Collision Review – 08.15.26

SK covered Dynamite and people had thoughts.

Collision comes to the TNT/HBO Max airwaves tonight from The Palms Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The announcers for tonight show are Tony Schiavone, Paul Wight, and Excalibur on match calls and analysis, Arkady Aura on ring intros, and Lexy Nair and Renee Paquette on interviews and news segments. There are three big first round Continental Cup matchups on tonight’s show and All In is just a few weeks away, so let’s watch some wrestling!

AEW World Trios Championship: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Bandido, Brody King, and Hangman Adam Page) vs The Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal, Blake Christian, and Lee Johnson)

Christian start with Page and Page trucks Christian to open things. Christian gets caught and slammed by Page during a cross-body attempt. Page gets pushed to the heel corner and Lethal tags in to put the boots to him. Johnson tags in and Page breaks up a double-team attempt with a kick to Lethal and a fall-away slam on Johnson. Page hits a dropkick/moonsault on Lethal and then Johnson respectively before covering Johnson for two. Page slams Johnson and then crushes him with a rope-assisted senton. Bandido gets the tag and drops himself on to Johnson. King tags in and Johnson rolls away so King calmly walks in and sentons him anyway. Lethal barely manages to lift King off his partner during the cover. Bandido tags in and the heels manage to drag him to their corner before taking over. Christian tries to take Bandido’s mask but Bandido slips out and drops Christian face-first onto a top turnbuckle. Bandido puts the finger guns to Christian’s forehead and then drops him with a rana. Johnson tags in and puts Bandido in the tree of woe while Lethal sprints in to drop King from the apron. Page gives chase to Lethal and ends up getting drop kicked off the apron by Johnson while in a Christian leg scissors. Christian and Johnson murder the helpless Bandido with kicks and Christian follows with a moonsault on Page. We go to commercials.

Lethal whips Bandido to a corner and eats a boot when he charges. Bandido rises for a torneo and both guys crawl to make tags. King and Johnson charge in and King lays waste to everyone. King hits a running splash on all three and then follows with a cannonball that gets two on Johnson. Page tags in and dumps Johnson to the apron for a springboard lariat. Page hits a rope-assisted cross-body but runs right into a Lethal superkick. Page shakes that off and the faces overwhelm the heels on the floor. King grabs Johnson and Christian for a Page moonsault off the barricade. Johnson gets run back in for a Page moonsault press that gets two. Bandido tags in and King follows but Christian breaks up whatever they were attempting with a dropkick. King ends up on the floor where Christian and Lethal combine to send him down using a Johnson running splash. Johnson hits a frog splash and Christian follows with a 450 but King somehow manages to kick out at two. Christian and Johnson pummel King with knee strikes and set up for a combo move. Page prevents it by waffling Christian with the buckshot lariat before Bandido crushes Johnson with a GTS. Page and Bandido heave Johnson into a King piledriver and that finishes things.

A fun enough opener that got the crowd going with typical AEW tag action that spills all over the place. I know opinions are split on the Lethal Twist but Christian and Johnson deserve better than being Jay Lethal’s toadies. Their combo offense is always a decent amount of fun. The nice thing about these Trios belts is the content that comes from them but the story here of Lethal trying to suck up to Ricochet by beating GB&U for the titles is weird because Ricochet is kind of a lame-o. Anyway, this was fine for what it was. 3*

Winners AND STILL AEW World Trios Champions – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (King piledriver on Johnson)

Post-match sees Ricochet out with a mic to mention that the left hand will get you if the right one doesn’t and here’s Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona in for some violence on the champs. Page tries to fight them both off and Lethal and Christian rejoin things to make it a major numbers advantage. King plays human shield for Page but the numbers overwhelm them. Ricochet says they can now make demands. Ricochet yanks up one of the belts and drops it on Page as the heel group exits.

Here’s Lexy Nair with Don Callis standing with CMLL World Champion Hechicero, Brian Cage, and the ever-present Lance Archer. Callis says there’s no dissension in the family and there’s a 100% chance of Callis Family advancement so he wants a handshake between Hechicero and Cage prior to their match. Callis tells a bemused Archer that no one dies tonight, and we go to commercials.

Here’s Lexy Nair with Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong when the show returns. Cassidy admits to feeling some pressure, and O’Reilly puts over his long history with Strong. O’Reilly says their friendship won’t change no matter what the result is. Strong says may the best man win, and O’Reilly calls Cassidy in to help him warm up. O’Reilly and Strong will be the main event later.

