By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Collision (Episode 116)
Taped on October 22, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas, at Boeing Center at TechPort
Simulcast on October 25, 2025, on TNT and HBO Max
[Hour One] The “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” opening aired. Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness checked in on commentary as AEW World Champion, “Hangman” Adam Page made his way to the ring.
Page said you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Page addressed the Opps, saying that they fought the Death Riders for nearly a year, and while the Death Riders may have beaten them, they never killed them. He added that the Opps cleared the way for someone to beat Jon Moxley, and Page owed Joe for that. As a result, Page gave Joe a title shot – the only thing that he had to give. He said he looked Joe in the eye and told him what was going to happen, and it did when Page knocked him on his “big burly ass” and beat him.
Page said for the first time, Joe was embarrassed. And in his anger, frustration, and embarrassment, the Opps stabbed him in the back. Page said that they have become what they fought against for so long. He said they should have known better than to jump him and make an enemy out of him. He said that Joe is not hunting him; he is hunting Joe, as he is the champion of the entire world and will find Joe when he decides to. And when he does, he won’t just beat and embarrass him; he will ruin his entire life.
Don’s Take: A solid promo to set up the next chapter of this feud. I had said in my WrestleDream predictions that this could be a good feud if built properly, and so far, they are off to a good start.
Backstage “earlier tonight,” Pac cut a promo with Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta, and Daniel Garcia in the background. He said, “Discipline maketh the man,” and they are not about to waver now. He added that this is a war, not a battle – a marathon, not a sprint. Tonight, he gets to play his part against Tomohiro Ishii. Pac called Ishii a “mutt” and said that he doesn’t care how much “wacky baccy” Ishii smokes, Pac will smoke him tonight and remind everyone that the Death Riders dominate AEW, whether we like it or not.
Ring announcer, Arkady Aura, introduced the opening match…
1. Pac (w/Wheeler Yuta, Marina Shafir, Daniel Garcia) vs. Tomohiro Ishii. Ishii came out to that campy “Conglomeration” video playing in the background. The two traded blows to start before engaging in some chain wrestling. Ishii no-sold several attacks from Pac and landed some offense of his own. This shifted when both men were on the floor and Garcia distracted Ishii, allowing Pac to gain the upper hand. Garcia landed several blows on Ishii on the floor while Pac distracted the referee. Pac held the advantage through the commercial. [C]
Ishii regained the upper hand after no-selling some chops and landing some of his own. Ishii landed an impressive-looking, delayed superplex. Down the stretch, Ishii had the match well in hand, while the announcers played up a potential shoulder injury for Ishii that occurred earlier in the match. Ishii was tripped by Shafir while running the ropes. This allowed Pac to hit a tombstone pile driver, a German suplex, and a brain buster – all for near falls. Pac threw Ishii to the floor, and while Shafir distracted the referee, Yuta hit Ishii with a busaiku knee. Back in the ring, Pac hit Ishii with a running lariat for the win. [C]
Pac defeated Tomohiro Ishii in 15:17.
Don’s Take: There was a time that Pac had the potential to be a standout talent. He’s still super talented, but his new look just makes him seem so “ordinary.” And even though Ishii is over with the AEW fanbase, a win over him has become pretty standard. Despite this, the company strongly protected Ishii in the loss, playing up a shoulder injury and including tons of outside interference from the Death Riders.
An ad for “Blood and Guts” on Wednesday, November 12, aired…
2. Mina Shirakawa vs. Thekla. Beyond the wrestling, the story of the first part of this match was Shirakawa being made to look like a dope. First, she was in control early on but inexplicably stopped mid-attack to mug for the camera, which allowed Thekla to take over on offense. Shirakawa regained the advantage and was preparing to apply some kind of leg lock on Thekla. Julia Hart and Skye Blue made their way to the ring, causing Shirakawa to release the hold and focus on them. Thekla once again regained the advantage. [C]
Thekla stayed on offense and distracted the referee so that Hart and Blue could attack Shirakawa. Shirakawa eventually made the big babyface comeback and had a prolonged sequence on offense. There were a couple of spots where both were fighting on the top rope and Shirakawa would hit Thekla, and she would hang like a spider from the corner.
