It’s the penultimate episode of Collision – and it’s the start of the final round of block matches!
Quick Results
Collision Cup Block B: Big Nik pinned Alex Duke in 7:25 (**¾)
Collision Cup Block A: Joshua Amaru pinned Nino Bryant in 6:57 (**½)
Week four opens with a recap of last week, which ended with a four-way tie in block A thanks to Joshua Amaru’s win over Nick Schreier, while Big Nik beating David Adili in block B put the former basketball centre alone at the top of block B. Virgil Defour and Sepp Hammer are back on German commentary as we return to die Weiße Rose in Berlin.
Collision Cup Block B: Alex Duke vs. Big Nik
Unless we’re not doing tiebreakers, this match has little at stake… as the “Lighthouse of the Lazarus Pit” has already shone himself a path to the next stage.
The Berlin crowd was behind Nik from the off as he threw Duke around the ring, before a sidewalk slam almost put this match to bed early. Duke tried to hang up Nik in the ropes, but the big guy overpowered him and brings him back in with a suplex from the apron. Duke rolls outside… but ends up backing into Nik, who chops him against the ring… back inside, Duke distracts the referee as Michael Noel shoves Nik into the ring post, then rolled him back in. That allowed Duke to take over, with his lackey Noel taking some more shots behind the ref’s back.
Nik’s taken into the corner for some elbows as Duke clubbed him down to the mat, but Nik hits back with some forearms of his own, before a powerslam drew a near-fall. A chokeslam looks to follow, but Duke pokes Nik in the eye as a ripcord knee helped take him down for a near-fall… before Michael Noel returned from the back with a wrench. Someone’s been watching too much current New Japan. Kuro’s out to stop Noel turning this into a House of Torture tribute, superkicking Noel on the stage as Duke then scarpered away from a chokeslam. David Adili appears in the crowd to throw Duke back into the ring, as we finally got that chokeslam to ensure Nik completed the clean sweep in the block. There’s something about Big Nik that speaks to the kind of wrestling I grew up watching back in the 90s – and this neatly wrapped up the story of Duke cheating against everyone else in his block. **¾
Backstage, Duke and Noel are upset at having to do the interview… Duke’s upset everyone ganged up on him and storms off. Meanwhile, Nik’s happy to have swept the block.
Collision Cup Block A: Joshua Amaru vs. Nino Bryant
Much like last time, Amaru’s out on his own as he’s binned the baklava for now and is taking things seriously. These two met back at Nova #5 in October 2022, with Nino taking the win there.
Amaru tries to throw away Bryant as he went for a double-leg, but instead had to settle for a side headlock. Bryant had to rely on his speed to get ahead, outfoxing Amaru ahead of a tijeras that took things into the corner, before springboards led to… Bryant getting chopped out of the air. Nino returns the favour, chopping Amaru into the corner, only to get met with a suplex moments later for a near-fall. Amaru’s chinlock keeps Bryant down, save for a scare with a roll-up and a wheelbarrow… before Amaru almost nicked the win with a roll-up of his own. Bryant’s pulled up for some chops, before Nino fought back with an overhead kick…
Bryant’s forced to duck some punches from Amaru, before he took a super long way around to a Tyler Bate-ish rebound lariat, which turned into a floatover and a PK. Amaru catches a moonsault out of the corner, but Bryant stays a step ahead, sidestepping a diving boot, before Amaru began to bully Bryant, leading to a do over of the caught moonsault… but this time the diving boot lands, before a Tiger Driver nearly put Nino through the mat for the win. **½
On the stage, Abdul Kenan and Aytac Bahar celebrate with Amaru to close the show… before the post-match promos saw Bryant blame his loss on the diving kick, as he couldn’t get his head back into the game from there. Meanwhile, Amaru reckoned he’s finally starting to show his worth as he’s beginning to pick up some wins now he’s taking things seriously.
With a pair of matches left, here’s the lay of the land – and basically if Pahlevan Nima beats Nick Schreier next week, he should win the block, unless, you know, tie-breakers.
Block A
Amaru (2-1 / 4pts)
Nima, Schreier (1-1 / 2pts)
Bryant (1-2 / 2pts)
Block B
Nik (3-0 / 6pts)
Adili, Kuro (1-1 / 2pts)
Duke (0-3 / 0pts)
Next week: David Adili and Kuro fight for the runner-up spot in block B, while Pahlevan Nima and Nick Schreier decide what happens to block A.