Continental Cup Round of 16 match: Brian Cage vs CMLL World Champion Hechicero

Renee Paquette gives a quick scouting report during entrances. Everyone seems pretty jacked up about Cage winning a Mr. Nevada body building contest, and hey, good for you big man. There’s some grappling to start and Hechicero gets rammed into a turnbuckle for a bunch of Cage chops. Cage can’t be trucked over and Hechicero tries a lariat and a kick instead. Cage gets caught with a low dropkick and a short-arm DDT that gets one. Hechicero pounds away and then tries to break Cage’s elbow. Hechicero pulls Cage up for some chops but Cage catches Hechicero on a charge and drops him with a Death Valley Driver. Cage blasts Hechicero with a running pump kick and then yanks Hechicero up for a second rope superplex. Cage flexes and we go to commercials.

Cage blasts Hechicero with a back elbow as the show returns. Hechicero ties Cage up along the ropes and only breaks at four as Rick Knox proves he’s actually paying attention tonight. Cage yanks Hechicero over the top rope for a DDT but pauses before covering and only gets two. Cage hits a sit-out powerbomb for two. Hechicero rolls through and puts Cage in an ankle submission but Cage is near enough to the ropes to break it up. Hechicero nails Cage with a running knee but Cage no-sells it and hammers Hechicero with a discus lariat. They slug it out and Cage gets caught with a flying guillotine that gets two. Hechicero yanks Cage over in a crucifix and that finishes things as Cage is unable to kick out.

Hechicero joins the Round of 8 group with a fairly impressive win but the heel-heel nature of this match kept the crowd a bit flat. Hechi is always fun to watch because of his unpredictability, and he managed to get through this with the lumbering Cage. No major issues here, it just wasn’t all that interesting. 2.25*

Winner – Hechicero (Crucifix roll-up)

There’s some verbals between Cage and Hechicero post-match.

Here’s Darby Allin to say he hopes he recognizes himself once his career ends because he’s sacrificing everything right now. Sting taught Allin to always remain himself and he doesn’t see any of that in Kevin Knight. Allin puts over Sting and his son as family but doesn’t see anything resembling family with the folks involved with Don Callis. Allin says Knight is great but he won’t recognize himself after Allin is done with him at All In. We go to a break.

Here’s The Rascalz in their hazy lair and Myron Reed is disappointed in last week’s loss. Lio Rush pops in to say he needs friends and his rainbow umbrella hat seems to unnerve everybody as Rush tells them “it’s fine!”.

AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Divine Dominions (Lena Kross and Megan Bayne) vs Rachelle Riveter and Mazzerati

Those are some excellent jobber names, group. Kross murders Riveter with a side suplex and Bayne enters for double-team violence. Mazzerati charges in and eats a monster lariat from Bayne. The champs hit stacking bodyslams and Divine Intervention on Riveter ends things.

Did you know that atomic bomb testing tourism was a thing in 1950’s Las Vegas? Now you do. .25*

Winners – Divine Dominion (Divine Intervention on Riveter)

Post-match sees The Brawling Birds charge in for some fisticuffs. Bayne is driven to the floor with lariats and Kross gets dropped by stereo headbutts. Hayter and Windsor position the ring steps near the timekeeper’s area and Kross yanks Bayne away from whatever they were going to try. The champs retreat up the ramp as everyone points and screams.

This past Wednesday, Renee Paquette got some words from Zayda Steel about facing Mercedes Mone tonight. Steel is excited and here’s Mercedes Mone in to insult Steel. Steel says Mone’s actions have caused Steel to lose respect for her, so Mone blasts her in the face and says “Nice to meetcha, bitch.” Well that’s just unpleasant.

Continental Cup Round of 16 match: Nigel McGuinness vs Katsuyori Shibata

Shibata offers a handshake and McGuinness shakes it. There’s grappling to start and Shibata works the ankle. McGuinness gets caught in a head scissors and McGuinness hits a head stand to snap out of it. Shibata continues physically dominating McGuinness to roll him over for two. McGuinness gets back to his feet and Shibata slaps on a hammer lock. Shibata offers a clean break and we get it. McGuinness kicks the ropes to drive Shibata off them and a proper fight breaks out. Shibata blasts McGuinness with kicks and then levels him from behind with a huge chop. McGuinness fires up and snap-mares Shibata into the ropes a couple of times and we go to commercials.

