AEW Collision Review – 07.10.25

AEW Collision comes to us LIVE from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX hot off the heels of last night’s Dynamite. The announce team for the evening is Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness on match calls, Arkady Aura doing ring announcements, and Lexy Nair doing backstage interviews. The company is two days away from it’s biggest show of the year, All In: Texas and this is the go-home television show prior to that.

Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero, and Kyle Fletcher vs Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong

Cole’s TNT Championship will be on the line when he faces Fletcher for it on Saturday. The Callis Family crew are seconded by Lance Archer and Don Callis who joins the announcers as usual. The camera catches Fletcher with his fingers in his ears during Cole’s sing-a-long in a funny visual. It’s Fletcher and O’Reilly to start as the bell rings.

Fletcher knocks Cole off the apron immediately as O’Reilly chases with kicks and punches. They run the ropes and O’Reilly takes control with a knee to Fletcher’s gut. Cole tags in and Fletcher decides he’d rather tag in Beretta. Cole and Beretta trade wristlocks and Cole tags in Strong. Cole and Strong hit a double-team neckbreaker on Beretta and Strong tags in O’Reilly. Strong and O’Reilly double team Beretta with chops and kicks and Romero comes charging in to catch some kicks from O’Reilly. Cole tags in and hits a shotgun dropkick on Beretta for two. Cole slugs Beretta to the mat in the Paragon corner and tags in O’Reilly as the fans chant “Fu*k Don Callis!” in the background. Callis says they should build a fence around Texas to keep the fans there. O’Reilly tags in Strong and as they work on Beretta, Romero charges in again. O’Reilly and Strong hit a double team backdrop suplex on Beretta on top of a prone Romero, and Strong covers Beretta for two. Strong chops Beretta and then a charging Fletcher, but the distraction from Fletcher works as Beretta finally stops the momentum with a double thrust to Strong.

Beretta tags in Fletcher and he and Romero work over Strong in the Callis corner. Fletcher tags in Romero and he continues working over Strong in their corner. Romero tags in Beretta who prevents Strong from tagging with a big right. Romero tags in and hits Strong with two running lariats, but Strong slips the third one and tags in O’Reilly. O’Reilly immediately takes control with chops, knees and kicks before he SWEEPS THE LEG. Beretta comes charging in so O’Reilly whips him into the corner and gets a knee lift. O’Reilly whips Beretta into the opposite corner and Beretta goes up but not over only to meet an O’Reilly kick in the head. Fletcher charges in and O’Reilly hits him with a Dragon Screw leg whip. O’Reilly wrecks Romero and Beretta on the floor as I’m wondering if Beretta is still the legal man. O’Reilly runs the length of the apron and dropkicks a sitting Beretta against the barrier. O’Reilly gets nailed by a Helluva kick from Fletcher as he tries to re-enter. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Beretta tosses O’Reilly back in and Romero covers for two. Romero works on O’Reilly’s shoulder with elbows. Fletcher tags in and bodyslams O’Reilly before slapping on a headlock. O’Reilly tries to get to his corner so Fletcher scoops him up for a Saito suplex. Romero tags in and works over O’Reilly on the ropes and Fletcher tags back in. Fletcher puts the boots to O’Reilly in the Callis corner, and as Fletcher beefs with the referee, Romero puts his boot on O’Reilly.

Back live with Fletcher slamming O’Reilly again before knocking Cole off the apron. Beretta tags in and O’Reilly finally fires up as they meet each other with clotheslines. O’Reilly dumps Beretta to the outside and finally tags in Strong as Fletcher comes charging in as well. This ref is being LENIENT with the tag rule tonight. Strong hits a high roundhouse kick on Fletcher and then nails Beretta with a dropkick between the ropes. Strong clotheslines Fletcher over the top rope to the floor as Romero charges in. Strong wrecks Romero with a twisting face breaker out of a crucifix, and then nails Beretta with a Saito suplex. Strong hits Beretta with running forearms and a face first slam and that gets two. Beretta manages to push Strong into a high roundhouse kick from Fletcher who tags in. Fletcher tags in Romero and hits an overhead suplex on Strong, and then Romero and Beretta hit a double team high knee on Strong that gets two. Beretta tags in and Strong manages to break out of the corner as Fletcher comes charging at him.

