AEW Collision Review – 08.30.25

The week in AEW has included: Forbidden Door | Dynamite | ROH | Death Before Dishonor

Collision is ON THE AIR LIVE from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA. The announce team is Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring announcements, and Lexy Nair on backstage and breaking news segments.

Daniel Garcia vs Blake Christian

Garcia is seconded by Daddy Magic Matt Menard who joins the announce team. Christian is seconded by “Shotty” Lee Johnson. (If this goes 20 minutes I’m going to lose my mind.) Directly after the bell sounds Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir appear from the crowd and Moxley wants a word with Garcia. Moxley pats Garcia on the back after passing along some advice as Garcia stares down Christian. Shafir has a short word with Garcia as well, and they then leave through the crowd.

Christian gets the early advantage with right hands and knee lifts. Garcia blasts Christian with a back elbow when he comes off the ropes to stop that momentum. Garcia takes control with rights and a big chop that staggers Christian. Christian recovers and nails Garcia with a dropkick after they run the ropes. Christian slips a Garcia charge and dropkicks him in the back sending Garcia to the floor. Christian tries a baseball slide but misses as Garcia fires up and hits a big knee-lift.

Johnson comes over to jaw with Garcia on the floor as Christian rolls back in to recover. Christian hits a tope suicida on a distracted Garcia. Christian drags Garcia around the ring barrier (There’s a LOT of little kids at this show so I’m hoping TK doesn’t have some giant random bloodbath planned for later. Hopefully Kyle Fletcher left his screwdriver at home, too.) Christian hits an elbow on Garcia and then flies off the top of the barrier with a short moonsault to send Garcia to his back.

Christian tosses Garcia back in and rubs a knee on Garcia’s face. Garcia crawls to a corner where Christian rakes his eyes from behind. Christian snap-mares Garcia to a sitting position and again goes to the eyes before grabbing a side headlock. Garcia finally rises and dumps Christian with a back suplex. They start slugging it out mid-ring before an exchange sees Garcia wallop Christian with several huge slaps to the chest. Garcia hits a swinging neckbreaker and covers for two.

Christian slips out of a Garcia piledriver attempt and rolls up Garcia for two. Christian hits a springboard DDT and covers for two. Christian tries a 450 splash but Garcia catches him and pulls Christian into a guillotine choke. Garcia transitions to a piledriver and covers Christian for three.

Not quite a squash per se but this outcome was not in doubt after Garcia lost Wednesday night. Christian is a fine Collision jobber and Garcia looked okay here. 2*

Winner – Daniel Garcia (piledriver)

Post-match sees Schiavone enter the ring to speak with Garcia about what Moxley said to him. Garcia says he’s been chasing Moxley for five years and he has everything Garcia wants. Garcia challenges Moxley for next week to a big pop from the crowd. Marina Shafir and Wheeler Yuta appear at the announcer table and Yuta grabs a microphone. Yuta tells “Danny” to be careful what he wishes for because they accept the challenge. Yuta insults Bryan Danielson and says they won’t have a problem with whatever Garcia has going on. They leave and Garcia celebrates with the fans.

EARLIER TODAY Lexy Nair was with Hologram, Tomohiro Ishii, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong. Strong seems unhappy that O’Reilly is teaming with Ishii tonight but O’Reilly brushes it off and says tonight they get their hands on “Dong Phallus” (Oh brother.) and his family members. O’Reilly says they clearly aren’t a family unlike the Conglomeration and all Ishii has done has stand with O’Reilly. Strong leaves in a huff.

TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher and Josh Alexander vs Kyle O’Reilly and IWGP Strong Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii

Don Callis accompanies his men and joins the announcer table as usual. It will be O’Reilly and Alexander to start after Alexander tags himself in shortly after the bell.

They grapple to start and Alexander gains the edge by grabbing a single leg. (The crowd: “Fuck Don Callis!” Well, that’s pleasant enough I guess.) After rolling around a bit O’Reilly drags Alexander to his team corner as Ishii tags in. Ishii drops some elbows on Alexander who responds with strong style forearms. Ishii fires up and runs Alexander over. Fletcher and Alexander regroup on the floor. Once back in Alexander takes the advantage with a kick to Ishii’s gut as Fletcher decides to tag in.

