wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 08.30.25
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...Hey friends! Theo Sambus back in the saddle for Collision coverage tonight, with big thanks to Ryan for stepping up last week while I was travelling to London for Forbidden Door. I still haven’t had a chance for a rewatch, but I had a total blast there. Isn’t it amazing that it seems to be considered a ‘weaker’ PPV compared to usual – just goes to show the standard we’ve come to expect! I certainly enjoyed things a lot more seeing it in person; for me, Hangman vs MJF is up there at a surefire ****1/2, and we were all losing our (cowboy) shit at the nearfalls. I felt it was one of those matches where the overbooking just ‘works’ but I think I’m in the minority there.
Gutted to have missed most of Brodido/FTR/Hurt Syndicate as I was queuing for beer and pork baps, and that one sounded fun so I’m looking forward to the rewatch.
I also attended the ‘Sweet Chin Disco’ after party, which was a good laugh, especially getting to check out Nigel McGuinness’ magic show. I will never get over the image of seeing Prince Nana and Mother Wayne dancing to All Night Long either…
Well then, onto tonight’s show! AEW has just started its mini residency at the former ECW Arena (make sure you check out Bandido/Hechicero from ROH last night if you haven’t as that was a veritable barnburner!), and if Dynamite this past week is anything to go by, the atmosphere should be pretty electric. Signed for this evening, it’s the blowoff between Juice Robinson and Big Bill which has been simmering away for a good few weeks on Collision, and I love that we’re seeing it out tonight.
Tony Khan’s love of ‘All Star’ multi-person matches continues as well, with an All Star Trios match pitting Timeless Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa & Queen Aminata against Billie Starkz and the Triangle of Madness’ Skye Blue & Julia Hart (No Thekla, boooo!). We’ll also see some strong style tag action, with Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander taking on the team of Kyle O’Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii in a Conglomeration reunion…and I wonder what Roderick Strong will have to say about that one?!
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Venue: 2300 Arena
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
We are LIVE from the 2300 Arena as Daniel Garcia makes his way to the ring, accompanied by Daddy Magic, who joins commentary.
Daniel Garcia vs Blake Christian (w/ Lee Johnson)
Oh Jon Moxley rocks up as the bell rings and whispers in Garcia’s ear! Moxley gives Garcia a little slap on the back in encouragement, and Marina Shafir is here too. Moxley appears to leave as Danny gets to work, knocking Christian down with a back elbow. Leapfrog into a dropkick from Christian and Garcia rolls to the floor. Blake heads after him and gets booted hard in the face. Johnson gestures as Garcia, distracting him, allowing Christian to catch him off guard with a suicide dive. Moonsault off the barricade by Blake!
Garcia is rolled back in the ring as Christian drives a knee into the face. Side headlock and a rake of the nose, but Garcia with a back suplex to break out of it. Back and forth with rights and elbows, Garcia getting the advantage. HUGE slap from Danny! Twist & Shout connects, 1, 2, kickout. Springboard tornado DDT from Christian gets 2. Springboard 450 but Garcia rolls into a guillotine! PILEDRIVER. 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Time: 6:03
Rating: **3/4 – Quick little encounter here to kick us off, with Christian maxing out his time and getting his spots in before Garcia got the definitive win. The real story here is Moxley’s interest in Garcia.
*Tony Schiavone joins Garcia in the ring, but Garcia doesn’t want to talk about what Moxley said earlier. Garcia says he needs to get one over on Moxley, so next week it needs to be Jon Moxley vs Daniel Garcia one more time.
*Wheeler Yuta rocks up from the crowd and says he should be careful what he wishes for as the Death Riders accept the challenge. They already beat the real Dragon so they won’t have any trouble with whatever it is Garcia has going on.
*Lexy Nair is with the Conglomeration, but Roddy cuts Lexy off with a KYYYYYYLE!! O’Reilly gets that Roderick is frustrated but the Conglomeration is a legit family. Ishii has asked for nothing except someone to fight beside him and that’s exactly what Kyle intends to do.
Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander) vs Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly
Don Callis joins commentary for this one, as is standard. Kyle and Josh are the legal men as the bell rings. Ishii tags in and absorbs some blows from Alexander before knocking him down with a shoulder block. Fletcher in, trading shots with Ishii until O’Reilly tags back in. LET’S GO KYLE chants begin. O’Reilly with a leg takedown, kick to the face, reverses a sunset flip into a cross-armbreaker. Transitions into an ankle lock, lovely stuff. Ishii in, Fletcher has a bloody eye somehow. Quick tags from the Conglomeration boys and O’Reilly knocks Alexander off the apron but is distracted, allowing Fletcher to boot him off too. Fletcher with a scoop slam on O’Reilly, and a tag to Josh Alexander. Snap suplex and a cover, 1, 2, no.