Cole tags in and he runs wild on Beretta and Romero before hitting Beretta with a neckbreaker off Cole’s knee. Cole catches Romero with the same move. Cole tosses Beretta into the Callis corner and dares Fletcher to tag in. Fletcher tags a prone Beretta as the fans pop. They slug it out and Fletcher nails Cole with a kick to the head. Cole responds with a pump kick but Fletcher shakes it off and nails Cole with a half snapdragon suplex. Fletcher charges and eats a Cole superkick, and then Cole hits the Panama Sunrise on Fletcher for a LONG two. Cole lowers the knee pad but when he runs the ropes, Fletcher pops up with a huge lariat. Beretta tags in and tags in Romero, but O’Reilly and Strong finally come in to help. They knock Beretta to the floor and then hit a double team drop on Romero who then eats a superkick from Cole. Cole hits the BOOM knee to the back of Romero’s head and that gets three.

Every heel faction needs a job guy and here’s our pal Rocky Romero to look up at the lights. It’s nice when he’s in a match because if his team is losing, Rocky is your guy. This was fine and they kept Cole and Fletcher apart with an eye on Saturday, clearly. Fletcher’s athleticism is just off the charts. 3*

Winners – Cole, O’Reilly and Strong (Cole BOOM knee to Romero)

Post-match sees Fletcher try to sneak attack Cole, who feels it coming and threatens a belt shot. Cole says if Fletcher wants to fight they can go as Callis advises Fletcher not to take the bait. Fletcher backs off as Cole’s music plays.

A pre-tape promo from The Death Riders is next. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley says they’ve been pushing and testing people for a year, and almost everyone is failing the test. It’s the greatest sport in the world and no one has the stomach to endure. Gabe Kidd says that Shibata taught him Fighting Spirit but with Shibata aligning with the Opps, he doesn’t have any Fighting Spirit left. Wheeler Yuta says that the punishment he endured from Samoa Joe was nothing compared to what he’s been through with the Death Riders. Claudio Castignoli says beggars are not warriors, because warriors don’t beg. Marina Shafir says all their opponents are weak and brittle. Moxley says you can’t fake your way through wrestling and Hangman Page better be all in because Moxley is going to make him all out.

Schiavone confirms that Castignoli, Yuta and Gabe Kidd will face the Opps for the AEW Trios titles at All In. We go to a Technique by Taz on the La Mistica armbar that Mistico uses. Taz explains the science behind the move (which almost everyone else calls the Fujiwara armbar) in a very cool segment. We go to commercials.

Schiavone throws to a video package on Scorpio Sky‘s return last week. He’s aligned himself with Top Flight and the group is now called Sky Flight with Christopher Daniels apparently managing them. It’s cool to see another babyface faction, I have to say.

Mistico vs The Beast Mortos

Mortos charges as the bell rings but Mistico slips it. Mistico botches a handspring but then hits Mortos with a running rana. Mistico tries a springboard crossbody but Mortos catches him. Mistico slips out and dropkicks Mortos in the back sending him to the ropes. Mistico hits a 619 on Mortos before ascending for another springboard rana that sends Mortos to the floor. Mistico hits a tope suicida that staggers Mortos, and then Mistico hits another tope that knocks Mortos down. Mistico drags Mortos into the ring and hits a springboard splash on him for two. Mistico locks hands with Mortos and he hits a ropewalk armdrag that sends Mortos to the corner. Mistico misses a charge and Mortos gets a flurry of offense that ends with a snap powerslam and twisting neck break as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Mistico tries to fire up but Mortos slugs him down and tears at the mask. Mortos steps on Mistico’s head and twists before ascending. Mortos hits a springboard twisting splash that gets two. Mortos slugs Mistico down again and slaps on a headlock as we go to full commercials.

Back live with Mortos still in control as he presses Mistico. Mistico slips down and knocks Mortos into the corner. Mortos dumps a charging Mistico to the apron, but Mistico fires back with roundhouse kicks. Mistico hits a springboard cross body and a springboard rana. Mistico leaps onto Mortos’s shoulders and he hits a spinning rana that sends Mortos sprawling. Mistico hits a springboard back elbow for two. McGuinness points out that Mistico could have trouble winning with the armbar during the Gauntlet match on Saturday and he makes a good point. Mortos dumps Mistico on his face after another rana attempt and that gets two. Mistico recovers and hits something resembling a Destroyer on Mortos for two.