Fletcher tries forearms but this only fires Ishii up to respond with a bunch of his own. O’Reilly tags in and it’s THE BATTLE OF THE KYLES. Fletcher gets in a kick and then runs O’Reilly over with a shoulder. They run the ropes and O’Reilly snaps off a kick. Fletcher tries for a sunset flip but O’Reilly twists it into an armbar as Fletcher locks his hands to try to prevent it. O’Reilly immediately transitions to an ankle lock but Fletcher makes the ropes to break it up. Fletcher has a cut below his left eye as Ishii tags in.

Fletcher eats kicks and chops from O’Reilly and Ishii. Ishii hits a big chop on Fletcher and tags O’Reilly back in. Fletcher dumps O’Reilly to the apron where he mashes Fletcher with a roundhouse kick and sends Alexander sprawling with one as well. Fletcher uses that time to waffle O’Reilly with a kick and Alexander mashes O’Reilly with a big boot on the floor. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Fletcher runs O’Reilly back in and bodyslams him before covering for two. Alexander tags in and staggers O’Reilly with a rabbit punch. Alexander runs O’Reilly into a neutral corner and puts the boots to him. Alexander hits a snap suplex and covers O’Reilly for two. Fletcher tags in and they continue to work O’Reilly’s leg. Fletcher snaps O’Reilly down to the mat and indicates his brain power to the crowd. Fletcher works a rear headlock.

Back to full screen with O’Reilly dropping down to snap off the headlock as Fletcher reels back to his corner where Alexander tags in. Alexander wipes Ishii off the apron but this gives a recovered O’Reilly time to work some martial arts strikes. Alexander puts a stop to that with a short right hook. Alexander hoists O’Reilly on to his shoulders and ascends to the second rope as O’Reilly tries to fight out of it with elbows. O’Reilly slips off and grabs an armbar but Alexander slugs him off after a response headbutt.

Alexander tries a top rope moonsault which misses. Alexander and O’Reilly hit simultaneous clotheslines on each other and both are down. They make tags and Ishii and Fletcher charge in. Ishii fights off both Fletcher and Alexander before running them into each other. Ishii puts some stink on a shoulder tackle that sends Fletcher flying. (I love Ishii, dude. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I just love a short stocky ass-kicker.) Ishii hits a brainbuster on Fletcher and covers for two.

Fletcher fires up and they slug it out mid-ring. Ishii goes behind and dumps Fletcher with a German suplex. Ishii comes off the ropes but walks into a Fletcher Blue Thunder Bomb and both guys are down. They manage to make tags eventually and O’Reilly and Fletcher slug it out mid-ring. O’Reilly hits a running knee lift and then snaps on a guillotine choke. Alexander slips out and grabs an ankle lock while still being sort-of choked by O’Reilly. O’Reilly rolls through and grabs his own ankle lock. Alexander rolls through and sends O’Reilly into a Fletcher kick. Alexander rolls O’Reilly up for two.

O’Reilly hits a knee, an axe kick and a forearm before snapping off a back suplex and covering Alexander for two. Alexander prevents another armbar for a few seconds as Ishii charges in to pop Fletcher who was coming in as well. O’Reilly gets the armbar but Alexander makes the ropes. Ishii tags in properly and he and Fletcher hit double-team strikes on Alexander from the front and back. Ishii wallops Alexander with a Saito suplex and then he and O’Reilly hit TOTAL ELIMINATION on Alexander. Ishii covers for two as Fletcher breaks it up.

O’Reilly whales Fletcher with some strikes sending him to the floor. O’Reilly runs the length of the apron but his knee misses as he crashes into a ringside steel chair. Alexander gets waffled by an Ishii chop and they start exchanging strikes. Ishii sends Alexander down with a forearm but as he runs the ropes Fletcher trips him. Ishii hits Fletcher with a headbutt as Fletcher tumbles into the ring. Alexander hits a low blow kick on Ishii as the ref checks on Fletcher. Alexander hits a nasty looking straight-jacket piledriver on Ishii and covers him for three.

Not that surprising a result, really. The match was good and the heels cheated to win. Alexander has lost a few steps but can still go, and Fletcher obviously has the rocket right now. With Ospreay and Swerve gone for awhile, he’s moving way up the ladder and rapidly. Ishii can always eat a pin and does so regularly despite being awesome. O’Reilly can still work effectively and his offense looks great as usual. Solid formula tag match here. 3.5*

Winners – TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher and Josh Alexander (Alexander straight jacket piledriver to Ishii)

Post-match sees Roderick Strong wander out to try to gather O’Reilly up but O’Reilly wants to check on Ishii.

