It’s Saturday night, and you know what that means …
All Elite Wrestling returns from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. for this week’s episode of AEW Collision.
On tap for tonight’s two-hour AEW on TNT show is Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez & Diamante, The House of Black defending their Trios titles against CM Punk & FTR, as well as The Acclaimed, plus appearances by Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs.
Featured below are complete AEW Collision results from Saturday, August 12, 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 (8/12/2023)
The Elton John “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fightin'” theme hits after the usual quick-hit talking head excerpts of wrestlers addressing their respective matches on tonight’s show.
From there, we shoot inside the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. where the commentary team welcomes us to the show and sends us down to the ring for our opening action.
Ricky Starks Kicks Off Collision
Tony Schiavone is standing in the ring and he introduces his guest at this time. On that note, out comes “Absolute” Ricky Starks to kick off this week’s show.
Starks settles in the ring wearing the goofiest outfit you’ve ever seen in your life. Picture a tool belt as a vest, with no shirt on. He settles in the ring and takes his belt off. Schiavone points out it was Ricky Steamboat’s belt from last week, which Starks used to whip Steamboat.
He tells Starks he’s been suspended for beating a 70 year old man. He says Steamboat cost him his match, so he had to whoop his ass. He tells Steamboat he still loves him, but he had to do something that hurt him more than it hurt Steamboat.
He talks about AEW having a history of screwing people. He tells Schiavone not to look at him with his dumb-ass face. He says he went and got a manager’s license. He says he might not be wrestling, but he’ll be on this show every week because it’s his show.
Ricky threatens Schiavone again and he leaves the ring. He tells CM Punk he brought Ricky Steamboat into the ring and got him beat with ten lashes. He tells Punk he’s not Superman and he ain’t bullet proof, and he damn sure ain’t Ricky Starks.
Starks says right now he is gonna set the whole company on fire and he’s gonna start next week. He looks into the camera and says “You want a war? I’m gonna bring a war to your front door.” He drops the mic and heads to the back to end the opening segment.
Looking At History Of The Young Bucks & FTR Rivalry
We see a video package looking at the history of the rivalry between The Young Bucks and FTR ahead of their AEW World Tag-Team Championship showdown at AEW ALL IN 2023 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
The Acclaimed vs. Iron Savages
Now we head back inside Greensboro Coliseum where The Acclaimed’s theme hits. Out comes Max Caster rapping with Anthony Bowens by his side. He mocks the two larger gentlemen in the ring that will be wrestling them tonight.
Bowens says “The Acclaimed have arrived!” but won’t do the “Scissor me, daddy!” because Billy Gunn has retired. Their opponents, the Iron Savages, are introduced.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our first match of the evening. The fans chant “Daddy Ass!” at the onset. We see Anthony Bowens kicking things off for The Acclaimed and he takes it to one-half of the Iron Savages with ease early on.
Beefcake Boulder tags in, as does Caster, but it is Boulder who launches The Acclaimed member half way across the ring. He manhandles him some more but then Bowens provides an assist. Caster tries to hoist him up but he’s too big.
Bowens blasts him with some kicks and then jumps on him, but Boulder catches him. Caster leaps off the ropes on the opposite side, but Boulder catches him, too. He’s got both guys on his back and on his chest and he slams them down and lets our a war scream as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we see the other half of Iron Savage in the ring working over Caster. He misses a big splash off the top-rope, however, and now The Acclaimed start to take over as the crowd in Greensboro rally behind him.
Iron Savages start to double team and take over again on Bowens after he tags back in. They throw Caster out and continue to work him over. Caster hits a missile drop kick to slow down their momentum.
After each guy makes the tag, we see Caster hit a big death valley driver on the big man. They beat down Jameson and then do the big “Scissor” hand gesture. They hit double Fame-Asser’s in honor of Billy Gunn and score the pin fall victory.
Winners: The Acclaimed
The Acclaimed Say Goodbye To Billy Gunn
Once the match wraps up, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens get on the mic again and they address Billy Gunn on the mic. They say they know he’s watching and that last week they got the chance to say goodbye to him, but the fans didn’t. They send him a message and wrap things up.
