AEW Collision Review – 12.13.25

Here’s this week’s SK rant on the Wednesday show: Dynamite

Tonight’s episode of Collision comes to the TNT airwaves from the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The presenters of tonight’s broadcast are Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring announcements, and Lexy Nair on backstage interviews and breaking news segments. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Pillars, pillars everywhere, so let’s all have a drink!

Highlights of the Samoa Joe-Eddie Kingston match from Dynamite open the show. That was a hell of a match, for the record. More highlights are shown of Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page beating Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs, followed by the pointed comments from Hangman Page regarding Joe’s world title.

Swerve Strickland vs Josh Alexander

Alexander is joined by Don Callis, sadly. Swerve is seconded by Prince Nana. Callis joins the announce team as usual. Alxeander grabs a headlock but Swerve escapes. They run the ropes and Swerve catches Alexander’s leapfrog attempt and turns it into a buckle bomb. Swerve hits a big pump kick and then wrecks Alexander with a backbreaker. Swerves snaps Alexander over and drops a knee on his head. Swerve hits a couple reverse neckbreakers and Alexander bails to the apron as Nana berates Callis on commentary. Callis: “You’re in my personal space, Nana!”. Alexander catches a Swerve kick attempt and smashes Swerve legs-first on the announce table. Alexander smashes Swerve with a cross-body that sends him to the floor as we go to commercials.

They’re slugging it out mid-ring when the show returns. Alexander hits a knee-breaker and a reverse suplex. Swerve fires up with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam and we reset. Swerve fires some forearms and then ascends to smash Alexander with a forearm to the neck. Swerve wallops Alexander in a corner and then mounts him on the top turnbuckle. Swerve ascends but his knee gets the better of him. Alexander escapes and he’s able to grab Swerve and drop him back-first on the apron to slow the momentum. Alexander ascends but Swerve springs up and hits a top-rope avalanche Saito suplex. Swerve covers and gets two. Alexander tries for a Figure Four but Swerve is able to counter into a cover that gets two. Swerve kicks out of a single leg and covers Alexander for two. Alexander hits a Dragon Screw and then locks in a single leg crab. Swerve makes the ropes and they start a slap battle in a corner. Alexander stomps on Swerve’s knee and then drops his own knee pad. Alexander ascends but Swerve escapes his dive and wallops Alexander with a sit-out cutter. Swerve hits the House Call and it sends Alexander’s amateur headgear flying. Swerve hits a sit-out JML Driver and covers Alexander for three.

Hell of an opener, that was. Swerve sold the knee the whole way and the story of Alexander trying in vain to make use of the hurting was good stuff. I love a clean finish, no Callis involvement in the match, and the crowd was into it the whole way. Loved it. 3.75*

Winner – Swerve Strickland (JML Driver)

Swerve grabs a mic after the match and reminds the crowd he was AEW World Champion the last time he was in Cardiff. Swerve says he didn’t come back to face the Callis Family or Hobbs and Shibata, he came back for the World Title. Swerve reminds Samoa Joe that he’s the most dangerous man in AEW and he’s coming for Joe. After a quick look at the Young Bucks/Kenny Omega reunion and subsequent challenge from Don Callis for this coming Wednesday, we go to commercials.

Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa want to be a part of the celebration for the newly crowned AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions, so we’ll see what happens there.

AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter vs The Sisters of Sin (Skye Blue and Julia Hart)

Thekla comes out on stage and that gives the Sisters the chance to attack Hayter and Statlander from behind as the bell sounds. Hayter shakes it off and slams Blue to the mat. Statlander tags in and Hayter scoops her up to slam her on top of Blue. Statlander and Hayter hit a double elbow drop and Statlander covers for one. Statlander sends Blue into her own corner and Hart tags in. Statlander drops Hart and tags in Hayter. Hart smashes Hayter with a right and then does her rope walk that ends with a rana this time. Hayter re-enters and drops Hart with a pump kick. Hayter hits an Exploder and then fires off a back elbow before covering Hart for two. Hart trips up Hater and Blue follows up with a knee on the apron. Hart hits a standing moonsault and covers Hayter for two as we go to commercials.