There’s a fight backstage between Jamie Hayter and Thekla. A bunch of security goofs try to break it up but Thekla breaks free and hits a big cross-body on Hayter and the aforementioned goofs. They are finally separated but continue to bark at each other. We go to commercials.

EARLIER TODAY sees Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne arguing over Killswitch. Sabian blames Killswitch for costing them at Forbidden Door. Sabian has a lot of stitches over his left eye and blames it directly on Killswitch. Mother Wayne sends Sabian away to cool down and then gives Killswitch the stink-eye.

Jay Lethal vs Hologram

Jay Lethal is 40 years old and I feel like I’ve been watching him for 40 years. Also, I’m still grumpy about Jeff Jarrett’s aborted push awhile back. Stupid MJF.

They lock up to start and Lethal wins a shoulder tackle standoff. Hologram trips up Lethal and they exchange covers that each get one. Hologram shows off his escape-ability as Lethal misses attempt after attempt. Hologram gets a pop as Lethal looks perplexed. They slap hands in a show of respect but the crowd has kind of died. Lethal grabs a side headlock but Hologram works out of it and gets Lethal in a Gory Special position. Lethal slips out of it and hits a charging Hologram with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Hologram gets very sloppy all of a sudden so Lethal yanks him up and drops him face-first to the mat. Lethal slams Hologram’s head into the second turnbuckle and then runs him into another lifted facebuster. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Lethal covers for one. Lethal puts Hologram into some weird kind of cloverleaf and then uses his legs to lift Hologram backwards. Lethal rolls Hologram into a cover and gets two. Hologram recovers and hits a bridging suplex on Lethal before covering for two. Hologram works Lethal over on the ropes. Lethal reverses an irish whip and hits a short shotgun dropkick on a sitting Hologram. Lethal covers for two. We go to full commercials.

Back live with Lethal hitting Hologram with a lariat as he’s prone on the ropes. Hologram charges off and hits an enziguri on Lethal. Lethal fires up with a forearm and a gut-shot. Lethal slowly hoists Hologram who fights his way back down. Hologram rolls up Lethal for two. Lethal fires up with a swank snap suplex that sends a reeling Hologram to the floor. Lethal goes out and chops Hologram. Hologram gets to the apron where he meets a Lethal springboard dropkick. Lethal hits a tope suicida and celebrates but Hologram charges in and then comes back with his own tope.

Hologram drags Lethal back in and hits a sit-out Michinoku Driver before covering for two. Hologram ascends and does a short rope walk but his jump gets him caught by Lethal. Lethal snaps Hologram down and ascends. Lethal tries for the King’s Elbow but Hologram catches him and rolls Lethal up for two. Hologram twists Lethal into an ankle lock but Lethal fights his way out and puts Hologram in a Figure Four. Hologram grabs the ropes to break it up. Lethal kicks at Hologram’s knee and goes for Lethal Injection. Hologram hits a backstabber and hoists Lethal up. Hologram hits a swinging sit-out powerbomb and covers Lethal for three.

It got a little better as it went along but man, Hologram was sloppy as hell for a little while and I think it annoyed Lethal a whole bunch since he’s barely on AEW television shows at this point. I have no idea what the point of the Hologram undefeated streak is since he doesn’t have an actual program, he just wrestles matches and hangs out with Ishii. Lethal deserves better than this. I’m being generous here with two stars. 2*

Winner – Hologram (swinging sit-out powerbomb)

Post-match sees some glitchy ringside lights followed by some code indicating someone named Clon is coming to give Hologram some trouble.

We go to pre-taped promos from Ricochet and MVP regarding the recent flare-ups between their respective groups. Ricochet demands respect. Seems fair. We go to commercials.

Alex Windsor vs Ashley Vox

Windsor bullies Vox over so Vox fires up with some forearms. Vox hits a dropkick but her overhead right is caught by Windsor. Windsor snaps Vox over in a package suplex. Windsor misses a charge but as Vox comes off the ropes Windsor catches her with a sit-out powerbomb. Windsor hits another powerbomb and then slaps on the Sharpshooter. Vox taps immediately.

