AEW Collision Review – 08.23.25

AEW everywhere, so let’s all have a drink, er let’s all see what they’ve been up to: Dynamite | ROH

Collision was recorded LIVE IN COLOR on Wednesday; August 20th at the OVO Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. The show’s announce team includes Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, and Ian Riccoboni calling the match action, Arkady Aura doing ring introductions, and Lexy Nair doing backstage interviews and news updates.

Because it’s Collision, here’s Don Callis to open the show with his “Yo soy Hechicero” entrance call. (The man worships at Heyman’s feet but I think a bunch of them do, to be fair.)

Hechicero, Lance Archer, Josh Alexander and Rocky Romero vs Sky Flight and Hiromu Takahashi

Weirdly, Don Callis does not accompany his crew to ringside. Christopher Daniels seconds the babyface team.

Takahashi and Alexander start and an immediate slap fight breaks out. They run the ropes and Takahashi hits a rana on Alexander. Romero charges in and Takahashi whips him into a neutral corner and pounces on him with a lariat. Takahashi hits Alexander with a lariat and as Romero charges again Takahashi slips it and dropkicks Romero into Alexander. Takahashi lariats Alexander down and hits a running shotgun dropkick. Sky tags in. Alexander pops him with a forearm and tags in Hechicero.

Hechicero and Sky grapple and Sky ends up on the apron where he shoulders Hechicero. Sky hits a springboard rana that sends Hechicero across the ring. Dante Martin tags in and he hits a running knee on Hechicero. Dante drags Hechicero to the Sky Flight corner and clotheslines him. Darius tags in and he and Dante hit springboard headbutts on Hechicero. Alexander charges in and after Darius tosses Dante completely over Alexander, Darius hits a tornado DDT on Alexander using Dante for leverage. Dante drops Archer from the apron with a dropkick. Darius tries a tope suicida but Archer catches him and runs him into the ring apron before tossing Darius back in. Hechicero covers Darius for two.

Archer tags in and kicks a prone Darius in the chest as he’s being held by Hechicero. Archer clubbers away and sends Darius into the corner, but he fights his way out and slips an Archer charge. Dante tags in and he enziguris a charging Archer. Dante drives Archer to a knee with forearms. Dante gets caught with a knee in the back from Alexander so he slugs him off the apron. Archer calmly grabs Dante by the head and tosses him down (Dante damn near landed right on the top of his head. SCARY.) Archer wipes out the babyfaces from the apron before hitting a short-arm clothesline on Dante. Romero tags in to run the ropes and hit a shotgun dropkick on a sitting and confused Dante.

Hechicero tags in and hits some weird move from behind where I guess his knees clapped Dante’s ears. Hechicero covers for two. Hechicero goes to work on Dante’s legs but when Dante shows some fight he drags him to the Family corner and Alexander tags in. Alexander whips Dante to a neutral corner but Dante gets the boots up when Alexander follows with a charge. Alexander shakes that off and hoists Dante to hit a gutbuster followed by a gut-wrench suplex. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Alexander kicks Dante down. Romero tags in as Dante fires up and they trade forearms. Archer tags in and pushes Dante to a neutral corner before slapping his chest. Dante slips out and starts chopping Archer to no effect. Archer waffles Dante with a forearm. Hechicero tags in and hits a swinging backbreaker on Dante. Hechicero covers for two. Archer tags in and starts clubbering before standing on a prone Dante’s chest.

Back to full screen with a recovered Dante hitting Archer with an enziguri from the apron. Dante gets caught by Archer after a springboard, but Dante reverses Archer into a rana, Dante finally tags in Sky as Archer tags in Romero. Sky sends Romero into Hechicero who drops from the apron. Sky hits a knee lift and a hoisted sit-out powerbomb on a dazed Romero. Alexander charges in so Sky trips him up and hits a double stomp to Alexander’s back. Sky hits a cutter on Romero before slapping on a Dragon Sleeper. Alexander and Hechicero drive off Takahashi and Darius as they charge in. Hechicero puts Sky in his modified abdominal stretch as Archer starts wrecking opponents on the outside.

