wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 01.31.26
Image Credit: AEW
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Good evening 411 friends! I hope you’ve all been enjoying the Royal Rumble (no spoilers here in case you haven’t had a chance to catch up yet) and now the party continues as we turn our attention to AEW for some more Saturday night graps. I always host an annual Royal Rumble party with my pals, complete with RR drinking game, so I am wonderfully MERRY at this point.
As a reminder, myself and fellow 411 faithful Ryan Ciocco represented the brand in this year’s Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year countdown, so do check that out if you fancied an in-depth look at the year just gone. Equally our very own Kevin Pantoja is counting down the Top 100 Matches of 2025 here on the site, so make sure you follow along with his countdown too!
Alright, let’s talk about Collision! The card is looking jam-packed with goodness, no doubt hoping to capitalize on folks wanting to watch more wrasslin’ after the Rumble, so there’s a potential for some decent ratings tonight. As such, we’ve got plenty of gold on the line tonight, with the Babes of Wrath defending the Women’s tag titles against the Sisters of Sin, granted by Willow & Harley as ‘thanks’ for Blue & Hart not getting involved in the (fantastic) Women’s title match between Statlander and Thekla this past Wednesday.
The Rascalz make their AEW in-ring debut tonight, as Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz take on Cru in what is sure to be fast-paced, high-flying action. The debuts don’t end there, however, with Tommaso Ciampa stepping up to answer Mark Briscoe’s TNT Open Challenge…as such, could we see a new TNT champion crowned tonight?
Elsewhere, we’ll see Okada defend the International championship against Adam Priest (set up on this week’s ROH), as well as Darby Allin taking on Clark Connors, with Connors no doubt looking to avenge BC War Dogs stablemate Gabe Kidd’s loss from Worlds End last month. With all that in store for us and more, let’s get strapped in for a big-time Collision.
Location: Arlington, TX
Venue: Esports Stadium Arlington
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
*We are live from Arlington with our opening credits, followed by a brief rundown of the card. Toni Storm & Orange Cassidy will be in Mixed Tag Team action tonight! Up first, Darby Allin makes his way out for our opening contest.
Darby Allin vs Clark Connors
Oh Clark Connors attacks Darby from behind as Darby is making his entrance. In the ring, the bell rings as Connors fires off a powerslam for a quick 2 count. Allin comes back with a Code Red for a 2 count of his own. He goes up top for a potential Coffin Drop but gets shoved hard to the floor, rough spill for him there. On the outside, Connors whips him into the barricade. Back inside, a pounce-like move from Connors keeps Darby on the mat. Connors has Darby hanging over the apron and hits a drive-by assault. Back drop across the barricade by Connors, and Darby’s taped up back is taking some serious punishment here as we head to commercial.
In the ring, Darby springs off the middle rope for a Coffin Drop but Connors catches him and tosses him overhead. Running shoulder tackle from Connors gets 2. Running shoulder in the corner, back drop, and an elbow drop off the middle rope gives Connors another 2 count. Darby flips to the apron, and he nails Connors with a desperation snap DDT on the apron! Back on the outside, Connors sets up some steel steps and looks to belly to belly suplex Darby, like Pac did. Darby avoids it! Darby runs up the steps and hits a shotgun dropkick off the steps. Suicide dive! They battle on the buckles and Connors hits a sunset powerbomb followed by a spear, 1, 2, no!
Straitjacket submission applied on Darby until he gets to his feet, only for Connors to hit a modified spinebuster. Darby escapes and manages to hit the Scorpion Death Drop! Coffin Drop, knees up! Connors misses a spear, Darby reverses and transitions into the Scorpion Deathlock. Connors taps!
Winner: Darby Allin
Time: 11:45
Rating: *** – Connors was in control for a large portion of this, putting Darby’s resilience to the test. Connors didn’t really stand out character-wise, but he kept the intensity up, and the closing section was frenetic (in a good way).
*Darby Allin takes a mic and says he won the war with the Death Riders. In 2025 he stood on top of the world at Mount Everest. In 2026, he stands on top of AEW. The man currently holding that position is…but here comes a hooded Gabe Kidd to attack from behind. Kidd sets up the steel steps again as Connors lends a hand. Double team flapjack into the steps. They lie Darby beneath the steps as Kidd takes the mic. He says it’s getting funny to him that Darby says he’s done with the Death Riders. He’s not here on Death Riders business, he’s here on Kidd time. Kidd can’t move forward right now. Kidd says he will follow Darby to every corner of this earth until he ends Darby Allin. Medical officials attend to Darby.
*We recap how we got to Babes of Wrath vs Sisters of Sin.
