AEW Collision live results: Hangman Page vs. Katsuyori Shibata
AEW Collision is a taped show this week with seven matches announced.
Originally scheduled to air live on Saturday from the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the show was canceled earlier this week due to an incoming storm. As a result, AEW taped matches for tonight’s Collision on Wednesday at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.
CMLL Heavyweight Champion Claudio Castagnoli will defend his title against Roderick Strong, who earned the shot by defeating Hechicero in Arena Mexico last week.
Hangman Page vs. Katsuyori Shibata is also set for the show.
Willow Nightingale will defend the TBS Championship against Julia Hart.
AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander will wrestle Isla Dawn in an Eliminator match.
Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita will face the father-and-son team of Billy and Austin Gunn.
Andrade El Idolo will wrestle Magnus. In addition, Mark Davis and Jake Doyle will take on Jordan Oliver and Alec Price.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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AEW Collision started off with a bang with Katsuyori Shibata making his entrance.
Kaysuyori Shibata vs. Hangman Adam Page
Shibata and Page immediately started brawling around ringside. Hangman drove Shibata’s head into the announce table and sent Shibata into the ring. Shibata hit a pump kick that sent Hangman back to the floor and he went for another running kick on the floor, but Hangman dodged and Shibata fell into the timekeeper’s area.
Hangman hit another kick in the same corner at ringside and brought Shibata back into the ring. Page hit a fallaway slam and nipped up to his feet and went for another boot, but Shibata dodged. Hangman tried to hit a springboard lariat on Shibata, but Shibata countered with a kick and hit a vertical suplex on the apron before rolling off the apron with Hangman and hitting another suplex. He then hit a knee breaker on Hangman and started working over the knee.
Shibata put Hangman in the corner and draped his legs across the rope before hitting a kick to the middle turnbuckle. The referee, understandably, said this was a low blow. Shibata pointed out that he did not kick Page, but only kicked the turnbuckle. It was not his fault that it flew up and hurt Hangman Page in the lower regions. This is obviously ridiculous, but apparently the referee thought it was a compelling argument because the match continued.
Shibata and Page exchanged a series of chops and strikes before switching to running Yakuza kicks and then trading German suplexes until they both hit forearms at the same time and collapsed. Both men struggled to their knees and continued exchanging strikes until Shibata hit another low blow, but this time the referee didn’t see it. Shibata sent Hangman to the apron and went for another vertical suplex on the apron, but Hangman Page blocked it and hit a Dead Eye on the apron!
Yikes, seeing Shibata take that move scared the life out of me. Hangman Page hit a moonsault to the floor on Shibata, causing him to crash to the floor again. Page went for the Buckshot Lariat but Shibata ducked, hit an STO, and locked on a choke, but Hangman made the ropes. Shibata sat Hangman in the corner and went for a dropkick, but Hangman skinned the cat up to the top turnbuckle to dodge it and then hit a Buckshot lariat for the pinfall.
Result: Hangman Page defeated Katsuyori Shibata
This was an excellent match with unfortunately little heat. You can tell Tony Khan loves Shibata giving this the time it had. Still an excellent match, nonetheless.
–Alex Marvez found Ricochet and Don Callis on a golf course. As they were talking, Mark Davis choked out a random passerby arguing with him on the green and tried to rob him of his belongings as Callis and Ricochet talked about GOA and their matches in CMLL. Ricochet claimed he was enjoying the fruit of his effort, and he and Don Callis have been golfing before every Dynamite. Ricochet said that he was expecting GOA to get an AEW World Tag Team Title shot after Davis & Doyle beats FTR for the tag titles, but Callis said that you “can’t play the 19th hole before the 18th” which was an underrated funny line. This promo package looked like it belonged on Dynamite as it was talking about the Death Riders vs. Don Callis Family, which already happened on Wednesday, so it was bit weird in its placement here, though it did establish that Ricochet and Callis are talking business at the very least.
Isla Dawn (w/ The Grizzled Young Veterns) vs. Kris Statlander
Statlander started the match driving Dawn back to the corner. As Dawn shoved Statlander away, Statlander countered a dropkick by slingshotting Dawn into the corner. Dawn, however, countered as well and hit a knee to Statlander followed by a PK off the apron on Statlander. Statlander hit a dropkick off the top rope and a Staturday Night Fever soon thereafter, giving her a quick win before she faces Thekla next week.
Result: Kris Statlander defeated Isla Dawn
–Thekla was on the screen wearing a Statlander shirt, saying that she was such a big fan, and that it was unfortunate that this would be her last match as champion. She took the shirt off, spit on it, said, “Live on and prosper” before flipping Statlander off. I enjoyed that Star Trek reference.
–Jack Perry was backstage talking about Ricochet and how he injured Luchasaurus, and because he tried to take away the career that Luchasaurus just gained back, he is going to take everything, including the AEW National title.
–A quick video aired recapping Ace Austin’s wins in ROH as of late, indicating that he was going to team with Austin Gunn tonight, but was unable to do so due to travel issues, so Billy Gunn was reuniting with his son to face Protoshita tonight. I get that they were stuck with what to do, but I would have just delayed this match for another week rather than have Billy Gunn step in since the last time we saw him with his son, he was feuding with him.
