Around... Noon. Yes... Noon. The son wakes up and is ready to get started with the day. We start off his day with going for a walk. This is my first time in Dallas not in the Winter/Spring and holy crap is it hot and humid. Like I'm sweating through my shirt within a few minutes of walking outside hot and humid. Tristan wants to walk to the Target which isn't too far away from the Wal-Mart we went to the previous night. We get over to the Target and beeline for the wrestling figures which they didn't have much. They had tons of sports cards which was pretty surprising but that isn't what we were there for this time. So we got some snacks and food from the deli and headed back to the hotel.

Once back, we had our food while watching some old school Ring of Honor. Nothing like eating a pastrami and swiss sandwich while watching Samoa Joe and Low Ki beat the bricks off each other. After lunch we decided to retire to the pool and all I will say about that is the older you get, the more that whole "wait thirty minutes before getting in the pool" thing is real. Upon trying a moonsault which I used to be able to do, I got a cramp that I thought was going to cripple me. Luckily the hot tub was there and I spent the next 20 minutes as the crowd while my son did all the moves.

And then it was time to cross that street once again to the Curtis Culwell Center. This time we are on the floor so the line is completely different than the previous night and we showed up at exactly 5:30 PM when the doors open and walked right in. We ended up being so early getting into the arena that Powerhouse Hobbs was a little shocked that people were entering the building as he talked with a few people in the seats in the front row. These seats are great but I always get concerned sitting in the floor as a person underneath 6 feet and with a kid WAY under 6 feet. We are in the third row in front of the stage on the hard cam side and for the next hour, very few people end up around us. By the time the Ring of Honor taping is starting, people slowly start to filter around us and luckily nobody is overly tall and makes me think this is going to be a good night.

Blake Christian nearly loses all good will that he built up the night before as he reverts back to the heel schtick until Atlantis Jr. comes out. I can already tell I'm going to love the crowd around me as they were apparently sitting in the same seats the night previously and had developed some friendly rivalries around people. It is interesting how fanbases in general just don't seem to accept Atlantis Jr. I really enjoy watching them trade holds at the beginning of the match, it reminds me of early Ring of Honor and is one of my favorite styles being that game of Chess. Apparently the guy behind me loves all of the lucha guys but tells the guy next to me that he can have Atlantis Jr. One issue I have with Atlantis Jr. and really this is an issue with a lot of luchadors is they aren't particularly snug with anything they do to the point where live there is too much air in front of their strikes. With the right production crew, it isn't an issue but being close to the action, it can't be ignored. Blake Christian cheats during this match and gets some boos for Johnson. The fans cheer for the big moves but I don't think they are really behind Atlantis Jr. all that much. He gets the win with a nice Frog Splash but the claps and cheers don't last long as he raises his hand in victory.

Atlantis Jr. making his entrance.

I love Diamante's entrance. That click-click-boom-boom brings some of that classic LAX flavor going back to her first big run I remember her from. Maya is a local girl so is getting cheers from the people who frequent the local DFW indies. It doesn't help though as Diamante just proceeds to lay it in more and more. Where Atlantis Jr. was leaving air between all of his strikes, Diamante left no doubt. I couldn't tell but it looks like some of the strikes might have busted Maya open. I'll give Maya this, she got very little offense in but took that beating like a champ. Diamante makes short work of her. Literally watch this for a world class ass whooping.

Even that narc Posey was backing off of Diamante after this.

I think that CoachTonyK read my last review and if he did, hi Tony, love the show. The second I heard "NOW WE PLAY!" I knew we were going to be in for a good time. Michael Oku is still continuously doing his best to make his name and Amira is the hardest working manager on the indies, I absolutely love her. And then when Jay Lethal's music hit, I immediately said Tony isn't giving us any bullshit tonight, we are getting the workhorse Jay Lethal tonight. Satnam Singh isn't even with him so I expect a barnburner. From the initial lockup they have me hooked. Trading holds, laying shit in, and doing the stand offs. And Amira is slapping the mat and yelling to the crowd as the hardest working manager on the indies. Both of these guys came into this match looking to prove something and on any other night including the previous night, would have stole the show. This show was just stacked though. I wish they wouldn't have had a hard out for the match because they had to go live for Collision. I told Lethal the next day at Starrcast that they need to run this match back and give it another fifteen minutes. This is THE Jay Lethal at his best and it shocks me that Oku is still slumming it in the depleted UK indies. I was shocked that they put Lethal over Oku considering Oku is the Rev Pro champion so I guess maybe they can run this back at Rev Pro for the title but this match absolutely needs to happen again.

