AEW Collision (Best of 2024)
Looking back at All Elite Wrestling’s Saturday night show with a recap and plenty of recommendations.
In 2024, Collision became the AEW show I looked forward to catching up on the most. Saturday night wrestling has been a staple and a wrestling tradition dating back long before AEW.
In terms of the broader AEW landscape, Collision became much more closely linked to Dynamite. However, it generally maintained a more stripped-down format: fewer angles, fewer promos, and a stronger emphasis on in-ring wrestling. While FTR and House of Black remained the most consistent Collision-focused wrestlers, the show also provided opportunities for others. Daniel Garcia worked on his craft, Hologram got over as a new act, Mark Briscoe gained more exposure, Thunder Rosa made Collision her home, and groups like The Undisputed Kingdom and Premier Athletes received more extended match time.
At various points, top stars such as Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, Adam Copeland, and Eddie Kingston featured prominently on the show against unique opponents. Another aspect I appreciated was the experimentation with different venues, such as the Esports Stadium in Arlington for a summer run with hot crowds, GalaxyCon in Columbus, and the Hammerstein Ballroom to close out the year.
Heading into 2025, rotating in one wrestler to make Collision their home base for a few months at a time was something that helped the show immensely. The show's main lulls occurred for me when it lacked a consistent top AEW singles act.
Watch highlights of all the recommended matches along with memorable moments and promos on this Youtube playlist.
Let’s take a look at some match recommendations and then recap the year (with more recommendations!).
2024 AEW Collision Match Recommendations:
Recommending some of my favorite stuff from throughout the year.
AEW Continental Title Eddie Kingston vs. Trent Beretta (Jan. 6 AEW Collision). The Mad King defends his newly won title in a bloody hard-hitting battle that was a level above a normal TV match.
Bryan Danielson vs. Hechicero (Feb. 3 AEW Collision). An excellent international dream match that turns into an epic after Bryan can’t match the technical wizardry of Hechicero.
AEW TNT Title Adam Copeland vs. Kyle O’Reilly (May 11 AEW Collision). Back from a long injury absence the hometown kid Kyle O’Reilly challenges for the TNT Title in front of a red hot Vancouver crowd.
Hangman Page vs. Jay White (Jul. 6 AEW Collision). A great competitive match as part of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament with Hangman showing more of his new vicious side.
The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram (Jul. 27 AEW Collision). Hologram blows the minds of the Esports Stadium in Arlington in a very good match.
FTR vs. The Acclaimed (Aug. 17 AEW Collision). One of my favorite Collision tags of the year as they just went out there and wrestled in front of a hot crowd for a title shot at All In.
ROH World Tag Team Titles Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett - Bunkhouse Brawl (Sep. 21 AEW Collision). A wild bloody chaotic brawl to cap off a fun feud. My favorite of the bloody Collision brawls.
Willow Nightingale vs. Jamie Hayter (Dec. 14 AEW Collision). Two of the most beloved women in AEW throw down in a very physical battle as part of the Wrestle Dynasty International Women’s Cup.
Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 14 AEW Collision). One of the most beloved and one of the most hated produce excellent results and one of the matches I had the most fun watching in the second half of 2024.
Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet - Continental Classic Gold League (Dec. 21 AEW Christmas Collision). A fresher take on an old rivalry in front of an electric Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.
JANUARY TO JUNE: BRYAN’S SHOW
For the first half of the year, Collision featured a lot of Bryan Danielson and the various rivalries he was involved in at the time. As part of his feud with Eddie Kingston, Bryan had several international dream matches against Yuji Nagata, Jun Akiyama, Hechicero, and Katsuyori Shibata. He was also part of some excellent tag team battles during his feud with Will Ospreay and the Don Callis Family, which accounted for many of the show’s highlights in the first half of the year. The Blackpool Combat Club had a solid mini-feud with Shane Taylor Promotions early in the year with STP gaining a regular TV run.
Adam Copeland also played a prominent role on the show with his "Cope Open," taking on younger talents like Griff Garrison, Lee Moriarty, and Dante Martin, as well as a surprise in Matt Cardona and a hometown hero in Kyle O’Reilly.
