AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from September 9
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Collision on September 9.
This week's show featured two big open challenges. Not only did Jon Moxley defend his newly won International Championship, but Kris Statlander also put her TBS title up for grabs.
We also saw two more matches from the Grand Slam Eliminator tournament. Darby Allin took on Roderick Strong, and Samoa Joe battled Penta El Zero Miedo.
Penta was not the only masked man on this week's show. Bullet Club Gold took on the team of Gravity, Metalik, Aerostar and Dios Del Inframundo.
Let's take a look at what happened on Saturday's episode of AEW Collision.
Jon Moxley vs. Action Andretti (International Title)
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Collision opened with an International Championship match between Moxley and Andretti. This was billed as an open challenge that Andretti had answered prior to the show beginning.
This match was non-stop action. When Andretti was in control, it was all about the high-risk maneuvers. When Mox had the upper hand, he was focused solely on inflicting pain.
Andretti is young and still somewhat new to AEW, but he has already been put in a lot of matches with high-profile stars. Tony Khan obviously sees something in the 25-year-old to trust him like that.
During the break when the action was shown with picture-in-picture, AA grounded Moxley in a half crab submission that began a sequence of offense focused on the champion's leg.
Andretti took a page out of Bryan Danielson's playbook when he started stomping on Moxley's face while holding his arms in place, but that didn't stop the champion from winning the match and retaining his title. This was fun from start to finish.
Winner: Jon Moxley
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The shade of green on Andretti's gear screams '90s Nickelodeon.
- Mox is a good base for high-flyers. He knows how to make sure they land safely, so his opponents always feel comfortable doing risky moves with him.
- Andretti hit a cool springboard twisting splash at one point.
- Mox was selling really well for Andretti throughout the whole match, but he really kicked it up a notch once AA went after his leg.
Krist Statlander vs. Robyn Renegade (TBS Title)
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Statlander put her TBS title on the line against anyone who was willing to step into the ring with her. Robyn Renegade answered the call.
They started off with a relatively simple sequence, but they quickly escalated things and became more aggressive. Robyn started using shortcuts while her sister, Charlett, interfered whenever the ref had his back turned.
Statlander is an imposing figure. She is taller and more muscular than a large percentage of the women in AEW, so trying to book her as an underdog is never going to be easy. Stacking the odds against her by having someone at ringside makes sense in this situation.
Stat retained her title, as we all knew she would, but that wasn't it for her. Both Renegade sisters attacked her until Jade Cargill came down to the ring and took them both out to make the save.
It looked like she was going to help Statlander to her feet, but she ended up hitting Jaded before posing with the title she held first. This was a decent match despite its short length, but the return of Jade helped make everything a little more interesting.
Winner: Kris Statlander
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Why is it always Robyn who gets singles matches and not Charlett?
- Cargill got a huge pop and a "Welcome back" chant before she attacked Cargill. Half the crowd turned on her as soon as she did that.
- Statlander has a great pump kick.
Bullet Club Gold vs. Aero Star, Inframundo and Gravity
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Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli had a sit-down interview with Tony Schiavone. It led to Kingston offering to put his NJPW Openweight Championship on the line. Castagnoli said Kingston owed him a handshake and his respect when they meet at Arthur Ashe.
Due to personal reasons, Jay White was unable to make the show this week, so Metalik stepped out so this could become a trios match.
Juice Robinson, Austin and Colten Gunn made sure to bring the cardboard cutout of White that has become a running joke as of late.
Whenever you put three high-flying lucha libre stars in a trios match, you know you're in for some wild action. This was probably the first time a lot of AEW fans have seen Inframundo and Aero Star compete, although Star did have one match in AEW back in 2021.
Even with the unpredictable nature of their opponents' offense, The Gunns and Robinson scored the win. Austin and Colten even posed on the turnbuckles while Juice was getting the pin.
This was fun but would have benefited from a little more time so everyone could have had more to do. It felt like they were trying to pack too much into the minutes they were given.
Winners:
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Kingston was so good in that interview segment. That man needs a world title.
- This was Inframundo's AEW debut, so he was looking to stand out. His mask being so unique will definitely make him memorable.
- The LED lights on Star's gear were a cool look. Other than Naomi, there haven't been too many stars on TV who have used them.