Squashy squash squash. 1*

Winner – Alex Windsor (Sharpshooter)

Post-match sees Schiavone head to the ring for a chat with Windsor. (Tony has some swank Jordans on, he better hope Bronson Reed isn’t lurking somewhere.) Schiavone recalls Mercedes Mone’s hospitalization threat from Dynamite and Windsor calls Mone a “pissed-off little woman”. Windsor indicates that Mone’s anger comes from Windsor making her tap, legal or not. Windsor says she can do it again and chastises Mone for bringing up Will Ospreay’s uncertain future. Windsor says Mone has crossed a line and wants her at Dynamite for the TBS title.

Good promo from Alex here. The crowd ate it up.

EARLIER TODAY Lexy Nair held a summit between Don Callis (Because god forbid Don Callis isn’t in EVERY GODDAMN SEGMENT OF THIS GODFORSAKEN SHOW.) and Mark Briscoe. Briscoe calls Callis an “odd looking individual” and points out that it’s been 73 hours since he issued a challenge to Kyle Fletcher for the TNT title. Callis says they’ve been busy and there’s a lot of people in the locker room who want a shot. Callis says Fletcher had a big win tonight (Jesus wept, really? THE GRAPHIC SAID EARLIER TODAY.) Callis points out the eight-man tag that’s coming on Dynamite where Fletcher can mix it up with Hangman Page. Callis admits respecting Briscoe so he’ll give him another Family member to wrestle. Briscoe questions what happens after he wins, and Callis says he won’t but if he does he can get a title shot. Schiavone tries to cover for the Callis error when they come back to the desk.

FTR vs JD Drake and Adam Priest

There’s no BIG STOKE for FTR tonight, thankfully. This is your IDRINQ match of the night. Harwood and Priest will start things.

Priest snaps off a Dragon Screw leg whip. Harwood recovers to dump Priest down and grab a side headlock. Priest bullies out of it but Harwood runs him over a couple of times with shoulders. Priest dumps Harwood down and drops several elbows on Harwood’s knee. Drake tags in and chops Harwood in the hamstring area. Drake drops a big elbow on Harwood’s knee and then chops him down. Priest tags in and grabs a leg but Harwood has had enough and busts Priest in the face with a right.

Wheeler tags in and he and Harwood clubber away at Priest in their corner. Wheeler waffles Priest with a chop and an uppercut before shit-talking Drake. They run the ropes and Priest snaps off a solid dropkick that staggers Wheeler. Drake tags in and after Priest snaps Wheeler down Drake crushes Wheeler with a top rope flipping senton. Drake hits Wheeler with a lariat and then whips him across the ring. Wheeler slips Drake’s charge and runs into a Drake chop. Drake ascends so Wheeler grabs the ref to distract as Harwood charges over to crotch Drake on the top turnbuckle. Harwood chops Drake down to the mat. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Wheeler works Drake over in a neutral corner. Harwood tags in and he starts hammering away at Drake in the FTR corner. Harwood staggers Drake with a right and then starts blasting away with chops as Drake is on one knee. Harwood chokes Drake over the second rope while raking his eyes. (Dax is in a mood tonight, clearly.) Drake fires up with some rights of his own but Harwood’s gut-kick puts a stop to that. Wheeler tags in and Harwood runs Drake’s head into Wheeler’s knees. Wheeler bullies Drake with his knee in the FTR corner and Harwood slips a kick in as the ref chastises Wheeler. There’s a fan in the front row that’s clearly annoying Harwood so he charges off the apron to berate him. Wheeler blasts Priest off the apron but gets caught in a Drake belly-to-belly overhead suplex. Drake hits a massive cannoball on Wheeler in a neutral corner and ascends. Drake swipes Harwood away with a chop but that gives Wheeler enough time to recover and smack Drake in the back a few times. Drake shrugs that off and chops Wheeler down before ascending again.

