AEW Collision Review – 07.31.25

The week in AEW thus far: Collision | Dynamite | ROH

Collision comes to the screen for the final time from the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL. The announce team is Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness on match calls, Arkady Aura on ring announcements, and Lexy Nair on backstage interviews.

Schiavone and McGuinness start at the desk by talking about the Men’s world title match on Dynamite, and a Security goof gets tossed in front of the desk as The Death Riders arrive. Jon Moxley has a microphone and wonders why after throwing Darby Allin down a flight of stairs he apparently didn’t get the “Get gone, and stay gone” message Moxley was trying to send. Moxley says he knows Allin is in the building hanging out somewhere and he wants to see him. Say “Darby Allin” and he appears! Wait, that’s someone else’s gimmick.

Moxley wants Allin, who’s standing on the railing on the second floor of the building, to bring his “skinny boy ass” to the ring, so Allin immediately powders out as Moxley rails about him leaving. Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Marina Shafir stalk through the crowd in search of Allin.

Highlights of last night’s Men’s world title match are shown.

Tag Team Title Eliminator: Bandido and Brody King vs Gates Of Agony

This is the last quarterfinal match in the tournament and the winners will face The Young Bucks in the semifinals. It will be Bandido and Kaun to start as the bell sounds.

They trade shoulder tackles to start, and after a bunch of rope-running and acrobatics, Kaun’s had enough and elbows Bandido down. Bandido pops up with an armdrag but Kaun slips the second one. Kaun wades in and Bandido does hit a second armdrag and follows it with a drop-kick as Liona tags in. Liona wants King, but Bandido shrugs that off and flexes. Liona tosses Bandido around and again points at King, so King says okay and tags in.

After a series of shoulder tackle attempts, King chops Liona and wants him to respond. Liona, however, decides to double thrust King in the throat. Liona starts clubbering but King shakes it off and clotheslines Liona to the floor. Kaun runs in and gets dumped down by Bandido. Liona staggers back in and eats a Bandido superkick and a King discus punch. Liona gets dropped by a Bandido low kick to the knee, and then King destroys Liona with a lariat. King drops Bandido on Liona but the cover only gets one as Liona bails to the floor. Bandido has ascended so Kaun flies and and drives King into him sending Bandido down. Liona yanks King out to the floor and back-body drops King on the ramp. Kaun hits Bandido with a backbreaker across the top turnbuckle that sends him to the floor. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Liona drags Bandido in and covers for two. Kaun tags in and works Bandido over in the corner with chops. Bandido fires up as they start exchanging chops but Kaun re-gains the advantage and slugs Bandido down. Kaun covers for two. Liona tags in and starts clutching Bandido’s shoulder in a claw-type hold.

Once back to full screen Kaun tags in and he wipes out King before hitting a backstabber on Bandido. Kaun covers for two. Liona tags in and whips Kaun into the corner where he eats a Bandido elbow. Bandido tries for a cross body but Liona catches him and swings him around. Bandido’s legs wipe out Kaun, and then Bandido switches and drives Liona into the mat. King finally gets the tag and he starts chopping Liona and Kaun. King whips a dazed Kaun into Liona in the corner. King charges in and splashes both of them as Kaun bails to the floor. King hits a cannonball on a prone Liona before tagging in Bandido. They hit simultaneous tope suicidas on the GOA who were trying to recover on the floor.

King grabs a chair and places it near the barrier. All four start slugging it out as King drives Liona onto the chair. King wipes Liona out with a huge splash as Bandido flies in to wipe out Kaun into the first row of seats. (Bandido and King are pretty over with this crowd, I have to say.) King tosses Liona back in and Bandido ascends. Bandido crushes Liona with a frog splash and covers for two as Kaun breaks it up. Kaun dumps King to the floor before kicking Bandido. Kaun again sends King to the floor before nailing a prone Bandido with a Meteora. Kaun ascends so Liona picks up Bandido and places him on Kaun’s shoulders. Liona heads out to the floor to deal with King as Kaun hits an avalanche powerbomb on Bandido.. The Gates hit a combined pendulum blast on Bandido and Kaun covers for two as King breaks it up.