Hechicero tosses Sky into Archer’s side slam. Hechicero hoists Sky into an Alexander DDT. Romero climbs on Archer’s shoulders (There’s no semblance of tags at this point, I think Romero is still legal but honestly who knows.) and Archer calmly launches Romero onto a prone Sky. Romero covers for two as Takahashi breaks it up. Alexander charges in and Takahashi hits him with a superkick. Hechicero flies in and dumps Takahashi during a leapfrog attempt. Takahashi gets whipped into a neutral corner before eating a Hechicero knee. (The crowd takes up a Hechicero chant here, dude is popular.) The Martins come in and dump Hechicero with a German. Archer wrecks both Martins with clotheslines and wipes out Sky from the apron.

The Martins fire up and hit Archer with a double-team vertical backdrop. Romero charges in and dumps both Martins. Sky comes in and wallops Romero with a dropkick. Takahashi tags in and crushes Romero with a clothesline. Romero rakes the eyes and tries to hit Takahashi with a tornado DDT but Sky catches Takahashi. Sky drops Romero with a TKO before he and the Martins hit stereo tope suicidas on Archer, Hechicero and Alexander. Takahashi hits Romero with the Time Bomb driver and covers for three.

Another LONG opener on Collision, which seems to be the modus operandi lately. Mostly a showcase for Hiromu and his finisher prior to the Forbidden Door match with Kyle Fletcher. Hechicero remains over and is probably my favorite DCF member at this point. Everyone worked hard, there was a clean finish, and the crowd enjoyed it. 3*

Winners – Sky Flight and Hiromu Takahashi (Takahashi Time Bomb driver to Romero)

Post-match sees AEW TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher emerge with Callis to stare down Takahashi.

Two Hook dolls fight as it appears he will be returning soon. We go to commercials.

Renee Paquette does a voice-over promo talking about Mercedes Mone’s opponents at Forbidden Door. If you’ve never seen Bozilla, you’re not going to believe it.

Isla Dawn vs Megan Bayne

Dawn gets a really big hometown pop. Bayne is seconded by Penelope Ford. (It’s weird to debut someone in their hometown and then beat them, right? Just me?)

Bayne goes behind and tosses Dawn to the canvas. Bayne runs the ropes and shoulders Dawn down. Bayne yanks up Dawn and drives her back-first into a corner. Bayne yanks Dawn by the hair before chopping her. Dawn fires up with forearms before nailing Bayne with a dropkick. Dawn charges Bayne in the corner and then tries for suplex but Bayne stops the momentum with a headbutt. Bayne catches Dawn and hits her with a fall-away slam. Bayne body-slams Dawn three times but when Dawn shows some fight Bayne calmly wallops her with a forearm.

Bayne hits a short-arm clothesline and sets up Dawn in a corner. Bayne runs the length of the ring and hits a pump-kick to Dawn’s head. Bayne hits an underhook toss and puts the boots to Dawn while barking at her. Dawn slips a Bayne clothesline and hits Bayne with a double-thrust. Dawn fires up with kicks and punches but Bayne reverses an irish whip before missing a charge in the corner. Dawn hits a running kick to Bayne’s head followed by a running knee. Dawn clips Bayne’s knee sending her down. Dawn hits a running knee and covers for one.

As Dawn charges Bayne flies out of the corner to crush Dawn with a clothesline. (This crowd feels burned out right now, it must have been a long night.) Bayne hoists Dawn and hits her running Liger bomb. Bayne covers for three.

Yeah, they jobbed her in her home town on her debut. Maybe she’s not getting a contract, who knows, but Bayne could have crushed someone else. Dawn looked decent here for jobbing so quickly. Bayne barely sells anything for longer than a second or two, and I get that’s the character, but it’s not all that entertaining. 2*

Winner – Megan Bayne (running Liger Bomb)

Post-match sees Willow Nightingale‘s music hit as Bayne and Ford go up the ramp. Bayne looks displeased.

Willow Nightingale and Queen Aminata vs Julia Hart and Skye Blue

I’m pretty sure Nightingale says “What’s up London!” as she strolls down the ramp in…Glasgow. Ah well. It’s Nightingale and Blue to start.

