AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Aug. 10
The intensely personal rivalry between Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo wrote its latest chapter Saturday night on TNT as the enemies squared off in a Texas Bullrope Match on AEW Collision.
The match was one of two marquee bouts, with the other being a high-stakes trios showdown pitting the House of Black against the Bang Bang Gang in a No, 1 contender's match.
Who cashed their ticket to All In and a date with The Patriarchy for the AEW World Trios Championship?
Find out now with this recap of the August 10 broadcast.
Match Card
1 of 9Announced in advance of Saturday's show were:
- No. 1 Contender's Match for AEW World Trios Championship at All In: House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Murphy, and Brody King) vs. Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and The Gunns) (Christian Cage as the guest referee)
- Texas Bullrope Match: Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo
- Darby Allin and Hologram vs. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese and Josh Woods)
- FTR vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum)
- Rush vs. Preston Vance
- Swerve Strickland's Open Challenge Eliminator Match
- Hikaru Shida in action
Darby Allin and Hologram vs. The Premier Athletes
2 of 9
Hologram carried his 3-0 win-loss record into the opening match of Saturday's show, teaming with Darby Allin to battle The Premier Athletes' Tony Nese and Josh Woods.
Nese and Woods capitalized on a battered Allin, isolating him from his partner and working him over in their portion of the ring.
A hot tag to Hologram late sparked a comeback for the babyfaces that concluded with him scoring a pin on Woods.
This highlighted Allin ahead of his TNT Championship Match against Jack Perry at All In on August 26, but it was largely meaningless, mostly solid tag match otherwise.
Result
Allin and Hologram defeated Nese and Woods
Grade
C+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- This marked the second week in a row that Hologram battled Nese and Woods. His first victory over the duo came a week ago with Mistico as his tag team partner.
- Utilizing Allin to help legitimize Hologram is a wise booking decision. Giving him the win over Woods helped.
Texas Bullrope Match: Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo
3 of 9
The rivalry between Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo concluded (?) Saturday in a Texas Bullrope Match.
Both women sported the crimson mask, one more so than the other, in a grueling brawl that saw their bodies beaten and battered.
At one point, Rosa delivered a steel chair-assisted corner dropkick that Purrazzo did not protect herself from. At another, Rosa struggled to kick out in time from a perfectly executed Gotch-style pile-driver.
Still, the match was a strong one that appropriately paid off a long program and gave the hometown hero Rosa the victory.
Result
Rosa defeated Purrazzo
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- The commentary team repeatedly put over the fact that Thunder Rosa calls Texas home, which added gravity to the match but also set up a potential heat-inducing finish if The Virtuosa managed a victory.
- Purrazzo took a big bump off the top rope and into a pile of chairs, then added another in the corner.
- Both women suffered lacerations on their foreheads and while the usage of blood in AEW can oftentimes be overdone, these two have feuded long enough and intensely enough that it was warranted.
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FTR vs. The Outrunners
4 of 9
Amid a rivalry with The Acclaimed, FTR entered Arlington for a showdown with The Outrunners' Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd.
The heels put up a greater fight than anyone could have expected, isolating Cash Wheeler and working him over in their corner of the ring throughout the commercial break. They cut the ring off, preventing the hot tag and staying alive in the contest longer than anyone expected.
The hot tag to Dax Harwood sparked the comeback, leading to five consecutive German suplexes and a piledriver that set up the Shatter Machine for the win.
Result
FTR defeated The Outrunners
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- The Outrunners are a lot of fun and possess some strong, fundamental tag team work, but there is a real argument to be made that it should not have taken as long for Wheeler and Harwood to beat them.
- With that said, the match itself was very good. FTR are in that rare air of performers who can work a broom and deliver a great match.
- The hot tag to Harwood was fantastic and popped the crowd, which was red hot for everything.
Rush vs. Preston Vance
5 of 9
Preston Vance and Rush were once tag team partners and friends but Saturday night, amid Don Callis' attempted acquisition of the latter, they squared off in one-on-one action.
El Toro Blanco brutalized Vance, ignoring their rich history together and brutalizing the former chosen one of The Dark Order.
He busted Vance open and toyed with him for a moment before putting him down for the pin.
After the match, seemingly driven by the desire to send a message to the rest of the AEW locker room, he further brutalized his former associate before referees and officials pulled him off.
Result
Rush defeated Vance
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Don Callis watched from backstage as the courtship of El Toro Blanco continued.
- If there was a match that did not need blood, it was this one but Vance was busted open anyway. Regardless of the company, the more something is done, the less meaning it ultimately has. Could it have benefited from the use of blood had we not seen it two matches earlier? Sure, but it did not.
- Nothing about this helped Vance in any measurable way. It was meant to highlight Rush but as is typically the case with the heel, he ate his opponent up and left no room for him to shine.