The finish saw Shirakawa become distracted by Blue and Hart again. Shirakawa knocked them from the apron, but turned into a running spear from Thekla, followed by Thekla’s Death Trap submission hold for the tap-out win.
Thekla defeated Mina Shirakawa in 13:55.
Don’s Take: This was fine for what it was. Thekla is starting to talk more, so perhaps we’ll see more character development to make her more interesting. I suspect Shirakawa will be immersed in the women’s tag team tournament with Toni Storm moving forward. On a side note, this is two matches in a row where the babyface was protected in a loss due to outside interference.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Anna Jay and Tay Melo, who were talking about the AEW Women’s Tag Team Tournament. They were interrupted by Miranda Alize and Nixon Newell (formerly Tegan Nox in WWE). Alize and Newell said they were two of the best wrestlers on the independent scene, and wanted to come where the best wrestle. Melo said that Alize and Newell were rude, and while they don’t like rude people, they like a challenge. Melo said if they wanted a fight, they got one. Newell said they were excited. [C]
Don’s Take: Good to see the former Tegan Nox get another opportunity on a bigger stage. I also enjoyed Alize’s work from what I saw in ROH. Here’s hoping for the best.
“MxM TV” Mason Madden, Mansoor, Johnny TV, and Taya Valkyrie made their way to the ring for their weekly “Casting Call” segment. Mansoor channeled his inner Nick Bockwinkel by calling the fans “slack-jawed, gelatinous, goblinoids.” He then verbally ridiculed Arkady Aura and asked her to introduce their opponent, which could be anyone vs. any combination of them. Aura introduced CMLL’s Olympia, which led to…
3. Olympia vs. Taya Valkyrie (w/Mason Madden, Mansoor, and Johnny TV). This was basically a squash match for Olympia, designed to advertise Olympia’s upcoming match with Mercedes Mone for the CMLL Women’s World Championship. Mone had said that this match would happen in the United States, so I expect we’ll see this on an upcoming Dynamite. At one point, Olympia threw Valkyrie out of the ring, but the rest of MxM TV caught her until Olympia dove onto the pile. The finish saw Olympia military press Valkyrie three times while Valkyrie was in a fireman’s carry before dropping her and getting the pin.
Olympia defeated Taya Valkyrie in 2:26.
Don’s Take: I get why this match took place, and if you follow CMLL, you likely enjoyed it. For those of you, like me, who don’t, this match…happened.
[Hour Two] A very long ad for this Wednesday’s “Fright Night” edition of Dynamite aired. It was announced that Bobby Lashley, Ricochet, Hook, and Samoa Joe will face off in a four-way match. The winner faces Hangman Page for the AEW World Title at Full Gear…
4. Ace Austin vs. Bryan Keith. Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn joined Austin on the stage during his entrance, but returned to the back. This was back and forth until Keith used the referee as a shield to prevent a kick from Austin. This allowed Keith to throw Austin over the top rope and attack him on the floor. [C]
More back and forth down the stretch. The finish saw Keith miss a charge in the corner, allowing Austin to hit an enzuigiri, followed by his “Fold” finisher for the win.
Ace Austin defeated Bryan Keith in 11:38.
Robinson and Gunn celebrated with Austin in the ring…
Don’s Take: The crowd was quiet for this match. It’s a shame because I enjoyed Austin’s work in TNA, so I’m rooting for him to do well in AEW. Given how Mike Bailey and Josh Alexander have been handled, I’m not optimistic but we’ll see how this plays out. For starters, I’d rather see him as a singles act and not aligned with Robinson and Gunn, as that act is ice cold.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Don Callis. Nair asked Callis about the tension between Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita. Callis asked Nair if she had any siblings and if they argued but still got together each year. He said that families fight, especially when that family is full of alpha males. He added that Takeshita and Okada are fine because they take their direction from him. He announced that the “Don Callis Family Summit” will take place on Dynamite, and he’ll likely get the Nobel Peace Prize for it. [C]
In the strange segment of the night, Lexy Nair was backstage with the Outrunners and Dalton Castle. Nair said they were undefeated and asked them what the secret to their success was. Before they could answer, the camera cut to Max Caster and Anthony Bowens arguing. Castle took exception, and the two walked away. Castle wanted to do the interview over, but Nair told them they were live. The Outrunners talked about how alive they felt, and Castle said that this was the secret to their success.