Back to full screen with Drake hitting a moonsault to a HUGE pop from the crowd. (Philly loves them some JD Drake, trust me.) Drake covers for two. Priest tags in and Harwood prevents a double-team by saving Wheeler as they flip him over. FTR hit the Shatter Machine on Drake sending him to the floor. Wheeler grabs Priest by the leg so he swings up in an enziguri that wipes out Harwood. Priest chops Wheeler down and then nails Harwood with one. As Priest hoists Wheeler for an atomic drop he blind tags in Harwood who decks Priest with a right. (The crowd: “Oh, fuck the Revival. Oh, fuck the Revival.“)

Harwood works Priest over in a neutral corner dropping him to a seated position. Priest rises and throws some chops in retaliation but Harwood just bullies him into the FTR corner and starts back with the clubbering. Priest reverses an irish whip and charges after Harwood to dump him with a German. Priest throws forearms but Harwood stops it with a big right hook. Harwood runs Priest shoulder-first into a ring post a few times. Harwood locks on the Border City stretch and Priest taps.

This woke the crowd up at least. Drake is still wildly over in Philly and Priest is a solid hand. FTR didn’t sell a whole lot but they almost never do unless they really respect the opponents. Related, I miss the Outrunners on this show a whole bunch. Come back soon, Truth and Turbo. Anyway, this was fine even if the outcome was never in doubt. 3*

Winners – FTR (Harwood Border City stretch on Priest)

Post-match sees Wheeler grab a mic while Harwood bitches at the crowd. Wheeler says it’s not about Adam Copeland, it’s about FTR not becoming three time AEW tag champs and 11 time tag champions overall. They’re going to end things in Toronto says Wheeler, and when he goes to hand the mic to Harwood, he drops it to the crowds delight. (Crowd: “YOU FUCKED UP, YOU FUCKED UP.” Lotta eff words on this show tonight, I’m wondering if Turner will be making a call to Jacksonville at some point.) Wheeler grabs the mic and presents to Harwood from his knees as Harwood bows in respect.

Harwood says he isn’t going to yell but he points out that Stokely isn’t with them tonight because of COPE and CAGE. Harwood says it should have been a dream match between opponents from two different eras. (Crowd: “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Sigh. I’m imagining our friend Tommy Hall’s reaction to all of this since Hall is not a fan of the cursing at all.) Harwood says COPE ruined it by hurting Stokely. Harwood says it’s now a charity exhibition with two guys who used three letters -TLC- to make their names 25 years ago. Harwood says they’ve used three letters too but those letters are FTR before threatening to end COPE and CAGE’s careers in Toronto. They’re top guys and they’re out.

Highlights are shown of Sammy Guevara‘s turn to the dark side at Death Before Dishonor. We go to commercials.

Backstage Lexy Nair is with….Don Callis, Kyle Fletcher and Josh Alexander. (I am so wildly over Don Callis at this point I can barely stand it. Jesus H, he’s in EVERY SEGMENT. I know they’re pumping up this big eight-man tag for Dynamite but ENOUGH already.) Callis mentions the Briscoe summit and says he has to get in line like everyone else. Callis tosses it to Alexander and he says he wants Kenny Omega specifically. Alexander says he’ll put Omega down for good Wednesday night. Fletcher chimes in to further insult Mark Briscoe and says they’re going to be taking the AEW World Title back to the Family soon enough.

Big Bill vs Juice Robinson

Bryan Keith accompanies Bill. Robinson is seconded by CardBlade, ColtonCard, and real human Austin Gunn. During this match a bunch of TWEETS (Hi Elon!) appear on the side of the screen in an interesting new twist.

Bill picks up Robinson and mounts him on the top turnbuckle before double-slapping Robinson’s chest. Robinson fires up with a kick before grabbing a side headlock. Once back on their feet Bill runs Robinson over with a tackle but his subsequent elbow drop misses. Robinson goes back to the headlock but Bill hoists him and hits a backdrop suplex. Robinson refuses to release the headlock and pulls Bill to a sitting position. Bill hits an elbow to escape and then leapfrogs a charging Robinson. Bill hits a Nash-like big boot that drops Robinson all the way to the floor. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP the ref’s count reaches eight before Bill gets disgusted and charges out to smash Robinson’s head into the ring steps. Bill stomps on Robinson’s gut before clubbering him along the barrier. Bill ducks in to break the count and then hops back out to pop Robinson with a right. Bill clobbers Robinson in the back with a right and then puts a boot to Robinson’s neck as he’s prone up against the barrier. We go to full commercials.

Back live and they are STILL on the floor with Bill hoisting Robinson over his shoulder. Bill runs Robinson into a giant pillar and then does the pew-pew gun taunt at him. Bill tries it again but Robinson slips off his shoulder and runs Bill’s head into the same pillar. Bill ends up in the ring and he waffles a charging Robinson with a lariat. Bill drops an elbow and covers for two.

