AEW Collision recap & reactions: Swerve’s revenge (2024)

Saturday night is alright for fighting. AEW Collision (May 11, 2024) emanated from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The show featured Swerve Strickland with the big payback, Adam Copeland versus Kyle O’Reilly tearing the house down in a TNT title bout, and more.

AEW cruised with a double-header of Collision and Rampage. Catch up on all the details from both shows with top-notch play-by-play from Geno Mrosko. This recap will cover the Collision episode. For the Rampage recap, click here.

On to Collision...

Swerve’s revenge

Swerve Strickland was ambushed by the Embassy on Wednesday night. His revenge came on Saturday night.

The Embassy were in action for a squash against Evan Rivers & the Voros Twins. Shout-out to the Voros Twins’ hair stylist. That look was something else. This match was absolute domination. Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona tossed Rivers into the air for Brian Cage to powerbomb for the win.

Business picked up in the aftermath. Cage explained to Tony Schiavone why they turned on Swerve. The world champ was selfish only using them to achieve his goals. Once gold was won, Swerve left them hanging high and dry. When he called for their help again, the Embassy wasn’t biting. That wasn’t the type of guidance and leadership the Embassy wanted from Swerve. Cage closed with a whopper about how the Elite EVPs offer that type of leadership.

Swerve’s music hit, and Cage exited toward the stage for a fight. Joke was on him, pal. Swerve came from the backside to attack the Gates of Agony with a steel chain. He choked Kaun with the chain, then he blasted Liona with a cinder block and delivered a chair shot to the head against the ring steps. Cage stood from afar as Swerve dispatched Kaun and Liona.

There is definitely an argument to be made that Swerve’s revenge was a bundle of entertainment, but this is the kind of sports entertainment storytelling that makes me roll my eyes. I’ll give credit for being creative to present a strategic scenario for Swerve to get the upper hand. He had the right tools for the job. However, the execution felt so manufactured. Everything played out conveniently as Swerve planned. The most egregious aspect was Cage just standing there watching it all go down. Pfft, some friend he is. I do like the idea of wrestlers siding with the Young Bucks’ management style to build some depth for the battle between AEW and the Elite. Hopefully that can trickle down to the undercard to give meaning for some younger characters.

Swerve chimed in with a promo backstage. He hears the calls of people questioning if he has gone soft as world champion. Swerve responded by taking out the Embassy. Cage will get his next week on Dynamite in Swerve’s home state of Washington. AEW booked Swerve versus Cage in a world title eliminator match.

Hometown hero takes champion to the limit

Adam Copeland honored the Cope Open to give Kyle O’Reilly a TNT title shot in the challenger’s hometown of Vancouver. O’Reilly rose to the occasion for a great match.

Copeland went to work on softening the midsection of O’Reilly. The challenger’s focus was on the left arm of the champion. Both strategies paid off in a war of attrition. O’Reilly caught Copeland on a flying attack for a surprise armbar. Copeland pounded the ribs to escape.

Later, O’Reilly leapfrogged a spear to lock in another armbar. Copeland was able to break free once again. The punishment took a toll on O’Reilly’s core, and he slumped on the mat. The referee called for a quick break to check on the contestant. Once cleared, Copeland charged for a spear. O’Reilly countered again for a guillotine choke. Copeland powered up to his feet and hammered a liver punch to set up an Impaler DDT. O’Reilly was ripe for the picking on a spear. Done and done. Copeland retained the TNT Championship.

On a night with extremely predictable results across the board, this was the only match to make me question the obvious. And they did a damn good job of it too. At no point did I expect Copeland was going to lose the TNT Championship here, however, they worked the action well to get me lost in the moment. O’Reilly produced several dramatic moments to make me believe an upset was possible in theory.

That match was the end of Collision, but there are some items worth a quick mention from Rampage that are relevant to Copeland. Cope showed respect to O’Reilly afterward. O’Reilly winced in pain when Copeland raised his arm for the crowd. When O’Reilly tried to pull away, Copeland held on with a smile. O’Reilly pointed out that dark side, then Copeland was shocked at himself. Backstage, Copeland decided to let out his evil to challenge Malakai Black in a barbed wire cage match TNT title bout at Double or Nothing.

Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.

Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Top Flight. Hot tag to Dante Martin running wild, but Claudio eventually caught him for the giant swing. Claudio transitioned to a Sharpshooter, then Darius Martin made the save for a leaping Flatliner to break the hold. After a little back and forth, Danielson clobbered Dante with a Busaiku Knee. Darius exchanged strikes with Danielson, then Claudio blindsided him with a running European uppercut to win. Afterward, Danielson explained his reason to fight the Elite in Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing. He loves AEW, and he is willing to do anything to protect it.