Protoshita (Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita) (w/ Don Callis) vs. Austin & Billy Gunn
Austin Gunn squared off with Fletcher to start the match, but it was not long before Fletcher was asking for Billy Gunn to get in the ring. Fletcher asked for a test of strength, but Gunn faked him out, hit a DX style chop, and hit a shoulder tackle. Takeshita tagged in as Excalibur told us that we could only find a match like this in AEW. You know, that is probably true. I am not sure if I want to watch it, but I can’t deny AEW is the only place I can see it, and I kind of low AEW for that.
Billy Gunn went to the floor and Callis weakly chopped him and Paul White legitimately cackled. Takeshita hit Gunn as Callis ran away, and then I laughed. Callis got back on commentary and said, “You know, Billy Gunn is deceptively huge. He has to be 6’6,” and I laughed again. Callis was great here.
When they came back from break, Gunn hit Fletcher with a Fameasser, but Fletcher managed to kick out. Fletcher missed a Yakuza kick in the corner, and the Gunns hit 310 to Yuma, but Takeshita broke it up and destroyed Billy Gunn with a forearm. Fletcher and Austin Gunn exchanged moves until both went down after a German suplex. Takeshita and Fletcher sent Billy Gunn to the floor again before Takeshita went for a Powerdrive Knee, but Gunn dodged. Unfortunately for Austin Gunn, he ate a Yakuza kick from Fletcher out of nowhere and Takeshita hit Raging Fire for the pinfall victory.
Result: Protoshita defeated Austin & Billy Gunn
–After the match Takeshita showed great reluctance to shake the hand Callis, and Kazuchika Okada’s music hit, and Takeshita had to be held back from attacking Okada.
–Ricochet was backstage with GOA, and he said that he felt terrible for what happened to Luchasaurus. He said that they didn’t know they went that far, and he was wishing Jack Perry the best of luck, because Jack Perry needed all the luck in the world for when he faces Ricochet in Las Vegas for the AEW National Championship.
–The Grizzled Young Veterans had a video about why they were so angry at Eddie Kingston and Ortiz, showing Ortiz actually use a weapon. They have a point – they did cheat to win. That said, Eddie Kingston has no problem fighting them, and so the match is happening soon, and likely won’t have any rules.
Mark Davis & Jake Doyle (w/ Don Callis) vs. Alec Price & Jordan Oliver
If their first loss was not enough to make them regret signing, Price & Oliver were slaughtered by Davis & Doyle in this match as they literally threw them across the ring, including launching both of them like lawn darts towards the middle of the ring, causing them to crash into each other. Jake Doyle did something (see what I did there?) and tagged out to Davis who continued to assault Oliver.
Davis missed a corner charge and Price tagged in. Price tried to hit a dive on Doyle, but Doyle caught him and then threw Price headfirst into Oliver as he went flying through the middle ropes. Davis and Doyle hit a piledriver and Black Hole Slam respectively for the win.
Result: Davis & Doyle defeated Price & Oliver
–Don Callis came into the ring and said that he woke up in the night one time with a vision of retiring FTR and taking the AEW World Tag Team Champions, and that the dream was coming true. Stokley Hathaway came on the big screen with FTR, and Hathaway said that there is one thing you can count on, and it’s Don Callis lying. He said FTR were good people, unlike Callis, and that at the end of the night, Justin Roberts was going to announce them as still champions.
–Darby Allin was driving and said that people were crazy for thinking his belly to belly suplex into the stairs against PAC was enough to keep him down. He said he was going to meet with an old friend that knows how tough he is, and he and Bam Margera skateboarded while laughing about Allin’s insane bump.
Julia Hart vs. Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship
Nightingale and Hart started with Nightingale using power to dominate the early parts of the match, but she got distracted when Sky Blue ran down and Harley Cameron came out to brawl with her, going backstage. Hart took advantage of this, hitting a neckbreaker across the middle rope as they went to an ad break. Hart hit a similar move to sole food, but Nightingale fell back into the middle rope and bounced back with a lariat.
Hart drove Nightingale’s head into the apron after they went to the floor, and Hart went for her rope walk on the guardrail instead of the ropes. A guard walk? A rail walk? Anyway, Nightingale countered that into a vertical suplex on the floor. Nightingale hit a cannonball back in the ring for a 2-count. Nightingale went for a corner charge, but Hart countered it into a tarantula. Hart hit a tornado DDT in the middle of the ring for a 2-count.
Hart went for a moonsault, but Nightingale got her feet up to block it. Nightingale went for a powerbomb, but Hart countered into a hurricanrana for a 2-count. Nightingale fought out and hit the powerbomb for the pinfall victory.
Result: Willow Nightingale defeated Julia Hart
–The Rascalz were sitting on a couch eating munchies. They made a lot of drug related jokes. They then did rock, paper, scissors to decide which of the two would face Lio Rush & Action Andretti. Myron Reed lost each time, which was funny as he increasingly asked to play again, but he kept picking paper while Zachery Wentz and Desmond Xavier kept picking scissors.