Hart distracts Nightingale to give Blue the advantage. Nightingale fights her off and dumps Blue. Nightingale trucks Blue after running the ropes. Hart tags in and Nightingale dumps her with a shoulder. Hart staggers to a corner where Nightingale crushes her with repeated clotheslines. Nightingale covers for two. Aminata tags in and slaps Hart’s chest. Aminata snaps Hart over but then misses a charge in the corner. Hart recovers with a clothesline and a high boot to Aminata’s chest. Hart walks the ropes and drives Aminata down with a fist. Hart misses a charge from behind. Aminata hits a spinning electric chair on Hart before delivering Chocolate Kisses. Blue charges in and dropkicks Aminata to break that up. Nightingale comes in to gripe at the ref so Hart and Blue hit a double-team hair pull drop on Aminata. Hart covers for one. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Hart hits Aminata with a clothesline as Blue tags in. Blue puts her boot under Aminata’s jaw before running her face-first into the top turnbuckle. Blue chops Aminata a couple times but a pissed Aminata reverses and crushes Blue with a slap. Blue slips the next one and wallops Aminata with a forearm. Hart tags in and drapes Aminata throat-first over the second rope before sitting on Aminata’s back. Hart breaks at the four count and slams Aminata into a neutral corner. Hart bullies Aminata and puts the boots to her. Blue tags in as we go to full commercials.

Back live with Nightingale hitting the POUNCE on Blue. Nightingale hits a spinebuster on Hart and covers for two. (HOW IN THE BLUE HELL DO YOU NOT SHOW THE HOT TAG? Honestly. This company sometimes.) Nightingale hoists Hart who fights her way out of it with elbows. Blue charges in and they hit Nightingale with a double-team DDT. Hart covers for two. Blue tags in and Nightingale runs her and Hart over with clotheslines before tagging in Aminata. Aminata hits two snap suplexes on Blue. Blue reverses Aminata’s spinning neckbreaker and pops her with a right. Blue lifts a knee but Aminata stops her momentum with a double thrust. Aminata hits Blue with an inverted Air Raid Crash and covers for two.

Aminata ascends but Blue slips the double stomp attempt. Blue charges into Aminata’s swinging neckbreaker. Hart charges in and drops Aminata with a leg sweep. Nightingale flies in and wallops Hart with a slap. Blue hits a superkick on Nightingale before Hart hits one on Aminata. Nightingale and Aminata respond with clotheslines and everyone is down. Everyone rises and starts slugging it out before Hart and Blue run the ropes and put Aminata and Nightingale into head-scissors submissions. They crash into each other and the holds are broken. Nightingale dumps Hart and tries for the PK but Hart grabs her leg and slams Nightingale to the apron. Aminata fights off Hart and covers Blue for two.

Aminata wallops Blue with a headbutt and then hits the Off With Her Head running knee strike. Aminata covers for three.

An interesting result, that. The Triangle had been running strong booking-wise so it’s good to see them taken down a peg. I do not understand, for the life of me, how you run a heat sequence that long on Aminata and then don’t show the hot tag to Nightingale. It’s beyond dumb. The match itself was fine for what it was. The crowd is just burnt at this point but Willow gets reactions no matter what. 2.75*

Winners – Willow Nightingale and Queen Aminata (Aminata Off With Her Head to Blue)

Post-match sees Thekla attack Aminata. Nightingale charges in to fight Thekla off. Nightingale puts Thekla in the corner and puts her boot under Thekla’s jaw. Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne amble down to re-adjust the numbers for the heel side. Harley Cameron comes charging out to take on Ford on the ramp. Cameron drops Ford with a forearm. Cameron ducks a Bayne punch and hits her with an enziguri. Cameron waffles Bayne with a clothesline and kicks away. Ford comes back in to break that up before tossing Cameron to Bayne. Bayne throws Cameron over her head and then drags her to a corner. Kris Statlander sprints down the ramp and once in the ring she crushes Ford with a tackle. Statlander wallops Bayne with forearms and then clotheslines her over the top rope to the floor. We go to commercials.

Lexy Nair is backstage with Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard. Garcia has mixed emotions about seconding Nigel McGuinness against Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door. Garcia says he really would have loved to wrestle ZSJ in the O2 Arena but McGuinness was the better wrestler in the Technical Spectacle. Garcia says sometimes it’s best to be the better friend than the better wrestler. Garcia says McGuinness should win the title and show he’s the better wrestler again.