McGuinness runs into a Shibata pump kick but responds with a headbutt. Shibata puts on a guillotine and transitions to a cravate. McGuinness breaks out with a vertical suplex and grabs a side headlock. McGuinness fires off an uppercut but gets caught by a Shibata sleeper. McGuinness grabs a cross-leg ankle submission and Shibata has to crawl to the ropes to break it. McGuinness pounds away in a corner with uppercuts and a back elbow. McGuinness hits some double thrusts and wants the Tower of London, but Shibata prevents it and goes back to the sleeper. Shibata blasts McGuinness with some kicks but gets caught by a McGuinness boot on his ankle that drops him. McGuinness slaps on an ankle lock and then rolls it into another submission when Shibata rolls through. Shibata gets a roll up for two and then hammers McGuinness with the PK for two. Shibata wants an armlock and McGuinness rolls him over for two. McGuinness gets top mount for some rights and Shibata reverses for some lefts. Shibata goes back to the sleeper. McGuinness collapses and rolls Shibata over for three.

I think Nigel is going to the finals of this as to get the big hometown pop in Wembley before ultimately losing to Jon Moxley, but we’ll see as this goes along. This was a pretty straightforward catch-style match and it worked well enough. McGuinness is about as exciting as a bowl of oatmeal these days but he still has a wonky charisma that fans seem to enjoy. I didn’t hate this but I also don’t think you need to run right out and find a copy either. 3*

Winner – Nigel McGuinness (Roll up)

Here’s Renee Paquette with Will Ospreay. Ospreay finds Don Callis trying to take credit for what’s going on currently pretty amusing. Ospreay is making a call to Japan for some folks to come help and we’ll see what happens there. We go to a break.

Here’s a quick look at the feud between The Young Bucks and AEW Tag Team champions Cage & Cope. It will culminate in Wembley.

Ring of Honor World Television Champion Lio Rush and The Rascalz (Desmond Xavier, Myron Reed, and Zach Wentz) vs Jeaux Braxton, Frescomatic, Watson, and Ice Williams

My god the jobber names tonight are just KILLING IT. Frescomatic? THAT IS AWESOME. Rush is still wearing his rainbow umbrella hat and really seems to like the Rascalz hand gesture. The jobbers are scared to death of Rush so he just crushes them with a cross-body. There’s a conveyor belt of violence and Rush leaps on one of these poor buggers to chew on his head. There’s a fourway superkick and the Rascalz start a top rope destruction sequence. Rush sneaks in for a bridging choke and that ends things.

Did you know that Las Vegas has a subterranean population of over 1000 people? Well now you do. .25*

Winners – Rascals/Rush (Rush bridging choke)

Post-match sees some very hesitant handshakes between the Rascalz and Rush. The Hurt Syndicate music fires up and here they are.

The Hurt Syndicate (Bob Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) and Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty) vs Sonico, Juli Montana, Ro Montana, and Jake Redondo

We are getting some folks on television tonight, friends. Everyone in Shane Taylor Promotions is out for this for some reason, as is MVP. Lashley and Benjamin start wrecking everyone and MVP conducts the chant from the ramp. Lashley and Benjamin leave as MVP seems to indicate they’ve only been paid for so much work. Taylor and Moriarty shake that off and Taylor ends things with a package piledriver on one of these poor dudes.

Did you know that Las Vegas is considered the brightest spot on Earth? Well now you do. .5*

Winners – STP/Hurts (Taylor package piledriver)

Here’s Tommaso Ciampa declaring himself as an entrant in the Casino Gauntlet in Wembley. Ciampa tells MJF and Andrade to pray he’s not number 3.

Zayda Steel vs Mercedes Mone

Chris Daniels is out with Steel. Noelle Foley is at ringside and seems to really enjoy Mone’s entrance. Mone goes behind and pushes Steel to a corner. Steel pushes Mone away and starts blasting her with forearms. Steel gets a roll up for one and eats a big elbow from Mone upon rising. Steel works a headlock and Mone just pushes her off and then down in response. Mone misses a charge and eats a Steel kick before getting caught in a lungblower that gets two. Steel wants a rana but Mone yanks her into a lungblower of her own before going to ground and pound. Mone covers for two. Mone works a rear chinlock but Steel breaks out and grabs a roll up for two. Mone fires off a dropkick and we go to a break.

Mone has Steel tied up from behind when the show returns. Steel fires off a stunner to break out of it and then mashes Mone with a meteora. They slug it out and Steel drives Mone down with a lariat. Steel charges and hits a cross-body before ascending for one from the top rope. Steel covers Mone and gets two. Mone pulls Steel into a backstabber and then drops her with the Mone Maker. Mone transitions into the Statement Maker and Steel is forced to tap.