King wipes out Liona with a clothesline before dragging Bandido to their corner. King tags in and snatches up Liona for a Death Valley Driver on the apron. (I bet that is a wildly scary spot to take, for the record.) King pops Kaun with a right and sets him on the top turnbuckle. King hits Kaun with a superplex as Bandido tags in. Bandido uses King’s legs to hit a 450 splash on Kaun and that gets three. Bandido and King will face The Young Bucks in the semi-finals of the Tag Team Title Eliminator on Dynamite.

This was solid if a bit chaotic. Brody King is such a good professional wrestler, every thing he does looks like it would hurt like hell and yet he is smooth as silk. Bandido is always fun to watch and the spot they invented for the finish was actually spectacular. The GOA dudes are always competent and hossy, so even with a styles clash with Bandido, they figured it out and had a good match themselves. 3*

Winners – Bandido and Brody King (Bandido 450 splash on Kaun)

Here’s Lexy Nair backstage with Don Callis and Lance Archer. Nair asks about Kyle Fletcher’s preparation for the main event street fight and Callis says the preparation is actually for what happens after this match. Callis says they’re going to have all the titles, power and money. Here’s Shane Taylor to wonder where his team’s money is from the eight man tag match on Saturday night. They start jawing and Archer steps between. Callis says Taylor may have a point and if his group takes out Sky Flight, they can discuss the “cheddar” later.

Schiavone and McGuinness discuss the Mark Briscoe-MJF situation from Dynamite before throwing to a highlights package about their feud. Briscoe mouthing “I’m gonna kill you” at the end was something else. We go to commercials.

Lexy Nair is backstage with Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong (Shoutout to Adam Cole, miss you dude.) and she asks O’Reilly if he’s actually in The Conglomeration. O’Reilly says it’s actually a lifestyle and he never left. Strong bellows “KYLE!” before explaining that he came to AEW to help out his best friend, then he lost him, then he got him back, and now he’s lost him again. O’Reilly says the Conglomeration is a bunch of misfits that just want the best for each other as Willow Nightingale, Tomohiro Ishii and Hologram wander in. O’Reilly thanks them for the birthday celebration they gave to Strong, but Strong refuses to say thank you when prompted by O’Reilly. O’Reilly says they should go out again and Nightingale is on board once she deals with Thekla. Everyone leaves as O’Reilly looks around for Strong.

Schiavone says there’s something going on backstage and it’s the Death Riders continuing to search for Darby Allin. Shafir and Yuta go through a door and Allin jumps on Moxley from out of nowhere with what seems to be a chloroformed towel.

Kris Statlander vs Lena Kross

Schiavone says Kross is an eight year veteran out of Australia. Statlander offers a handshake so Kross yanks her into a side headlock. Statlander reverses and then decides to run Kross over with a shoulder tackle. Statlander offers a hand to help Kross up but that’s refused so Statlander calmly pops Kross with a right hand. Statlander hoists Kross up and drops her in a rear vertical suplex before nipping up to a pop. Kross slips a charge and hits a back elbow on Statlander. Kross hits a pump kick and a German suplex but as she charges in Statlander recovers with a clothesline. Statlander hits a running Euro uppercut and a pump kick of her own before hoisting Kross on her shoulders. Statlander dumps Kross face-first to the mat before putting her in a leg lock-armbar type submission. Kross immediately taps.

Not much to it and Statlander remains undefeated on Collision in 2025. Kross was fine as a tomato can and maybe she can stick around. 1.5*

Winner – Kris Statlander (submission)

Post-match sees Statlander celebrating in the aisle as Willow Nightingale’s entrance music starts. They pass each other wordlessly on the ramp.

Willow Nightingale vs Thekla

Thekla is seconded by Julia Hart and Skye Blue. (They hold hands during the entrance and it totally reminds me of the two young girls in The Shining. Creepy.)

Nightingale goes behind to start and tosses Thekla into the corner. Blue and Hart jump on the apron to prevent Nightingale from charging in. Thekla charges out and kicks a distracted Nightingale in the gut. Thekla irish whips Nightingale who cartweels out of it before rolling up Thekla for two. Thekla slips a lariat attempt and yanks Nightingale down before covering for one. They reset as a Nightingale chant breaks out.