Here’s Max Caster for the Open Challenge. Unprompted, the crowd starts the “Let’s go Max” chant. Caster puts over Katsuyori Shibata for shaking his hand after last week’s Challenge before getting his chant going again. Sadly he can’t understand the crowd’s accents.

IWGP World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs Max Caster

McGuinness seems put out by Sabre’s appearance. Sabre slaps on a wristlock and twists away. Sabre drives Caster down and berates him. Caster nips up and reverses the wristlock. Sabre twists his way out of it and drives Caster to the mat before taunting McGuinness. Caster’s headlock is reversed and Sabre drives Caster down before twisting his neck. Sabre works Caster’s elbow but Caster fires up and kicks his way out of it. Caster clobbers Sabre with a sledge but wastes time firing up the crowd. Sabre comes off the ropes and eventually hits the Cobra Twist causing Caster to tap immediately. Total time of the match – two minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

Max is working this gimmick, man. He’s doing everything he can to get this thing over and I appreciate his willingness to go along with something like this. ZSJ barely broke a sweat here, as is the course of most Caster challengers. 1.5*

Winner – Zack Sabre Jr. (Cobra Twist)

Post-match sees Sabre approach McGuinness who rises out of his chair. McGuinness offers a handshake and Sabre takes him up on it. They exchange a few words and when Sabre goes to leave, McGuinness doesn’t release the handshake. McGuinness tells Sabre to keep the title warm for him and Sabre tells McGuinness to “sit your ass down”. After Sabre exits Anthony Bowens charges down to attack Caster. Bowens beats Caster down and then poses for the crowd. Billy Gunn heads out to have words with Bowens. Bowens goes to leave but Gunn won’t let him and they square up. Bowens eventually leaves and he chirps at Gunn and Caster the entire way up the ramp.

I am ceasing to care about this Bowens thing. Get there soon, guys. It’s tiresome now.

Backstage Kris Statlander is with Harley Cameron who says she has a gift for Statlander. It’s not a puppet, no one does puppets anymore, Cameron just wants to say thanks for helping her. Apparently the $100K Statlander won is coming from the Young Bucks account and the check keeps coming back as “insufficient funds”. (Okay, that’s a funny ass line right there.) Cameron charges into the “AEW Male Extras” locker room (Clearly meant to be the Young Bucks dressing room) but returns saying they can’t pay until next week. Here’s Jon Moxley, Marina Shafir, and Wheeler Yuta. Moxley charges into the locker room and Yuta tries to break the awkward silence with a weather comment. Claudio Castignoli and Gabe Kidd join the scene before Moxley emerges with an envelope that he hands to Statlander. The Death Riders leave as Statlander seems to have gotten the money.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis seconds Takeshita but joins the announce team. Ishii and Takeshita do a long strong style forearm battle to start. Takeshita comes off the ropes with a big flying forearm that topples Ishii. Ishii slips a Takeshita elbow attempt before walloping Takeshita with a chop. Ishii runs the ropes and clotheslines Takeshita over the top rope to the floor. Ishii chops Takeshita along the barrier as Riccaboni puts over Takeshita having a match only six days after winning the G1 when a lot of others will take a month off after the tournament. They climb up on the apron and tussle. Takeshita drops to the floor and punches Ishii right in the lower leg. Takeshita hits Ishii with a draping DDT as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Takeshita runs Ishii into the barrier before crushing him with a pump kick. (There’s a Takeshita-Okada main event out there somewhere and by God and Sonny Jebus I will see it.) Takeshita runs Ishii back in and grabs a rear chinlock. Ishii tries to fight out so Takeshita pins both of Ishii’s arms back and locks his hands. Ishii tries to make the ropes so Takeshita promptly puts him in a head-twisting submission type move. This morphs into a side headlock which Takeshita takes to the mat. Ishii tries to elbow his way out of it so Takeshita pops him with a knee lift. Takeshita hits a side Russian leg sweep and covers for two. Ishii fires three chops that Takeshita no-sells before Takeshita fires a forearm that staggers Ishii. Takeshita poses Ishii in the corner and ascends. Ishii springs up and punches Takeshita before joining him on the second rope.

