It’s Saturday night, and you know what that means …
All Elite Wrestling returns with this week’s episode of AEW Collision from the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan tonight at 8/7c on TNT.
On tap for tonight’s two-hour AEW on TNT show is Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks in a Texas Death match, FTR vs. The Workhorsemen for the AEW tag-team titles, Luchasaurus vs. Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin for the TNT title, Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay White, Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart, as well as RVD & HOOK vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.
Featured below are complete AEW Collision results from Saturday, September 23, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on TNT.
AEW COLLISION RESULTS (9/23/2023)
We see the usual talking heads pre-show video intro with the competitors scheduled for action tonight doing quick-hits directly into the camera. We then shoot into the regular weekly intro video to the tune of Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fightin’.”
From there, we shoot inside the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. where the fireworks explode and the camera pans the crowd as the commentary team welcomes us to this week’s show.
TNT Championship
Luchasaurus (C) vs. Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin
Now we head down to the ring for our opening contest, which is a triple-threat match with the TNT Championship on-the-line. With that in mind, we hear the familiar sounds of Darby Allin’s entrance theme. The pillar of AEW rides his skateboard down to the ring to a big pop.
Allin settles inside the ring and then his music dies down. The theme for Christian Cage hits and out he comes wearing the TNT Championship as always. He stops at the top of the stage and his music fades down. Luchasaurus’ theme hits and out comes the real reigning and defending TNT Champion.
The two head down to the ring together and settle inside for this handicap, well, triple-threat match with the TNT Championship up for grabs. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our opening title tilt. Sting has been banned from ringside for this match.
Immediately we see Christian Cage and Luchasaurus both closing in on Darby Allin at the same time as the fans chant “Darby! Darby!” Christian ends up deciding to take it easy, heading out to the ringside area and leaving Luchasaurus alone to fight it out. Luchasaurus puts his hand up for a test of strength.
With Luchasaurus’ hand in the air, Darby throws a handful of powder he somehow was secretly holding onto, right into the eyes of the TNT Champion. He then quickly runs and dives through the ropes, splashing on Christian Cage on the floor at ringside. The crowd explodes for that offensive sequence from Darby.
It isn’t long after this, however, that we see Luchasaurus and Christian Cage begin a pre-meditated two-on-one attack on Darby to keep him down and the TNT Championship safely in their possession. Luchasaurus hurls Darby over his head while he was holding a chair. This causes Darby to land awkwardly on the chair in the ring behind him.
After that, we see Luchasaurus manhandle Darby some more before sending him sailing over the ropes, where he crashes and burns on the unforgiving ringside floor as the fans in the Van Andel Arena boo. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this championship contest continues.
When we return from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action. Things get interesting when Luchasaurus and Christian Cage have Darby down and end up in a tug-of-war over the TNT Championship. Moments later, Darby fires up and takes out Luchasaurus with a Coffin Drop. Cage dumps Darby out of the ring and steals the pin.
With the win, Christian Cage is now officially the TNT Champion. He and Luchasaurus hug after the match and Luchasaurus even carries Christian Cage around on his shoulders for a post-match celebration with the title.
Winner and NEW TNT Champion: Christian Cage
Third Member Of Don Callis Family For AEW Wrestle Dream Revealed
After the match, we shoot backstage to Don Callis, who is with Sammy Guevara and Konosuke Takeshita. Callis responds to the challenge from Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, who announced they will be teaming up with Kota Ibushi for a showdown against the Don Callis Family at the next AEW premium live event on 10/1 in Seattle, WA.
Callis reveals that Will Ospreay will join Sammy Guevara and Konosuke Takeshita when the Don Callis Family trio meet Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho and Kota Ibushi at AEW Wrestle Dream 2023. After this, we shift gears and head into another commercial break.
Christian Cage Gets Title Assignment For AEW Wrestle Dream
When we return from the break, we shoot backstage to Tony Schiavone, who is standing by with the man who is now officially the TNT Champion, Christian Cage. Cage boasts his victory and then declares he is now officially done with Darby Allin and ready to move on to another challenger.
Schiavone throws a wrench in those plans, however, as he announces per Tony Khan that Christian Cage’s first official defense as the new TNT Champion will see him putting the title on-the-line in a two-out-of-three falls match against Darby Allin at AEW Wrestle Dream 2023.
Rob Van Dam & HOOK vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
Now it’s time for our next match of the evening. We return inside the arena and we see “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard and “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker make their way down to the ring accompanied by fellow former J.A.S. members Jake Hager and Anna Jay.
The familiar sounds of Action Bronson plays and the crowd pops as FTW Champion HOOK emerges and stops at the top of the entrance ramp. Now the iconic sounds of Pantera’s “Walk” plays and Michigan’s favorite son, WWE Hall of Fame legend Rob Van Dam makes his way out to a rock star reaction.