Eddie Kingston appeared frequently on Collision before his injury, and Orange Cassidy remained a consistent presence across all AEW programming. When Will Ospreay arrived, he had a strong run on the show, facing Lee Moriarty, Shane Taylor, and defending the International Title in a standout matches against Kyle O’Reilly and Brian Cage.
One of the major early feuds on Collision was between FTR and House of Black, which also involved Daniel Garcia and Mark Briscoe at various points. Both Briscoe and Garcia received plenty of time to shine on Collision in the first half of the year.
More 2024 AEW Collision Match Recommendations:
Sting & Darby Allin vs. The WorkHorsemen (Jan. 6 AEW Collision). A really fun tag match in Charlotte as Sting winds down his career.
Adam Copeland vs. Lee Moriarty (Jan. 13 AEW Collision). A really good showing for Lee as part of the Cope Open.
FTR & Daniel Garcia vs. House of Black (Jan. 13 AEW Collision). A very good big long Collision tag as Daniel Garcia fits in well beside FTR.
Jon Moxley vs. Shane Taylor (Jan. 20 AEW Collision). Shane gives Mox a hell of a battle.
Adam Copeland vs. Dante Martin (Jan. 20 AEW Collision). The Cope Open continues with another fun one.
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty (Jan. 27 AEW Collision). Shane Taylor Promotions get an early run and a min-feud with the Blackpool Combat Club. Very good match and a great battle between Claudio and Shane.
Bryan Danielson vs. Yuji Nagata (Jan. 27 AEW Collision). Another dream match for Bryan and Yuji brings his best. This ruled.
FTR & Daniel Garcia vs. House Of Black - Escape The Cage Elimination Match (Jan. 27 AEW Collision). A big long cage match with some great moments that really highlighted Daniel Garcia.
AEW Continental Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Keith - Proving Ground (Feb. 3 AEW Collision). Great hard hitting battle where Keith gets surprised with an All Elite Graphic after.
Christian Cage & Nick Wayne & Killswitch vs. FTR & Daniel Garcia. (Feb. 3 AEW Collision). Very good big eight man Collision tag. Really enjoyed the flow of this.
Mark Briscoe vs. Brody King (Feb. 10 AEW Collision). The physical battle you’d expect with some weapons in the mix. Part of Mark fighting House of Black
AEW International Title Orange Cassidy vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Feb. 10 AEW Collision). Very good match with Big Tom providing a different dynamic for OC to work off of.
Powerhouse Hobbs v Sammy Guevara - No DQ (Feb. 24 AEW Collision). Wild chaotic brawl with big bumps.
Bryan Danielson v Jun Akiyama (Feb. 24 AEW Collision). Another neat dream match. Bryan’s doing his heel thing but fans just want to celebrate him.
Bryan Danielson v Shane Taylor (Mar. 9 AEW Collision). Big match for Shane and he delivers sending Bryan back into underdog babyface mode. Great stuff.
House of Black v Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett - Street Fight (Mar. 9 AEW Collision). Fun short plunder brawl with a flaming table
Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Mar. 16 AEW Collision). Great match that probably over delivered. Bryan has to resort to heelish tactics.
AEW TNT Title Adam Copeland (c) vs. Matt Cardona (Mar. 30 AEW Collision). Big surprise Cope Open challenger with tons of history between them. Turns out to be a really cool moment and a good match too.
Penta v Komander (Apr. 6 AEW Collision). Very good extended match.
AEW Women's World Title Eliminator Toni Storm vs. AZM (Apr. 13 AEW Collision). A standout match as it feels like Toni figures out how to wrestle in the Timeless gimmick.
Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs) (Apr. 13 AEW Collision). Very good extended main event tag.
Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston, Mark Briscoe vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti (Apr. 20 AEW Collision). Fun fired up babyface trio heading into the PPV.
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita - Bunkhouse Brawl (Apr. 20 AEW Collision).. Great big wild bloody brawl.
Rey Fenix vs. The Beast Mortos (Apr. 27 AEW Collision). Show stealer PPV quality match with Fenix back from injury and The Beast Mortos proving to be one of the best bases.