Back to full screen Ishii hoists Takeshita straight up before hitting a giant second rope avalanche superplex. Takeshita makes his feet and throws a couple of feeble forearms before Ishii blasts him with a giant forearm of his own. They fire up and crash into each other, but Takeshita gains the advantage and hits Ishii with an inverted piledriver and wheelbarrow suplex. Takeshita tries a running knee but Ishii catches it and powerbombs Takeshita. Ishii covers for two. Ishii runs Takeshita over with a lariat and then hits a running lariat on a seated Takeshita before covering and getting two.

Ishii runs the ropes but Takeshita fires up and spins Ishii into a sit-out Blue Thunder Bomb. Takeshita covers for a LONG two. Takeshita throws a big forearm but his Raging Fire attempt is snuffed out as Ishii fires off an uppercut. Ishii runs Takeshita over with a lariat and covers for two. Ishii wants a brainbuster but Takeshita slips out and goes behind for a poison rana. It doesn’t phase Ishii in the slightest but his German attempt sees Takeshita land on his feet. Ishii blocks a running knee and hits an enziguri on Takeshita. Takeshita fires off a desperation knee and both are down. The crowd erupts with a standing ovation, and rightfully so.

They both rise and strike each other with lariats. Ishii throws a headbutt but Takeshita bounces off the ropes with a big knee lift. Takeshita basically falls on Ishii and gets a two count. Takeshita hits Raging Fire and covers for three.

Well that will be your Match of the Night and I’m pretty confident in saying that now. An absolute classic on Collision, who would have guessed. Takeshita rules the Earth right now. Ishii is just a supremely talented man. You should check out the highlights of this here if you didn’t see it. 4.5*

Winner – Konosuke Takeshita (Raging Fire)

Post-match sees Callis climb in the ring to congratulate Takeshita as we go to commercials.

Big Bill vs Mark Andrews

Bill is seconded by Bryan Keith. Bill charges at the bell and wipes out Andrews with a splash. Bill clubbers away at Andrews as he’s stuck in the ropes. Bill runs the ropes and wipes out Andrews with a huge big boot. Bill dumps Andrews back in as McGuinness is talking about eating haggis. Bill misses a charge and Andrews hits him with a running double knee. Andrews throws some chops and forearms. Bill shakes it off and after some rope running he catches Andrews in a Black Hole slam and covers for three.

Squashy squash squash. 1*

Winner – Big Bill (Black Hole slam)

Post-match sees Keith grab two chairs and toss them in the ring. He and Bill set them up together as Bill then grabs Andrews. (WHERE ARE YOU FLASH MORGAN WEBSTER?!) Bill chokeslams Andrews through the chairs and gets an ovation from the crowd. Bill and Keith go into the crowd for some reason and seem unhappy when Gates of Agony’s music hits.

Gates of Agony vs Grizzled Young Veterans

Ricochet seconds GOA but he joins the announce team. It’s Drake and Liona to start.

They run the ropes and Drake tries for a cross-body but Liona catches him and hits a massive fall-away slam. Liona crushes Drake in the corner as Kaun tags in. Drake sneaks over and tags in Gibson who busts Drake of out the headlock Kaun has him in. GYV hit running elbows on Kaun before Drake wipes him out with a leg lariat. Gibson covers for one. Kaun reverses an irish whip and elbows Gibson in the chest. Kaun whips Gibson into the heel corner but Gibson lifts a boot when Kaun charges. Gibson elbows Liona and then pops Kaun with forearms before tagging in Drake. Drake trips Kaun as Gibson flies in with a dropkick. Drake launches himself off Gibson’s back and wipes out Liona with a high boot.

Drake goes to the apron and shoulders a charging Kaun. (Ricochet: “I’mma go cheat real quick.”) Ricochet springs onto the apron to distract Drake so Kaun can wallop him with a high boot. Kaun whips Drake from the apron to the barrier before running him halfway around the ring to whip him into another barrier. Liona clotheslines Drake over the barrier as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Ricochet celebrates with GOA as Aubrey Edwards checks on a struggling Drake. Drake makes it back in at the count of nine. Kaun pounds away on Drake as Liona tags in. They work Drake over in their corner before Liona stands on Drake’s hair while pulling him up by the arms. (When did this spot become so pervasive? Someone does this every week now.) Liona drives Drake headfirst into the top turnbuckle and Kaun tags in. Kaun hits a splash and hoists Drake up for a short running backdrop suplex. Kaun covers for two. Kaun kicks Drake in the head before tagging Liona in. We go to full commercials.

