Results
- Claudio Castagnoli & PAC def. Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi
- Andrade El Idolo def. Brian Cage (Recommended)
- Mina Shirakawa & Thunder Rosa def. B3CCA & Zara Zakher
- Adam Copeland, Jay White, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn def. Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean & Lee Moriarty
- Ricochet, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona def. Chris Nasty, Jordan Oasis & Sonico
- Athena def. Rina (Women’s Casino Gauntlet #1 Spot Match) (Recommended)
- Bandido, Mike Bailey & Mistico def. Dezmond Xavier, Myron Reed & Zachary Wentz
- Rush def. Jordan Cruz
- Maya World def. Julia Hart (Women’s Casino Gauntlet #2 Spot Match)
- Kyle Fletcher def. El Phantasmo (Recommended)
Death Riders get payback on Unbound Co.
This week’s special Thursday night edition of AEW Collision, taped earlier this week from the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, opened with a tag match which saw Claudio Castagnoli and PAC of the Death Riders face the NJPW duo of Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney. Commentary noted that Moloney was riding high after beating Daniel Garcia during the Forbidden Door pre-show last weekend (this would become relevant later on).
The match opened with a long sequence between PAC and Takagi, who have faced off many times before during their time in Dragon Gate. Moloney and Castagnoli had a fun exchange late in the match. The Unbound Company duo got a near fall after delivering dual elbow drops off the top rope.
Castagnoli did his usual swing, flinging Takagi into a dropkick from PAC. This caused a near fall that many in the crowd thought was a three. A fight between PAC and Moloney went to ringside, where Daniel Garcia, Moloney’s opponent last weekend, appeared from the crowd and put him in a headlock (the referee didn’t see any of this). What was a two-on-one situation for Takagi became a three-on-one, as another ref distraction spot allowed Garcia to get into the ring briefly. While Garcia was tossed out of the ring by Takagi, his distraction allowed Castagnoli to stick Takagi with an uppercut then pin him with a side headlock takeover for the win.
I was curious to see how they’d book their way out of this one. You don’t want Takagi and Moloney to take a clean loss ahead of the G1, but also Castagnoli and PAC are names you’d want to win more than they lose. This result protects the NJPW talents to an extent (although I thought it was silly). This one struggled to get out of the first gear for quite a while but ended up having a decent closing stretch in the ring.
The Conglomeration reminded us in a backstage promo that they hold the AEW World Trios Championships.
Andrade picks up first win as former Callis Family member
In his first match since parting with the Don Callis Family, Andrade El Idolo went head-to-head with former faction ally Brian Cage. Andrade got the jump on Cage, dropping him with a huge dive over the top rope before the match officially started.
Andrade hit a torneo to the floor then did his usual selfie with a woman at ringside. A brief distraction from Lance Archer allowed Cage to score a springboard suplex and take control of the match as the show went to commercials.
Andrade knocked Cage out of the corner with a series of elbows, flipped off Don Callis, then got a near fall with a moonsault. Andrade dropped Cage with a leaping forearm then hit a Three Amigos for another two-count.
Cage knocked Andrade onto a rope then connected with a 619 (this was meant to be heel work but got a huge pop from the San Diego crowd). A powerbomb from Cage rendered a two.
The fight went to the top rope, where a headbutt from Andrade knocked Cage down to the mat. Andrade scored a huge frogsplash off the top, but it still wasn’t enough to put away the tough Cage. The crowd was red hot by this point, a total 180 from where they were just 15 minutes prior.
Andrade scored a meteora in the corner for another near fall. A DM attempt was dodged by Cage, who countered with an F5. Cage scored a release German Suplex then tried for a discus elbow, but Andrade instead hit his Dia de los Muertos spinning back elbow. He followed this up with the DM for the pinfall win. Maybe a little too many near falls here, but otherwise this was a really fun match. Andrade has been one of the more consistent workers in AEW over the past few months.