Blue and Statlander tag in as the show returns. Statlander hits a running knee and a sit-out powerbomb before covering Blue for two. Blue grabs a quick roll-up for two. Blue hits a tornado DDT and covers Statlander for two. Hart tags in and they hit their double-team superkick before Hart covers Statlander for two. Blue tags in as Statlander powerbombs Hart for two. Blue flies in and grabs a roll-up for two as Hayter breaks it up. Everyone is down and they all start slugging it out once they’ve risen to their feet. Statlander and Hayter accidently clothesline each other, but Statlander shakes it off and hits a sit-out powerbomb on Blue that gets a two count. Hayter tags in and Blue cancels Statlander off the apron before walloping Hayter with a superkick. Blue and Hart want a double-team move but Hart ends up kneeing Blue off the apron as Hayter wallops Hart with a release German. Hayter hits the Hayterade clothesline on Hart and covers her for three.

Our friend Ioan was at this show and he mentioned in the comments that Blue is much more polished than Hart, and he is not wrong about that. Hart shows flashes at times but she still feels like she could benefit with a bunch of reps that are not on television. Hayter and Statlander worked the power game here, but this was mostly to set up the idea that Hayter will be Statlander’s next challenger at World’s End in a few weeks. I’m fine with that, but this match was just there, quite frankly. Nothing you need to seek out. 2.25*

Winners – Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander (Hayterade on Hart)

Post-match sees Thekla staring down both Hayter and Statlander from a luxury box as they continue to bicker about a potential (but surely happening) title match between the two of them. We go to commercials.

Hayter and Statlander are backstage with Lexy Nair, and they formally agree to a match at World’s End. Hayter says she wants the title so she’s going to take it, and Statlander says she’ll be ready.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castignoli (6 points) vs Konosuke Takeshita (6 points)

Claudio is wearing his CMLL World Title, while Takeshita emerges wearing the IWGP World Title. Don Callis once again gets to subvert the C2 rules by sitting at the announce desk. This is the first time that the CMLL world champion has fought the IWGP world champion, which I guess is a pretty cool thing, although I’m told Claudio’s title is not at the level that AEW wants you to think it is.

Claudio works an elbow to start but Takeshita rolls it over into a side headlock. Claudio breaks clean as they go to the ropes but it’s a swerve as he then grabs a side headlock. Takeshita smashes Claudio with a double slap, and then they try to truck each other before Takeshita ends it with a high boot. Takeshita hits a flying forearm and then whales away with right hands. Claudio drops Takeshita head-first into a top turnbuckle and then smashes him with a Euro uppercut, but Takeshita no-sells it and a strong-style punch battle breaks out. Claudio bites Takeshita’s forehead and then sends him to the mat with a lariat. Claudio hits a gut-wrench suplex and wants the Gotch-style piledriver, but Takeshita escapes it and hits a big boot. Takeshita sends Claudio to the floor with a lariat but when he goes out Claudio wallops him with a forearm. Claudio hits a double stomp and then pounds Takeshita in the aisle. Takeshita fires up with a DDT on the ramp as we’ve reached the “referee discretion” portion of the evening. Claudio snaps off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as we go to commercials.

Takeshita breaks out of a sleeper hold and then snaps off a rana to send Claudio to the floor. Takeshita hits a tope con hilo and both guys are down as the ten minute announcement is made. They go back in and Takeshita waffles Claudio with a high boot before planting him with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Takeshita’s cover gets two. Takeshita runs into the Giant Swing and then Claudio slaps on a Sharpshooter. Claudio rolls things into a cross-face so Takeshita rolls him over and gets two. Claudio hits a Euro uppercut and covers Takeshita for two. Claudio bullies Takeshita with kicks so Takeshita fires up with a forearm. Another strong style battle ensues and Takeshita ends up hitting a package piledriver and a German suplex. Takeshita hits a running Hidden Blade-style forearm and gets two. Claudio fires up with a lofted Euro uppercut and covers Takeshita for two as the five minute announcement is made. Takeshita gets a sneaky roll-up for two. Claudio wallops Takeshita with another uppercut and they murder each other with simultaneous clotheslines to a gigantic pop from the crowd. They rise at seven and start throwing bombs again before Takeshita goes to the apron with Claudio in tow. Takeshita throws some forearms and Claudio responds with some of his own. Claudio walks into a high boot and then responds in kind. They kick each other and both go to the floor. Another strong style battle breaks out and Takeshita whips Claudio to the barrier but he fires off with a huge high boot as both guys are then down. Claudio barely beats the count and runs into a Takeshita high boot. Takeshita covers for two. Claudio hits the Neutralizer and Takeshita kicks out at two. The bell rings and we have a draw.