Back live with Kaun putting the boots to Drake in the corner. Drake gets his feet up on a Kaun charge and then fully slips the next charge as Kaun flies into the ring post. Drake finally tags in Gibson who runs everyone over with forearms. Gibson clotheslines Kaun and then flies over to dropkick Liona off the apron to the floor. Gibson ducks a Kaun clothesline and hits Liona with a tope suicida. Gibson shoulders Kaun from the apron and climbs in. Gibson hits a double thrust on Kaun and then dumps him over with a Saito suplex. Gibson covers for two as Liona flies in to break it up.

Liona tosses Gibson to the corner but when he charges Gibson ducks out of the way and Liona cracks his head on the top of the ring post. Gibson dropkicks Liona in the knee and holds him in a half clutch. Drake ascends and then goes coast-to-coast with a dropkick that I’m not sure fully connected. (Drake makes a motion like he hurt his elbow here, we’ll see if he’s selling something.) Gibson kicks a charging Kaun and then hits him with a Lungblower. Drake tags in and they hit a double team move before Drake covers Kaun for two.

Gibson tags in and hoists Kaun on his shoulders. Drake ascends but Kaun is able to push away from Gibson. Drake comes off the top rope and grabs his knee (I knew he was faking the elbow thing before.). Liona flies in and hits the POUNCE on Drake sending him flying to the floor. Liona sprints around the ring and hits a prone Gibson with a hip attack before Kaun flies in with a Meteora. They hoist Gibson up for Open the Gates and Kaun covers for three.

Sue me, I liked a Gates of Agony match. It helps that GYV are wildly qualified opponents and I’m glad they got some shine even if it was on a taped Collision. Ricochet was decent on commentary but boy he talks a lot. The heel team won relatively cleanly, the finish worked, and everyone worked hard and mostly sold. I’ll take it. 3*

Winners – Gates of Agony (Open the Gates on Gibson)

Here’s a pre-taped promo from Gabe Kidd and the Bullet Club War Dogs. Kidd says he aligned himself with the Death Riders for the same reason he’s with the War Dogs. Kidd can’t stand fakes and phonies so he had to bring in the dogs to take out the bitches. Clark Connors (Hey buddy, I recap your brother’s matches too! What a small world.) says that they can’t have a Forbidden Door without the baddest unit in New Japan. Connors challenges the Opps for Forbidden Door. Drilla Moloney says if you knock on their door you should pay attention to the big red sign that says beware of the Dogs. Connors barks as we go to commercials.

Paragon vs The Young Bucks

As everyone makes their entrance I wonder just how many times these four have wrestled before. There’s like 18 minutes to the top of the hour and they’ve shown the propensity to go over time a lot, so buckle up. The Young Bucks are already in the ring and Arkady Aura introduces them as “Rod & Todd” (I will remember who they are in this match thanks to Nick’s ponytail.). Matt Jackson gives Schiavone grief about the introduction before starting with O’Reilly.

Matt reverses a wristlock before O’Reilly SWEEPS THE LEG to drive Matt to the canvas. There’s some reversals resulting in a Matt headlock. Matt drops O’Reilly with a shoulder. O’Reilly recovers and slaps an armbar on Matt, but Matt blocks it. O’Reilly calmly rolls over and slaps an ankle lock on Matt. Matt kicks out of it but runs into an O’Reilly armdrag. Matt rises to his feet but O’Reilly snaps Matt’s arm over his shoulder. Strong tags in and he and O’Reilly hit double team chops and kicks on Matt. Nick charges in and eats a Strong knee lift. O’Reilly wipes Nick out with a kick before he and Strong wallop Matt with a double-team suplex. Nick begs off a tag and goes to the floor. Matt turns and wanders into stereo kicks from the Paragon team.