The Bullet Club Gold Are The Elite
Now we shoot backstage where Lexy Nair introduces her guests at this time, The Bullet Club Gold. In comes Juice Robinson, Jay White and The Gunn Club. They claim to be the best in AEW right now.
They claim others are calling themselves Elite, but don’t have the right. They say they also have a team claiming to be the best brother tag-team in the business, and they aren’t. The Gunn Club challenge The Young Bucks. We head to another commercial break.
Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez & Diamante
When we return from the break, Willow Nightingale’s theme hits and out she comes with a ton of energy as always. She settles in the ring and her music dies down. The theme for her tag-team partner hits and out comes the TBS Women’s Champion Kris Statlander.
From there, Mercedes Martinez and Diamante make their way out together for this scheduled women’s tag-team contest. The two settle in the squared circle as well and look ready to rock and roll.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Kicking things off for their respective teams are Kris Statlander and Diamante. Statlander shucks her down to the mat with ease but then Martinez distracts her and Diamante jumps all over her.
We see some more back-and-forth action and then Martinez and Diamante hit some double-team spots that firmly secures their spot in the offensive driver’s seat. As they continue to dominate the action, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.
Toni Storm Gets Annoyed With Lexy Nair
We shoot to Lexy Nair who is standing backstage with Toni Storm. After asking a simple question, Storm unleashes on her verbally, telling her she needs to show her respect.
She says she’s been bummed since losing her AEW title. She brings up Saraya being in the four-way with her at ALL IN and talks about how it helps their chances of The Outcasts walking away with the gold.
Nair brings up Hikaru Shida holding the title and being in the match as well. Somehow that set Storm off again. She threatens to get security to kick Nair out of the building. She yells “SHUT UP!” in her face and storms off.
Samoa Joe vs. Andrew Everett
From there, we head back inside the Greensboro Coliseum where the familiar sounds of Samoa Joe’s theme hits. Out comes “The King of Television” with his ROH World Television Championship hanging over his shoulder.
The fans chant “Joe! Joe!” as he heads to the ring. Andrew Everett, his opponent, is introduced. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our next match of the evening.
Joe immediately starts manhandling Everett. Everett tries a springboard out of nowhere but doesn’t even come close to Joe. Joe turns and easily slaps on his rear naked choke finisher and gets the quick victory in this easy squash match.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe Sends A Message To “Real B*tch” CM Punk
After the match, Samoa Joe gets on the mic and says he is your now and forever ROH World Television Champion. He says he stands in this ring right now, he is met with the deafening silence of a coward, in reference to CM Punk.
Joe says your “Real” World Champion is acting like a real bitch right now. He says he wants to pick a fight for London. He says he made the mistake of giving him the courtesy of asking. The mercy of letting him know what would happen.
He says since you don’t seem very talkative tonight, allow me to say this, he began coming out here and asking what he wants. He says now Punker, he’s gonna convince you. He drops the mic and walks off. The commentators speculate what that means. After that, we head to another commercial break.
Christian Cage & Luchsaurus Come To The Ring
When we return from the break, Ian Riccaboni and Nigel McGuinness run down the lineup for AEW ALL IN 2023 on commentary.
We then hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme for Christian Cage. Out he comes with the TNT Championship over his shoulder, as well as his monster Luchasaurus by his side. The two settle in the ring together and the music fades down.
He calls this the biggest family reunion. He calls everyone hillbillies and tells them to put their hot dogs down and give him their attention for just a couple of minutes. He mentions how there’s been a lot of second-bests to come out of North Carolina.
For example, he says, we all know Michael Jordan isn’t the best basketball player to come out of N.C., because the best basketball player is LeBron James. He says when it comes to pro wrestling, everyone knows he is far superior to Ric Flair or anyone other wrestler from North Carolina for that matter.
He says I, we, as the TNT Champion, demand respect. He says lately he’s felt disrespected by one Darby Allin. He says as long as the TNT title is in his possession, he will never touch it again.
Arn Anderson comes out with his son, Brock Anderson, and says, “That’s about enough.” The crowd pops and he says this isn’t Darby Allin, but they’re the Anderson’s, and they know us around here in Greensboro, N.C. He tells the fans to take a bow. He calls this place hallowed ground in pro wrestling. He says if he remembers right, this is Horsemen country.
