All Elite Wrestling is heading to Athena, GA and the Akins Ford Arena for another exciting edition of COLLISION on TNT and streaming on MAX! After seeing Powerhouse Hobbs earn his World Title match with Jon Moxley via Casino Gauntlet, and Kris Statlander scoring the #1 spot in next week's Women's Casino Gauntlet, the championship scene is quite the exciting situation. Tonight on COLLISION the action continues as Rated FTR follows up last week's trios battle with The Learning Tree with a pair of singles matches! We've got “The Rated R Superstar” Cope taking on Big Bill and Dax Harwood fighting ROH World Champion Chris Jericho, plus AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May will faced the wrath of Harley Cameron in a rematch of Cameron's first-ever DYNAMITE bout!
COLLISION begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and streaming on MAX, so get prepared for the excitement with a visit to AEW's official YouTube channel to catch highlights from Wednesday's DYNAMITE, previous editions of COLLISION, and so much more! Then come with us to Cincinnati next Wednesday night for DYNAMITE: MAXIMUM CARNAGE, the first of two huge nights at the Brady Music Center, with Wednesday's event featuring AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defending against Powerhouse Hobbs, HOOK finally getting his hands on Christian Cage one-on-one, the 1st-ever Women's Casino Gauntlet Match, and the long-awaited AEW in-ring return of “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega!
ONE-ON-ONE...
“The Rated R Superstar” Cope vs. “The Redwood” Big Bill
Last week on COLLISION we all watched as Rated FTR defeated The Learning Tree in trios competition when “The Rated R Superstar” Cope pinned “The Nueve” Chris Jericho. The combined efforts of Cash Wheeler and Cope took Big Bill out of the equation, and even though Bryan Keith tried to sway the tide when he hit Dax Harwood with the ROH World Title belt, it was all for naught as Dax kicked out of that, “Bad Apple” ate a spear from Cope, and collectively Rated FTR put down the ROH World Champion.
It was a triumphant moment for that team in their home state, but the triumph for “The Rated R Superstar” turned to tragedy this past Wednesday night when he was beaten down by The Death Riders, choked into unconsciousness by AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, and may have suffered the same fate as Bryan Danielson had it not been for the arrival of Powerhouse Hobbs.
Yet Cope is still coming to Georgia for tonight's fight on COLLISION to see if he can chop down “The Redwood” Big Bill! Though he's only been back in the game for two weeks, Cope has already made enemies out of The Learning Tree and The Death Riders, but at least he has some allies with FTR and hopefully anyone else who has been willing to stand up to Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, Marina Shafir, and Wheeler Yuta these last few months. Tonight however, it's not about the AEW World Champion and his soldiers, it's about the ilk surrounding the ROH World Champion and specifically one of the biggest men in All Elite Wrestling!
Big Bill and “The Rated R Superstar” never shared a ring before last week's trios battle, but tonight they go one-on-one for the very first time and we shall see if “The Redwood” can put Cope down when there's no FTR at his side! If not, “The Rated R Superstar” is going to chop down this competition and continue pushing forward towards his goal of taking that AEW World Title from the briefcase it's presumably been stashed inside since Moxley defeated Danielson at WRESTLEDREAM 2024...
SINGLES MATCH...
FTR's Dax Harwood vs. ROH World Champion “The Nueve” Chris Jericho
Speaking of that trios match from last week, this one is also an extension of that battle, but it runs just a bit deeper than one bout from January 4th. It was almost four years ago that Dax Harwood and Chris Jericho went one-on-one for the very first time, and the decision that night went in Jericho's favor, in part due to the involvement of “Iron” Mike Tyson. The two men were also combatants in Blood & Guts on 5/5/21 and Stadium Stampede at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021, but prior to last week hadn't shared the stage since that wild pay-per-view night in Jacksonville.
As mentioned, last week it was Jericho who took the “L” for his team when Cope got the pin, but it was only a few minutes beforehand that Dax had “The Nueve” on the verge of defeat until Bryan Keith brought the ROH World Title belt into play. Either way, it's a “W” for Rated FTR, but it would've been a bit full circle for Dax to put Jericho's shoulders down nearly four years after their first battle. Thankfully for the 2-Time AEW World Tag Champion, he's got another opportunity to do just that tonight on COLLISION when he goes one-on-one with Jericho!