Thekla ends up on the apron where she elbows a charging Nightingale. Thekla ascends and Nightingale slips her jumping move attempt before running Thekla over with a shoulder. Nightingale covers for two. They lock up and Nightingale slaps Thekla hard in the chest. Nightingale catches a charging Thekla and drops her over her knee with a backbreaker. Nightingale hits a running splash for two. Thekla fires up with a reverse kick but when she runs the ropes Nightingale hits her with THE POUNCE. Thekla bails so Nightingale follows. Thekla reverses an irish whip and sends Nightingale into the ring steps. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Thekla dumps Nightingale back in before kicking her in the back. Thekla rolls Nightingale over and thrust kicks her in the head. Thekla covers for two before locking in an STF. Thekla then turns it into a double armbar submission hold. Nightingale rolls her over and covers for two. Thekla rolls back over and grabs Nightingale by her MOUTH before the ref breaks it. As Thekla is barking at the ref Nightingale wades in with a forearm. They start trading forearms as we go to full screen commercials.

Back live with Thekla trying to fight her way out of the corner. Thekla puts the Toxic Spider headscissors on Nightingale before the ref makes her break. Nightingale recovers and clotheslines Thekla down three times. Nightingale hits a hip attack in the corner before ascending to hit a shotgun dropkick on a dazed Thekla. Nightingale covers for two. They start slugging it out mid-ring and Thekla wallops a charging Nightingale with a right cross. Thekla kicks Nightingale in the head but when she charges again Nightingale hits another clothesline. Nightingale hoists Thekla up for a Death Valley Driver and that gets two.

Nightingale puts Thekla on her shoulders and ascends to the second rope. Thekla starts fighting out of it with elbows. Thekla ascends and they start slugging it out before Thekla manages to hit Nightingale with a superplex. Blue and Hart stalk Nightingale on the floor and as she backs away Thekla nails her with a giant cross-body to the floor. Thekla dumps Nightingale back in but Nightingale recovers with a clothesline. Nightingale fires up the crowd before crushing Thekla with a cannonball. As Nightingale goes for her powerbomb Hart jumps up on one side to distract the ref as Blue distracts Nightingale on the other side. Nightingale wipes both of them out but then gets buried by a Thekla spear. Thekla hits her big stomp and covers for three.

There was a weird lack of heat for this except for when Nightingale actually tried to rile up the crowd. Willow’s offense could maybe use some updating but I do love that she uses the POUNCE. Thekla’s offense looks like it would actually hurt and I appreciate that in a wrestler. This was fine and the post-match chaos added to the stories with all these ladies. 2.5*

Winner – Thekla (Stomp)

Post-match sees Hart, Blue and Thekla stomping away on Nightingale before taking turns smashing her in the head. Here’s Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford to join the proceedings. Ford comes in to stomp and pound on Nightingale. Ford hands Nightingale over to Bayne and here’s Queen Aminata, Anna Jay and Tay Melo with weapons in hand. The heels bail and everyone jaws at each other. The Conglomeration crew comes out to check on Nightingale.

Lexy Nair is backstage with Billy Gunn. Nair asks Gunn why he threw Anthony Bowens across the ring after his match with Max Caster last week and Gunn says he wishes he knew. Anthony Bowens joins the scene and wonders why he hasn’t heard from Gunn. Bowens says he did what Gunn asked by beating the “slump buster” and doing everything Gunn had taught him. Bowens says Gunn should have been punching Caster with him and wonders where Gunn is because he’s not there for Bowens, clearly. Gunn says he doesn’t even know who Bowens is anymore and says when Bowens figures it out he’ll be at home. Bowens calls Gunn a coward as we go to commercials.

EARLIER TODAY Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) reminds The Young Bucks that they are no longer the EVP’s of AEW and it was him and Will Ospreay who were responsible for that. The Bucks don’t have their perks any longer and they took their anger out on The Outrunners (JUSTICE FOR TRUTH AND TURBO DAMMIT). Swerve says if they continue to abuse what power they have left he’ll be the one to set them straight. Swerve mentions Okada saying his name and he’ll be seeing him soon as well. If Okada keeps waving his title in Swerve’s face he’s going to want that too, and it looks quite appetizing indeed. Forbidden Door is soon and they’re going to talk about that.