Nick climbs in the ring and as he does his boot catches on the second rope and he goes face-first to the mat. Strong and O’Reilly promptly clothesline Nick over the top rope to the floor. Nick kicks the announce table in frustration and further injures his ankle before injuring the other one by kicking the barrier. Meanwhile O’Reilly pounces on Matt who’s being held by Strong in a backbreaker position. (Riccoboni: “They used to wear $350 Jordans and now they’re living in squalor with these $100 shoes.”) O’Reilly sinks in a guillotine choke on Matt but Matt slips out and fakes a superkick before DDT’ing O’Reilly.

Nick tags in and wipes out O’Reilly and Strong with enziguris. Strong gets caught in a running bulldog while Nick simultaneously wipes out O’Reilly with a clothesline. Matt tags in and they run O’Reilly to the corner. O’Reilly dumps Nick to the apron and then slips a Matt charge. O’Reilly wipes Nick out with a kick and then staggers over to tag in Strong. Strong hits a knee-assisted backbreaker on Matt before flipping Nick over for one as well. Strong hits Matt with a dropkick and fires up the crowd. Strong runs the length of the ring while popping Matt with punches on the way by. Strong hoists up Matt and drops him face-first on the mat.

Nick fires up and boots O’Reilly in the face before hitting a springboard brainbuster on Strong. Nick tries for a moonsault but O’Reilly slips it as Nick lands on Matt. O’Reilly charges down the apron but the Bucks meet him with superkicks. Strong wipes out Matt with a baseball slide but Nick charges to the apron and wipes Strong out with a kick. Matt tosses Strong back in and places his legs on the second rope while he holds Strong’s shoulders. Nick hits a swanton and Matt covers for two as O’Reilly breaks it up. O’Reilly dumps Matt and tries for kicks but Nick slips out and superkicks O’Reilly. O’Reilly tumbles right into Matt so Nick charges to the apron and they hit a tombstone EVP driver on O’Reilly. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP the Bucks rejoin the ring to a fired up Strong wiping them both out with clotheslines. Nick accidently knees Matt off the apron before Strong hoists him into a knee-lift stomach drop. Strong flies off the ropes with a big boot and covers Nick for two. As Strong checks on O’Reilly a recovered Matt nails him with a superkick. (Rick Knox is using a LOT MORE DISCRETION tonight in terms of tags. JR would be seething at this. And yes, I KNOW THIS IS WHAT THEY DO OKAY? YOU DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN PWG STYLE TAGS TO ME THANK YOU.) Nick blatantly chokes Strong before running him face-first into the top turnbuckle. Nick climbs to the second rope and BITES Strong’s forehead. Matt tags in and pops Strong in the gut with a kick as there’s still no sign of O’Reilly since the EVP driver. Matt goes to work on Strong’s lower back but Strong fires up and tries to fight his way out of the Bucks corner. Matt rakes the eyes to put a stop to it and then puts the boots to Strong. Nick chokes Strong from behind as Matt berates Knox.

Back to full screen with Nick tagging in. Strong holds the ropes to prevent a double superkick before he dumps a charging Matt to the floor. Strong slips a superkick attempt and hoists Nick over in a swank Saito suplex. O’Reilly finally rejoins things and as Strong goes for the tag Matt flies around to pull O’Reilly from the apron. Matt jumps up to the apron and hits a rolling Blockbuster on O’Reilly. Nick hits a superkick on Strong and covers for two.

Matt tags in and hoists Strong onto his shoulders as Nick ascends. The first part of More Bang For Your Buck hits but Strong rolls out of the way of Nick’s swanton. Strong trips up Matt and suspends him in the tree of woe. Nick flies in and Strong monkey-flips him onto a prone Matt. O’Reilly once again rejoins the affair as Strong crawls slowly over. O’Reilly gets the tag and wipes out Nick with a big boot. O’Reilly SWEEPS THE LEG to drive Nick to the canvas before nailing a charging Matt with a knee lift. O’Reilly slips a Matt charge and then hits a double dragon screw leg whip on both Nick and Matt.

O’Reilly charges down the apron to dropkick a staggering Matt on to a folding chair at ringside. O’Reilly charges back in and kicks Nick before nailing him with a forearm. Strong and O’Reilly hit a double-team driver suplex on Nick and O’Reilly covers for two. O’Reilly immediately tries for the armbar but Nick locks his hands to prevent it. Matt charges up and Strong hits him with a knee-assisted backbreaker. Strong stomps on Nick to break his hands apart as O’Reilly sinks in the armbar. Nick makes the ropes with his feet and Knox forces O’Reilly to break. (Apparently we are in fact enforcing some rules tonight. Bully.)