Mortos recovers and hits Mistico with headbutts before firing him into the ropes to hit a Samoan Drop on Mistico for two. Mortos hits a lung blower on Mistico and that gets two. Mistico hits Mortos with a knee that gets two as Schiavone says “he didn’t get all of it”. Mistico hits a tilt-a-whirl armdrag on Mortos. Mortos recovers and they slug it out mid-ring. Mistico hits some thrust kicks, then they run the ropes as Mistico hits another sort-of Destroyer on Mortos and both guys are down. Mistico recovers and ascends but Mortos gets a boot up as Mistico tries for the moonsault. Mistico dumps a charging Mortos into the corner. Mistico hits the La Mistica and Mortos immediately taps.

Mistico is wildly over with the Texas crowd so they were into this the whole way. I didn’t love it but Mistico works a deliberate pace and hits a LOT of springboard moves. Mortos is always solid but he never seems to win and no one from what remains of LFI bothered to accompany him. The match was fine but nothing you have to seek out. 2.5*

Winner – Mistico (La Mistica armbar)

Post-match and here’s MJF on the video board wearing the Mistico mask he took from him. MJF says Mistico has another thing coming if he thinks he’s going to stop MJF from winning the Gauntlet match. He promises to have pinned Mark Briscoe three seconds after the bell has rung so Mistico won’t even be able to enter. MJF promises to keep collecting all of Mistico’s masks until he has to show his “ugly face”. MJF hits his better than you catchphrase.

Here’s a pre-tape from Mark Briscoe. Briscoe says he’s coming to win the Gauntlet match and he doesn’t care who shows up. He’s been in the game for 25 years in the business, but now it’s personal. Briscoe calls MJF a piece of shit and he knew MJF was going to bring up his brother’s name (during the Talky-Talk on Dynamite). Briscoe was hoping to be numb to it but it’s been 24 hours and every time he thinks about it he gets more and more pissed off because his family was watching Dynamite. Briscoe’s plan is to win on Saturday but on Sunday he has to go home to Delaware and look his family in the eyes and tell them he didn’t “let that shit fly”. Briscoe stares directly at the camera and says at this point he HAS to whip MJF’s ass.

That was an AWESOME promo. I love Mark Briscoe so I hope hope hope he gets some major shine in the Gauntlet.

Back from commercials and LAST NIGHT after Dynamite, Renee Paquette caught up with Hangman Adam Page. Page says he can talk about the ending of Dynamite, just not with Paquette. Page walks into Swerve Strickland‘s locker room where he is sitting with Will Ospreay and Prince Nana. Ospreay begs for peace as Swerve is pissed about the intrusion. Page asks Ospreay to give him two minutes with Swerve and Swerve agrees as Page thanks Ospreay. Nana asks Swerve if he wants coffee and Nana leaves. Swerve says he knows what this is about, he thinks Page is here to ask him for his help. Page says he’s not here for help, he’s going into a suicide mission on Saturday and if he doesn’t say what he came to say now he might not get to. Page, who still has the chain that Moxley used on him in the post-match attack, grabs a chair and sits down. Swerve grabs a chair and they go face to face. Page says that he had nothing to do with the Young Bucks attacking Swerve at Dynasty and he knows Swerve probably doesn’t believe him. Page says his son still wakes up screaming at night thinking he’s seeing Swerve and he hates Swerve for that and he always will. Page says what he did to Swerve in response was deserved and the part that pisses him off is he thinks Swerve knew he deserved it and that’s why Page regrets it. Swerve says if he would have asked him that question before Swerve became world champion he would have looked Page in the eyes and said no. After everything that happened Swerve says now, yes, he does regret it. Page says okay and stands. Page says he’s bringing his family early on Saturday and Swerve says he’ll stay clear of them and hopes they enjoy the show. Page goes to leave but Swerve tells him to wait. Swerve says the house that Page burned down was the one he was planning on raising his kids in and was hoping his grandkids would some day get raised in it as well. Swerve says after thinking about it, maybe it’s time to let go of the past. Page leaves as Swerve sits back down. Swerve picks up the chain Page left and starts wrapping it around his fist while he ponders.