After a highlights package about Swerve and Okada’s issues we go backstage where Kazuchika Okada is with the ever-present Don Callis (Seriously, they should call this damn show Callision for how much he’s on lately – it’s enough already.) Callis is both wearing and holding a belt, while Okada has the Unified title over his shoulder. Callis says Okada is the best bell-to-bell wrestler in the world and the best “big match” wrestler he’s ever seen. Callis says Swerve hangs out in alleys with his “degenerate manager” and throws out challenges to Okada. Callis mentions Swerve’s athletic ability but the thing he’s missing is class. Callis says Swerve’s main problem is that he takes strategic advice “from an idiot, from a glorified back-up dancer coffee selling piece of degenerate garbage.” Okada takes advice from Callis and his track record is “on the money”. Okada says there’s no need to talk, at Forbidden Door they can just fight, bitch.

Tag Team Title Eliminator: FTR vs The Bang Bang Gang

This is the first semi-final of this tournament. FTR are seconded by a crutch-wielding BIG STOKE. Daniel Garcia has joined the commentary team and he tells McGuinness he’s excited to wrestle in England at Forbidden Door. Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn have brought back CARDBLADE AND CARD COLTON who accompany them to ringside. Gunn and Garcia dap it up at the desk and it will be Robinson and Wheeler to start.

Robinson and Wheeler lock hands and try to pull one another to their respective corners but Wheeler slips out of it and tags in Harwood. Robinson grabs a side headlock and Harwood slips out. After running the ropes Robinson simply stops and rolls up Harwood for two. Gunn tags in and Harwood grabs a side headlock before trucking Gunn down with a shoulder tackle. They run the ropes and Harwood beals Gunn over before giving him the “suck it” gesture. Robinson tags in as Garcia mentions he’s learned a lot from FTR but he didn’t turn out to be a scumbag like they did. Harwood bullies Robinson into the corner and slugs him in the gut. Harwood fires off a LOUD chop but Robinson responds with two of his own. Robinson runs Harwood’s head into multiple turnbuckles as Big Bill and Bryan Keith are watching the match on a monitor.

Gunn tags in and takes Robinson’s wristlock, but Harwood slips out of it and nails Gunn with an elbow. Wheeler tags in and hits uppercuts and chops on a retreating Gunn. Gunn fires off some chops in response so Wheeler boots him in the stomach as Robinson tags in. Wheeler catches Robinson and runs him into the FTR corner as Harwood tags in. Robinson fights Harwood and Wheeler off as Gunn charges in to help. Robinson and Gunn whip FTR at each other as Wheeler leap-frogs Harwood. Robinson and Gunn crush them both with lariats before hitting them with back body drops. They clothesline FTR to the floor as STOKE is apoplectic. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Harwood takes the full nine count before re-entering. Gunn is legal and after they lock up Harwood pushes him to a neutral corner before slapping Gunn HARD in the face. Harwood wallops Gunn with a right cross but Gunn recovers to fire off some left jabs. As Gunn runs the ropes Wheeler knees him in the back and as he staggers out Harwood runs him over with a lariat. Wheeler tags in and puts the boots to Gunn. Wheeler hits a snap suplex on Gunn and covers for two. (One of the commercials is for this new Weapons movie and I’m wildly distracted by it because it looks kind of awesome.) Wheeler slaps on a Cobra Clutch as we go back to full screen.

Gunn slips out but gets pushed into the FTR corner. Wheeler misses a charge and Harwood comically turns to see him crotched on the second turnbuckle. Harwood tags in and stretches Gunn while being assisted by Wheeler. The ref finally sees Wheeler and breaks that up as Gunn beals Harwood over. Harwood prevents a tag and pushes Gunn back to their corner, but Gunn fights his way out of it and makes the tag. The ref was being distracted by Wheeler and won’t allow the tag as FTR work Gunn over in the corner. Robinson loses it and chases Harwood around the ring but the ref still won’t let him in as FTR hit a double-team neckbreaker on Gunn. Harwood covers for two.

