The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 01.31.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Collision – 01.31.26

So yeah, I’m skipping the Royal Rumble review for the first time ever, because of the Saudi stuff and also it just didn’t sound really compelling. You know what I AM really interested to check out? Ciampa challenging Mark Briscoe for the TNT title in his debut because I literally have idea which way they’re gonna go with it.

Although if you DO need a Rumble review, Kat has you covered: https://www.blogofdoom.com/2026/01/31/wwe-royal-rumble-review-1-31-26/

Live from Arlington, TX, which looks like there’s more people in it than the Rumble had. YES I KNOW ABOUT THE LIGHTS.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness

Darby Allin v. Clark Connors

Clark immediately clobbers him off the skateboard and goes to work with a powerslam in the ring for two. Clark misses a blind charge and Darby gets a Code Red for two. But then he goes up and Clark sweeps the leg, sending Darby to the floor with a terrifying bump where Darby slams his head into the apron on the way down. And then Clark runs him into the railing for good measure, and back in for a pounce. They fight to the floor as Darby continues taking a scary beating to get Connors over, including a back suplex onto the railing and then onto the apron, which I hear is the HARDEST PART OF THE RING. We take a break and return with Connors still kicking his ass, and sending him to the floor with another sick bump and then a tease of the Pac stair spot. Thankfully Darby blocks that one, and then dives over the stairs and dropkicks Connors instead to make the comeback. Darby with a suicide dive, but Connors catches him with a spear in the ring for two. Powerbomb gets two, but Darby escapes a straitjacket hold with a Scorpion Deathdrop and goes up with the coffin drop, but it misses. So Darby rolls him into the Scorpion Deathlock instead, and Connors taps at 11:00. Man these two had some CHEMISTRY and I hope Connors gets a job out of it. Super fun opener. ***1/2

Afterwards, Darby keeps bringing up the Mount Everest thing. Geez, dude, that was a year ago, find a new mountain to climb. We’re bored of hearing about it. So is Gabe Kidd, who attacks Darby and lays him out on the floor, before dropping him on the stairs in a much safer bump than usual. So Gabe declares that he’s not part of the Death Riders anymore, and he’s gonna be the one to kill Darby Allin. Well we didn’t really need another heel faction but Kidd & Connors are a badass team so I’ll allow it.

Meanwhile, JetSpeed officially name their Trios team “Jet Set Rodeo”, although the crowd is still hoping for Horse Cock.

Action Andretti & Lio Rush v. The Rascalz (Desmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)

I expect to see some flipping here. The CRU now has Lacey Layne with them, in case they need to seduce or oppose Superman. Lio and Xavier trade takedowns and battle to a stalemate, but Wentz comes in and gives him a broncobuster in the corner for two. Over to Action, who indeed does flip around the ring and double-teams Wentz in the corner, but Wentz hits him with a bodypress to clear the ring. Xavier tries a dive and misses, but Wentz hits one and we take a break. Back with CRU in control, but Xavier gets a DDT and makes the hot tag to Wentz. He kicks Action down and follows with a standing shooting star. Then we get some confusing flippy stuff as they all end up on the floor for no real reason, and CRU double-teams Xavier with a cutter for two from Andretti. They trade superkicks and we get more flips and running around the ring, and the Rascalz finish with a cute assisted shooting star press at 12:00. They worked hard but this was way too much of the indie try hard stuff. They would have been better served with a contrasting team for the Rascalz. I know this will sound very grumpy old guy, but I had trouble following the match and figuring out who was who as it went along. **1/2

Meanwhile, Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor continue developing their reluctant tag team partnership.

Meanwhile, Jon Moxley talks about his respect for Takeshita, but notes that Takeshita beat him in the CC and he wants that one back.

Orange Cassidy & Toni Storm v. Gino Medino & Lady Bird Monroe

Orange gets the shotgun dropkick on Medino to start, but Lady Bird comes in and challenges him, so Orange brutalizes her with kicks until Toni Storm takes pity on her and tags herself in. And they double-team Medino with a hip attack into the Orange Punch to finish at 1:00. But then this brings out Wheeler Yuta, who I hear sneaks into the Costco food court without a membership, because he’s the worst, and we get a Death Rider beatdown on Orange. Wheeler tries to interview Orange, but Orange can’t hear him “through all that garbage hair”, which is a pretty sick burn. So Wheeler grabs scissors and threatens a haircut, but Toni saves. And we get a challenge for a HAIR MATCH at Grand Slam Australia, and if Orange can shave Wheeler’s hair he’ll be made for life as the biggest babyface in wrestling forever.