Another tremendous segment here from start to finish. Page has always acknowledged Paquette being married to Moxley, so that tracked. Page and Swerve have such tremendous chemistry together and both can emote when it’s called for. You can watch this segment here. Go watch it, seriously.

As McGuinness and Schiavone discuss the footage, Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir enter the scene and Moxley has a microphone. Moxley asks what kind of crybaby crap did he just see because that “ain’t no cowboy I’ve ever seen”. Shafir grabs the mic and says Page is no cowboy, he’s another word for cat as the crowd loses it. She calls him the other word for cat again and the bleep doesn’t catch it fully this time. Moxley says the smartest decision Page made was to tell his family to not be at the show. Moxley will give no apologies and will have no regrets and Page has 48 hours before he’s Texas Dead. Moxley throws the mic down and they leave back through the crowd. WELL, THAT TURNED UP THE HEAT A BIT SCHIAVONE.

FTR and The Patriarchy vs The Outrunners and Jet Speed

FTR are seconded by BIG STOKE. Cage and Wayne are seconded by Mother Wayne and Kip Sabian. Wayne has this match tonight, an ROH Television title match against Titan on Friday night’s ROH show, and then the three way AEW tag title match on Saturday. Harwood drapes an FTR shirt over Schiavone and steals his headset to do “guest commentary” as Schiavone sits with a disgusted expression on his face. It’s Bailey and Wayne to start as the bell rings.

Bailey forces Wayne into the corner and breaks cleanly, but Wayne reverses and slips a Bailey roundhouse kick attempt. Bailey grabs a wristlock but Wayne pulls his hair and snaps Bailey over into a side headlock. Bailey escapes and nails Wayne with a roundhouse kick to the chest. Knight tags in and he and Bailey hit a double team armdrag slam on Wayne before hitting a double-team high boot. Knight covers for two and Wayne bails to the floor holding his jaw. Cage comes over and gives Wayne a hug before checking his jaw and sending him back in. Wayne suckers Knight in and kicks him before tagging Cage in. Cage pops Knight with a series of right hands. They run the ropes and Knight hits a couple of leapfrogs, but Christian hesitates on the ropes and Knight nails him with a dropkick that gets two. Cage tags in Wheeler who rakes Knight’s eyes. Harwood hits a Euro uppercut that sends Knight immediately down. Harwood yanks Knight up for a chop, and as they run the ropes Knight recovers and hits a springboard armdrag on Wheeler.

Magnum tags in and as he grabs a wristlock Wheeler brutally forearms him down. Harwood tags in and runs Magnum face first into the turnbuckle. Harwood hits a big chop and a Euro uppercut drops Magnum to the mat. Magnum recovers and reverses a hip toss before hitting Harwood with his flying headscissors and a dropkick. Harwood staggers into the babyface corner and eats a lot of right hands before turning and getting dropped by a Magnum right hand. Floyd tags in and he and Magnum hit some double team offense before dropping Harwood on his back. Floyd covers for two. Knight tags in but Harwood fires up and drives him into the heel corner. Knight fights his way out of it and all eight guys square off in a giant hockey fight. Everyone spills to the floor before Knight and Harwood end up back in the ring. Mother Wayne jumps on the apron. Harwood irish whips Knight and as he goes to hit the ropes Wheeler pulls the top rope down and Knight tumbles out of the ring to the floor. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Bailey complains to the ref about the Knight fiasco as the Outrunners square off with Sabian and Mother Wayne. Wheeler and Wayne continue to work over Knight on the floor before Wayne tosses him back in the ring. Knight fires up and reverses a Harwood chop attempt but Harwood runs him into the top turnbuckle and chops away. Cage tags in and drapes Knight over the second rope while standing on his back pulling up on the top rope. Cage mugs to the crowd as he sits on Knight’s head. Wayne tags in and hits a snap suplex on Knight for two. Knight rams Wayne into the heel corner as Wheeler tags in. Wheeler puts some mustard on a suplex before yanking Knight around in a Cobra Clutch. Knight tries breaking out of it with kidney punches and he hits a sunset flip on Wheeler, but Wheeler leans toward his corner as Harwood tags in. Harwood slaps on a headlock.