HOOK and RVD head to the ring together and settle inside the ring to loud “RVD! RVD!” chants. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see HOOK dominating the action early on, however Menard and Parker take over after Anna Jay provides a distraction.
On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, we see HOOK still being beaten down by Menard and Parker, who keep tagging in and out. Finally, RVD plays a factor in shifting the momentum back in his team’s favor. He hits many of his trademark spots and gets the always popular “You still got it!” chants.
Now we see HOOK fire up and take back over. He sinks in his Red Rum choke-finisher and brings the opposition down to the mat, where Rob Van Dam leaps off the top-rope with his trademark Five Star Frog Splash for the pin fall victory.
Winners: Rob Van Dam & HOOK
Julia Hart vs. Kiera Hogan
We shoot to a message from Eddie Kingston, who cuts a promo into the camera about how he is going to defend both his ROH World Championship and the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship against Katsuyori Shibata at AEW Wrestle Dream 2023. We then head to another commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see a quick vignette from The Dark Order, as they continue their transition in their repackaging phase. We shoot backstage to a quick “neck strength awareness” promo from The Kingdom.
Back inside the arena, the lights in the building go out and we hear the familiar sounds of Julia Hart’s theme music. We see highlights of her victory over Skye Blue from AEW Rampage: Grand Slam and then the lights come back on and we see The House of Black member at ringside with Brody King.
The theme for her opponent hits, and out comes Kiera Hogan. She makes her way down to the ring to fill in for Willow Nightingale, who was originally scheduled for this match tonight. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Julia immediately take it to Kiera.
Julia tries ripping Kiera’s dreads out of her head as she continues to dominate with ease. After a couple of minutes, we see Julia pick up the easy victory in what amounted to essentially a squash match, with her submission finisher. After the match, she called out Kris Statlander for a shot at the TBS Women’s Championship at AEW Wrestle Dream 2023.
Winner: Julia Hart
Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay White
We shoot to a vignette from The Righteous duo of Vincent and Dutch, who talk about their shot at ROH World Tag-Team Champions “Better Than You Bay-Bay” (MJF and Adam Cole) at the AEW Wrestle Dream 2023 premium live event next weekend in Seattle, WA. They also reveal The Kingdom will be facing Best Friends next week on Collision.
Once that wraps up, we return inside the Van Andel Arena where we hear the familiar sounds of Andrade El Idolo’s theme music. Out comes the fan-favorite to a pretty good pop from the Michigan crowd. He settles inside the squared circle for our next match of the evening.
Now the theme for The Bullet Club Gold hits and out comes “Switchblade” Jay White, accompanied by “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson and The Gunns duo of Austin and Colten Gunn. The trio head over to the commentary section as this one is about to get underway.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Andrade El Idolo jump into the early offensive lead. After the first distraction from Juice Robinson and The Gunns at ringside, White takes over control of the offensive momentum, grounding El Idolo and slowing him down as the fans boo.
El Idolo starts to take over again as the bout spills out to the floor at ringside. We see The Bullet Club Gold guy try and provide some more distractions on behalf of White, however El Idolo manages to remain in control of the action as it finally finds its’ way back into the ring. We then head into a mid-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see El Idolo fighting back into the offensive driver’s seat. He starts hitting high spot after high spot and trademark move after trademark move, but somehow White manages to avoid being put away during each follow-up pin attempt. Juice Robinson sticks his nose in the match again and it saves White once again.
El Idolo ends up getting a figure four leg lock on White and White looks to be in trouble. El Idolo bridges up to a Figure Eight and this one seems all but over until Robinson sneaks in around the referee for a cheap shot to El Idolo. This sets White up for the Bladerunner on El Idolo for the victory.
Winner: Jay White
Ortiz Addresses Mike Santana
After the match, the commentators remind us of Mike Santana’s return on AEW TV this week. We then see his uncomfortable stare down with former tag-team partner and longtime friend Ortiz.
From there, we shoot to a vignette where Ortiz assures Santana that he always runs from his problems, but won’t be able to run from them much longer. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.
AEW World Tag-Team Championship
FTR (C) vs. The Workhorsemen
When we return from the commercial break, we see a quick backstage interview with Shane Taylor and the newest addition to Shane Taylor Promotions, Lee Moriarty. They talk about a showdown between Moriarty and Keith Lee.
Now we head back inside the arena where the former ROH World Tag-Team Champions Aussie Open’s theme hits. Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher make their way down to the ringside area and join in on special guest commentary for our next match of the evening.
The Workhorsemen’s theme hits and out comes the challengers for this upcoming championship clash. The duo settles inside the squared circle and their music dies down. The familiar sounds of FTR’s Midnight Express-sounding entrance tune plays next.
