Club Gold ranks.
Punk came out to a mixed reaction, leaning more negative than positive. Kevin Kelly astutely noted that they weren’t in Chicago anymore. Jay White teased starting with Punk but tagged out to Robinson. The crowd was heavily split, as strong CM Punk chants were getting booed down as the Bullet Club team worked on Harwood. FTR got the upper hand for their team after Austin Gunn tagged in. Starks took Austin Gunn to old school, but Gunn tagged out to White. White asked for Punk, who tagged in. They traded chops and teased each other’s finishers before White sent Punk to the floor, where his teammates jumped Punk. Punk’s partners rushed over to get him out of the fray as we went to commercial.
Back from the commercial, and Harwood was bringing Robinson down hard with a superplex before holding on to hit a powerbomb with Wheeler. Kevin Kelly noted new matches for the Zero Hour – the United Empire team of Kyle Fletcher, Jeff Cobb, and TJP would take on the Los Ingobernables team of Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI. Two Canadians would face off as Montreal’s Stu Grayson would go one-on-one with Vancouver’s El Phantasmo. Swerve Strickland would team with Brian Cage and Toa Liona against Roppongi Vice and El Desperado.
Meanwhile, the Bullet Club side got the advantage on Punk and worked him over. The crowd booed down Punk chants and Punk’s attempt at a comeback. After a commercial break, Punk knocked White off the top rope and hit a high crossbody. White cut off Punk’s attempt to get to the corner, but Punk whipped White into a rising knee in the corner. Punk hit a neckbreaker, but the Gunns knocked FTR off the apron. Robinson tagged in and went for a Go To Sleep on Punk, but Punk knocked him down with a high kick. Punk kicked away the Gunns and tagged in Starks.
Starks ran wild on the Gunns, hitting a tornado DDT on Austin for a nearfall. Starks went for a Rochambeau, but the match broke down into a Pier Six brawl as everyone began brawling in and around the ring. White blind tagged in, but Starks caught him with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Starks set White up for a Rochambeau, but White caught him in a rollup with the tights for a nearfall. Starks hit a brainbuster for a nearfall on Starks. We got a finisher train, featuring a wild Wheeler dive to the floor.
White caught both Punk and Starks with uranages, but Starks came back and ran wild with spears on everyone. He went for a second spear on White, but Robinson caught him with the Left Hand of God. White followed it with the Blade Runner to score the win. After the match, White and Robinson threw up the Bullet Club Gold guns, and the Gunns joined in. It looks like The Gunns have officially joined Bullet Club Gold as we fade to black.
Source: Figure Four Online
