AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Jan. 20
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Collision on January 20.
Eddie Kingston and Ortiz almost lost their friendship last year during a brief feud, but they worked together this week in a tag team match against Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli.
Another member of the BCC was also in action when Jon Moxley took on a man who has been popping up more frequently in AEW lately, Shane Taylor, and we also saw Buddy Matthews face Daniel Garcia.
We also got another open match challenge from Adam Copeland, and Thunder Rosa returned to the Collision ring for only her third match since returning from injury.
Let's take a look at what happened on Saturday's show.
Jon Moxley vs. Shane Taylor
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Collision opened up hot with Moxley making his way through the crowd as "Wild Thing" played to kick off the show. Taylor's entrance followed shortly after to set up the first match of the night. Lee Moriarty was at Taylor's side.
These two men pride themselves on being among the best brawlers in the game, so this match did not start with a collar-and-elbow tie-up or an Irish whip. They were throwing hands the moment they could reach each other.
While they never really slowed down, they also kept the pace steady. They weren't trying to go from spot to spot without selling the severity of every single move they hit on each other, which made this look like a more competitive fight than the average match on TV.
This is neither a pretty nor technically proficient display, but it was a fun match that showcased one of the guys who has deserved a push for a long time against one of the top stars in AEW.
The former world champion was able to make Taylor pass out to the Bulldog Choke to score the win, but Taylor refused to tap out.
Result: Jon Moxley defeated Shane Taylor
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Taylor is one of the truly great underrated strikers of this era. He looks like he is really trying to hit someone.
- Moxley talking trash always adds to his matches. He's so good at acting like he is angry all the time. Has Marvel considered him for a Bruce Banner variant?
- Taylor's leg sweep is a good spot. He would definitely take down most men with that because his leg is huge and would have tons of power behind it.
- Moxley wished the AEW fans a happy new year before saying he was pissed off beyond belief and hungry. He basically warned everyone, including those in the BCC, to either keep up or stay out of his way.
Adam Copeland's Open Challenge
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Copeland came out for his open challenge and the man who answered the call was Dante Martin from Top Flight. Nigel McGuinness pointed out how Martin looked happy, not nervous to get this opportunity.
Copeland is no stranger to working with high-flyers, so he was right at home facing a guy who could jump from the mat to the top rope in the blink of an eye.
Whenever he could, the Rated-R Superstar tried to ground Martin with strikes or submissions, but he was having a hard time combating some of the high-flyer's offense at times.
These open challenges have already proved to be a great way for Copeland to face people he might not otherwise fight. He can give some of these young talents a great showcase against a veteran while still advancing his character by winning at the end of a hard-fought contest.
Copeland Speared Martin out of the air before locking in his version of the crossface the announcers referred to as The Grindhouse. The Spear looked fantastic and was a great ending to an enjoyable match.
He gave a promo during a post-match interview with Tony Schiavone saying these challengers were getting harder but he intends to keep fighting until he regains the TNT title from his former friend.
Result: Adam Copeland defeated Dante Martin
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Darius did not accompany Dante to the ring.
- Copeland's value as a base for high-flyers cannot be undervalued. He has been at this for so long and helped so many people land safely during some of the riskiest moves. That is one of those skills that goes unnoticed by many that makes him one of the best.
- Nigel pretending the crowd was chanting "We want Christian" was pretty funny.
- Martin's springboard looks so effortless. It's wild how he can appear to defy gravity at times.
Thunder Rosa vs. Queen Aminata
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Just one night after her match with Statlander, Queen Aminata was back on AEW TV in a fight against Thunder Rosa.
They locked up and La Mera Mera pushed Aminata to the ropes and talked a bit of trash to set the tone. Aminata talked some trash right back at her before they locked up again to show she wasn't intimidated.
The show returned right as they began a nice exchange of forearm strikes. The Queen got the better of the former AEW champion in the exchange and hit a running hip attack in the corner, but Rosa avoided the second and started fighting back. After they both had several more standout moments, La Mera Mera picked up the win.
Rosa is one of the best AEW has and Aminata is a great young talent who is just beginning to scratch the surface of what she can be in this business. They put on a solid match that made The Queen look fantastic, even in defeat. If they had five more minutes, this would have stolen the whole show.
Result: Thunder Rosa defeated Queen Aminata
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Rosa's dropkick through the ropes looked great and was a good way to send the show into a break. Rosa speaking right into the camera was a nice touch, too.
- Aminata is someone AEW can really invest in and get a lot in return. She has so many great qualities as a pro wrestler. If she isn't signed to some kind of deal, she should be.