Harwood dumps Gunn to the floor and Wheeler, who I think tagged in, flies over and hits the barrier as Gunn slips away. Harwood tags in and tries to prevent the tag but Gunn outsmarts him and finally tags Robinson. Robinson trucks Harwood and then drives Wheeler off the apron. Robinson fires right jabs at Harwood but Harwood breaks it up with a kick. Harwood charges into a Robinson spinebuster and as Wheeler charges in Robinson crushes him with a leg lariat. Robinson hammers Harwood with a running lariat. Harwood bails so Robinson chases after him and fires him back in. Harwood eats a shoulder but as Robinson comes in Harwood catches him and covers for two as the ref sees Harwood holding STOKE’s crutch for assistance. The ref kicks the crutch and Robinson uses the momentum to roll Harwood up for a LONG two.

Robinson yanks Harwood up and headbutts him twice before mounting him on the top turnbuckle. Harwood BITES Robinson’s forehead and Wheeler yanks him up, but Gunn charges in and crotches Harwood before anything else can happen. Robinson catapults Wheeler over the top rope to the floor and he lands hard right in front of the announce desk. Gunn nails Harwood with a superplex and Robinson flies in with a frog splash. Robinson covers for two but senses Wheeler flying in. Wheeler crushes Harwood instead and Gunn bullies Wheeler to the floor. Robinson covers Harwood for two.

Robinson wants the Blade Runner but Harwood rakes the eyes and Wheeler pops a staggering Robinson with a right. Robinson luckily rams Harwood into Wheeler before rolling Harwood up for a long two. Robinson hits the Blade Runner and covers for two. (Every time Jay White’s name comes up McGuinness makes CARDBLADE move around and jump and stuff and I love it. More goofy fun please and thank you.) Gunn apparently tags in and he and Harwood tussle before Harwood rolls him up for two with a handful of tights. Gunn wants the Fameasser but Harwood prevents as Robinson comes in to wallop a charging Wheeler with a right. Harwood eats a Robinson forearm and the Gunn Fameasser. Gunn’s cover is broken up at two by Wheeler.

Robinson stalks Wheeler on the floor so Wheeler uses STOKE as a human shield. Robinson tosses the crutch away but Wheeler uses the distraction to run Robinson head-first into the ring steps. Gunn fights off both FTR guys and rolls up Harwood but STOKE has the ref distracted. Wheeler comes in and clotheslines Gunn over into a roll up as Harwood has a handful of tights again and that gets a three count. FTR are your first finalists for the Tag Team Title Eliminator and will face the winners of the Young Bucks-Brodido semi-final.

They went a long way for that finish. Heels cheat to win, though, so it is what it is. This never hit the final gear I think they were looking for but it was exactly what you’d want out of four polished professional wrestlers. There was a long heat sequence with Gunn taking punishment and Robinson works a great hot tag in response. FTR kept battling along and used their cheating powers to win the match. I have no idea how they’ll book a finals with FTR and the Bucks if that’s the plan though. Heel vs heel to take on heel champions is going to be a tough sell. Match of the night so far and given what’s left, it will probably stick. 4*

Winners – FTR (Wheeler roll up on Gunn)

It’s time for Technique by Taz and it’s on Athena’s O-Face move. Here’s Athena backstage to greet the “minions”. When she pinned Toni Storm last night Athena realized that she doesn’t respect Storm and it’s going to be easy to win the title from her. Athena wants her “golden flower” so she’s going to sign her contract at Forbidden Door. When she activates, no one is going to stop her. It’s official for the O2.

Here’s Platinum Max Caster (his graphic is updated to make sure you know he’s 0-18 this year) without his plaque. Caster gets his chant going but says it’s not what he wanted. Caster mentions Bowens and how he’s getting worse every week. Caster isn’t a “bland, crybaby bitch” like Bowens. It’s time for the challenge and five minutes goes up on the clock.

Platinum Max Caster vs Rush

Rush has Dralistico and The Beast Mortos with him but they go to the back as the bell sounds.