Good lord. Claudio, Takeshita, and Moxley are just putting on classics in this Blue League on a weekly basis. I hear the complaints about “bangers for bangers sakes” and I get it, but this tournament is just different than say a random Ospreay-Kevin Knight match with no stakes whatsoever. These C2 matches, at least the ones I’m recapping, are straight up FIGHTS. Now, for the record, I love Claudio and always will, and I really have come to enjoy Takeshita a bunch, so this was in my wheelhouse to begin with. This was a goddamn classic and you should try to find a full copy of it somewhere. For me, just a hair below the Moxley-Claudio match but still, HOLY CRAP. 4.5*

No winner – Time Limit Draw (Takeshita – 7 points, Claudio – 7 points)

Post-match sees them continue to slug it out as the referees do their best to break it up. Callis is frustrated that Takeshita won’t leave it be before the whole thing is finally broken up. The Callis Family and the Death Riders come out to bark at each other but no more fisticuffs ensue.

Lexy Nair is backstage with Kevin Knight and Speedball Mike Bailey. Knight says that Speedball brings out the best in him, and Speedball tells him to not hold anything back. They dap it up as we look at the Blue League standings.

Tony Schiavone brings out the AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron. They get the crowd to do the Babes of Wrath chant, and Nightingale points out the last time they were in Cardiff she actually wrestled Cameron. Nightingale says that Cameron kept getting up no matter how hard she hit her, and there’s no one she’d rather be partners with now. Here are Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa to join the proceedings. Storm and Shirakawa say that it was a fight to remember on Wednesday, and here’s AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone to interrupt. Mone says there cannot be a title celebration without her, so Shirakawa tells her to shut up. Mone gets invited to step into the ring by Storm, but she refuses while mentioning that Wales isn’t a real country. Nightingale says Mone has no friends, but Mone promises to bring a team of killers to Manchester for an eight woman tag. Storm says they’ll raise a glass and wax Mone’s ass. Sure. We go to commercials.

Here’s AEW National Champion Ricochet to say that 2025 was great but 2026 will be better when he wins the Diamond Battle Royale. Ricochet says that “Ricky Two Belts” has a nice ring to it. A bunch of folks then talk about the Battle Royale including Brody King, Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, MVP on behalf of Shelton Benjamin, and Mark Davis.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kevin Knight (3 points) vs Speedball Mike Bailey (3 points)

There’s a handshake to start and Knight grabs a quick roll-up for two. There’s some acrobatics and then Knight smashes Bailey back-first into a turnbuckle. Knight grabs an elbow lock before Bailey breaks out of it with a forearm. Knight hits a rope-assisted armdrag that sends Bailey to the floor. They go back and forth before Bailey wallops Knight with a high boot and a springboard moonsault. We go to commercials.

Knight hits a top-rope lariat on Bailey before dragging him back into the ring. Bailey shrugs off a DDT attempt and crushes Knight with a back thrust kick. Bailey hits a chop and then smashes Knight with a top rope rana. Bailey hits a double thrust kick but Knight shakes it off and waffles Bailey with a rana and an implant DDT. Knight’s cover gets two. Knight ascends but of course Bailey springs up and wallops him with a roundhouse kick. Bailey SWEEPS THE LEG and then hits his reverse double knees on Knight. Knight rolls in and they both go to the second rope. Knight springs up to the top rope and crushes Bailey with a superplex before covering for two. Bailey hits a Spanish Fly and covers for two, and Knight reverses and gets two. Bailey hits a big forearm and Knight immediately responds with a dropkick. Bailey hits a reverse spinning heel kick as Knight came off the top rope. They end up on the apron on opposite sides of the ring. They both come off the top rope with springboard lariats. Knight gets the better of it and ascends to go coast-to-coast with a dropkick. Knight ascends but he runs into Bailey’s knees. Bailey hits another heel kick and covers Knight for two. Bailey hits a superkick and his spinning roundhouse kick. Bailey misses another double knee and they exchange covers for two. Bailey hits a roundhouse heel kick and then smashes Knight with the Rubix Cube. Bailey covers and gets three.

