wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Collision Review 10.04.25
Image Credit: AEW
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Good evening folks! Theo Sambus on hand for your live coverage of Collision, and tonight we are TAPED from Lakeland, Florida. How’s it all going, folks? Had a good week? Here’s hoping Collision acts as a great denouement to the week gone by.
The recent Death Riders trio of Moxley, Garcia and Castagnoli are once again in action tonight, this time taking on the team of Adam Priest, Tommy Billington & Jay Lethal. In another six-man contest, Orange Cassidy and Paragon take on the Don Callis Family, which is ever growing based on Andrade and El Clon’s recent signing, but tonight comprises of Hechicero, Lance Archer & Rocky Romero. Poor Rocky is taking the fall, isn’t he?!
Kevin Knight faces a member of FTR in a preview of the FTR vs JetSpeed match, and Eddie Kingston is back in singles action to take on Dralistico. With all that and more in store for us, it’s time to settle back and let AEW take the steering wheel. LET’S RIDE!
Location: Lakeland, FL
Venue: RP Funding Center
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness & Tony Schiavone
We are LIVE (to tape) with COLD OPEN PROMOS~! Stokely Hathaway saying they will expose Kevin Knight. Knight says he’s feeling great, and he doesn’t care which member it is, he will slap the fire out of them. Sammy Guevara says LFI has been el fuego, and Eddie Kingston will find that out tonight. Everyone will burn. Eddie Kingston hates these things because he’s trying to warm up, ‘Saturday, Saturday, do they even use that song anymore?’ Eddie is ready though. Anna Jay says to just try her. Roderick Strong doesn’t really want to do it tonight but he will. Orange Cassidy is about to speak but here comes PAC! PAC knows he’s ecstatic for his return, and he has six months of frustration…who better to take it out on than his old nemesis Orange Cassidy. So a challenge…Pac vs Orange Cassidy, in their old stomping grounds of Jakcsonville…if he has the tangerines for it. OC says no Death Riders, no Don Callis Family. PAC agrees, just Pac and OC this Tuesday. OC says he excepts but PAC has already walked off.
Death Riders (Jon Moxley, & Daniel Garcia, & Claudio Castagnoli) vs Adam Priest, Tommy Billington, & Jay Lethal
The Swirl are watching backstage, and the Death Riders attack their opponents as they enter the ring, getting this one underway early. Everyone spills to the floor early on, leaving Garcia and Billington in the ring, with Kid monkey flipping Garcia but getting thrown to the floor. Moxley suplexes him on the floor and jams a thumb in the eye. Castagnoli in, running uppercut in the corner. Kid slips out behind and tags in Priest. Mounted punches on the ropes from Priest and he sends Moxley to the floor, following up with a suicide dive, but it’s caught by Castagnoli, and he throws him into the barricade! We go to PIP as Priest writhes on the floor.
We’re back and Moxley has Priest in a straitjacket hold on the mat. Moxley bites the face of Priest so Lethal comes in, taking UMBRIDGE! Castagnoli kicks him out as Garcia tags in to take on Priest. Back elbow connects. Castagnoli in, repeated forearms in the corner, knocking Priest down to the mat. Priest gets the boot up, sunset flip attempt blocked. Castagnoli misses a shoulder thrust and flies into the ringpost. He tags in Garcia but Garcia receives an enziguri and Priest tags in Billington. Scoop slam, up top, shotgun dropkick. Snap suplex, Kid goes up top again, swandive headbutt! 1, 2, no. Both men have the same idea and go for crossbodies, colliding in midair. Tag to Moxley, tag to Lethal. Lethal tries a figure four, kicked away, Lethal Combination connects though. King’s Elbow caught, rear naked choke by Moxley! Castagnoli gets dumped to the outside, Billington and Priest go with him. Lethal Injection countered, cutter by Moxley! Garcia with a Dragon Tamer, Moxley with the stomp! Garcia holds on to the Dragon Tamer and the referee calls for the bell.
Winners: Death Riders
Time: 11:14
Rating: **3/4 – Perfectly fine, with a lovely closing stretch. I like Moxley working in combination with Garcia to get the job done – the Dragon Tamer/Stomp combo works well. Brief interactions between Moxley and Priest showed promise too – I’d be keen for a singles match between them soon, that would be a physical one.
*Signed for Title Tuesday: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii!!! Hell yeah!