They held nothing back. This set the tone for the night.

They announce that there is going to be a short change over for Collision but to stick around after where they will have a special main event to conclude the Ring of Honor taping. We use this time to go check out the merch booth and use the bathroom. The merch booth is depleted once again. I do regret not getting the dual signed Omega/Okada 11x17 photo but what can you do. We make it back just in time for the show open and Paragon's entrance.

The crowd is HOT for this match. I don't think Adam Cole can ever not be over. His entrance alone is worth the price of admission. O'Reilly and Fletcher start off and someone happens to notice that they're both named Kyle so you can see where this is going. I really have to say that the AEW fans have so much fun. A lot of guys lose a step as they get older but I swear that Roddy Strong hits harder. Fletcher gets compared to Pepto Bismol by everyone and sells it which is fun. Trent and Rocky are great fodder for the offense of O'Reilly and Strong, taking big hits and selling wildly. I miss what looks like a great missile dropkick on the outside by O'Reilly to Trent, the pitfalls of being on the floor on the other side. Miscommunication as Rocky goes for a double sliced bread on Roddy Strong and O'Reilly which there isn't an easy way to recover from so he just locks on and lets them lift him up to hit it. For a long, good match the ending is kind of meh as Cole hits Rocky with the knee from behind and gets the pin. I guess it is really aiming to build to the aftermath as Fletcher tries to attack Cole from behind and Cole turns and goes to hit him with the belt and they get into a stalemate. Hindsight being 20/20, Cole didn't seem to show any signs of any issues right here. The night before the show after Supercard of Honor, my son saw Cole walking through the lobby and really wanted a picture and Cole, the nicest guy alive, obliged and didn't show any signs of having an issues. I guess this just goes to show how the affects of head injuries really can come and go. I really hope the best for him.

They held nothing back. This set the tone for the night.

Mistico's entrance is just so good. The crowd is all in on it too. My son mostly knows Mistico as the original Sin Cara and makes a comment about how he would slip a lot. As soon as he brings that up, Mistico fails to fully bounce off the ropes. Then a few seconds later whifs on a 619. American ring ropes really don't agree with him, do they? For his part, Mortos is an absolute workhorse. As a posting big man, he catches all of Mistico's offense and makes it look good and then lays in all of his strikes like a hoss. The fans stay hot for Mistico for this as he is the name and even to this day his tijeras is a thing of beauty but make no bones about it, this match was held together by Mortos and he deserves his flowers. Mistico ends with a sloppy La Mistica for the finish. This was supposed to be a match to get over Mistico before the Casino Gauntlet but just reminded me how good Mortos is. They do an after match gimmick where MJF appears on the big screen and cuts a great promo. Mistico attempts to do the normal lucha gimmicks of trying to get people to chant and it kind of works but doesn't really gain traction. Not the best Mistico match but was still an admittedly great match and keeps the momentum of this Collision going.

Beast Mortos attempting to rip off the mask of Mistico.

The Outrunners bring such an energy to the crowd. This crowd has been up all night but when the Outrunners come out, the energy went up even further. I love these shows because nobody is sitting on their hands. It also doesn't hurt that every match on this show has delivered so far. Nick Wayne and Speedball start the match off. Speedball is either the greatest worker of our generation or he is legitimately beating the shit out of everyone he is in the ring with. He catches Nick Wayne with a kick that looks like it catches Wayne in the throat. Everything he does has such a force behind it. The two have great chemistry though, I'd love to see a singles match between them or should look up to see if one has happened. Give me a fast-paced Speedball/Wayne match as a semi-main on one of the Ring of Honor supershows, please. We get Knight and Christian for a second and it is crazy to see Christian still able to work at such a pace hitting the ropes and dodging Knight's offense. One of the Outrunners gets tagged in while Cash is in and Cash throws a forearm that sends him all the way to the other side of the ring. If there were still house shows, I'd demand Outrunners and FTR to work every night on the loops for a month to helpo the Outrunners grow as a team and learn from FTR. We don't have that so I hope the Outrunners are working out and sponging everything they can from FTR. There is such a fun false tag from FTR during this that just reminds you how good they are. The last few minutes of this is an absolute spotfest that has the fans on their feet and reacting to everything. I know there are complaints about this type of no-selling and rapid moves which feels like hotshotting everything just to get reactions but when you are there live, it really does work. Patriarchy bail at the finish and feed FTR to Jetspeed with Knight hitting a splash for the pin. This was such a great match and tied together so many storylines. This show is hitting on all cylinders.