Bill grabs a bear hug so Robinson starts firing elbows to the back of Bill’s head. Robinson BITES BILL’S EAR (Of all the people to steal gimmicks from, Mike Tyson would not be my first choice.) and then boxes his ears a couple of times. Bill charges and Robinson slips it as Bill’s head hits the top of the ring post. Robinson grabs Bill by the leg and drops his knee over Robinson’s shoulder to try to hyper-extend it. Robinson kicks Bill in the knee a few times and then comes off the ropes with a shotgun dropkick to that same knee. Robinson starts throwing left jabs to a prone Bill but before he can hit the big right Bill goozles him.

Bill shoves Robinson to a corner and charges but Robinson gets the boot up. Robinson’s shotgun dropkick sort of grazes Bill who sells it anyway before walking into a big right hook from Robinson. Robinson covers for two. Gunn fires up the crowd as Robinson ascends. Keith charges onto the apron and Gunn jumps up himself to point this out to Robinson. Robinson descends and wipes out Keith with a clothesline but when he turns Bill hits him with a Sidewalk Slam and covers Robinson for three.

Too much of this happened on the outside for anyone to call it “good”. The finish worked within the context of the feud and Bill picks up a nice win here. 2*

Winner – Big Bill (Sidewalk Slam)

Here’s Sky Flight for a pre-taped promo. Scorpio Sky says their win last week kicked off the “Altitude Era”. Every one but Darius Martin seems amused but he points out that they’ve beaten Shane Taylor Promotions and now STP have the ROH Trios titles. Martin says they have stop treating this as a joke and get serious before leaving in a huff.

Gabe Kidd has a problem with Darby Allin and wants to fight with no rules or referee. We go to commercials.

Back from commercials we see Darby Allin doing some skateboarding tricks before talking about his project to build a skate park in Georgia with Tony Hawk’s foundation helping. You can donate to that project here if you’d like.

AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, and Queen Aminata vs Billie Starkz, Skye Blue and Julia Hart

Storm starts with Blue. Storm snaps Blue to the mat with a side headlock. Blue tries to break out but Storm grabs a wristlock and twists. Blue finally reverses it and pulls Storm to the heel corner where Starkz tags in to Hart’s annoyance. Starkz blasts Storm with forearms but Storm retaliates with some of her own. Starkz drops Storm’s head onto her knee and then catches Storm with a back thrust kick. Starkz walks into a Storm backbreaker as Shirakawa tags in.

Storm and Shirakawa hit double-team elbows on Starkz. Shirakawa rolls over Storm’s back to land on Starkz and her cover gets two. Aminata tags in and slaps Starkz hard on the chest. Starkz gets a sneaky roll-up on Aminata for two. Hart tags in and hits Aminata with a rana and a running lariat. Aminata blocks a punch and wallops Hart with a right hand. (Aminata might be the best pure striker in the women’s division. Her shit looks lethal to take.) Aminata hits a snap suplex before yanking Hart into a full nelson and spinning her like a top. Aminata drops Hart to a sitting position and then pulls her in for Chocolate Kisses.

Storm stops a charging Blue and dumps her to the floor. Starkz charges in and Shirakawa wipes her out with a back thrust kick before running Starkz out to the floor as well. Aminata holds Hart along the ropes and Storm hits a hip attack that sends Hart flying to the floor as well. Aminata blasts Starkz with a kick from the apron and then her and Storm gather the heels as Shirakawa ascends. Shirakawa dives onto the pile with Starkz taking the worst of it. The faces celebrate as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Aminata dumps Hart back in but Blue prevents her from entering as well. Hart tosses Aminata down on the apron as Blue lets go of Aminata’s leg. Hart goes to ground and pound and then grabs a rear headlock. Hart runs Aminata into the heel corner as Blue tags in. Blue puts the boots to Aminata and then holds her boot under Aminata’s jaw. Blue breaks at four and taunts Storm while Aminata suffers. Blue tosses Aminata down by her hair. Blue pops Storm and Shirakawa on the apron before slapping a rear headlock on Aminata. Hart tags in and Blue works Aminata over in a neutral corner. Hart lifts the boots as Blue whips Aminata at her. Hart stomps away at a prone Aminata before ascending.