AEW World Title Swerve Strickland vs. Claudio Castagnoli (Apr. 27 AEW Collision). Strong extended TV defense for Swerve. Coming into his own as World Champion.
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight (May 11 AEW Collision). Bryan and Claudio are a really good tag combo when together. Good clean babyface match in front of a big crowd.
Will Ospreay vs. Shane Taylor (May 18 AEW Collision). Really good match with Shane getting to step up again. Huge reaction from the Portland crowd for the recently arrived Ospreay.
Daniel Garcia & Katsuyori Shibata vs. The WorkHorsemen (Jun. 1 AEW Collision). Very good competitive tag. Garcia and Shibata are a fun duo.
AEW International Title Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kyle O'Reilly (Jun. 1 AEW Collision). Great chemistry and a big match effort from Ospreay. Kyle uses his grit and attacks the arm well.
FTR vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (Jun. 8 AEW Collision). Very good long tag team match.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Orange Cassidy (Jun. 8 AEW Collision). Very good match with Kyle as the defacto heel.
AEW International Title Will Ospreay (c) vs. Brian Cage (Jun. 22 AEW Collision). Great match with Cage working like a vicious monster heel.
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lady Frost (Jun. 29 AEW Collision). Vaquer shines as she builds up her Forbidden Door match with Mercedes Mone.
JULY TO DECEMBER: EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW VENUES
Over the summer, AEW ran its first residency at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This meant a smaller hotter crowd that added a lot of personality to the show.
A top feud during this period revolved around Christian Cage and The Patriarchy, the Bang Bang Gang, and House of Black.
FTR remained a regular force on the show, taking on various tag teams such as The Acclaimed, GYV, Undisputed Kingdom, and LFI. The Outrunners became popular with the live crowds resulting in a big moment when they scored their first AEW victory.
The biggest success of the Arlington residency was the introduction of Hologram. The crowds embraced him, and it carried over to other AEW audiences once they moved beyond Arlington. Another standout from this run was The Beast Mortos, who delivered electrifying performances. Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo had an extended physical and bloody feud. Ring of Honor also taped during the Arlington run, which increased the presence of ROH regulars. This included a fun mini-feud between Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara against Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, which spilled over onto Collision.
Heading into the fall, the show often felt like a "Road to Dynamite" or follow-up matches from Dynamite. Kyle Fletcher received more singles opportunities to improve, while Mariah May featured more prominently as Women’s World Champion including a quality series of matches against the much-improved Anna Jay.
By November, the Continental Classic took center stage and elevated both the quality and importance of Collision. The run concluded with Christmas Collision at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, featuring three distinctly great Continental Classic matches.
Even More 2024 AEW Collision Match Recommendations:
Darby Allin vs. The Beat Mortos (Jul. 20 AEW Collision). Kicking off the first Arlington show with a blast of a match.
Fenix vs. Tony Nese (Jul. 20 AEW Collision). Very good match. Texas loves Fenix.
Roderick Strong vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Jul. 20 AEW Collision). The battle you’d expect from these two.
Hologram vs. Gringo Loco (Jul. 20 AEW Collision). Great debut for Hologram.
Hologram & Mistico vs. The Premier Athletes (Ari Daivari & Tony Nese) (Aug. 3 AEW Collision). Very fun tag with Mistico in from CMLL to team with Hologram. The Athletes are really good in their role especially against high flyers.
Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo - Texas Bullrope (Aug. 10 AEW Collision). Very good bloody brawl that escalated well.
Bang Bang Gang vs. House Of Black - All In Title Shot (Aug. 10 AEW Collision). Very good long main event that flowed really well. ROH World Tag Titles
Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara (Aug. 17 AEW Collision). Hot crowd for the Texans. Lots of chaos and a great moment for Dustin Rhodes.
Undisputed Kingdom vs. The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly) (Aug. 24 AEW Collision in Cardiff). Really fun variation of this match.
Top Flight & Lio Rush vs. PAC & BCC - Wild Card Match for All In Trios Title shot. (Aug. 24 AEW Collision in Cardiff). Lio Rush was outstanding in this and PAC is locked in for Wembley.