*Matt Menard gets in the face of Danny Garcia after the match, but Garcia ignores him and then grabs a mic, screaming in his face “Can you not take a hint?” He tells him man to man, Matt, Garcia loved you, but he was a loser when he hung around him. He wants to be with the winners. If he hung around Menard any more, he’d end up like that parasite Nigel McGuinness. Garcia doesn’t hate Menard, he just needs him to understand.
*Renee Paquette hopes to get a medical update from Nick Wayne. He says he couldn’t be better, he should be back in the ring soon…the doctor disagrees, and says it’s at least another 6-8 weeks. Mother Wayne reminds the doc that Wayne isn’t normal. Nick says he’s off to see a real doctor.
Anna Jay vs Jamie Hayter
Both women take turns backing each other into the ropes as they tussle for control. Side headlock takeover grounds Anna. Jamie attempts an arm drag, Anna counters with a suplex for a 2 count. Jamie bounces Anna’s head off the top turnbuckle a few times, Anna comes back with a flatliner and covers for 2. Knees to the midsection and strikes from Hayter, slingshotting Anna into the ropes as we head to commercial.
We’re back with both women trading blows. Flying forearm, snapmare from Anna Jay and a shotgun dropkick to the face gives Anna a 2 count. Queenslayer hooked in! She’s looking for the body scissors but Jamie flips over into a pin attempt for 2. Sleeper from Hayter, and she goes up top, missile dropkick from the middle rope. Shotgun dropkick sends Anna into the corner, where Hayter hits a lariat and a backdrop driver, 1, 2, NO. Clubbing blows from Hayter, big boot to the face but just another 2 count. Hayterade called for, Jay ducks it and tries for a backslide, Hayter reverses into one of her own. Shining wizard, 1, 2, no. She picks up Anna but gets DDT’d. Blockbuster from Anna, 1, 2, no! Queenslayer locked in, Anna still on her feet though, so Jamie escapes. HAYTERADE out of nowhere! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Jamie Hayter
Time: 10:08
Rating: *** – A big portion of it was eaten up by commercial but these two matched up well. I like Jamie hitting the Hayterade from OUTTA NOWHERE and it being a ‘killer move’. Good showing from Anna here too!
*Lexy Nair is backstage with Max Caster, congratulating him on his first win of the year. Caster knows people are happy because the losing streak is over. Big Bill and Bryan Keith show up, and remind him they smoked him. If it weren’t for Bowens, he’d be nothing. Bowens rocks up and says finally someone speaks the truth. Bryan Keith knows he could beat Bowens’ ass though, and Bowens says actually he could beat Bill quicker than Caster could. Bill challenges both of them to a match next week in Daily’s Place.
*Promo for Sareee vs Alex Windsor on ROH this coming week.
Los Faccion Ingobernables (RUSH & Sammy Guevara w/ Dralistico) vs Shane Stetson & Cha Cha Charlie
Guevara starts off against Charlie, who is already cha-chaing. RUSH dives in though, taking exception, and he starts throwing Stetson into the barricade, multiple times. RUSH gets Charlie in the corner…and he GETS THE HERNSSSS! Cover, no, RUSH pulls him up and tags in Sammy. Guevara up top, Swanton! 1, 2, 3.
Winners: LFI
Time: 1:46
Rating: N/R – Squash, pure showcase for LFI, especially as we haven’t seen much from Sammy since he joined the team.
*Eddie Kingston makes his way out post-match as LFI hang around.
Eddie Kingston (w/ HOOK) vs Dralístico (w/ LFI)
Dralistico gets Eddie on his ass, and Sammy on commentary is happy with that. Armdrag from Kingston sends Dralistico to the floor. Back in, both guys trade strikes. Thrust kick from Dralistico, they both head to the apron, and Dralistico targets the arm and shoulder as we go to PIP break.
Both guys demand strikes during the break, and Eddie gets knocked down hard. As we come back, Eddie starts to fire up. Dralistico hooks Eddie’s knee in the ropes and nails a shotgun dropkick to the knee. Another dropkick, cover, 1, 2, no. Dralistico up top, dives, Eddie avoids it and hits an STO! Kicks from Dralistico, springboard codebreaker! But Eddie rolls to the outside to recover. Sammy Guevara is there, trash talking HOOK. Dralistico gets involved too, In the ring, Dralistico looks for something and my feed goes janky, and Eddie hits the uraken for the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
Time: 8:17
Rating: **3/4 – Not much substance but Eddie looked better here than his recent efforts. Dralistico is always solid so more singles matches from him are always appreciated!
*Kota Ibushi vs Josh Alexander next week for Collision Homecoming! Lovely stuff.