*JetSpeed address the Don Callis Family and say they are not too hard to find. Hangman doesn’t ride alone so if they’re looking for a fight, then they have Hangman’s back. Together as a trio, they are strong, they are hard, they are… Jet Set Radio! Ha, the crowd chant ‘Horse Cock’, amazing.
The Rascalz (w/ Myron Reed) vs Cru
Lio Rush and Dezmond Xavier start us out with a little feeling out process. Headscissors from Xavier, dropkick to follow, cover and just a 1 count. Blind tag from Wentz, bronco buster delivered to Rush. 1, 2, no. Lio dives over to Andretti and tags him in. Cru hit a double drop toe hold and hit stereo dropkicks for a 1 count. Springboard armdrag and a dropkick from Andretti, tag to Rush, but Wentz comes back with a tornillo to take both men out. Xavier in, readies himself…tope con hilo meets no one but he lands on his feet. Cru show off but here’s Wentz with a tornillo again taking both of them out.
Back inside, quick offense from the Rascalz ending in a senton from Xavier gets a 2 count. Rush avoids a stomp to the arm, Andretti in with a big senton. Double back elbows from Cru get a 2. Vertical suplex from Andretti, 1, 2, no. Body slam connects, rear chinlock applied, Xavier escapes with a jawbreaker. Tornado kick from Rush. 1, 2, no. Desperation cutter from Xavier! Wentz in, flying forearms, chops, deadlift German! Rising knee, snapmare and a PK into a running twister press. Rush with a tornado kick to Xavier, Cru are back in it, handspring kicks to take out the Rascalz on the apron, and they hit stereo dives to follow up on either sides of the ring. Cutter from Andretti, 1, 2, no!
Double suplex attempt is thwarted by Wentz. Nice combo with all four men avoiding each other’s offense. Rising knee from Wentz. Cru almost collide in the middle but get sent into the corners. Wentz with a roaring rising knee, and the Rascalz hit the Hot Fire Flame assisted shooting star to pick up the 1, 2, 3.
Winners: The Rascalz
Time: 11:43
Rating: ***1/4 – Fun debut for the Rascalz, showing those unfamiliar with them just what they’re capable of without blowing everything in the first match. Smart! Cru were good opponents to keep up with the pace set early on so this worked well.
*Jamie Hayter in a video package speaks with her new tag partner Alex Windsor. Hayter knows Windsor came so close to tag gold in the past but never got there. That’s about to change. Windsor says they should go have a bit of fun.
*Jon Moxley says he can relate to Takeshita; he doesn’t want things to be easy. They understand each other…at least he thinks so. Those goons that jumped him on Dynamite, Takeshita had nothing to do with that, right? Does Takeshita want a gang war? What motivates Moxley is that Takeshita beat him in the C2, and he wants that win back. Takeshita will have to do it alone this time. “Think we understand each other?”
[Mixed Tag Team Contest] Orange Cassidy & ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm vs Gino Madina & Lady Bird Monroe
Cassidy mocks Madina’s rolls and flips, and dropkicks him to the floor. Monroe in, starts shoving OC so he gives her the sloth style kicks. Storm in for the big dropkick as OC suicide dives onto Madina. Hip attack! Tornado DDT. OC hits a spinning DDT of his own. Now Storm hits the hip attack on Madina and sets him up for the Orange Punch from Cassidy. 1, 2, 3.
Winners: Orange Cassidy & Toni Storm
Time: 1:45
Rating: N/R – Harmless bit of fun, and of course Cassidy and Storm are a joy to watch together.
*After the bell, Wheeler Yuta attacks OC from behind! Storm gets involved and remonstrates with Yuta, but here’s Marina Shafir to attack Storm. She takes her to the outside and whips her into the barricade. Meanwhile OC is fighting back, but here’s Marina again to make it a numbers game.
Yuta takes the mic. He would like to present a special interview with Orange Cassidy. Marina holds OC up, held in a full Nelson. Yuta asks how he feels now. OC says he can’t hear him through all that garbage hair. Yuta starts attacking OC with the microphone, and then grabs a bag and pulls out some scissors. He looks to cut the hair of OC, but here’s Storm to German Marina, and she wrestlers the scissors from Yuta. Storm says in two weeks at Grand Slam…Mixed Tag Team Hair vs Hair match! She says one of those bastards are going to be bald!
*Backstage, it’s another face to face with the Grizzled Young Veterans and Kingston/Ortiz. Kingston wants to move on, but Gibson says he simply doesn’t understand. Kingston says they don’t know him, they don’t know what they’ve been through. Eddie challenges them for Collision, but Big Bill and Bryan Keith attack Kingston and Ortiz out of the blue. Gibson says they’ll see them in the Parking Lot next Saturday. Not sure why we needed another backstage segment like last week, but the Parking Lot Brawl sounds like a good blowoff.