Back to full screen with Hart missing a moonsault and Aminata firing up with her rolling neckbreaker. They both make tags as Storm and Blue charge in. Storm hits two shotgun dropkicks on Blue before crushing Starkz with a punch on the apron. Storm wallops Blue with a German that sends her to a neutral corner. Storm hits the Hip Attack on Blue and then trips a charging Hart into Blue’s mid-section. Hart gets a German of her own but when Storm turns Blue rolls her up for two.

Storm shakes that off and hits a sit-out powerbomb on Blue. The ref is distracted by Hart on the floor so his late two count is broken up when Starkz kicks Storm in the back. Shirakawa comes in to wipe out Starkz with a right so Hart flies in to sweep Shirakawa to the mat. Aminata comes in and slaps a bloodied Hart down before Blue grabs Aminata for her own rolling backbreaker. (They do this “everyone charges in and wipes out the last person” spot in EVERY multi-person tag match. Every damn one. So annoying. It never leads to anything, it just wastes time.)

Blue pops up and her and Storm start slugging it out. Blue lifts a knee but Storm comes flying off the ropes with a lariat. (A good shot of Hart here shows a LOT of blood coming from her nose – I wonder if she broke it on the trip spot when Storm sent her into Blue.) Blue crawls to her corner and tags in Hart as Storm tags in Shirakawa. Hart reverses an irish whip but Shirakawa flies off to catch Hart in a sling blade. Shirakawa trips up Hart and puts her in a cloverleaf before dropping to the mat to presumably cause a lot of pain to Hart’s legs. (I’d be punching someone with a clearly broken nose in the face but here we are strategy-wise.)

Hart kicks Shirakawa off into a Starkz punch before rolling Shirakawa up for two. Shirakawa responds with a discus punch that flattens Hart. Shirakawa slaps on a Figure Four as Storm and Aminata come flying over to double-team Starkz. Blue jumps in at the same time and pulls Hart over to reverse the Figure Four pain points. Blue kicks Aminata from the apron and then hits a back kick on Storm. Shirakawa makes the ropes as the ref has to make Hart break the hold.

Blue tags in and her and Hart want double-team offense but Shirakawa fights out of it to blast Blue with a backfist sending her into a Starkz tag. Starkz comes off the top rope and misses so Shirakawa promptly blasts her with a back elbow. Shirakawa yanks Starkz up for the Glamourous Driver and then covers her for three.

So many multi-person tag matches on this show lately, but it keeps people on television and I guess we needed Billie Starkz in this match. It was sloppy and chaotic but everyone worked hard and got their proverbial shit in. Hart’s broken nose maybe changed some things but perhaps she’ll wear a spoopy mask now to really accentuate her tiny Undertaker cosplay even further. Not quite match of the night but it wasn’t awful. 3*

Winners – AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, and Queen Aminata (Shirakawa Glamourous Driver to Starkz)

Post-match sees Thekla charge in to blast a celebrating Shirakawa. Aminata won’t have that but the heels gain an immediate numbers advantage. Storm charges in to try to help but the entire Triangle join in to stop her. Blue and Hart dump Storm on her face and then hit stereo superkicks on the champ. Thekla does her spider pose and then destroys Strom with a spear. Blue and Hart hit the same combo on Shirakawa before Thekla spears her as well. Blue hauls in Aminata for the exact same treatment. The Triangle stand tall over the fallen babyfaces.

Schiavone runs down the Dynamite card which includes the big eight-man and now Alex Windsor vs Mercedes for the TBS title. Jon Moxley is announced as Daniel Garcia’s opponent on next week’s Collision. College football is up next so no over-run tonight, thank goodness. Is Don Callis announcing that game? LET’S HOPE SO.

This show tests me almost weekly and this week was no exception. Listen, if you like Don Callis and his Family, this show is your jam. Otherwise, I’m so incredibly over him and it annoys me endlessly that this is essentially his show. That didn’t stop them from having match of the night though and with the four workers in that match, I’m not surprised. I also liked the FTR/Workhorsemen match a bunch even though the outcome wasn’t in doubt. No major angles other than Alex Windsor’s great promo that sets up the Mercedes match on Wednesday. Thumbs in the middle tonight.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend if you’re here in America and well, have a nice Sunday if you aren’t. Be cool, my friends.