The crowd ate this up, but I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I enjoyed the previous C2 match. I get that these guys are athletic freaks but it’s just move after move after move and it drives me bonkers. I know the style is very prevalent these days and I know the live crowd ate it up, but there couldn’t have been a bigger difference in the war that Claudio and Takeshita had versus this exhibition. It is what it is. 3*

Winner – Speedball Mike Bailey (Rubix Cube) – (Bailey 6 points, Knight 3 points)

Kyle Fletcher is backstage to complain about losing to Bailey on Wednesday night. Fletcher will face PAC in Manchester and he promises to bring the fight to PAC. Fletcher says he’ll get his momentum back and tells PAC to bring his best. PAC gets to respond, and he’s impressed with Fletcher’s accomplishments, but he doesn’t care how brilliant Fletcher’s matches are. PAC promises nothing brilliant will happen in Manchester because Speedball and Okada both found out how tough he really is. We go to commercials.

AEW TNT Championship: Mark Briscoe (C) vs Daniel Garcia

Garcia is accompanied by Marina Shafir. They grapple mid-ring to start as Garcia talks trash. Briscoe fires up and starts whaling away on Garcia in a corner. Briscoe smashes Garcia into another corner and then wallops him to the floor with an uppercut. Briscoe hits a running dropkick and stops to chat with the fans, so Garcia has time to recover and smash Briscoe in the back with a running knee. Garcia puts the boots to Briscoe and then stands on his neck. Garcia whips Briscoe into a corner but runs into a Briscoe thrust. Briscoe fires up and hits a rolling tope suicida before getting distracted by Shafir. Garcia takes advantage and puts Briscoe between the ring apron and the ring to windmill punches to his head. Garcia hits a swinging neckbreaker as we go to commercials.

Garcia boots Briscoe in the head and dares him to hit him as we come back live. A slugfest breaks out and Briscoe wallops Garcia with a forearm and some chops. Briscoe hits a running forearm and then goes to some right and left jabs. Redneck kung-fu happens and then Briscoe smashes Garcia with an Exploder that gets a two count. Briscoe wants the Jay Driller but Garcia escapes it and hits a vertical suplex. Briscoe no-sells it and hits a Death Valley Driver and a basement clothesline. Briscoe ascends but Shafir leaps up to crotch him. The fans try to dime her out so she gives them the double bird as Garcia rakes Briscoe’s back with his fingernails. Garcia plants Briscoe with a superplex and then mounts him on another turnbuckle. Garcia hits another superplex and wants a third. Garcia hits it, but Briscoe fires right up with a brainbuster and both guys are down. (At this point, Schiavone announces that Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland will BOTH challenge Samoa Joe in a three-way for the title at World’s End. I’m sure that will cause a whole lot of discussion for the next few weeks.) Garcia starts firing off forearms at Briscoe’s behest to do so, and then a slugfest breaks out. Garcia hits some knee lifts and some open-hand chops but Briscoe smashes Garcia with a lariat when he comes off the ropes. Shafir interferes and gets ejected immediately as the ref sees it. Wheeler Yuta charges in and smashes Briscoe with a low blow, and Garcia follows with a piledriver. Briscoe kicks out at two and Garcia starts dropping elbows. Briscoe gets a sneaky roll-up for two. Briscoe hits the Jay Driller outta nowhere and gets three.

The finish was very abrupt but man, Mark Briscoe matches are really fun. Briscoe deserves this run, no matter what amount of time it ends up being. He’s been such a great hand for this company over time, always delivers solid matches, never gets hurt, and represents his family and the company to the best of his ability. Garcia was game, but the Death Riders shenanigans didn’t work tonight and that’s fine. A solid main event that sent the fans home happy. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL AEW TNT Champion – Mark Briscoe (Jay Driller)

Post-match sees the Conglomeration hit the ring to celebrate, including Roderick Strong who does so very reluctantly. The credits roll and we’re out.

Another terrific Collision this week, all killer and no filler (although the segment with Mercedes was kind of clunky but it’s whatever). I was annoyed by Bailey-Knight but only because Claudio and Takeshita went to WAR just prior to it. Still, this was another very solid episode of this show that aired at a weird time due to a double overtime college basketball game and is standing in the long tall shadow of a huge show that WWE is having tonight. I’m very glad to get to recap this show currently because the C2 is just off the charts fun right now. Thumbs up from me. Let me know your thoughts, though.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy your evening and have a good rest of the weekend. Be good to each other and hug your people.