[AEW TNT Championship] Mark Briscoe (c) vs Tommaso Ciampa
Figured this would be the main event, interesting. Crowd are already on their feet as the bell rings. They shake hands, a little Code of Honor action there. Lockup, Briscoe pushes Ciampa to the corner but we get a clean break. Ciampa does the same. They both work to a stalemate. Briscoe tries some shoulder blocks but Ciampa won’t go down. Go behind from Ciampa, Briscoe with a Pele, and he follows up with a tope con hilo to take Ciampa down on the floor! They battle around ringside now, chopping and striking. Crane kick from Briscoe in the ring, cover just for 1. Vertical suplex connects, then Ciampa takes control and stomps Briscoe down in the corner.
Briscoe to the apron, thrust to the throat, and he hooks Ciampa up for a suplex, avoided. Both men on the apron, chopping each other. Briscoe thinks about a piledriver, Ciampa gets him on his shoulders…AIR RAID CRASH on the apron! And he pats himself on the back, Vintage Ciampa! He sits Briscoe on a chair at ringside and hits a running boot against the guard rail. Back in the ring, Ciampa covers for a 2 count. 10 count punches in the corner, Ciampa gives it the 6-7 deal and then bites Briscoe in the forehead. Rear chinlock applied, Briscoe gets out of it with a belly to back suplex. 10 minutes have expired, 10 minutes remaining. Briscoe with chops, flying forearm and a corner clothesline. Diving dropkick through the ropes, and Briscoe knocks Ciampa into the ringpost. BLOCKBUSTER off the apron! Briscoe gets him back in the ring but Ciampa meets him with Willow’s Bell! 1, 2, no!
Ciampa chops Briscoe on the turnbuckle, climbs up and looks for a top rope Air Raid Crash, but Briscoe headbutts out of it. He knocks Ciampa back to the mat…Froggy Bow! 1, 2, kickout! Briscoe thinks Jay Driller, Ciampa drives him back into the buckles though. Thrust to the throat from Briscoe, they climb the buckles…but Ciampa grabs Briscoe and delivers the TOP ROPE PSYCHO DRILLER! 1, 2, NOOO! Ciampa may have been thinking Jay Driller, but they both evade each other’s attempts. Ciampa with a running knee to the head, again knocking Briscoe to the floor. Less than 5 minutes left. Briscoe uncovers a table at ringside and repositions it near the ringpost. He hoists up Ciampa, and Ciampa fights back, draping Briscoe over it and hitting a drive by kick. Ciampa stands on the table, Briscoe climbs the buckles though…Ciampa turns, and Briscoe dives off the top rope to hit a standing elbow drop through the table!
They manage to make it back in the ring and they go toe to toe, back and forth with strikes. Sick Kick from Briscoe. Ciampa sweeps the legs and drops the knee, misses! DVD from Briscoe, he goes up top….standing Froggy Bow once more! Jay Driller reversed, German! Briscoe back to his feet…running knee!! 1, 2, 3!!!
Winner and NEW AEW TNT Champion: Tommaso Ciampa
Time: 18:39
Rating: ****1/4 – It’s been a while since we’ve been able to see Ciampa perform at this level, and he instantly provided that reminder of how good he is, in case you’d forgotten. I loved that they ‘telegraphed’ this was going to a time limit draw, only for Ciampa to pull off the victory with less than a minute and a half to go. I’m not sure about Briscoe kicking out of a top rope Psycho Driller in Ciampa’s AEW debut as it rather nullifies the move, but regardless this was a stellar TV match, and Ciampa is already proving to be a fantastic addition to the roster.
*As Ciampa celebrates, Kyle Fletcher walks out onto the stage to lock eyes with Ciampa, clearly hoping to be his first challenger.
*Josh Alexander says Takeshita owes everything to Don Callis while we see Rocky Romero and Lance Archer beating up jobbers in the background. Alexander says Hangman doesn’t get a free pass to Australia either. The camera pans back and Josh is sitting on top of a guy, keeping him pressed to the floor. Archer runs and takes out three guys at once haha.
[AEW International Championship] Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Adam Priest
Rocky Romero has joined commentary for this one. Okada has the title in a zipped bag as apparently no one deserves to see it. Okada hits a neckbreaker early on after getting the jump on Priest. Body slams from the champion and he’s all smiles. Priest reverses a third attempt at a body slam and picks the ankle. He whips Okada into the buckles, but gets dropkicked to the floor. Okada claims to have hurt his leg but it seems it’s a ruse to allow Romero to go and attack Priest on the floor.