Andrade got on the mic afterward and looked at Callis: “Do you think this is over? I have one question: How you know?”
Mina & Rosa score win, Thekla speaks & more
In a pre-taped promo, Gabe Kidd cleared the air on the confusion around his faction association in AEW. Is he a Death Rider? A Dog? “I am both, because we share the same message,” he said, before setting his focus on the Bang Bang Gang.
We got a quick showcase next, as the team of Mina Shirakawa and Thunder Rosa was in action. They faced off against U.S. indie vet B3CCA, as well as former WWE ID talent Zara Zakher. Unsurprisingly, this was a short one. Rosa picked up the win for her team, pinning B3CCA with a Tijuana Bomb.
We saw a quick promo from AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla, who was sporting the Starlight Kid mask she stole at Forbidden Door. As she mentioned during the post-event presser, she said she had some spicy margaritas and went to the strip club after her latest title win.
Thekla said lots of women are gunning for her title, as she will defend it at Redemption and All In. Addressing the roster, she said: “Load your guns, bitches, because I’m going to catch that bullet with my teeth, and I’m going to spit it right back in your face.”
Backstage, SkyFlight were seen successfully recruiting Matt Sydal to the faction.
Jay White wins in-ring return, The Demand earn quick victory
Eight-man tag action was up next, as Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean and Lee Moriarty of Shane Taylor Promotions faced off against Austin & Colten Gunn, Adam Copeland, and Jay White. This was White’s first in-ring appearance since March 2025!
As you might’ve expected, this match worked at a rapid pace from start to finish. White was in for the final stretch of the bout. With help from Copeland, he delivered a superplex to Taylor in the corner. The Infantry’s Dean and Bravo tried for a double-team move on White. Copeland took out Dean with a spear, allowing White to put away Bravo with a Blade Runner for the pinfall win. This was a quick but enjoyable one.
David Finlay and Clark Connors of The Dogs appeared on stage during the post-match. With the Bang Bang Gang looking at the stage, a horde of Death Riders emerged from the crowd and jumped the babyface team. Finlay dropped White with his shillelagh, then the group stood tall to end the segment.
We got another brief video package teasing Willow Nightingale’s return from injury.
Another showcase bout was next, as The Demand faced the trio of Jordan Oasis, Chris Nasty, and Sonico. Poor Nasty took the brunt of the damage in this match, as he was the sole legal competitor for his team in this quick squash. Nasty mercifully put out of his misery eventually.
Liona did a series of high-speed shoulder tackles at ringside. Unfortunately, he had a really hard head-to-head bump with Oasis during this spot, causing them both to get cut open.
Ricochet got on the mic after and called out SkyFlight, noting that they just added Matt Sydal to the group.
Athena earns Casino Gauntlet spot with win over STARDOM’s Rina
STARDOM’s Rina made her AEW debut in the next match, facing ROH Women’s World Champion Athena. This match was for the #1 entrant in next week’s Women’s Casino Gauntlet match, which will determine who challenges Thekla at the Redemption pay-per-view.
Rina tried for a suplex on the apron early in the match, but instead was dropped stomach-first onto the apron. Athena tossed Rina off the apron and shoulder-first into a ringpost as the show went to a break.
Rina was gaining some steam as the show returned, tossing Athena by her hair around the ring. The STARDOM talent scored a Northern Lights Suplex then a reverse suplex. A Fujiwara Armbar attempt from Athena was countered by Rina into a roll-up pin attempt.
These two went back and forth with head kicks until another roll-up from Rina caused a two-count. A kick from Rina was turned into a tombstone piledriver from Athena for a two-count. Athena immediately transitioned into an armbar, which Rina escaped by crawling to the ropes.
Rina caught Athena for a German Suplex, then scored her Pink Devil (Gory Bomb). Rina came off the top with a diving knee drop, but it wasn’t enough to beat the ROH women’s champ!
