Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Collision on October 26.
Here is a look at what AEW advertised for Saturday's show:
- Nigel McGuinness sits down with Wheeler Yuta
- MxM Collection vs. The Outrunners
- Anna Jay vs. Viva Van
- Lio Rush vs. Ricochet
- Jay White vs. Shane Taylor
- LFI vs. FTR
Let's take a look at what happened on this week's episode of Collision.
Jay White vs. Shane Taylor
As soon as Taylor and White locked up, Switchblade found out what he was up against. He was literally walking in place trying to push Taylor back only for the leader of STP to overpower him easily.
Juice Robinson and Lee Moriarty were at ringside to support their teammates. White began chopping the big man down by taking out his legs.
This was the typical big man vs. underdog kind of match. Taylor used his size to impose his will while White used his speed and quickness to stick and move. This was a solid opening match that didn't overstay its welcome.
Predictable\y, Switchblade's continued focus on Taylor's knee paid off and he was able to score the win after hitting a Blade Runner. White gave a promo directed at Adam Page after the match was over.
Result: White defeated Taylor
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Moriarty needs to be on AEW TV more often. He's too talented to be relegated to ROH and the occasional AEW match.
- Robinson was making all kinds of noises throughout the match.
- Robinson got a big pop when he tripped Moriarty.
Penelope Ford vs. Robyn Renegade
After being out of action for 740 days, Penelope Ford returned to the ring for her first match back against Robyn Renegade.
While two years is a long time to go without a match, Ford didn't take long to find her groove and begin bumping and hitting moves like a standing moonsault.
This wasn't a very long match but it was enough time to give Ford a chance to show off her athleticism a bit. It felt like a lot of people in the crowd either didn't remember her or weren't invested in this match because the outcome was so obvious.
Renegade is a talented worker, but she has been used as an enhancement talent in AEW almost exclusively. We all knew Ford would win, especially since this was her return match.
She scored the win with a Muta lock. The crowd woke up a bit and cheered for her despite Ford being a heel.
Result: Ford defeated Renegade
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Renegade got an actual entrance this week. We usually only see that in ROH.
- Ford makes a lot of difficult things look easy.
- Jamie Hayter gave a quick promo after the match to confirm she would face Ford in two weeks on Dynamite.
MxM Collection vs. Outrunners
FTR and The Outrunners gave a promo together backstage before Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd took on Mansoor and Mason Madden.
The crowd was having a blast cheering and booing as the competitors traded taunts. This was pure entertainment for the first couple of minutes but they eventually started getting more competitive.
This match lasted through a break and gave both teams enough time to get in a lot of their signature offense.
The fans in attendance were as vocal about this as they were about anything else on this show. Even if the match itself was only average for quality, it was off-the-charts levels of fun.
The Outrunners picked up a victory by hitting what they call Total Recall for the pin on Mansoor.
Result: The Outrunners defeated MxM Collection
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Mansoor is low-key one of the funniest people in AEW. He is always on.
- WWE never took advantage of what a giant human being Madden is. It's nice to see him portrayed as a monster powerhouse.
- Nigel McGuinness was really getting into this.
Ricochet vs. Lio Rush
Yuta gave a sitdown interview with McGuinness and said he is willing to do what it takes for the greater good, whatever that means.
The next match saw Ricochet take on Lio, who had Top Flight, Action Andretti and Leila Grey accompany him to the stage but not all the way to the ring.
Lio was really aggressive out of the gate and beat Ricochet into the corner with strikes. He had Ricochet reeling until one boot to the face put him in control.
At one point, Ricochet offered Lio a hand to help him up, but he regretted it when Lio sent him out of the ring for a suicide dive.
They really picked up the pace during and after the break to turn this into one of the more exciting bouts of the night.
Lio was going to use a steel chair out of frustration but Ricochet kicked it into his face before taking him down with a huge dive over the top rope. Ricochet was able to secure the victory to cap off a fun encounter.
Result: Ricochet defeated Lio Rush
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Lio is really good at making his size a strength instead of a weakness.
- Ricochet's spin kick looked like it caught Lio in the face more than planned.
- These two would be an awesome tag team.
Anna Jay vs. Viva Van
Jay was looking to continue building momentum in a match against Van, who is not new to AEW but isn't a full-time talent.
They began with a simple exchange of wristlocks and counters before Van picked up the intensity with some mounted strikes.
Van and Jay are at similar points in their career but have taken very different paths. You could see differences in their styles, but they worked together well to make this a solid performance. Jay won with the Widow's Peak.
Result: Jay defeated Van
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It was cool to see Van get a full entrance despite not being a signed talent.
- Van's mule kick looked brutal.
- Jay's backstabber didn't go as planned.
FTR vs. LFI
This week's main event saw Rush and Dralistico battle Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler in tag team action.
Dralistico got the upper hand during his first few exchanges with Harwood, but Wheeler took control after tagging in. He and Rush had a furious exchange trying to one-up each other.
Dralistico is known for being more of a high-flyer, but Rush, Harwood and Wheeler all pride themselves on their striking and power game, so this was a very competitive fight.
This was an entertaining main event that showed how good all four of these men are when they are working against people of equal skill.
The Beast Mortos interfered but it wasn't enough to get LFI the win. FTR got the win by pinning Dralistico but Mortos attacked them to cut their celebration short. The Outrunners made the save to send the crowd home happy.
Result: FTR defeated LFI
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Jake Roberts is trying his best but he doesn't look like he has much to do with LFI.
- Tony Schiavone did a good job talking about LFI's accolades outside of AEW. They are both very accomplished wrestlers but haven't won gold in AEW yet.
- The crucifix bomb from Dralistico looked incredible.
- The exchange of slaps and punches from Harwood and Rush was great. The crowd was having a lot of fun.
The Final Word
Saturday's Collision was a pretty standard show, but it didn't have any glaring booking mistakes or wasted squash matches, so it had that going for it.
All of the bouts on the card ranged from good to great. Getting two women's matches on one show is always a plus in AEW, and it's especially nice when both of them get enough time.
Ricochet and Lio had the best bell-to-bell performance, but LFI and FTR came close with a hard-hitting main event.
Most of the storylines that were addressed were kept in a holding pattern. Nothing advanced, but a lot of groundwork was laid for Wednesday's special Halloween edition of Dynamite.
One notable thing we need to mention is the rise of The Outrunners. Floyd and Magnum have taken AEW by storm and the fans are fully on board. If they continue building momentum and popularity like this, they will be tag champs in no time.
Grade: B
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