Fletcher wrenches the arm and delivers another scoop slam. O’Reilly takes it to Alexander but gets lifted onto his shoulders and climbs the ropes…O’Reilly counters and looks for an armbar but gets shoved off. Alexander misses a moonsault, both men have the same idea and knock each other down with a clothesline in unison.
Tags made, Ishii goes to chop town on both guys. HUGE shoulder tackle to Fletcher! Brainbuster connects, 1, 2, Kyle kicks out. Ishii reverses a scoop slam, hits a German! Fletcher comes right back with a Michinoku Driver. Tags made, Kyle and Josh come to blows. Kitchen sink from O’Reilly, guillotine locked in. But Alexander grabs the ankle lock! Nice. O’Reilly reverses into one of his own! He gets shoved into a kick from Fletcher and rolled up for 2. Strike combo into a vertical suplex gives O’Reilly a 2 count. Fletcher tries to break an armbreaker attempt but Ishii is in to put a stop to it. Series of strikes and a Saito suplex from the Conglomeration. High-Low by Ishii and O’Reilly, but Fletcher breaks up the pinfall. O’Reilly dives off the apron right into a steel chair at the barricade as Fletcher dodged it!
Alexander and Ishii continue smashing each other with strikes until Fletcher trips him. Headbutt from Ishii…LOW BLOW by Alexander with the ref distracted. C4 Spike by Alexander, 1, 2, 3!
Winners: Don Callis Family
Time: 13:04
Rating: *** – Decent action, and pleasing to see Alexander picking up the win for his team, as there had been complaints that he was being treated as an afterthought. Ishii and O’Reilly make a fun team, and seeing them use the High-Low will no doubt not sit well with Strong.
*Roderick Strong comes out post-match to help O’Reilly up.
*Backstage Jamie Hayter is attacking Thekla! Have they been fighting since London haha?! Security come to break it up as Thekla shoves one security guy into the wall and she DIVES on Hayter! More security appear and the women are broken up.
*Kip Sabian is speaking to Mother Wayne backstage earlier today, pissed off that Killswitch is late to show up today. Sabian takes his sunglasses off to show the stitches from last weekend that he blames on Killswitch. Mother Wayne says Sabian needs to take a walk as Killswitch quietly seethes,
Hologram vs Jay Lethal
Hologram is up to 30-0 in AEW at this point. Early Lethal Injection attempt is countered, and they trade rollups. Gory Special attempt, Lethal works out of it and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Another is countered, oh awkward landing for Hologram on a suplex or gourdbuster, not sure what they were going for there. Flapjack by Lethal keeps him in control. Reverse surfboard submission as Lethal transitions into a cover for 2. Northern Lights suplex from Hologram gets 2. Armdrag into a dropkick from Lethal, and a big chop to the chest. Running enziguri gets Hologram back into it but Lethal comes back with a punch to the gut. Small package from Hologram gets 2 but Lethal comes back with a snap suplex. Hologram goes to the floor, Lethal follows, back to the apron and nails a dropkick and a suicide dive. But Hologram is up and hits a suicide dive himself!
Made in Japan from Hologram connects for a 2 count.Hologram dives right into the Lethal Combination. King’s Elbow is caught and Hologram rolls him up for 2. Victory rolls, twists into a kneebar from Hologram. Lethal counters into a Figure Four but Hologram is right by the ropes and forces a break. Kick to the knee, Lethal Injection countered with a backstabber! Portal Bomb connects! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Hologram
Time: 9:50
Rating: **3/4 – Oddly heatless in the first 5 minutes with a crowd sitting on their hands, but they got into it towards the end. Some of the spots didn’t quite land with Hologram himself seeming slightly off his game at times.
*After the match, weird glitches with the lighting are displayed, followed by some sort of hacking video…the text “clon activated” is shown and we see another version of Hologram. Doppelganger incoming!
*MVP with the Hurt Syndicate say that Ricochet and the Gates have put themselves in an unwinnable situation. Ricochet says at the end of this war, those three will respect them.
WINDSAHHHHH!
Alex Windsor vs Ashley Vox
Vox with a short dropkick but Windsor comes right back with a Fisherwoman’s suplex. Blue Thunder Bomb connects, and Windsor follows up with a powerbomb into the Sharpshooter for the quick tap out victory.