Okada is suddenly better and heads outside to deliver a DDT on the floor. They make it back in the ring, where Okada rakes the eyes. Another body slam leads to a slingshot senton. Okada works over Priest in the corner, dodges an elbow but Priest starts fighting back anyway, hitting a spinning neckbreaker. German suplex from Priest! Priest climbs the buckles, Okada rolls to the outside, and Romero gets involved again so Priest dives on to him instead. Okada rushes round to capitalize, but Priest tackles the left knee of Okada, sending him head over heels. Back in the ring, Priest goes up top…diving leg drop! 1, 2, no. Okada misses a dropkick, and Priest locks in a Figure Four! Extra damage to the bad knee. But Okada manages to make the ropes. Back to their feet, the Okada dropkick connects, but Priest ducks a Rainmaker! Jackknife from Priest, 1, 2, NO! Okada with a modified Blue Thunder, and he hits the Rainmaker for the 1, 2, 3!
Winner and STILL AEW International Champion: Kazuchika Okada
Time: 10:35
Rating: ***1/2 – Priest has apparently been doing good work in ROH as of late, but it was great to see him get some decent AEW TV time, as he stepped up to the challenge here. This could have been entirely throwaway but they did some great work here, and Priest certainly held his own.
*Lexy Nair catches up with the Rascalz, and they’re still offering Lexy some smoke. Eddie Kingston strolls along and says if Bill, Keith want to play in parking lots, they can join the fun with GYV. Kingston challenges them to an 8-man tag team war in the parking lot, with Eddie & Ortiz teaming with the Rascalz. Eddie, Ortiz and the gang head off to smoke, and Ortiz gestures to Lexy to come along, but she politely declines.
*Lexy Nair meets up with Tommaso Ciampa, who is celebrating his title win backstage with his wife and daughter. Ciampa says AEW has already welcomed him as part of the family. Nothing but respect for Mark Briscoe. Ciampa has been told AEW is where the very best wrestle. He’s been here for less than one week and he’s the TNT champion. He speaks to the title belt and he says he loves her – his daughter has a new sister! Ciampa kisses the belt and heads off.
[AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships] Babes of Wrath (c) vs Sisters of Sin
Cameron and Julia and the legal women as we begin. But it quickly goes to chaos with everyone fighting on the outside, Willow getting tossed into the steps by Hart. Blue is tagged in, and they double team Harley, only for Willow to catch the double suplex attempt. Slingblade from Cameron, and Willow tags in for an assisted senton, covering Blue for 2. Corner clotheslines from Willow, Blue hits a rope assisted tornado DDT for a 1. Handspring clothesline from Blue in the corner, Hart covers Willow for 2. Rollup from Willow, just a 1, and Cameron tags back in. Up top, crossbody to take out both Sisters. Kicks all round, double clothesline takes them down. Cameron gets Hart on her shoulders but Julia slips behind and shoves her into the ring apron. Skye Blue in, double team flapjack, cover for 2. Hart and Blue hit a double suplex for another 2 count. Hart keeps Harley grounded with a rear chinlock. Blue blind tags in as Julia locks in the Tarantula and Blue comes flying in with a running kick.
Saito suplex by Cameron creates some space for her allowing her to make the tag to Willow. Clotheslines from Willow, hip attack in the corner. Enziguri to Blue, Pounce! Spinebuster to Julia, 1, 2, no. We are told that Hangman Adam Page vs Mark Davis is signed for this coming Wednesday. Julia walks the ropes, goes for the hurracanrana and they don’t hit whatever they were going for, possibly a Willow powerbomb counter. Babe with the Powerbomb is countered, X-Factor by Julia Hart! Blue tags in, another attempt at a double suplex, hits a gourdbuster instead, Harley breaks up the pin. Willow kicks her way out of more double team offense. Superkick to Willow to knock her off the apron. Harley and Blue have a little awkward miscommunication. Blue rolls her up for 2. CRucifix bomb to Blue. Sole Food into a Galleria gets the Babes of Wrath the 1, 2, 3.
Winners and STILL AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions: Babes of Wrath
Time: 11:22
Rating: **3/4 – Much like last week, there’s something not quite working here, mostly due to the sporadic miscommunications, seemingly from trying to do too much. It’s starting to stick out and comes across as telegraphed which does have a big effect on immersion. The efforts are certainly there, it’s the execution that is occasionally lacking.
*Thekla gets involved post-match, but here comes Kris Statlander, and she goes right for Thekla. The Sisters join in but Kris fights them all off. Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne head down now, with Bayne taking it to Statlander. Thekla hits a spear on Stat as Megan hits the diving lariat on Willow. The Triangle of Maddness, Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford all stand tall as Collision comes to an end. Good night everybody!