Back live Knight breaks out of the headlock with a sitdown jawbreaker but Harwood catches Knight before he can make a tag. Knight ducks a charging Harwood who smacks his head on the ring post. Harwood manages to tag in Wayne before Knight can make a tag. Wayne fires Knight into the corner but eats an elbow from Knight upon arrival. Knight escapes and tags in Magnum who immediately drops Wayne with rights. The heels charge in but Floyd and Magnum fight them off. They stack Wheeler and Wayne in one corner and Cage and Harwood in the opposite. They hit stereo splashes on the piles and then send Wayne into a Floyd bulldog while he simultaneously clotheslines Cage. Floyd and Magnum fire up and hit the double team elbow drop on Wayne. BIG STOKE hits the apron to allow Cage and Wheeler to crotch Magnum around the ring post. Wayne hits Floyd with an enzguri sending him to the floor and then sprints down to toss Magnum back in. Wayne hits a Flatliner on Magnum for a LONG two. Wayne drags Magnum to the heel corner and Cage tags in.

Cage pops Magnum a couple of times and then puts a knee over Magnum’s head as he’s draped on the second rope. Floyd takes a swipe at BIG STOKE so Wheeler pops him and puts the badmouth on Floyd. Magnum gets a sneaky rollup on Cage for two but Cage pops him in the mouth directly after. Wayne tags in and slaps on a headlock. A standoff leads to a Magnum snap suplex so Wayne tags in Harwood. Magnum fights his way out of the heel corner and back body drops Harwood before staggering over to tag Floyd. The referee “Blind” Paul Turner (tm: CRZ) indicates he didn’t see the tag so Harwood drags Magnum back to the heel corner as Floyd is incensed. The heels work Magnum over in the corner as the faces complain and the crowd is utterly losing it. Wheeler tags in and snaps Magnum over before giving the DX crotch chop to the crowd. Wheeler slaps the Cobra Clutch back on Magnum. Magnum slips out of it so Wheeler blasts the face corner with right hands. Wheeler turns and runs into a Magnum clothesline. Harwood tags in but Magnum leaps over him and tags in Bailey.

Bailey grabs Harwood and charges down the apron to drop him face-first onto the top turnbuckle and Bailey ascends. Bailey hits a missile drop kick on Harwood and nips up. Wheeler charges in and eats a kick, and then Cage charges in to the same result. Wayne grabs Bailey’s foot as he attempts to kick him but Bailey slips it and hits his rapid fire body kicks before utterly destroying Wayne with a kick to the head. Harwood walks into a reverse kick from Bailey followed by a Bailey roundhouse that drops Harwood to the mat. Bailey hits a standing shooting star press on Harwood for a LONG two as the fans tell Turner how much he sucks. Bailey ascends but Wheeler grabs him and they slug it out on the apron. Wayne tries to sneak up on Bailey but he eats another kick to the face. Bailey slips a Harwood charge and hits Wayne, Harwood and Wheeler with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Bailey ascends again and hits a shooting star press on Harwood for two as Cage breaks it up and the fans are apoplectic. Cage drops Bailey neck first on his knee as Knight charges in. Knight hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Cage but Wayne charges in to hit a snapdragon suplex on Knight. Magnum wipes out Wayne with a top rope lariat before Wheeler hits a drop powerslam on Magnum. Harwood saves Wheeler from a back body drop attempt from Floyd and they hit the Shatter Machine on Floyd who rolls out of the ring.

Knight charges in to knock Wheeler out of the ring as Knight gets a sunset flip on Harwood for the LONGEST of twos. This crowd is rabid for Turner to actually count three. Harwood ducks a Bailey roundhouse and pops him in the mouth but Bailey hits a thrust kick and then sends a charging Cage into Harwood. Cage tries for the Unprettier on Bailey, but he slips it and sends Cage into Floyd as he and Magnum hit a double team slam on Cage. Knight hits a big springboard double lariat on Wayne and Wheeler and Knight ascends as McGuinness (along with everyone else) has no idea who’s legal at this point. Bailey hits a spinning heel kick on Harwood and Knight hits the UFO splash on Harwood. Bailey covers Harwood for three as none of the heels can make it in to break it up.