Winner: Alex Windsor
Time: 1:11
Rating: N/R – Windsor needed the win after coming up short in the TBS title match at Forbidden Door so a squash was called for here.
*Tony Schiavone speaks to Windsor in the ring after the match. He asks for Windsor’s thoughts on Mone’s comments about putting her in a hospital bed next to Ospreay. Alex says Mone can’t stand the fact that, legal or not, she made her tap…and she can do it again. Windsor had the utmost respect for her, but Mone is making jokes about the man she loves? Mone has crossed the line and that does not go unnoticed. Alex tells her to put her money where her mouth is, and put the title on the line here in Philly. There is a price to pay when you mess with Alex WINDSAAAAHHHHHH!
*Lexy Nair speaks to Mark Briscoe and Don Callis and they have agreed to no physicality. Briscoe says he issued a challenge to Fletcher for the TNT title but he hasn’t heard anything so wants an answer. Callis says they’re a little busy with the ocean of talent out there who want a shot. Callis has respect for Briscoe though, so he will pick a member of the Don Callis Family, and they’ll see how he does. If Briscoe wins, he gets his shot. Briscoe likes the sound of that.
FTR vs Adam Priest & JD Drake
Of note, no Stokely tonight after the events of Dynamite. WorkHorsemen actually get a proper entrance!
Priest and Dax scrap to begin., leg takedown by Priest and a tag to Drake. Drake focuses on the leg and keeps the quick tags going. FTR beat up Priest in their corner, hard chops from Cash Wheeler. Single leg dropkick from Priest, Drake in with a slingshot senton. JD heads up top but Cash distratcs the ref and Dax crotches Drake on the top before clotheslining him back into the ring.
Dax is in, continuing the strikes on Drake. Fans chant ‘Ohhhh Fuck The Revival’ which does not sit well with Dax. Overhead belly to belly by Drake! Canonball on Cash, chop to Dax and he heads up top…MOONSAULT TO CASH! 1, 2, NO! Tag to Priest , double suplex is blocked. SHATTER MACHINE ON DRAKE! Drake rolls to the outside and Priest takes on both men. Priest lifts Cash who makes a blind tag. Dax chops and slaps away at Priest in the corner, but Priest fires back. GERMAN by Priest! Forearms but a lariat from Dax knocks him down. Priest is sent shoulder first into the post multiple times. Border City Stretch applied! Priest taps!
Winners: FTR
Time: 8:50
Rating: ***1/4 – FTR were very giving here and this was a lovely little old school tag. JD Drake is the master of making the most of these situations and this was no different; this new variation of the WorkHorsemen looked good.
*Cash grabs a mic post-match to call out Adam Copeland. This isn’t about him, this is about FTR. They should be 3 time AEW tag team champions, 11 times overall. But Adam always wants to make it about him. This isn’t about their past, this is about the FTR legacy, In Toronto, they end it. Dax picks up the mic and says he won’t yell or scream. Stokely isn’t here tonight because of Copeland and Cage. This could have been a dream match, two teams, two era, one destiny. A match no one thought would ever happened. But CnC ruined it. It’s now a charity exhibition for two men who made their name with 3 letters 20 years ago, TLC. Now you are looking at the absolute best tag team of all time who built their name on 3 letters, FTR. They have to end CnC’s careers in Toronto…don’t make them end their lives too. Top Guys, out. Yeah that worked, good stuff.
*We get footage from ROH Death Before Dishonor last night, including Sammy Guevara winning the ROH tag titles with RUSH. Backstage, RUSH welcomes him to his new family. When you mess with the bull….Sammy finishes off the ‘you get the horns’ bit.
*Lexy Nair is backstage with the Don Callis Family, and Callis says tonight was another impressive win. Callis tells Briscoe to get in line. Callis says he’s excited to see Alexander do what he was brought here to do. Alexander says Kenny Omega better train for Dynamite because he’s putting him down for good. Fletcher says he will deal with Briscoe like he dealt with his Conglomeration buddies. The Family will not move aside for anybody.
Juice Robinson (w/ Austin Gunn) vs Big Bill (w/ Bryan Keith)
Oh we’re showing fan tweets from X now in the corner of the screen? Bill stands tall in the center of the ring and backs Juice into the corner. Juice with a side headlock but Bill simply lifts him up and plants him down with a back suplex. But Juice holds on! Bill elbows his way out and nails a big boot as Juice rolls to the outside.