Strong tags in and he hits Nick with a knee lift. O’Reilly hits Nick with a knee and an axe kick. Nick slips out of the way and Strong nails O’Reilly with a knee lift. Nick wallops a dazed O’Reilly with a superkick before Matt nails a charging Strong with a superkick of his own. They hit the Superkick Party on Strong who tumbles to the apron. They then hit it on O’Reilly but he catches himself on the way out and fires up to hit the Bucks with lariats. All four are down as we reset.

O’Reilly and Matt get tags and they slug it out mid-ring. Matt misses a big punch and O’Reilly sinks in a deep guillotine choke. Matt rolls through with two Northern Lights suplexes and as Strong joins Matt hits them both with one. (That was wildly impressive, actually. A very cool spot.) Nick dumps Strong to the floor before ascending to hit Strong with a top rope torneo kick. The Bucks hit a double team Sliced Bread on O’Reilly before Nick hits O’Reilly with a running knee. Matt covers for two.

Matt hoists O’Reilly up in the tombstone position but when Nick flies in for the Meltzer Driver Strong meets him with a very high and loud knee lift. O’Reilly pounces on Matt and they hit a double-team DDT driver on him before Strong drops Matt on O’Reilly’s knees. O’Reilly covers for two. Strong runs the ropes and flattens Matt with a lariat. O’Reilly covers for two as Nick flies in with a superkick to break it up. Strong immediately hoists Nick into a backbreaker. O’Reilly sinks in an ankle lock on Matt as Don Callis charges down to ringside to a chorus of groans and boos.

Callis wants to talk to Knox who OF COURSE indulges it. Kazuchika Okada flies down the ramp. Okada pulls O’Reilly off of Matt and absolutely murders O’Reilly with the Rainmaker. Strong flies and ends up behind Okada, who ducks as the Bucks hit Superkick Party on Strong. Matt hoists O’Reilly up and the Bucks hit the TK Driver on O’Reilly. Matt covers for three.

A hell of a main event, truly. Not quite at the level of Ishii-Takeshita but this, for being the loosey-goosey rules match it was, was fun as hell. The Bucks are working slightly more viciously lately and I’m pretty much here for it. The party match stuff can get old but they really buckled down tonight. O’Reilly and Strong will be fine but they seem kind of directionless at the moment. You’d hope they would get a real feud soon that isn’t somehow Roddy against every Conglomeration member because Friend Kyle can’t stop hanging out with them. Regardless, I liked this a bunch and that’s rare for me with the Young Bucks, not going to lie. 4*

Winners – The Young Bucks (TK Driver to O’Reilly)

Post-match sees Aura announce the winners as The Young Bucks as I still don’t know who’s Rod and who’s Todd. The Bucks and Okada attack Paragon and here’s Swerve Strickland with Prince Nana to stalk down to the ring. Okada seems to want it but he bails immediately when Swerve enters the ring. The Bucks sneak in behind but Swerve senses it and catches Nick’s roundhouse attempt before sending the sneaker into Matt’s face. Swerve kicks Nick down before hitting the House Call on Matt. Okada sneaks in and clips Swerve at the knee (Uh oh. I bet I know what’s happening with this, given this week’s reports about Swerve’s real-life knee issues.) Okada starts dropping elbows on Swerve’s knee as we’re once again over time. Okada yanks up a suffering Swerve and destroys him with a Rainmaker. Okada and the Bucks pose over Swerve as we’re out.

Well, that second hour kicked a whole bunch of ass, the Big Bill squash notwithstanding. The Takeshita-Ishii match and the main event tag were, I’ll say it, excellent. They packed a TON into this show, as you may have surmised, and it felt a bit chaotic at times. There wasn’t a whole lot of yap, though, and I appreciate a show packed with wrestling any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Thumbs up for the go-home show prior to Forbidden Door. Enjoy the show today if you’re watching.

That’s all from me, I hope your Sunday is excellent and full of good wrestling. Thanks for reading and commenting. Stay strong, gang.