Double A sends a message to the sea monster, giant lizard standing next to Christian. He tells Luchasaurus, you’re the TNT Champion, not him. Christian says he knows Arn has had a lot of moments in this area, but he reminds him his last one was Christian leaving him in a pool of his own blood.
TNT Championship
Luchasaurus (C) vs. Brock Anderson
They close the promo segment out by Cage telling Arn he said he wouldn’t be doing any more Open Challenges for the TNT Championship, but says he’d make an exception for him. Arn says if he was 20 years younger he would, but instead, it’s gonna be his son.
Brock Anderson heads in the ring and Luchasaurus starts beating him down. As Luchasaurus continues working him over, the commentators inform us via Tony Khan that this one-on-one bout will be for the TNT title. Luchasaurus launches Brock out to the floor. Arn backs Christian off.
Back in the ring, Luchasaurus continues to work over Brock as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.
When we return from the break, we see Brock drilling Luchasaurus with repeated punches. Luchasaurus ends up simply grabbing him up and planting him in the mat with a chokeslam. He follows up with his finisher and scores the easy victory to retain.
Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Luchasaurus
Darby Allin Issues Two Challenges
Once the match wraps up, we see Christian Cage head into the ring with the belt to celebrate with Luchasaurus. Out of nowhere, Darby Allin hits the ring and starts beating down everyone in sight.
He hits a big Coffin Drop on Luchasaurus and runs he and Cage off. He gets on the mic as the fans chant his name. He asks if the entire time Luchasaurus has been a dinosaur, has he ever had a skateboard shoved up his ass.
He tells Christian he’s sick of him talking. He asks if he wants to be a fighting champion. He says next week, Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage for the TNT title on Collision.
Christian says he’s on. Darby says when he’s done strangling Christian with his turtleneck, he’s gonna beat some respect into Luchasaurus at ALL IN. After this, we head to another commercial break.
Powerhouse Hobbs Calls Out Miro
When we return from the break, Ian Riccaboni and Nigel McGuinness send things down to the ring where Tony Schiavone is standing. He introduces his guest at this time, Powerhouse Hobbs.
Out comes Powerhouse Hobbs with his “Book of Hobbs” in his hands. He joins Schiavone in the ring to a non-reaction from the Greensboro crowd. His theme music dies down.
Hobbs shows off the gifts that QT Marshall and the QTV gang gave him last week. He then brings up the ALL OUT show and he mentions it taking place where Collision began. He says he hasn’t found any peace in the past few months due to someone or something always distracting him.
He goes on to reveal that he went back to the Bay to find the one thing that means something to him. He says that’s the Book of Hobbs. He says he doesn’t want or need anyone’s help. The next chapter of his book will be dubbed, “Redemption.”
He asks how he can redeem himself after losing his title and the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. He says he needs to call out “The Redeemer.” He calls out Miro. Schiavone exits the ring. After a delay, Miro’s theme hits and out comes “The Redeemer.”
As he settles down at ringside and gets ready to get in the ring to confront Hobbs, he is ambushed and attacked from behind by Nick Comoroto and Aaron Solo. Hobbs watches as the two beat Miro down. The commentators question if Hobbs is aligned with them or if they’re just doing him a favor.
Miro starts beating the two down as they enter the ring. He knocks them out to the floor and then turns into a big spinebuster from Hobbs. Hobbs lays him out and stands over him holding up the “Book of Hobbs.” He lays it on his chest and walks off.
AEW Trios Championships
The House Of Black (C) vs. CMFTR
It’s main event time!
The Young Bucks vs. The Gunns is confirmed for next week’s AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen 2023 special event on Wednesday night, and then Willow Nightingale vs. Diamante and Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage is announced for next week’s AEW Collision: Fight For The Fallen 2023 special event.
From there, “Boomer Sooner” plays and out comes Oklahoma’s finest, “Good Ole’ J.R.” Jim Ross. The WWE Hall of Fame legend and AEW commentator joins Ian Riccaboni and Nigel McGuinness on the call for our final match of the evening.
After that, The House of Black’s theme hits and out comes Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews, accompanied by Julia Hart, for the latest defense of their AEW Trios Championships.