Meanwhile, The Grizzled Young Veterans have a face to face with Eddie & Ortiz in advance of their match next week, but Big Bill and Bryan Keith lay out the babyfaces to get around the “no physicality” stip for the challenge.

TNT title: Mark Briscoe v. Tommaso Ciampa

This one has some HEAT. They fight for the takedown to start and do some work on the mat, and then exchange forearms and chops until Briscoe dumps him and follows with a dive. They slug it out on the floor and back in for some REDNECK KUNG FU from Mark for two. Mark with a suplex for two. Ciampa snaps and beats him down in the corner to take over, but Mark takes him to the apron and they trade chops out there until Ciampa hits him with an Air Raid Crash on the apron. And we take a break. Back with Mark managing to come back with a blockbuster off the apron, but Ciampa catches him with the draping DDT on the way into the ring, for two. Mark fights back and they head to the top rope, but Ciampa takes him down with an Air Raid Crash from the top, for two. I appreciate how safely they did that one. Mark escapes the Fairy Tale Ending, but Ciampa tosses him and hits a running knee off the apron. But then he sets up a table and gets cocky, and Briscoe dives off the post with a flying elbow to put him through the table. Back in the ring, and they slug it out with time running out, and Briscoe hits him with a running boot. Ciampa drops the kneepad and misses a knee, and Mark goes up with the Froggy Bow. Ciampa counters the Jay Driller and hits the bare knee for the pin and the title at 18:24! Well holy shit, I completely bought into the time limit tease and was getting all riled up in advance of it. This match RULED hard and needs to be watched. Also they were doing all this dangerous-looking crazy shit but they were totally in control and 100% safe with each other the whole time. ****1/4

Meanwhile, Josh Alexander does a promo while the Don Callis Family beats up geeks backstage. And apparently Hangman Page will be facing Mark Davis in Austalia as they keep loading up and more matches on that show. Look, I know it’s a big show, but they’re on Valentine’s Day and they have to compete with all the wrestling fans going out with their gir…actually never mind.

AEW International title: Kazuchika Okada v. Adam Priest

Okada is now doing the “belt in a case” gimmick, as pioneered by Orange Cassidy and then Jon Moxley. Priest gets some shots on Okada in the corner, but he goes up and Okada dropkicks him to the floor. We take a break and return with Priest making a comeback with more chops and a german suplex. Look, I know it’s been a long while, but between the tights and the chops and body type and suplexes…probably not the best choice of tribute. They fight to the floor and Priest takes out Rocky Romero and then hits Okada with a chop block to work on his knee. Back in the ring, Priest hits an Alabama Jam for two. Man it still makes me sad that Bobby Eaton died. Okada misses a dropkick and Priest gets the figure-four, forcing Okada to make the ropes. Okada gets the dropkick on the second try, but Priest cradles for two. Okada powerbombs him, hits the Rainmaker, and pins him to retain at 10:35. Just your usual half-assed Okada TV match. **1/2

Meanwhile, the Rascalz volunteer to help Eddie Kingston in the parking lot match next week. And Eddie goes to find the pharmacist.

Meanwhile, Ciampa and his new TNT title offer respect to Mark Briscoe, and he’s already talking to the belt.

AEW Women’s tag team title: The Babes of Wrath v. The Sisters of Sin

They brawl to start and the Sisters double-team Harley, but Willow saves and allows Harley to come back with the assisted senton for two on Skye. Skye with a DDT on Willow for two, but Willow gets a rollup for two and it’s over to Harley with a double bodypress on the heels. She gets a double clothesline and we take a break. Back with Julia holding a Tarantula on Harley, setting up a dropkick from Skye that gets two. Harley suplexes Skye and makes the hot tag to Willow, and she cleans house with clotheslines and pounces Skye. Spinebuster on Julia gets two. Julia comes back with a ropewalk into a rana for two, although it doesn’t go off very well, and Willow puts her in a half crab until Skye saves. Willow tries the powerbomb on Julia, but drops her right on the tailbone in a super awkward botch that looked like Julia was supposed to reverse the move and just didn’t. The Sisters get rid of Willow and double-team Harley, but Harley DDTs Skye for two. But then the Babes come back and double-team Skye and Willow gets the pin to retain at 11:14. Match was kind of a mess at times but it was a good enough main event. ***. Afterwards, Thekla hits the ring and brawls with Kris Statlander, but then Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford join in and the heels stand tall to end the show.

Really great show by Collision standards this week, with a must see TNT title change and a banger to open the show, and a lot of fun stuff in between.