Caster bails after the bell so Rush gets frustrated and goes after him. Caster jogs around the ring so Rush sneaks out and pops him with a right hand. Rush runs Caster into the barrier along all four sides of the ring. Rush starts ramming a knee into Caster as the crowd starts Caster’s chant. Rush dumps Caster back in but then stops to jaw with a fan. Caster flies over the top rope and cross-bodies Rush. Caster dumps Rush back in and fires up the crowd, but Rush slips Caster’s charge and he starts chopping away until Caster goes down. Rush pretends to want the Meteora but he stops, flips Caster the double bird, and then kicks him in the head. Rush goes Tranquilo as McGuinness and Schiavone are pretty sure Rush is not paying attention at all to the running clock. Caster charges into a powerslam but Rush yanks him up at two. Rush starts pounding away at Caster in the corner. Rush finally decides to do the Horns and the clock counts down to zero.

Okay, I guess that doesn’t count as anything resembling a win or loss but I’ll wait to see if Caster’s graphic is updated. Nothing to rate, really. Caster ran around for two minutes and then Rush kicked his ass for awhile but clearly didn’t get what his actual mission was. I guess this was just an angle to set up a trios match with AR Fox/Jet Speed vs LFI probably for next week. No rating.

No winner or loser due to the time expiring.

Rush pushes the ref away and hits the Horns anyway. Rush wants the ref to count but he tells Rush the match is over. Dralistico and Mortos charge in to attack. A phalanx of Security goons wade in and get destroyed by the LFI guys. Here’s Jet Speed and AR Fox to the rescue as they brawl with LFI on the ramp. Caster is attended to in the ring and he lifts one fist to show the crowd he’s still alive. We go to commercials.

Highlights are shown of Mercedes Mone‘s successful defense of the Rev Pro Women’s title and she will return to AEW next week on Dynamite from Cleveland.

Shane Taylor and The Infantry vs Sky Flight

Taylor’s crew is seconded by Trish Adora and Anthony Ogogo. Sky Flight are seconded by Leila Grey and Christopher Daniels. It will be Sky and Taylor to start as the bell sounds. (I’ll be calling them Darius and Dante so you know which Martin is in, everyone else is last names as usual)

Sky punches and kicks away before ducking a roundhouse left from Taylor. Sky kicks Taylor in the hamstring and then wallops him with a forearm. Taylor comes back with a right and tosses Sky into his team’s corner. Sky tries to fight his way out but Taylor catches him and sends him back in where they all pound away. Bravo tags in and Sky slips away and hits Bravo with a dropkick. Dante tags in and immediately tags in Darius and they hit Bravo with dual elbows. Darius uses Dante as a springboard to hit a tornado DDT on Bravo before covering for one. Darius gets tripped up by Dean who yanks him to the apron and pulls Darius neck-first towards the floor. Bravo flies off the apron and crushes Darius in the back of the head. Taylor then hits a huge legdrop on Darius on the apron as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Taylor slugs Darius down and tags in Bravo who immediately tags in Dean. Dean whips Bravo twice into Darius for flying lariats and then Dean flies in with an elbow. Darius staggers out of the corner and gets waffled by a Dean lariat. Dean uppercuts Darius to the team corner and Taylor tags in. Taylor staggers Darius with a chest slap but Darius recovers to big boot a charging Taylor. Taylor hits a knee lift to break that up and then nails Darius with a release uranage. Taylor covers for two. Dean tags in and then tags in Bravo. We go to full commercials.

Back live with Darius finally getting to tag in Dante. Dante hits a double rana on the Infantry before throwing forearms at Dean. Dante slips a Dean charge and crushes him with an enziguri from the apron. Dante hits Dean with a springboard cross body from the top rope and that gets two. Dante puts on a half-nelson but Dean reverses and Taylor tags in. Dante fights out and starts firing off forearms but Taylor recovers and destroys Dante with a right hook. Taylor barks at the crowd before tagging in Bravo who immediately tags in Dean (When did this start the “we can do quick tags like this and beat the five counts with double teaming” trend because I’m becoming very annoyed with it.)

Dean throws one elbow to Dante’s back and tags Bravo back in. Dante ruins their double team move and waffles Dean with a knee lift. Dante flips over Bravo and tags in Sky. Sky drives a shoulder into a charging Bravo and then flies over to dropkick Taylor. Darius comes over to hold Taylor as Dante hits a tope suicida on him. While all that was happening Bravo gets a quick roll-up on Sky for two. Sky snaps off a quick faceplant cutter on Bravo and gets three.