Another Collision, another banger with FTR and the Outrunners in it. I’ve seen this called a “party match” in other places and I guess you could make that claim since JR would have hated it due to the nature of everyone just running in all the time, but the crowd was WILDLY into it and that’s really all that matters. Jet Speed pick up a big win to have some momentum heading into Saturday. It was a hell of a battle, that’s for sure, if maybe five minutes too long. 4*

Winners – The Outrunners and Jet Speed (Bailey covers Harwood after Knight UFO Splash)

Lexy Nair is backstage with Big Boom AJ who has called out the Don Callis Family. Big Justice and The Rizzler join the scene to suggest that AJ might need some help in the form of the Conglomeration. Tomohiro Ishii and Hologram come in and dap up AJ as RPG Vice, Lance Archer and Hechicero join the scene. Beretta tells AJ that his kids are a joke and he’s not a pro wrestler, he’s a man who eats cookies on the internet. Romero questions where the fourth member of this team would be and Kyle O’Reilly comes in to say that Conglomeration is a state of mind and for one night, he’s back. AJ says they’re bringing the BUH BUH BUH BOOM as Beretta tells him to stop making the BUH sounds in a hysterical side crack. Everyone yells at each other as we go to commercials.

Back live with a very angry FTR and BIG STOKE. Stoke says he’s made a lot of mistakes but the biggest one may have been trusting Christian Cage, but he’ll get to that later. Stoke says they will be facing The Outrunners on Zero Hour to settle their business once and for all, and that they’ll be at the AEW tag team title match and whatever happens…happens.

Katsuyori Shibata vs Gabe Kidd

Kidd fires himself up and stalks to the ring past Marina Shafir. Aura can’t even finish the ring intros as Kidd charges in and eats a boot from Shibata. They square off to trade forearms and Shibata wins that and fires an uppercut but Kidd responds by BITING Shibata’s forehead. Kidd fires Shibata into the corner and follows directly behind to hit a clothesline. Kidd wants to do it again but Shibata charges after him and hits a Helluva kick. Shibata forearms Kidd down and Kidd bails. Shibata gives chase on the floor but Kidd reverses course and nails Shibata with a big tackle. Kidd whips Shibata back in the ring but Shibata fires up and kicks Kidd to the floor. Shibata goes out and runs Kidd into the barrier before again kicking Kidd in the head. Shibata kicks Kidd in the arm and then yanks him up to toss him back in as McGuinness talks about the history of Shibata, Tanahashi and Nakamura being the new generation of Japanese stars at one point. Kidd goes to Shibata’s eyes and drives him into the corner. Kidd fires forearms and drives Shibata to the mat. Kidd hits a running missile drop kick that had some stink on it and then poses like Shibata to the crowd’s utter disgust as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Kidd yanks Shibata up and pops him with a right before raking at Shibata’s face from behind. I’d love to hear a younger JR call a Kidd match. Kidd chops Shibata and pie-faces him before popping him with forearms. Kidd chops Shibata down and covers for one. Kidd yanks Shibata up and blasts him with a right before kicking him down. Kidd kicks Shibata in the back but Shibata fires up and chops Kidd hard in the chest. Kidd wins a slugfest and covers for two as we go to full commercials.

Back live with Kidd chopping Shibata in the corner while berating him. Shibata’s had enough and he reverses to level Kidd with three hard chops. Shibata hits his own running missile dropkick and then hits Kidd with a double underhook suplex that gets a long two. Shibata’s headlock allows Kidd to rake the eyes to escape, and then he promptly drops Shibata on his head with a suplex. Kidd covers for two and then yanks Shibata up for a brainbuster. Kidd’s lazy cover allows Shibata to kick out at two. Kidd wants a pile driver but Shibata won’t go up, so Kidd hits an absolutely THUNDEROUS slap to Shibata’s back that causes the crowd to gasp. Seriously, it was SO loud. Kidd licks his hand and slaps Shibata’s neck but that just fires Shibata up and they go nose-to-nose. Kidd sits in Shibata’s pose so Shibata licks his hand and slaps the top of Kidd’s head. Shibata fires up with strong style offense but Kidd stops it with a big boot. Kidd lariats Shibata down after a slugfest and covers for one. Kidd charges and Shibata wrecks him with a lariat and as Shibata yells the crowd rises. Kidd blocks a suplex attempt with elbows and then staggers Shibata with a huge right hand. Shibata recovers with a chop and a ripcord slap to Kidd’s chest that the crowd reacts to. Shibata blasts Kidd in the chest with a kick and then puts Kidd in a sleeper. Here’s noted piece of crap Wheeler Yuta to jump on the apron as Shibata drops the hold and charges. Shibata kicks Yuta in the head and turns back to Kidd who low-blows Shibata before pile driving him for three.