Can Dax make it two losses in a row for the ROH World Champion, and will any of it have an effect on the ROH World Title picture? We saw then-champion Mark Briscoe give The Beast Mortos a shot after he pinned Mark in a tag match, will Jericho be the same way with Cope or Dax should the multi-time tag champion win tonight?
HOT GIRL GRAPS...
AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May vs. Harley Cameron
Next week on DYNAMITE: MAXIMUM CARNAGE All Elite Wrestling will present the first-ever Women's Casino Gauntlet match with the victor earning a championship match at GRAND SLAM: AUSTRALIA on February 15th. Former TBS Champion Kris Statlander earned herself the 1 spot this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE when she pinned Toni Storm, but as far as the rest of the entrants, that's purely up to chance! With a match that can end at any time, unless a competitor is 1 or 2 there's no guarantee of even setting foot in the ring even if they publicly throw their name in the hat. Perhaps that's why Harley Cameron saddled up next to AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May and made the challenge for a bout this Saturday night on COLLISION!
The two women met inside the squared circle last year during the May 8th DYNAMITE, and it was Mariah who scored the victory in Harley's Wednesday night debut. Suffice to say the fallout of that victory wasn't exactly a moment that endeared Harley to Mariah, but time has passed and given Harley's rather manic nature as well as the company she was keeping, it's almost impossible to hold anything that happened at that point against her. Perhaps that's why Mariah was amenable to stepping into the ring with Harley tonight on COLLISION, albeit not with the championship on the line. It's either a testament to the champion's confidence or a statement on how little she thinks of Harley's chances, or perhaps a bit of both. However for Harley it's a huge opportunity to slide in a victory over the champion ahead of the Casino Gauntlet, especially given the possibility Harley may not even see the ring come DYNAMITE: MAXIMUM CARNAGE!
ONE-ON-ONE...
AEW World Trios Champion “The Bastard” PAC vs. ROH World TV Champion Komander
At DYNAMITE ON 34TH STREET, in their final 2024 Continental Classic bouts, ROH World TV Champion Komander scored the upset victory over Claudio Castagnoli by giving The Death Rider a taste of his own medicine. Of course, as soon as the bell rang to end the match the rest of Moxley's army were on the attack and had the intention of maiming Komander as they'd done with so many others before him. Luckily “Switchblade” Jay White, along with Orange Cassidy and Hangman Page, arrived on the scene to make the save but that's not as satisfying as exacting some vengeance yourself.
Luckily for Komander he has that opportunity tonight on COLLISION when he goes one-on-one with “The Bastard” PAC! They danced in a World Trios Championship battle on the 9/28/24 edition of COLLISION, but this will be the first one-on-one battle between two of professional wrestling's premier aerial artists! Before he was “The Bastard” PAC was “The Man Gravity Forgot”, but that's a moniker that could just as easily be applied to the ROH World TV Champion nowadays! Which of these men will soar to victory tonight in Georgia?
COLLISION kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT and streaming on MAX, as well as the USA Network in Canada and AEW Plus in TRILLER TV, and features “The Rated R Superstar” Cope in action against The Learning Tree's Big Bill, Dax Harwood facing ROH World Champion Chris Jericho, AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May taking on Harley Cameron, and so much more! Fans around the world can get ready for the excitement with a visit to the official AEW YouTube channel where highlights from Wednesday's DYNAMITE, previous editions of COLLISION, and so much more are available! Then All Elite Wrestling is off to Cincinnati for two huge nights of action beginning next Wednesday night with DYNAMITE: MAXIMUM CARNAGE! Join us at the Brady Music Center for AEW World Champion Jon Moxley fighting Powerhouse Hobbs, HOOK going to battle against “The Patriarch” Christian Cage, Kris Statlander entering #1 in the 1st-ever Women's Casino Gauntlet Match, and the long-awaited AEW in-ring return of “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega as he fights “The Machine” Brian Cage!