As the champs settle into the ring, we shift gears and head to a quick pre-match commercial break. Our final match of the evening for the AEW Trios Championships will be up next when we return.
When we return from the break, FTR’s Midnight Express-sounding theme hits and out comes Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to a big pop. The AEW World Tag-Team Champions stop and their music dies down.
Now the theme for CM Punk plays and out comes the “REAL” AEW World’s Champion. CMFTR then heads to the ring together for our AEW Collision main event inside the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
The ring announcer handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for the champions and the challengers. The crowd atmosphere is lively, as this one has “big fight feel” written all over it. The introductions are out of the way and now all that’s left to do is fight. In other words, it’s clobbering time!
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Kicking things off for their respective teams is Buddy Matthews and Cash Wheeler. The fans clamor for Punk, so Wheeler tags him in. The fans break out in a loud “CM Punk! CM Punk!” chant as he and Matthews stare each other down.
Punk and Buddy hit the ropes and blast shoulder to shoulder. Matthews doesn’t budge, but Punk is shook. He soaks up the moment well with his facial expression. This happens two more times and then Punk tags Wheeler back in. Wheeler fares better against Matthews than Punk did early on.
Dax Harwood tags in and J.R. immediately sings his praises as the true tough guy of his three-man team. He gave Brody King the same respect on the other side of the ring before the bell sounded. We see Harwood taking it to Matthews as the crowd comes to life. Brody King tags in and the noise from the crowd picks up more.
King has his entire face painted black and white. He blasts Dax with a chop that shakes him and the crowd reacts big. He does it again and Harwood tries hitting him back with one but King eats it and sends him half-way across the ring with another one of his own.
Everyone ends up in the ring and we see CMFTR hit a big three-man spot that sends King and Matthews out to the floor. Malakai Black heads out to talk with them as CM Punk and FTR stare them down from inside the ring. Back in the ring, Punk waits as Malakai tags in for the first time in the bout.
The crowd comes to life, clearly letting it be known that this feels big to them. The roar sustains and grows as they slowly circle each other and then begin getting after it. The two exchange shots for a bit and then Punk does his Indian style sitting routine. Malakai pauses and stares at him and then he does the same thing, since it’s his routine, too.
The fans loudly chant “Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!” FTR stands behind Punk while he’s sitting like that. Brody and Matthews do the same behind Malakai. Finally all six men start exchanging wild shots as the crowd goes ballistic. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the main event of the evening continues.
When we return from the break, we see Matthews taking it to Harwood in the middle of the ring. He tags in King, who picks up where he left off. We see some back-and-forth action and then Punk gets the hot tag and goes to work. Julia Hart provides some distractions as he heads to the top rope and Malakai crotches him behind the ref’s back.
Brody King tags in and hits a big cannonball splash on Punk in the corner. This sends “The Best in the World” out to the floor. On that note, we shift gears and head to our final commercial break of the evening as the headline bout of this week’s Collision continues.
As we settle in from the final advertising time out of the evening, we see CMFTR fighting from underneath back into competitive form, before ultimately they start to take over. The crowd loudly chants “This is Awesome!” after a big high spot. Brody King heads to the top rope but Dax Harwood chops the hell out of him and climbs up after him.
King knocks him down, but Harwood recovers and climbs back up after him. We see a tag. Wheeler and Harwood hit a double-super-plex on King off the top. Punk follows up with a flying elbow smash off the top-rope in the opposite corner. He goes for the cover but somehow King kicks out.
The three try hitting King with a super shatter machine. Matthews is taken out. Malakai and Punk take each other out with head kicks. Everyone is down and the crowd comes alive, standing and applauding the action as it is nearing its’ end. Punk hits a suicide dive onto Malakai on the floor. Harwood hits a flying head butt on King but he kicks out of the follow-up pin attempt.
The camera angle switches to show Samoa Joe choking out CM Punk in the crowd. Back in the ring, after interference from Julia Hart, we see Brody King connect with a savage lariat for the pin fall victory. With the win, The House of Black retain their titles. We see Joe still choking out Punk in the crowd.
The House of Black stand tall in the ring and Punk is shown repeatedly choked out in the crowd as the commentators wrap things up. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winners and STILL AEW Trios Champions: The House Of Black