Goddamn this match was great until the interference finish. I mean, I’ve watched AEW and know this is what happens with Death Rider matches so I shouldn’t be shocked they ran it. If you like Strong Style, this would be your JAM. Shibata is always tough as nails and doesn’t lose often, and this gives the Death Rider trios team some momentum heading into Saturday. I’m surprised neither Joe or Hobbs ran in when Yuta came charging down. I enjoyed this a bunch but the finish knocks the rating down a hair. 3.5*

Winner – Gabe Kidd (Piledriver)

Post-match sees Kidd, Shafir and Yuta hop the barrier to leave as Kris Statlander makes her entrance to join the announcer team.

Willow Nightingale makes her entrance to a big reaction from the crowd as we go to commercials prior to the main event.

Willow Nightingale, Mina Shirakawa, Queen Aminata and Thunder Rosa vs Athena, Megan Bayne, Julia Hart and Thekla

Bayne is seconded by Penelope Ford. Hart is seconded by Skye Blue. Athena is seconded by Billie Starks and we seriously do not need all these people at ringside plus eight competitors. Shirakawa will start with Athena as the bell sounds.

They trade armdrags to start before Shirakawa dodges a clothesline attempt and poses mid-ring. Athena promptly kicks her in the head and covers for two. Athena whips Shirakawa into the corner and charges, but Shirakawa slips to the apron and punches Athena in the face. Shirakawa hits Athena with a rana, but Athena cartwheels upright before Shirakawa catches her with a sling blade. Rosa tags in and nails Athena with chops as you can clearly see Athena say “one more” when she’s on the ropes. Rosa hits her with two more for good measure and then gets an armdrag that sends Athena sprawling. Athena gets a sneaky rollup on a charging Rosa for one, and then hits a reverse thrust kick on Rosa. Athena fires Rosa into the ropes but she recovers to rana Athena down. Athena drapes over the second rope and Rosa skins the cat over top of her to snap Athena’s throat off the rope. Rosa rolls through and double-stomps Athena’s chest for a two count.

Nightingale tags in to clubber Athena with forearms before running her into the top turnbuckle face-first. Nightingale drives lariat after lariat into a wobbling Athena before nailing her with a backdrop and that gets two. Rosa tags in but Athena slips the attempt of a double-team suplex to tag in Bayne, and Bayne immediately drops Rosa and Nightingale with a double lariat. Bayne whips Nightingale into Rosa and both are in the corner so Bayne charges in and splashes both of them. Athena comes flying in with a handspring back elbow and she runs Nightingale up on to Bayne’s shoulders. Rosa pops Athena in the face and then leaps onto Bayne, who holds both her and Nightingale up at the same time in an unbelievable show of strength. Bayne hits a painful looking fallaway slam on both. Nightingale and Rosa are on the floor so Bayne launches Athena through the ropes onto both of them as the crowd oohs and aahs at that. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Athena tosses Nightingale back in so Bayne can drive shoulders into her in the corner. Bayne whips Nightingale to the canvas, but Nightingale fights her off and tags in Rosa who Bayne immediately destroys with a flying lariat. Bayne yanks Rosa into the heel corner and Thekla gets the tag. Thekla snaps Rosa down and kicks her in the head before slapping on a side headlock. It’s funny how they always do these rest-holds during the commercials. Rosa kind of rolls Thekla into a pinning predicament that gets one, and then Rosa blasts Thekla with an elbow. Rosa tags in Nightingale as I wonder if Aminata and Hart are ever getting into this match. Thekla slips a Nightingale charge and yanks a dazed Nightingale to the canvas to kick her in the back. Thekla’s cover isn’t immediately seen by the ref and she gets a one count. Athena tags in and works over Nightingale in the corner with kicks. Penelope Ford chokes Nightingale as Athena growls at the face team. Athena turns and nails Nightingale with a Meteora for two. Athena crushes Nightingale with a knee to the jaw. Athena wanders in and tries to pick Nightingale off the canvas but she’s met with a double kick that sends Athena sprawling into Bayne who’s knocked off the apron.