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Rey Fenix vs. Angelico
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Angelico made his Collision debut this week when he took on the returning Rey Fenix, who gave a brief promo about Moxley and the BCC taking him out.
The crowd was totally behind Fenix, so Angelico made sure to do plenty of things that he knew would get him heel heat and get the fans to root for the babyface.
This match had too many fun spots to list, but the biggest takeaway from this bout is that Angelico deserves to be on TV more often.
Fenix is well-known by AEW fans as being one of the best aerial specialists, but both men came away from this match looking good. Fenix got the win, but Angelico benefitted from the exposure.
Winner: Rey Fenix
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Angelico is one of the smoothest wrestlers in all of AEW. It's shocking that he hasn't been used on TV more.
- The springboard arm drag sequence from Fenix was beautiful.
- Whoever makes the gear for Fenix and Penta is one of the best in the business. It always looks so good.
- Serpentico was at ringside for Angelico, but Luther was nowhere to be seen.
Darby Allin vs. Roderick Strong
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The first of two Grand Slam tournament matches was about to begin, but Luchasaurus was shown attacking Allin as he was trying to make his way to the ring. Christian talked trash to him while Luchasaurus had him in a torture rack. The Living Dinosaur threw him into a loading bay door before leaving.
Allin crawled his way to the ring while Nick Wayne tried to talk him out of competing. As soon as he got to the ring, the ref called for the bell and Roddy pounced on him.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett cheered him on from ringside as Strong looked to capitalize on his opponent being weakened, but Allin kept showing signs of life with little comebacks here and there.
This was energetic and included a lot of unique offense. The Messiah of the Backbreaker not only hit a few of his signature moves, but Allin also had a couple of nice counters to them.
While getting an entertaining match is never going to be a bad thing, having Allin look so competitive made the attack he took earlier seem meaningless.
AR Fox showed up to lend his support but Wayne wanted him to go away immediately. Strong was able to pick up the win to advance in the tournament.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The way Luchasaurus threw Allin into the door looked like when Kevin Nash threw Rey Mysterio into the side of a trailer in WCW.
- Allin needs to chill with the suicide dives. There is no way to do what he is doing with any reasonable degree of safety. His back is going to be a mess when he gets older.
- The way Roddy threw Allin into the barricade looked awesome. The loud pop it made also helped sell the brutality of the moment.
Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Samoa Joe
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Bryan Danielson came out for an interview and said that despite wanting to wind down his career, he is not to be taken lightly and plans on kicking everybody's head in. He said if this is his final year, it will be the most epic year of his career.
He called his shot and challenged Zack Sabre Jr. for the WrestleDream event on October 1. Ricky Starks came out with Big Bill to interrupt. This led to a fight, with Mox joining in. Starks and Bill ended the segment standing tall.
The main event of the night was the tournament match between Penta and Samoa Joe. Penta tried to do his usual taunting, but Joe responded with a headbutt to show that he was in no mood for games.
These are two very different types of wrestlers, but their level of experience and skill made them great opponents. Joe is the ideal person to work with high-flyers because he is always going to catch them safely.
This was the best match to put in the main event slot. Both guys made sure this felt important through their performances. Joe won to advance to the finals. He will face Strong next week to see who gets a world title shot against MJF.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- It looked like Moxley might have lost a tooth.
- This was the second Lucha Bro in action, but neither of them came out with each other for some reason.
- The Joe walkaway spot will always be entertaining.
- The announcers said TK confirmed the match would go until it was over, so the show ended a few minutes late.
The Final Word
7 of 7This week's Collision was great, so anyone who worried about how the show might look without CM Punk can rest assured that AEW has more than enough talent to occupy all five hours of its weekly programming.
Angelico is one of those guys who never feels like he has gotten a fair shake. He is incredible at what he does, but his time on TV has been limited, especially since his tag team with Jack Evans disbanded.
The non-wrestling segments all furthered storylines or helped showcase some stars who have needed some time in the spotlight. It felt like every segment was meticulously planned to get the most out of the two hours.
The return of Cargill is going to be interesting to watch unfold in the coming weeks. Statlander beating her was a huge moment, so having Cargill win the title back from her might not be the best way to go. Time will tell.
Grade: B+
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