*MxM Collection are here! Mansoor requests that the swamp-dwelling mutants SHUDDUP! They want to host the first ever MxM TV Casting Call, an open call to any other team out there. They’re opponents? The Don Callis Family!
MxM Collection (w/ Taya Valkyrie) vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander
Takeshita and Johnny TV begin, and Johnny avoids a shot in the corner, nailing an enziguri but missing a flip. Big forearm from Takeshita knocks him down, and Mansoor with a blind tag in but gets levelled. Johnny TV to the apron, Kyle knocks him off with a big boot. Alexander with a great slingshot powerslam on Mansoor. Rolling elbows to Madden, and he comes back with double clotheslines. Takeshita with an assisted German, and they dump him to the outside. Fletcher hits a suicide dive, as Johnny TV springboards with the Disaster Kick to Takeshita. Blue Thunder avoided. Fletcher misses the boot in the corner, but tosses Mansoor with a top rope German. Wheelbarrow German! C4 Spike from Alexander! And the brainbuster finishes it from Fletcher, 1, 2, 3.
Winners: Don Callis Family
Time: 3:05
Rating: N/R – Another squash, but a pretty exciting one as the Don Callis Family were running rampant in that ring. Tak, Fletch and Alex all have fantastic offense, so that finisher spam at the end looked crazy. Good stuff, although I’d still love to see MxM used in a greater capacity than just as jobbers.
*Lexy Nair is with Dalton Castle and the Outrunners, confirming that this unit is officially a team. Magnum says that have the size to win the prize. Turbo thinks they have trios gold in their future. Castle thinks they messed up though. They put on the greatest show ever last week, so how can they top that? The Outrunners say they can lift that bar each and every week. They lift up Castle…and he thinks he’s in good hands.
*Lexy Nair is attempting to interview Jamie Hayter, but the Triangle of Madness attack both her and Queen Aminata, throwing them both into shutters in the back.
*FTR make their way to the ring, as we prepare to find out which member faces Kevin Knight this evening. The referee asks for one member, and both guys try to fake out Knight, with Dax taking up the mantle.
Kevin Knight (w/ Speedball Mike Bailey & Willow Nightingale) vs Dax Harwood (w/ Cash Wheeler & Stokely)
Knight thinks he may be facing Cash so turns his attention to him, allowing Dax to take advantage. Dax strikes Knight in the corner, Knight comes back with a back body drop and a dropkick before sending Dax to the floor. Back in the ring, shoulder tackle from Dax, arm drags from Knight in return. Knight moves in the corner, sending Dax into the ringpost. He rolls to the outside, Knight is poised up top, Cash gets in the way however. He drags Dax back into the ring as Cash tries to pull Dax back, with Knight getting the upper hand. Back elbow from Dax connects. Both men trade chops, stiff chops at that! Leaping clothesline from Knight, and he slingshots himself to the outside to follow Dax and take him down. Up to the apron they go, more stiff shots. Dax looks for a piledriver! Reversed, back body drop onto the apron! Dax looks for a powerbomb, and they tumble over the barricade into the front row! Both men are down as we go to commercial.
During the break, Knight tries to climb back in the ring but Dax again tosses him into the crowd. Dax distracts the ref, allowing Cash to knock Knight back down. Dax puts his hands on Willow but it appears to be a ruse as he quickly targets Knight again.
Back from the break, Knight connects with a huge DDT! 1, 2, no. Knight up top, Dax chops him and heads up to meet him. Knight slaps him down and nails the UFO but Dax has the feet up, kicking him in the face! Rollup, 1, 2, no.
Dax chops away at Knight with the arm trapped, Knight kicks it away though. BIG clothesline from Dax, good Lord! Sky High from Knight! They headbutt each other and get to their feet, trading more strikes. Thrust kick, another attempt, Dax looks for the slingshot powerbomb but Knight reverses into a modified sunset flip. Not enough though, backslide! 1, 2, thr…no! Dax finally gets the slingshot powerbomb! 1, 2, NO. Dropkick from Knight, springboard clothesline connects, and he goes right back to the apron on the opposite side of the ring. Cash tries to interrupt, but Willow grabs the leg, and Bailey is there to catch him with a springboard moonsault. Knight with the UFO over Stokely to Dax! 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Kevin Knight
Time: 13:55
Rating: ***1/2 – I do love me a Dax Harwood singles match, and Knight was on form here, damn good showcase for him. Very physical encounter, which you might expect from Dax, but it was surprising to see Knight pull off those hard strikes and come out well in a slugfest. If this is a preview of what we’ll see in the FTR vs JetSpeed tag, we’re in for a treat.