The finish kind of came abruptly but they still have a street fight to get through and probably got told to go home fairly quickly after the commercial break. Nothing offensive about it and I’m not sure where this will lead for Sky Flight unless Samoa Joe is coming back soon and the Trios belts can become a thing again. STP have this mini-story going with Don Callis that’s helping exactly no one. Sky has looked good since he came back and I’ve always liked Top Flight. 2.5*

Winners – Sky Flight (Sky faceplant cutter on Bravo)

The announcers say there’s more with Moxley and Allin and sure enough, here’s Allin dragging Moxley along what looks to be a scaffold as an elevated train rolls past. Allin threatens to dump Moxley to the street below as a ton of Security goons pour out of a nearby door to prevent it. I love when attempted murder happens on television. We go to commercials.

AEW TNT Championship Chicago Street Fight: Dustin Rhodes (C) vs Kyle Fletcher

Fletcher is seconded by Don Callis. I swear it looks like Dustin is in pain just walking to the ring. Given how much time is left in the show this feels like it’s going to be a sprint. The bell sounds and the two square off jawing at each other.

Rhodes nails Fletcher with some rights. They go to the floor and Fletcher breaks up the momentum with a knee lift before dropping a big elbow on Rhodes head. Fletcher grabs a convenient kendo stick but Rhodes kicks him in the gut before he can use it. Rhodes grabs the kendo stick and pops Fletcher on the back with it. Rhodes hits Fletcher again and tries to run Fletcher into the ring steps. Fletcher blocks it and pops Rhodes in the jaw. Fletcher moves the ring steps and DDT’s Rhodes on the top step. Fletcher pulls out a table and drapes it on the barrier as Rhodes predictably comes up bloodied from the DDT. Rhodes gets posed on the table after Fletcher pelts him with rights. Fletcher charges and Rhodes slips away as Fletcher’s tope suicida ends with him going through the table.

Rhodes grabs a table and sets it up as drops of blood fall from his wounds on to the surface. Rhodes grabs a bullrope with a cowbell in the middle from under the ring. Fletcher comes over to grab Rhodes but Rhodes smashes the cowbell upwards into Fletcher’s head. Rhodes hits a second cowbell shot on Fletcher and covers for two. Fletcher is now also busted open. Rhodes yanks up a dazed Fletcher and punches him on the forehead a couple of times. Rhodes wants to bulldog Fletcher through the table but Fletcher hangs on to the middle rope and Rhodes goes through it by himself instead. Rhodes comes up clutching his knee. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Fletcher rolls Rhodes into the ring and goes to work on the hurt leg (Which I think is the same leg Rhodes was favoring last week when he fought Lee Moriarty). Fletcher drops an elbow on the knee and tries to yank off the pad Rhodes is wearing over it. Fletcher works a half crab until Rhodes finally makes the ropes but because of the street fight rules Fletcher doesn’t have to break. Fletcher eventually relents and releases the hold but he also finds the bullrope/cowbell and decides to pound away at Rhodes hurt leg with it. (You can clearly hear Dustin say “Hit me with the bell.” as they come back to full screen)

Fletcher charges Rhodes in the corner and eats a kneelift. Rhodes hits a Texas Destroyer and covers for two. Callis is complaining about Rhodes going low in a street fight as Rhodes and Fletcher start trading rights. Rhodes gains the advantage and plants Fletcher with CrossRhodes. Rhodes covers for a LONG two. Rhodes bails and grabs a couple of chairs. Fletcher retrieves one and they crash them together trying to hit each other. Fletcher drops his chair so Rhodes uses his to drive it into Fletcher’s mid-section before nailing him in the back twice. Rhodes lifts Fletcher with the chair but as he lifts it Fletcher recovers with a superkick that sends the chair into Rhodes face. Fletcher mounts the chairs next to each other and then hits Rhodes with a jumping Tombstone piledriver through the chairs. Fletcher cannot believe it when Rhodes kicks out at two. We’re in overtime at this point.