Orange Cassidy, Kyle O'Reilly, Hologram vs. Lee Moriarty, The Beast Mortos, Johnny TV (Aug. 31 AEW Collision). Hologram gets a great reaction his first time out of Arlington. This turns into a hell of a trios match.
FTR vs. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (Aug. 31 AEW Collision). First time matchup that delivers a good TV outing. Taven & Bennett are really effective in their role.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher (Aug. 31 AEW Collision). A blast of a hard hitting match that shows Kyle’s improvement.
Queen Aminata vs. Serena Deeb vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa - All Out TBS Title Shot (Aug. 31 AEW Collision). A very good all action match with Aminata standing out.
Mark Briscoe vs. Lance Archer - Continental Contenders Challenge (Sep. 6 AEW Collision). A hell of a bloody battle.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. The Beast Mortos - Continental Contenders Challenge (Sep. 6 AEW Collision). Great intensity and a very good match.
BCC (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta) & PAC vs. The Elite (Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry & Young Bucks) - All Star Match of Champions (Sep. 6 AEW Collision). The big buildup tag for All Out with a tremendous atmosphere.
Hologram & Kyle O'Reilly & Mark Briscoe vs. The Beast Mortos & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari (Sep. 14 AEW Collision). Very good trios with Hologram back alongside The Conglomeration.
Darby Allin vs. Evil Uno (Sep. 21 AEW Collision). A fun five minute fight.
Queen Aminata vs. Serena Deeb (Sep. 21 AEW Collision). Really strong match and another great showing for Aminata.
Hook, FTR, The Outrunners vs. Roderick Strong, Beast Mortos, Rush, GYV (Sep. 21 AEW Collision). Very good big main event tag match. FTR vs Rush & Mortos being the highlight within.
The Beast Mortos vs. Dralistico vs. Hologram (Sep. 28 AEW Collision: Grand Slam). Great energetic high flying match that hits.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Atlantis Jr. (Oct. 19 AEW Collision). Very good match with Kyle getting lots of heat. Much improved from their Arena Mexico match.
The Outrunners vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & The Beast Mortos) (Oct. 19 AEW Collision).. A hell of a battle breaks out that shows Outrunners have more beyond the gimmick.
Ricochet vs. Lio Rush (Oct. 26 AEW Collision). Hot crowd and they both bring it in a very good match.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Komander (Nov. 2 AEW Collision). Two of the year’s most improved put on a great match.
AEW World Trios Title Match DeathRiders (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC & Wheeler Yuta) (c) vs. The Conglomeration (Kyle O'Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Tomohiro Ishii) (Nov. 9 AEW Collision). DeathRiders in full heel mode against some good scrappy babyfaces.
Shelton Benjamin vs. Komander (Nov. 16 AEW Collision). This rocked as Shelton gets to use a lot more power moves. AEW crowds treat him with respect.
AEW Women's World Title Mariah May (c) vs. Anna Jay - No DQ (Nov. 16 AEW Collision). Very good weapons brawl highlighting Anna’s improvement.
Kyle Fletcher vs. The Beast Mortos - Continental Classic Blue League (Nov. 30 AEW Collison). Very good hard hitting match.
Darby Allin vs. Komander - Continental Classic Gold League (Dec. 7 AEW Collision GalaxyCon). Very good unique matchup with Darby working off a headlock.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Kazuchika Okada - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 7 AEW Collision GalaxyCon). Big time battle of league leaders with Fletcher getting a lot of heat.
Mark Briscoe vs. Daniel Garcia - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 7 AEW Collision GalaxyCon). Very good veteran versus up and coming babyface match.
Kazuchika Okada vs. The Beast Mortos - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 14 AEW Collision). Very good match with Mortos pushing the pace against Okada.
Daniel Garcia vs. Shelton Benjamin - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 21 AEW Christmas Collision). Great control from Shelton and great fire from DG produces very good responses plus a hot post match angle with Swerve.
The Beast Mortos vs. Mark Briscoe - Continental Classic Blue League (Dec. 21 AEW Christmas Collision). A big bomb fest and cool seeing Mark back in Hammerstein.
Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli - Continental Classic Gold League (Dec. 21 AEW Christmas Collision). These two have really good chemistry.