Back live with Hart finally tagged in and she blasts the three faces on the apron to the floor with forearms. Schiavone basically admits we’re going to overrun on time as Hart slips a Nightingale charge. Hart puts Nightingale in the Tarantula and grins evilly at the camera. As Hart sneaks in through the ropes Nightingale yanks her into a Death Valley Driver. Both struggle to their corners as Aminata and Thekla are tagged in to resume their rivalry. Thekla ducks a charge and kicks Aminata in the gut. Thekla charges and Aminata slaps her hard in the face. Thekla dodges a clothesline and goes into her spider pose before dumping Aminata. Thekla hits a reverse thrust kick to Aminata. They run the ropes and Thekla slips out to the apron so she can nail a charging Aminata with a big right hand. Thekla drapes Aminata over the second rope to charge down the apron and kick her in the head. Thekla misses a charge and Aminata wallops her with a headbutt. Aminata hits a swank swinging neckbreaker as Bayne breaks up the cover attempt at one.

Aminata fires forearms at Bayne and Nightingale tags herself in. Bayne yanks up Aminata for a Falcon Arrow as Nightingale charges in. Nightingale murders Bayne with a big POUNCE that sends Bayne to the floor but as she’s celebrating Athena flies in to sort of hit Nightingale with a cutter (that Nightingale sells anyway). Rosa charges in as I see we’re ignoring the tag rule again. Rosa hits a shotgun dropkick that sends Athena to the floor where she and Bayne are hit with a top rope cross body from Shirakawa. Thekla hits Rosa with a spear as I legit have no idea who is legal at this point. Thekla tags in Hart (yeah, now you make a tag) and she ascends as Thekla positions Nightingale. Hart nails Nightingale with a moonsault for two as Shirakawa breaks it up. Shirakawa grabs Hart but Thekla charges in to break that up. Shirakawa comes off the ropes to clothesline Hart and Thekla down. Nightingale and Shirakawa ascend but Hart recovers to blast Nightingale with a right as Thekla forearms Shirakawa. Hart and Thekla hit simultaneous suplexes from the top rope and both do Thekla’s spider pose. Aminata yanks Thekla out to the floor and runs her head-first into the barrier. Bayne comes in to wipe out Aminata with a flying lariat. Shirakawa blocks a Bayne punch and hits a tornado DDT on Bayne. Athena and Rosa square off and hit simultaneous clotheslines on each other as we haven’t seen any in-ring action in over a minute at this point.

Nightingale and Hart are apparently legal and slugging it out mid-ring. Hart tries to put the Octopus on Nightingale but she slips out and runs Hart into a Shirakawa high knee. Nightingale yanks up Hart for the sitout powerbomb and that gets three.

It was a little awkward and botchy at times, but these eight person tag matches give people a chance to shine. Obviously they play loosely with the traditional tag rules like lucha does, and it only bothers me if it’s never-ending run-in after run-in (I know they used that style in PWG too so the Bucks and probably Excalibur probably have some say on it as well). Quality-wise, this was fine for what it was. 3*

Winners – Willow Nightingale, Mina Shirakawa, Queen Aminata and Thunder Rosa (Nightingale sit-out powerbomb to Hart)

Post-match sees Billie Starks and Skye Blue attack as the heels have a huge numbers advantage. Anna Jay and Tay Melo charge down and a giant brawl erupts as Penelope Ford charges in. Statlander jumps in the ring and stares down Bayne as Ford jumps on Statlander’s back. The logo comes up and we’re out.

For a go-home show, this was solid from start to finish and had two damn fine contests in the men’s eight man and the Shibata-Kidd war. It was nice to end the show with a babyface team winning and I never mind a Pier Six to end any wrestling show. The only match that didn’t get a ton of attention was Okada-Omega but they ran a big package on that on Dynamite so that’s okay. All in all, I think this is another solid Collision and it gets thumbs up from me.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back with Smackdown tomorrow morning and the Great American Bash recap on Sunday. Enjoy this massive weekend of wrestling and be safe. Thanks for reading and commenting.