Athena booted Rina out of the ring then met her at ringside with a high-speed tope suicida. Back in the ring, Athena connected with her O-Face finisher for the pinfall win. Rina got a nice bit of shine before Athena took over.
Bandido, Bailey & Mistico overcome The Rascalz, Rush scores win
Some six-man tag madness was up next, as the all-star trio of Bandido, Mike Bailey and Mistico teamed up to face Dezmond Xavier, Myron Reed and Zachary Wentz of The Rascalz.
This match was as wild as you might’ve expected. We had a spot early on where all six men, one by one, scored tope suicidas to the outside. Reed delivered his crazy Flame On! cutter to the outside on Bailey before the show went to a break.
Bandido caught a move from Xavier off the ropes into an X-Knee after the show returned. Mistico and Bailey scored a pair of dives to the outside as Bandido hit a 21-Plex to Xavier for the pinfall win. This was quite short. I’d love to see these six throw down in a much longer match someday, as this was loads of fun for the brief amount of time it lasted.
Making his first singles appearance since challenging MJF for the AEW world title last month, Rush made quick work of Jordan Cruz next. Rush’s lightning-fast showing ended with his brutal dropkick in the corner for the pinfall win.
Backstage, The Opps called for Katsuyori Shibata to challenge Bandido for the ROH World Championship. That match will go down next week on Collision! That’s one to look forward to.
Maya World earns Casino Gauntlet spot
The #2 spot in next week’s Casino Gauntlet was determined next, as Maya World battled with Julia Hart. World was looking to rebound after losing to Mercedes Moné in the Owen Hart Cup final on Sunday night.
Hart dodged a Shining Wizard from World late in the match. World stopped Hart from delivering her moonsault out of the corner. World scored a pair of bridging fallaway slams, getting a two-count from the second one.
A superplex out of the corner from World was avoided by Hart, who knocked World to the mat with a headbutt. Hart came off the top with her moonsault, but World put up her feet to counter the move. World then scored a Shining Wizard for the pinfall win. World might not have gotten a title shot from the Owen Cup, but she’s now one win away from another opportunity which could put her against Thekla.
Kyle Fletcher scores win over NJPW’s El Phantasmo in main event
Before he challenges rival Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW International Championship next week, Kyle Fletcher went head-to-head with NJPW’s El Phantasmo in the latest Collision main event.
Phantasmo went on a run early in this match, but had his momentum stopped after taking a huge boot to the head from Fletcher.
Fletcher got a near fall after scoring a huge Michinoku Driver after the show returned from a break. A kick in the corner from Fletcher was dodged by Phantasmo, causing the AEW star to go flying over the top rope and out of the ring. Phantasmo followed Fletcher to the floor with a huge moonsault.
Phantasmo took a moment to taunt, a pause which allowed Fletcher to recover then give him a snap German Suplex on the floor. Fletcher tossed Phantasmo like a lawn dart head-first into a barricade – this looked awesome.
Phantasmo just barely avoided a count-out, but immediately walked into a Liger Bomb from Fletcher once he returned to the ring. The crowd chanted “ELP” after he kicked out at two.
Phantasmo turned Fletcher inside out with a lariat, then followed with a Styles Clash for a near fall of his own. A top-rope frogsplash was blocked by Fletcher, who put up his knees. Fletcher went for a brainbuster, but Phantasmo countered it into a roll-up attempt!
After just narrowly kicking out of a backslide, Fletcher scored a huge running knee. He once again tossed Phantasmo head-first, this time into a turnbuckle, scored a running head kick in the corner, then a Teardrop Brainbuster for the pinfall win. It was a foregone conclusion that Fletcher was going to win, but this was one hell of a performance from both men. Deserving of its main event spot for sure.
Don Callis got on the mic afterward to cut a promo on Konosuke Takeshita, whom he said “betrayed” his family. After saying that Fletcher was going to bring the International title back to the Callis Family next week, Takeshita himself came to the ring. Callis ran out of the ring, and Takeshita stood tall as the show came to an end.