Cash admiring Christian.

I get goosebumps still every time I hear Shibata's music. I legitimately never thought I would get to see him wrestle again. The people next to us are absolutely mental when Kidd's music hits. This match starts off hot. Kidd didn't get the memo that Shibata had a traumatic brain injury and I'm both wincing and loving this form of violence theater.I think Shibata probably tells everyone to not go easy on him but most guys don't want to be the guy that kills Shibata in the ring. Shibata, one of Kidd's trainers in the New Japan Dojo, was probably told by Shibata to lay it in and Kidd, the absolute madman, cannot defy his trainer and LAYS IT THE FUCK IN~! The forearms from the both are intense, the dropkicks to the face are brutal, and then THE FUCKING HEADBUTT. Their strike exchange in the middle of the match has me buzzing and wishing this match was taking place in the Tokyo Dome. Not that it is bad here but a Tokyo Dome Shibata match that isn't a bullshit exhibition but we are talking about Shibata. Every time I see Shibata clutch his head, I get worried that something is seriously wrong. Yuta interferese at the end and Kidd takes advantage to hit a low blow and piledriver to beat Shibata. This match was personal for both of these guys and they wanted to make it mean something. As much as I love Shibata, you don't often get the mid-2010s Shibata that would just beat the shit out of everyone and take the shots as good as he gives them but in this match, you got that Shibata who was violent with an opponent who would give it back. This is one of the best Shibata matches I have seen in years and I was so grateful to see it.

The staredown.

This is the all star match to get you ready for the Women's Casino Gauntlet. Unfortunately I am still buzzing from that Shibata/Kidd match so I'm not fully paying attention to this. Thekla is pretty awesome, the double tree of woe hangs from her and Julia Hart are fun. Queen Aminata has taken advantage of the open spot left by Hayter in the women's division and looks like a million dollars. Bayne is a powerhouse and looks great in the ring with everyone. Athena is heads and shoulders better than most of the women in the division. But outside of that, I can't remember much. This might have been really good but following that Shibata/Kidd match, it just didn't have my attention.

The heels.

Before the show, they had promised a big Ring of Honor match after Collision was finished. Tony Khan came out after Collision ends to let us know that we are about to get a big lucha libre match. The people around me are clamoring about who could have been brought in for this match to warrant it being the main after an incredible night. The second Spanish Announce Project's music hits, it feels like the air has been let out of the room and the people around me immediately start leaving. I've always felt like Angelico is hit or miss in any match that I see him in. For my part, I guess it is nice that I can now stretch out a bit and enjoy this final match. Hechicero on the other hand is consistantly good in the ring. I remember when Sabre Jr. had that great technical match with Pentagon Jr. at PWG and then started going through other luchadors in technical matches and beating them so Hechicero demanded a match with him and the two exchanged insane technical holds against each other. Going into this I think best case, Angelico shines against a luchador and worst case, Hechicero ties him up like a pretzel. We get worst case as Angelico does his stupid dances but Hechicero spins Angelico around and hooks him in various holds. At one point in the match he leaps over the ropes into a chokehold on Angelico and I lose it. Stupid dance moves should always result in a chokehold like Hechicero gave Angelico. The match is serviceable, Hechicero ends it with a hammerlock into a swinging backbreaker. He is a great addition this roster, I'm excited to see more interactions with him from the AEW and ROH roster. Hologram comes out to save a beatdown and while I'm glad Hologram doesn't eat a pin to Hechicero here, makes me wish the main we got was Hechicero Vs. Hologram. I hope this leads to something.

Hechicero.

This show was so good, me and my son decide we need some victory tacos. There is a taco place next to the hotel but it looks like we get in just as they are about to close. I order some Birria tacos and my son gets a quesadilla. When I realize they are about to close, I start telling them they can just do it to-go so we don't keep them there longer but they insist we just stay and eat. To put the best stamp on the night, these tacos are amazing. This is one of the best go-home shows I have been to live not necessarily for building anything towards All In match-wise but with the quality of every single match and ability to get the crowds on their feet. People can poke fun and joke about the smaller crowds of AEW and from a business standpoint, it might suck for them but I've never been to an AEW show where the crowd is not into everything going on and make it fun. But this show was just on such another level, it felt like going to a PWG show where every match was great to spectacular and you were wearing yourself out with how good everything was but allowing the momentum of the crowd to keep you in for yet another amazing match. Kudos to Coach Tony K for this because I was impressed.

The tacos.

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RESPECT TO THE DEATH VALLEY PLAYAZ~!

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