AEW World Tag-Team Champions Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler make their way out to a big pop from the Michigan crowd. They head into the ring for their scheduled title defense. The fans loudly chant “FTR! FTR!” as their music fades down. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
We see Wheeler kicking things off for his team. He takes it to one-half of The Workhosemen, JD Drake, early on as the fans in Grand Rapid rally behind him. We see Henry tag in and help shift the momentum into his team’s favor. They even get a close near fall spot after a huge top-rope moonsault from the big guy.
Moments later, however, FTR finish this one off for the win. With the victory, their retain their AEW World Tag-Team Championships. This means their match against Aussie Open at AEW Wrestle Dream 2023 will be for the titles. After the match, Aussie Open get in the ring and tell FTR to keep their titles held tight for the next eight days, because they’re taking them at Wrestle Dream.
Winners and STILL AEW World Tag-Team Champions: FTR
Miro & CJ Perry About To Go On Separate Paths
We shoot backstage to Lexy Nair, who is standing by with CJ “Lana” Perry. They talk about her making her AEW debut at ALL OUT. She says why now for the first time in two years are the wrestling fans seeing her.
She says her husband Miro has lost his way. She says he’s preoccupied with the past and temptations. Miro comes in and tells CJ that she’s his temptation. He says the lights and fame is CJ’s temptation.
Again they leave things with talk of different paths, with each vowing that they have to do what they have to do. CJ asks if Miro loves her, not to lay a hand on any of her future clients. She asks him to promise that but he just walks off without saying anything. We head to another commercial break on that note.
Texas Death Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks
It’s main event time!
Kevin Kelly does a speed-read through updates to the lineup for next Wednesday’s Dynamite, next Saturday’s Collision and next Sunday’s Wrestle Dream 2023 premium live event.
From there, we welcome WWE Hall of Fame legend and AEW commentator Jim Ross to the announce booth for the call for tonight’s Texas Death Match main event here on AEW Collision.
The theme for Ricky Starks hits and, yes, “the revolution will be televised.” On that note, “Absolute” Ricky Starks emerges by himself, with the commentators pointing out that he had Big Bill stay in the back to prove he can win on his own tonight.
Starks settles in the ring and his music dies down. Now the familiar sounds of Bryan Danielson’s theme plays and the crowd in Michigan goes wild as “The American Dragon” makes his way to the ring for our final match of the evening.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see some good back-and-forth action and then Danielson starts to pull ahead into the early offensive lead. The battle quickly spills out to the floor, and there are no rules, so things get wild in a hurry.
“The American Dragon” hits a big high spots on Starks on the floor that pops the crowd in Grand Rapids. Soon after that, however, Starks starts to shift the offensive momentum into his favor. He knocks Danielson over the barricade and then runs and dives over it himself, splashing onto Danielson in the crowd.
On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break with Starks in the offensive driver’s seat, as our Collision Texas Death Match main event continues.
When we return from the break, we see Starks manhandling Danielson. He grabs a mic and taunts him as he repeatedly smashes Danielson’s face into the commentary desk, ala LA Knight in WWE. During this, Danielson’s face/head was busted open and his face is already quickly becoming a crimson mask.
Starks grabs a steel chair and blasts Danielson with it. He puts Danielson’s leg inside the folding chair and begins climbing to the top-rope. Danielson frees himself, pops up, grabs the chair and beats Starks with it until he slumps down on the top turnbuckle. Danielson climbs up after him and connects with a hanging spider super-plex.
Danielson fires up with repeated “Yes!” kicks to Starks, with the crowd chanting “Yes!” as each shot lands. On that note, we head into another mid-match commercial break. When we return from our final break of the evening, we see Starks starting to show signs of life.
“Absolute” Ricky Starks gets a hold of a giant steel chain, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson / Junkyard Dog style, and he hangs Danielson over his shoulders by the throat, choking the life out of “The American Dragon.” Danielson begins to fight back after freeing himself, and now he has the LeBelle Lock on Starks. He uses the chain for added leverage, but Starks hangs on.
Bryan Danielson grabs a hold of Starks’ hands and begins to stomp the hell out of him, “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin-style. The fans chant “AEW! AEW!” as Danielson begins wrapping the giant chain around his own leg. Starks is shown with blood pouring out of his mouth as he struggles to get back to his feet. Danielson points at Starks and runs at him, blasting him with the running knee wrapped in the giant chain.
The referee begins the ten count and he reaches the count of ten. Danielson winds the Texas Death Match in what was a violent spectacle to close out this week’s episode of AEW Collision. A bloody, fun main event. Big Bill comes down to check on Starks after the match. The Blackpool Combat Club guys come down to join Danielson in the ring. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winner: Bryan Danielson