Bill bounces Juice’s head off the ringsteps and has a little fun, telling Juice to smile for the camera as he chokes him out. Bill drops Juice throat-first over the barricade as Austin checks him. Bill heads back in and out of the ring to break the count, and LAWNDARTS Juice into the big 2300 Arena pole. He tries once more but Juice shoves him off. They make their way back into the ring, where Bill knocks him down with a clothesline and an elbow drop. Juice bites the ear of Bill!
Bill misses the splash in the corner, and Juice hyperextends the knee of Bill over his shoulder. Juicy Jabs but a goozle from Bill catches him. Juice kicks out of it, shotgun dropkick from the middle rope. Left Hand of God! 1, 2, no. Bryan Keith and Austin get up on the apron, Juice knocks Keith off but walks into a Black Hole Slam, which gets the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Big Bill
Time: 9:27
Rating: *** – Wasn’t as heated as I thought it would be, considering the brawls they’ve had in recent weeks. Still, Bill had great presence here and was probably the right choice of victor, even if Juice is the one gaining back his groove after injury.
*SkyFlight are backstage earlier today, and they are 2-0 as they kick off the Altitude Era. Darius Martin says they beat STP but STP are the ones with the Trios titles. So they need to get serious. Daniels asks Dante what his deal is, and Dante says he’s always like that.
*Gabe Kidd speaks in a video promo, saying his own mom called the police on him in the past and he tried to take his own life. So Darby, death doesn’t scare him. Next week, he wants to meet Darby here in Philly, and he doesn’t want a wrestling match or rules or a referee. He will break him.
*Back from break, Darby Allin is skateboarding, promoting the SkatePark project in conjunction with Tony Hawk.
[All Star Trios Match] Timeless Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa & Queen Aminata vs Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Billie Starkz
Skye Blue and Toni Storm are the ones to start us off. Haha Storm is immediately talking trash as she locks in a side headlock, calling Blue a slaptart. Starkz tags in, spin kick to the midsection, but Storm comes back with a backbreaker. Mina tags in and she spins over Storm’s back with a tornillo for 2. Aminata tags in, but Starkz with a cradle for 2. Julia Hart in, headscissors and a clothesline in the corner. BIG forearm from the Queen followed by a snap suplex. Full Nelson swing into the Bubba Bomb…and now Aminata delivers the Chocolate Kisses (that’s what Nigel called it, is that official?!). Aminata with a PK to Starkz on the apron. Mina up top! Diving crossbody to take out Hart , Blue and Starkz as the women all shimmy. Tony Schiavone says he loves his job and Nigel reminds him he’s married haha.
Julia and Aminata in the ring now, tag to Blue who drives the heel of her boot into Aminata’s neck. Blue knocks Mina and Storm off the apron before going back to Aminata for the rear chinlock. Aminata is thrown into a mule kick from Hart and she stomps away at the midsection. Moonsault misses and Aminata hits the Galleria. Blue tags in, as does Storm, coming in with a dropkick. German to Blue! Hip attack connects, Julia gets drop toe hold into Blue, but Blue manages a rollup for 2. Sky High from Storm, Billie breaks it up. Hart trips Mina, Aminata gets taken out with a swinging neckbreaker. Clothesline by Storm on Blue. Tag to Hart, Storm tags in Shirakawa. Reverse slingblade from Mina. Cloverleaf backstabber! Mina is pushed into a forearm from Billie, but a roaring elbow knocks Hart back. Figure Four locked in, Blue breaks it up as Aminata and Storm double suplex Starkz outside the ring. Julia is bloody in the face as she tags in Blue, who tags in Billie. Shirakawa with a backfist! Glamourous Driver! 1, 2, 3!
Winners: Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa & Queen Aminata
Time: 12:00
Rating: ***1/2 – This was a rocking main event from the Women’s division with a heck of a lot of talent in that ring. Everyone got to look good, and this was another clear stake in the ‘we have to be building to a women’s Blood & Guts match, right?’ argument.
*Post-match, Thekla interrupts to beat down Mina and then turns her attention to Aminata. Triangle of Madness take out Toni Storm too, gourdbuster into a thrust kick. Thekla poses and spears Storm out of her boots. Double thrust kick from Hart and Blue. Mina takes a spear this time! Aminata gets the gourdbuster/thrust kick treatment, followed by the spear as the Triangle of Madness stand tall.
*We rundown the card for Dynamite this coming Wednesday. Mercedes Mone vs Alex Windsor for the TBS title is made official. Next week on Collision – Jon Moxley vs Daniel Garcia!
And with that, we’re out! Good night everybody!
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