AEW Collision (Dec. 2, 2023) emanated from Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA. The show featured slobberknocking slugfests in the Continental Classic tournament, Bryan Danielson wearing an eye patch to wrestle, a spooky girl confronting a zombie, and more.
Catch up on all the Collision details with top-notch play-by-play from Geno Mrosko.
Saturday night is alright for fighting. Three Blue League matches were on tap for the Continental Classic. Trash talk ensued from the competitors.
Continental Classic slobberknockers and slugfests
Brody King versus Claudio Castagnoli opened the show. Man oh man, that was a slugfest supreme. King wanted to prove his victory over Eddie Kingston was not a fluke. He did just that by stopping Claudio cold.
King and Claudio threw thunderous blows from the start. When it wasn’t a stalemate of clotheslines, it was a tit for tat on the attack. For example, King had the edge in momentum, then Claudio shot into screen for a furious flurry of uppercuts.
As always when discussing Claudio matches, we can’t leave out the clip of the giant swing. Taking King for a ride was no easy feat.
In the end, Claudio sprang up for a springboard uppercut. King met him with a stiff blow. King pounced for a piledriver, but it wasn’t enough to keep Claudio down. King added a crushing lariat to finish the job.
Next up was Andrade versus Daniel Garcia. The dancing man actually used his particular set of skills to catch Andrade off guard for a sleeper.
This match wasn’t as hard-hitting as the other two bouts, but it was certainly on the same level of aggression. Garcia brought the fight, and Andrade outclassed him at times. That was evident on the finish when Garcia made the same boneheaded mistake he often does. No, I’m not talking about dancing. Garcia had the sharpshooter tight, then he leaned back too far cranking the submission. Andrade grabbed Garcia’s neck to escape. Andrade was quicker on the rotation to their feet to execute a hammerlock DDT for victory. Garcia lost the bout, but he earned Andrade’s respect. Too bad no points are awarded for respect.
The main event slot went to Bryan Danielson versus Eddie Kingston. The American Dragon wrestled with a jockstrap on his head molded into the shape of a protective eye patch for his healing orbital bone. Danielson wanted Kingston at his best. Kingston has respect for Danielson, but that’s not going to stop him from busting up Danielson’s eye. Kingston only cares about winning.
This bout was a slobberknocker. Despite the injury, Danielson didn’t let that affect any part of his game. He threw headbutts, for crying out loud. Danielson and Kingston stood toe to toe several times exchanging hard strikes. On one sequence, Kingston pummeled from mount, but Danielson fired back vicious strikes from the bottom. The fisticuffs were electric.
Kingston rocked Danielson with a spinning backfist. After a kick-out, Kingston added a suplex. Danielson was down but not out. Kingston’s gas tank was empty after that surge. Victory was so close, but he couldn’t maintain momentum to capitalize.
When Kingston found his second wind to go back on the attack, Danielson blocked the spinning backfist to counter for a suplex. Danielson kicked Kingston’s head in. Both men was gassed with exhaustion. Kingston rolled over to scream and flash the middle finger. Danielson rose to deliver the