- Eddie Kingston and Ortiz's interview after this match was hilarious. Look for it if you can. It's short but will definitely make you laugh if you are a fan of Kingston.
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Buddy Matthews vs. Daniel Garcia
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During an in-ring promo, Bullet Club Gold introduced a cardboard cutout of Juice Robinson to officially retire Cardblade and keep Robinson around while he is recovering from an injury. The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn came out and pitched joining forces as a supergroup to become unstoppable.
After some thought, Jay White and The Gunns scissored with them to make it official as the crowd cheered.
The next match featured Garcia taking on Matthews. Brody King and Malakai Black were at ringside while Daddy Magic sat with the commentary team again. Before the bell, FTR came out to provide more backup for Garcia.
Matthews had a significant size and power advantage, and he put it on full display in their initial exchange by knocking Garcia down several times without breaking a sweat.
During the break, Matthews began faking a knee injury that had some people on social media convinced he was hurt because he was selling it so well.
He eventually revealed his ruse, but that didn't mean he had the match in the bag. Garcia kept finding ways to fight back to the point that both men had trouble beating a countout after taking so much damage outside the ring.
This was a high-energy match with some great storytelling. Both of these guys probably feel like they have something to prove in real life. This match certainly allowed them to prove their worth and then some.
Garcia looked like he was about to succumb to Matthews before he rolled him over into a jackknife and scored the three-count. A huge brawl ensued that drew out several members of the roster to help break them up. The show went to another break with everyone still fighting.
Result: Daniel Garcia defeated Buddy Matthews
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- You just know White and The Gunns are going to turn on them eventually and try to take the AEW trios belts.
- The moment when Matthews jumped over Garcia and landed on his feet during the picture-in-picture is when he first started faking his knee injury.
- Matthews has some of the best knee strikes in all of pro wrestling right now.
- He also has a nice Jackhammer that looks totally different from Goldberg's in how he executes it.
Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal
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Matt Sydal just suffered a loss to Chris Jericho on Rampage but he was showing no signs of being affected by it when he came out for his match against Roderick Strong.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett accompanied Roddy to the ring, giving him his usual unfair advantage thanks to a stable. The Undisputed Era, The Diamond Mine and The Undisputed Kingdom have kept him in stables for years, so his character understands how to use allies to his advantage during matches better than most.
This match had a lot of proficient wrestling but after what we had just seen in the previous bouts, it felt slightly underwhelming, which feels unfair to say about a match that is actually pretty decent if seen in a vacuum.
Strong picked up a predictable but hard-fought win.
Result: Roderick Strong defeated Matt Sydal
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Taven is one of those guys who looks like he should have a different voice than he has. It's hard to explain it, but some people just don't look like they match their voice, if that makes sense.
- During this match, an elimination trios cage match was announced for next week between HOB and FTGarcia.
- Sydal and Aminata both suffered back-to-back losses on Rampage and Collision. It's kind of a strange statistic that doesn't mean anything but was hard not to notice.
Eddie Kingston and Ortiz vs. Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli and Final Word
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The main event of this week's show was the match with Ortiz and Kingston taking on Danielson and Castagnoli.
Danielson was looking to prove he could outwrestle Kingston when they started the match, so he took The Mad King down and celebrated in the corner with some jumping jacks.
The American Dragon focused on strikes while the former ROH world champion was showing off his power whenever he was the legal man. Ortiz and Kingston are just straight-up fighters, so that is what they did whenever they had the upper hand.
Danielson hit Ortiz with a running knee to get a clean and decisive win to close the show.
Result: Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Eddie Kingston and Ortiz
Grade: B+
Matthews vs. Garcia was the most exciting match of the night in a variety of ways, but this was one of those shows that had a few matches that could all be understandable favorites for different kinds of fans.
BCC vs. Kingston and Ortiz was great, Rosa vs. Aminata made both women look incredible, and Copeland's open challenge was another great chapter in this new story he is telling.
Collision has been delivering some fun and memorable matches in recent months and this week's show continued that trend.
Show Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Ortiz and Kingston made sure to have matching colors on their gear. It was a nice touch, especially since Castagnoli and Danielson didn't do the same thing.
- Castagnoli's transition into the Big Swing on Ortiz was impressive, but at this point, you just expect that kind of thing from him. He's one of the most powerful pound-for-pound wrestlers in the world.
- Kingston selling so much for his opponents makes his comebacks more exciting, so everyone wins. More young wrestlers need to learn that.
- Danielson spitting in Kingston's face after the match was a wild moment for is character.
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