Fletcher drags out another table and sets it up in the ring. Fletcher yanks up Rhodes and blasts him with a right. Fletcher mounts Rhodes on the top turnbuckle. Rhodes fires off some rights to prevent the superplex before headbutting Fletcher. Rhodes hits a top rope Texas Destroyer on Fletcher THROUGH THE TABLE as the crowd comes unglued. (Dustin Rhodes is a 56 year old man who’s been wrestling for like 35 years now. He also might be insane.) Of course Fletcher kicks out at two. Rhodes bails to the floor and finds a yellow glove that has thumbtacks presumably glued to it. Rhodes goes for the Iron Claw but Fletcher’s block attempt proves futile. Fletcher kicks Rhodes right square in the nuts to break the Claw. Fletcher goes out and retrieves a bag of thumbtacks which he spreads in the ring.

They hit reverse after reverse until Fletcher lets go and superkicks Rhodes. Fletcher charges in and eats a Rhodes snap powerslam onto the pile of tacks. Rhodes cover gets two. Rhodes mounts Fletcher over the second rope in the corner and fires off some rights. Rhodes dumps the remaining tacks into Fletcher’s trunks before hitting Shattered Dreams as Callis is going berserk on commentary. (Callis after Rhodes dumped in the tacks: “That’s the money!” Schiavone: “THE MONEY?!?”)

Callis checks on Fletcher and covertly hands him a screwdriver. Fletcher stabs Rhodes in the head with it the second he gets a chance to. Schiavone yells at Callis for giving Fletcher the screwdriver and Callis recounts the tacks in the trunks – the man has a point for once. Callis holds Rhodes arm as Fletcher ACTUALLY STABS Rhodes in the leg with the screwdriver. (Doc Sampson is watching all of this from the apron. Maybe they should have used Hangman’s fork?) Fletcher runs back in and actually drives the screwdriver into Rhodes leg as I’m guessing they had to have gimmicked Rhodes with pads for this. Rhodes yanks the screwdriver out of his leg (This is getting to a place I’m really not enjoying right now.) Fletcher runs in and kicks a staggered Rhodes in the gut and goes for a back body drop on the tacks, but Rhodes hits a sneaky roll-up for two.

Fletcher nails Rhodes with a knee lift before hoisting him up for the Protoplex brainbuster on the tacks. Fletcher covers and finally gets the three count at seven and a half minutes of overtime. Kyle Fletcher is the new AEW TNT champion.

I don’t really know what to say. I’m not the biggest fan of plunder brawls in the first place let alone ones that contain actual stabbings. Listen, I’m not naive, I’m sure Dustin gimmicked his pads in a way to allow for the spot to occur but I need to know WHY it had to occur. I’m not trying to wring my hands over professional wrestling but kids love wrestling and…yeah. Did not love that spot in the slightest. The rest of it was mostly ridiculous and what you’d expect. Dustin can still remarkably go pretty well at 56 and he looked more motivated this week than last week’s 20 minute walk through. I sincerely have no idea how to rate this given the chaos but I’ll try. 3.25*

Winner AND NEW AEW TNT Champion – Kyle Fletcher (Protoplex Brainbuster on tacks)

Post-match sees Fletcher attack Rhodes as he’s being checked on by the medical staff. Fletcher works over Rhodes hurt leg and as Callis holds Rhodes leg around the ringpost, Fletcher smashes it repeatedly with a steel chair. Hechicero and Lance Archer come out to celebrate the victory as Callis and Fletcher exit up the ramp. Rhodes is taken out on a stretcher as the Aragon Ballroom residency wraps up.

Well, that was a pretty notable Collision. The title change and the stabbing spot will probably bring a lot of chatter, and the two men’s tag matches and the Thekla-Willow match were all pretty good. Much like Scott, I’m glad to be rid of this venue. It was cool at first but three weeks feels way too long for all these shows. I know they’re doing something similar at the 2300 Arena here in Philly soon and I’m probably gonna be annoyed by that after awhile too. Regardless, usually I try to tell you when you can skip stuff but tonight’s show was actually one to watch. I didn’t like the Street Fight too much but I can tell you that opinions will vary wildly on it. Thumbs up.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting. Dynamite has the Young Bucks-Brodido semi-final which I’m looking forward to, mostly because I want to see how it’s booked. Have a good Friday.