Kind of a sprint but Steel got some shine in defeat. Zayda has been kind of clunky in the past but she looked a bit more polished tonight and really seemed up for this. 2.5*

Winner – Mercedes Mone (Statement Maker)

Post-match sees a pissed Mone nail Chris Daniels with some belt shots before whaling on Steel. Here’s AEW Women’s World Champion Willow Nightingale charging out to send Mone packing. Nightingale wants to fight right now and says Mone knows she can beat her. Mone thinks about it for a second before powdering out. Nightingale: “I’m still smiling, bitch!”

Here’s a bloody Jack Perry after his match with Jon Moxley on Dynamite. Perry vows he’s going to become AEW World Champion and thanks Moxley for showing him what the level is he has to go to get to the title. Perry says he has to face every former and current world champion to further understand how it works, and here’s Swerve Strickland in the stairway to say he’s beaten all of Perry’s pals along the way to his world title reign. Strickland says Perry isn’t ready to walk amongst the killers and Perry looks at his blood-stained hand and says he is. Strickland warns Perry about bringing a knife to a sword fight and makes his exit. We go to commercials.

Here’s AEW Men’s World Champion Kenny Omega calling the Don Callis Family “the crap-stain on the underpants of his life”. Hmmm. Omega and The Young Bucks throw out a six man challenge for Dynamite to any three members of the Callis Family. Here’s AEW Men’s World Tag Team Champions Cope & Cage in to argue with the Bucks over Grand Slam Mexico. The Bucks call Cope old enough to be their father, and Cage quips “Who says I’m not?”. Cage leaves after telling Cope to let him know when he’s done trusting the Bucks. Cope stares the Bucks down and leaves as well.

Continental Cup Round of 16 match: Kyle O’Reilly vs Roderick Strong

Shoutout to Adam Cole, hope you’re doing well dude. There’s grappling to start and Strong fires off some chops. O’Reilly responds with kicks and a striking battle ensues. They grapple to a clean break and O’Reilly drives Strong down with a thrust. Schiavone lets us know on comms that Nigel McGuinness has suffered an injury during his Cup match and we’ll find out more this upcoming week. O’Reilly ties up Strong in an abdominal stretch but Strong manages to sneak out. O’Reilly SWEEPS THE LEG and snaps Strong’s elbow over his shoulder. O’Reilly hits a kick to Strong’s back and drives in some knees. O’Reilly gets caught by a Strong backbreaker and then mounted in a corner for some Strong chops. Strong hits a snap suplex for two. Strong sinks in a side headlock and O’Reilly manages to break out with a knee. O’Reilly gets dumped to the floor and Strong misses a between-the-ropes dropkick. O’Reilly gets pulled into a backbreaker over the barricade and we go to a break.

Strong’s leg is giving him trouble when the show returns, but he manages to grab a roll up for two despite it. Strong yanks O’Reilly up for some chops. O’Reilly drives in a knee to cut that flurry off and another striking battle breaks out. O’Reilly sinks in a hanging guillotine before transitioning into an ankle lock. Strong makes the ropes and O’Reilly blasts him with a running knee off the apron to the floor. Strong gets run back in and cuts off O’Reilly while he ascends with a right. Strong hits a big backbreaker over a top turnbuckle and both guys are down. Strong tries a quick cover and gets two. Strong and O’Reilly slug it out and O’Reilly hammers Strong with a lariat. O’Reilly hits a brainbuster and gets two. O’Reilly wants the armbar and Strong tries to prevent it but cannot hold it off for long. Strong eats a bunch of strikes but then responds in kind. Strong tries another cover and gets two. They slug it out again and a series of standing switches happens. O’Reilly suddenly flips Strong over and pins him for three.

That was a solid battle between two guys who know each other very well. That kind of chemistry usually works out decently and did again here. I think they kept it as civil as they could with their obvious friendship being front and center, but they still worked with intensity and didn’t hold back on strikes. I liked this one a bunch. 3.5*

Winner – Kyle O’Reilly (pin)

Post-match sees a grumpy Strong push O’Reilly down before coming to his senses and helping O’Reilly up for a hug. O’Reilly consoles Strong as we get the full graphic for the Round of 8. Orange Cassidy comes out to congratulate O’Reilly and console Strong and they all make their exit as Schiavone says GOOD NIGHT.

Collision is just a full on potpourri of things some nights and we got a big old bowlful with this one. I thought the Cup matches were fairly decent affairs and I wonder if this McGuinness injury thing is real or kayfabe. I guess we’ll find out. The blind draw for the next round will be on AEW’s youtube channel this coming week if you’re interested in seeing the next matchups. The hype train continues for Wembley and I think we’re getting there creatively.

Thanks for reading. Y’all be cool.