Decent opener. Both teams brought energy. The Blackpool Combat Club was victorious as expected, and there was never a moment to put that in doubt. Danielson’s promo was good to galvanize the AEW spirit. His motives for the PPV match make sense. He added to the element of danger by referencing how his first time in Anarchy in the Arena almost ended his career. Also of note, Claudio exited during Danielson’s promo. I don’t know if that was intentional for story purposes or if maybe he had to drop a deuce. All that swinging gets the intestines churning.

Claudio later explained on Rampage that he doesn’t trust Eddie Kingston as Danielson’s partner for Anarchy in the Arena. Kingston is unstable and could flip back to his lunatic ways to hurt Danielson. Claudio supports AEW, so he decided to remove himself from this conflicted situation.

Will Ospreay defeated Lee Moriarty. Roderick Strong was on commentary flanked by the Kingdom. Moriarty benefit from distractions and physical interference by Shane Taylor. The story of this match was Ospreay not pulling the trigger on the Tiger Driver ‘91. He was in position early to execute, but the indecision allowed Moriarty room to escape and gain control. In the end, Ospreay had the double underhooks set for the Tiger Driver ‘91 as he stared intensely at Strong. He went with the Storm Breaker instead to win. Afterward, Strong caught Ospreay’s attention on the apron so Taylor could attack from behind. Strong stood tall over Ospreay’s body after the damage was done.

This drama over the Tiger Driver ‘91 feels ham-fisted. I thought it was supposed to be an extreme finisher used in special circ*mstances, not for a match against Moriarty. Ospreay has so many lethal attacks in his arsenal that he wouldn’t even need to think about the Tiger Driver ‘91 to beat Moriarty without this story element. There needs to be a pay-off since AEW is forcing this aspect in his matches. Either Ospreay’s hesitation causes him to lose to Strong, or he serves up a Tiger Driver ‘91 to win the International Championship at Double or Nothing. I don’t want to make light of the serious nature of Neck Health Awareness, however, I would chuckle if the Tiger Driver ‘91 puts Strong back in a neck brace.

Daniel Garcia defeated KM. Garcia handled business, and a dragon sleeper did the job to win.

KM was a big man compared to Garcia, so that provided amusing antics playing into the size difference. KM also bust out a clumsy dance to mock Garcia. That was funny, as was Garcia pelvic dancing in the corner to mush KM’s head.

Dax Harwood defeated Tommy Billington. This was the AEW debut for the nephew of Dynamite Kid.

Billington put up a darn good fight with explosive offense.

In the end, Harwood’s experience paid off to counter Billington into a slingshot powerbomb to win.

That was a heck of a debut from Billington. He took Harwood to the limit. As Jim Ross would say, Billington maximized his minutes. AEW sometimes receives criticism for allowing outside wrestlers to shine so bright against veterans, but I think this instance was the right call. Billington is a legacy case, and viewers want to see him excel. Harwood isn’t known as a singles wrestler, so no harm is done to his standing.

Thunder Rosa defeated Robyn Renegade. The underdog missed on a moonsault, and Thunder pounced for a Cobra Clutch submission for victory.

La Mera Mera strut her skills. This was a building block win on the road to fighting Deonna Purrazzo again.

Notes: The Elite delivered a post-show message from Dynamite. Okada demanded a match against Dax Harwood. One year ago, Jack Perry was a pillar of AEW, and he felt miserable. Today, he feels so alive. The Young Bucks sassed attitude at Christopher Daniels. CD wasn’t taking that sh*t. If they ever talk to him like that again, he will beat their ass.

On Collision, Daniels followed up as a day one original in AEW. He won’t let the Bucks ruin what the company has built. The Bucks arranged a tag match for Dynamite as punishment, so Daniels chose Matt Sydal as his partner. Great passion from Daniels in these two promos.

Harwood didn’t back down from Okada’s challenge. This isn’t patty cake. This is professional wrestling.

Hook was hanging on Oscar the Grouch’s trash patio to reflect on his relationship with Chris Jericho. He knew what type of person Jericho is, so the bullsh*t was no surprise. Hook returns next week, and he’s going to show Jericho who he can be. That translates to serving up an ass-kicking, I think. Either that or an ass-kissing swerve to align with the Learning Tree.

Taya Valkyrie returned home to Vancouver, but she was disappointed at the town full of losers. Johnny TV challenged PAC to a match on Rampage to show AEW is where the best wrestlers wrestle.

Don Callis is bringing in Jeff Cobb to tag with Kyle Fletcher against Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley on Dynamite.

Willow Nightingale will defend the TBS Championship against Tam Nakano at a Stardom show on May 18.

Mercedes Moné threw out the first pitch for the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

Stud of the Show: Tommy Billington

The Dynamite Kid was great in his AEW debut. Here’s to hoping for a return sooner than later.

Match of the Night: Adam Copeland vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Excellent strategic duel that had the crowd rocking. Each action had purpose to affect the overall fight.

Grade: B-

This was a show with wrestling as the primary focus. Matchmaking results were too obvious to really get drawn in. Good action all night long with the main event exceeding expectations. Story angles were byproducts from Dynamite.

Share your thoughts about Collision. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?