Swerve Strickland's Open Challenge Eliminator Match
6 of 9
Just under two weeks before he defends against Bryan Danielson in the main event of AEW All In, world champion Swerve Strickland issued an open challenge that was answered by legendary tough guy from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, "The Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii.
Ishii gave Strickland a tough match, fighting his way back into the bout despite early control by the world champion, and had him nursing what appeared to be midsection damage following a wicked suplex.
Strickland fought back, though, and earned the victory en route to what may be the most significant title defense of his career against The American Dragon in Wembley Stadium.
After the match, Lexy Nair conducted an in-ring interview with Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway, where it was revealed that the two heels will battle Ishii and Willow Nightingale as part of the AEW All In Zero Hour kickoff show.
Well, it will be entertaining if nothing else.
Result
Strickland defeated Ishii
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Swerve rolled into the commercial break but Ishii delivered a wicked stalled suplex that left the champion reeling moments later.
- Nigel McGuinness put over Strickland's grueling road to All In before criticizing Danielson for sitting down with Jim Ross and not competing. Tony Schiavone rightly reminded him that Strickland sat down with JR last week.
- Strickland won clean in a hard-fought match that was never really in doubt. Ishii is a legend but his value at this point is his work with stars he can put over and further legitimize. Swerve didn't need it here, but beating him gave him a victory over a respected in-ring competitor before his PPV match against one of the most respected of all time.
Hikaru Shida vs. Aleah James and More
7 of 9
Prior to the next match, Nair found herself in the middle of a promo featuring Top Flight and the excellent MXM Collection that concluded with Lio Rush revealing a match between the two teams for next week's show.
Hikaru Shida squared off with Aleah James next and while it was nice to see the latter back on television after her run with NXT UK, it was a one-sided affair that concluded with Shida scoring the mostly uncontested victory.
After the match, Schiavone threw to a pre-taped, sit-down interview between Jim Ross and Bryan Danielson in which The American Dragon claimed he was mentally as good as he has ever been as his world title shot against Swerve Strickland draws near.
Result
Shida defeated James
Grade
C+ all of it
Top Moments and Takeaways
- James is a former standout from NXT UK whose contract was allowed to lapse. She has a bright future so it was nice to see her back on television here.
- Shida's intensity and aggression are ramped up as of late. Could a heel turn and revitalized run toward the AEW Women's World Championship be coming?
- Danielson revealed in the interview with Ross that neck surgery is likely coming up by the end of the year.
No. 1 Contender's Trios Match
8 of 9
Christian Cage served as the guest referee for Saturday's main event, a No. 1 Contenders Match for a shot at the AEW World Trios Championship at All In that saw House of Black's Malakai Black, Body King, and Buddy Matthews battle Bang Bang Gang's Juice Robinson and Austin and Colten Gunn.
The heels worked over Matthews throughout the match, setting up what should have been a hot tag to King. Instead, Cage refused to allow it as the Gunns distracted him.
An eventual hot tag to Black sparked a comeback for the fan-favorite trio and a slick tag from King saw the big man explode into the match.
The action broke down, with each competitor delivering their signature stuff, with Murphy delivering a Meteora that left all six competitors down. Cage, ever the snake, counted to nine, delivered a spear to Matthews, and threw the match out.
The Patriarchy hit the ring and beat down the six stars and two potential challengers to the trios titles. The beatdown ended with the special referee delivering the Killswitch to Black and standing tall with his cronies to close out the show.
Result
No contest
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Prior to the main event, Shida issued a challenge to Mercedes Moné for a TBS Championship Match this Wednesday on Dynamite.
- Cage wore a long-sleeve, turtleneck referee shirt that is a fashion revolution if pro wrestling has ever produced one.
- If the idea was always to have this finish to set up a three-way for the pay-per-view, there is no reason this match could not have happened earlier in the show and the Rosa vs. Purrazzo, a match with a much more satisfying conclusion, occurred in the main event.
- The match was solid, the action was plentiful, and both teams shined. There was little in-match story to it, but that was never the major concern given the finish and what it was building to.
Overall Grade: B-
9 of 9There was enough to like about Saturday's episode of Collision for it to earn an above average grade.
The build to the trios match at All In that was the main event was fun, energetic and action-packed while highlighting the chicanery that Cage will introduce to get his desired outcome.
Strickland looked great as he prepared for his title defense against the best of this generation, too.
We got a quality match out of Rosa and Purrazzo, who have had a great rivalry in recent months, and FTR vs. The Outrunners was very good, if not longer than it needed to be.
The pieces were there but the one thing that has hurt Collision for months now is the same thing that adversely affected this: there was a distinct lack of urgency to make this card must-see, which likely means fans who may have watched tuned into something else.
Still, it was an entertaining enough way to spend two hours as the hype for All In continued to dominate the conversation.
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