–Alex Windsor was speaking with a wrestler who was off camera, saying that they should team, because she has not had gold for far too long. Jamie Hayter was the other person, and she shook hands with Windsor. It seems they’ll be going for the tag titles soon.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Magnus
Not much heat for this match, given the AEW fans really don’t know anything about Magnus. Andrade dominated the early part of the match, playing to the crowd despite being a heel. He then called for a figure four leglock and then refused after the crowd popped. That got them to turn on him. Andrade hit a hard chop on Magnus that drove him to the mat. Magnus responded with a head scissors takeover, but Andrade was waiting for the dive, and he hit a forearm.
Andrade teased throwing his shirt into the audience, and then threw it onto the floor, took a fan’s phone and took a selfie with her, and the put his phone number into the phone and walked away. That was quite the spot. I suspect it was a plant given Andrade was wearing gloves and I’m not sure they work with a touchscreen, but it was great. During the ad break Andrade continued to be cocky, taking a hat from a fan and walking around ringside as he beat on Magnus.
The fans were begging Andrade to get down to his tights, so he did, taking his outer gear off, and then apparently chanted something very inappropriate because a loud “This is awesome” edited chant was aired over it in response. This is getting a bit ridiculous. When they came back from break, Andrade chopped the leg of Magnus, forcing him to crash to the mat from the top rope.
Magnus finally got a bit of a comeback after Andrade tried to take his mask off, and he hit a series of dropkicks and hit a suicide dive. Magnus hit a senton bomb for a 1-count, as Andrade basically no sold it. Magnus went for a running knee strike in the corner, but Andrade hit a drop toe hold and then hit brutal running knees in the corner on Magnus. Andrade then picked him up at 1, hit the DM, and scored the pinfall.
Result: Andrade El Idolo defeated Magnus
–Andrade El Idolo was backstage and said that Don Callis brought him into AEW because he knew Andrade El Idolo could win the AEW World Championship. He then said that Swerve Strickland was standing in his way, and that he would see Swerve Strickland next Wednesday. Wow, that will be a fun match.
Roderick Strong (w/ Orange Cassidy) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/ Wheeler Yuta) for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship
AEW was keen to follow CMLL tradition with this, and since Salvador Lutteroth was not there, Tony Khan presented the title before the start of the match. Roderick Strong, Claudio Castagnoli, and their seconds all posed with it, and Moxley on commentary said, “That will make a good polaroid.”
Strong and Castagnoli started as you would expect, with both guys throwing hard strikes. Strong chopped, while Castagnoli powered through said chops, eventually dropping Strong on the floor and then going after the knee of Strong. Strong continued to fire back every few minutes with chops, but Castagnoli kept going back to the knee until he blocked a basement slide dropkick and hit a knee breaker on the guardrail that laid strong out.
When they came back from break, Castagnoli was continuing his assault on Strong’s knee, but Strong managed to use his good leg to hit a kick when Castagnoli charged the corner. Castagnoli missed a Yakuza kick and Strong kicked the leg, and then hit a backdrop on the guardrail on Castagnoli before driving him into the ring post. Moxley called that a beautiful counter, praising Strong on commentary.
Strong was cut off again with an attack to the knee, leading to another segment with Castagnoli using a half crab. Strong fought out of it again, but Castagnoli hit a double stop and went for the Neutralizer, but Strong countered it into a pinfall attempt. Strong got up but ate a pop up uppercut from Castagnoli. Strong got his feet under the ropes, and Orange Cassidy played his role as second, alerting the referee to that fact. Catagnoli, not deterred by this, hit a dropkick to the knee.
Strong slipped out a superplex attempt from Castagnoli and hit an avalanche Olympic Slam for a 2-count. Strong continued to fight, locking on a Boston crab, but Castagnoli managed to drag the both of them to the ropes. Castagnoli went right back to the knee and drove Strong’s knee into the ring post. Strong, however, pulled Castagnoli into the ringpost with his legs. Yuta attacked the knee behind the referee’s back, leading to Orange Cassidy laying Yuta out with an Orange Punch. Castagnoli took out Cassidy but ate a flying knee from Strong. Strong went for another knee strike, but Castagnoli pulled the referee in front, forcing Strong to stop, and Castagnoli attacked the knee again, did the giant swing holding onto only the injured knee, and then hit the Neutralizer on Strong for the pinfall.
Result: Claudio Castagnoli defeated Roderick Strong
This was an awesome main event match. I love how AEW tried to help fans know the CMLL Heavyweight Championship was an important title with how they presented it, and then they gave us a main event level match with Strong and Castagnoli here.
Final Thoughts
Some of this episode of Collision dragged a fair bit, if you ask me. However, that main event was worth the time spent on the show. If you have to watch only two things on this episode of AEW Collision, watch the Shibata/Hangman Page match and watch the Castagnoli/Strong main event. The main event was easily a match on par with some of AEW’s PPV matches, and the old ROH fan in me loved seeing these two guys have a classic match.
Josiah has been writing for WON/F4W for several years now, from initially covering Lucha Underground, to TNA Impact, and now filling in where ever needed.