*Stokely tries to jab Willow, so she grabs him and attempts the Babe with the Powerbomb! But FTR grab her legs, and here comes Megan Bayne to attack from behind! Decapitator from Bayne!
*Sky Flight reflect on their recent defeat, and Daniels says there are lessons to be learned. Shane Taylor Promotions remind everyone that they are the ROH Six-man champions.
*Kris Statlander heads down to the ring. We hear that Megan Bayne & FTR vs Willow Nightingale & JetSpeed is set for next week.
Statlander says she’s not finished with Toni Storm, and she’s not finished with Statlander either, Here comes Toni Storm, who wants to know what the bloody hell she wants from her. Statlander says they just need to talk. Storm lays down on the canvas, so Statlander does the same.
Statlander says none of this is personal, she’s been waiting for this for a very long time. They’re never faced each other one on one. Stat respects everything Toni did with the belt, and she will give her a shot because she’s a fighting champion. As hard as Toni fought, Kris will fight harder. Storm will find out why she’s the cosmic killer. As much as it’s not personal, she will happily knock her ass back into black and white.
Toni says it broke her heart when she lost that title. But there is no one more deserving than Statlander. Now, Storm needs to find out what kind of woman Stat really is. But enough of this gay banter. You say this isn’t personal, but that gold is in her blood, her veins. There is nothing more personal to her than that belt. But there’s no one she’d rather beat for it. They shake hands, and Kris thinks maybe they shouldn’t wait til WrestleDream. No belts, no bells…THEY GO AT IT! Storm and Statlander are teeing off on each other, but the Triangle of Madness run down and attack both women. Flatliner into a double kick from the Sisters. Thekla tells them to listen up, bitches. Neither of them beat her, so she will disset and destroy them until everyone in AEW is toxic to the core.
Harley Cameron is here to take Thekla down but the numbers game catches up with her. Statlander and Storm are back up, suplexes to Skye Blue and Julia Hart! Storm and Statlander go face to face once more. And we hear that next week we get Statlander, Storm & Harley Cameron against the Triangle of Madness on Collision Homecoming. Good stuff all round!
Orange Cassidy & Paragon (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) vs Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Lance Archer, & Rocky Romero)
Hechicero and O’Reilly wrestle on the mat as we begin, with Kyle looking for a kneebar, transitioning into a chinlock but Hechicero locks in a headscissors. Both men untangle and get into a shoving contest. Seatbelt from Hechicero gets a 1 count, O’Reilly thinks cross armbreaker but Hechicero is in the ropes. Here comes Roddy Strong, and Romero tags in too. Tijeras from Rocky, and now the Conglomeration team target him in the corner, with OC getting into some sloth style offense. Archer in with a double clothesline to Paragon. And he catches OC, using him as a battering ram. Biel out of the corner on Strong as we head to commercial.
Reminder that Dynamite is this Tuesday for another 2.5hour Title Tuesday extravaganza.
We’re back as Archer boots OC off the apron, leaving Strong with no one to tag to. Cassidy back up, Strong makes the tag, and now OC targets Archer, low bridging him to the outside, allowing O’Reilly to hit the diving knee drop off the apron. Rocky Romero and OC trade shots now, diving elbow drop and a satellite attempt but can’t get it. Kyle is the legal man, stundog millionaire from OC though. O’Reilly in to face off with Hechicero, who fires off a series of quick strikes. Kitchen sink from O’Reilly, kick to the head, Rocky rolls him up, 1, 2, no. Enziguri ducked, hits the other though. Archer looks for a chokeslam on O’Reilly, OC tries an orange punch but gets goozled. Orange Punch! One to Hechicero! Kyle hits a tornado DDT on Romero and locks in the cross-armbreaker! Rocky taps!
Winners: Orange Cassidy & Paragon
Time: 10:52
Rating: **3/4 – Like the opener, this was fine, no real complaints, apart from this being rather one-sided for a main event. Odd choice – the Statlander/Storm promo would have been a much hotter close to the show, in my HUMBLE opinion.
*PROTOSTAR! Kyle Fletcher heads back out, applauding the victors. Fletcher is backed up by the rest of the Don Callis Family, staring down Paragon and Cassidy on the ramp. And we hear that Kyle Fletcher will face Kyle O’Reilly for the TNT Title on Title Tuesday! WE WANT KYLE returns!
That’s all for tonight, folks! See you next time.