5. Hook (w/Eddie Kingston) vs. Griff Garrison )w/Jacked Jameson, Cole Carter, Preston Vance). Aside from Garrison getting some brief offense after interference by Carter, this was all Hook. Garrison tapped out in the Redrum submission.
Hook defeated Griff Garrison in 2:09.
After the match, Kingston entered the ring with a chair and prevented the heels from returning.
Don’s Take: Remember when Hook had the potential to be a main event act? Those days appear to be long gone.
Olympia cut a backstage promo looking for Mercedes Mone and saying she would see her next week. [C]
The team of Queen Aminata and Jamie Hayter, along with the team of Julia Hart and Skye Blue, cut promos on how they would each be the first AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions. The tournament brackets were shown.
Hayter/Aminata vs. Blue/Hart (dubbed the “Sisters of Sin”) in a tournament quarterfinal match was announced for Dynamite. Mercedes Mone vs. Olympia for the CMLL Women’s Championship was also made official for next week’s Collision…
6. “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson and “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. “Jurassic Express” Jack Perry and Luchasaurus and “JetSpeed” Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey in an all-star eight-man tag match for $400,000. The fans started passing a beach ball around the arena. The heel team intercepted it and popped it with a steel chair. Tons of action early on with the babyfaces getting the upper hand. Heading into the commercial, Knight, Bailey, and Perry hit flips onto Wheeler and the Young Bucks on the floor while Luchasaurus hit a standing moonsault on Harwood in the ring for a near fall. Knight went after Hathaway, who hid behind Tony Schiavone. [C]
The heels worked over Perry for a stretch and kept the other babyfaces at bay. Perry made the hot tag to Knight, who cleaned house along with Bailey for a bit. The heels regained the momentum and worked over Knight when Nick Jackson distracted the referee, and Hathaway threw powder in Knight’s eyes. [C]
The heels continued to work over Knight, who eventually made the hot tag to Luchasaurus, who cleaned house on the heels. In one cool spot, FTR got Luchasaurus down and hit their “Power and Glory” finisher, immediately followed by a flying elbow from Nick Jackson and a 450 splash from Matt Jackson for a near fall.
All eight men battled in the ring. The heels hit a double Shatter Machine on Perry and Bailey for a near fall. The heels then went for an EVP Trigger on Luchasaurus and missed. Luchasaurus hit chokeslams all around and cleared the ring. Bailey and Knight had FTR in the ring where Bailey hit a spinning kick on Harwood while Knight hit a UFO Splash on Wheeler. Bailey and Knight simultaneously got the pinfall on both members of FTR.
JetSpeed and Jurassic Express defeated FTR and The Young Bucks in 20:34.
After the match, the babyfaces celebrated with their winnings. Perry gave the Young Bucks $100. Hathaway ran from Perry and jumped into the crowd, where he seemed to break character by fist-bumping a young fan.
As the show went off the air, Tony Schiavone, at the request of Tony Khan, announced that on this Wednesday’s Dynamite, a four-way tag team match will take place between FTR, Jurassic Express, JetSpeed, and The Young Bucks. The winners will face Brodido for the AEW Tag Team Titles at the Full Gear pay-per-view…
Don’s Take: This was the spot fest you would expect and was a lot of fun. As regular readers know, I’m not a big fan of the overuse of the “all-star” eight-person tag with a cash prize. However, I do enjoy the Bucks making the cash prize a part of a storyline. And I have to say, this week’s Dynamite looks loaded on paper. I don’t like multi-person matches that much, but I like that they’re starting to build the Full Gear card, so Wednesday should be a newsworthy night.
This was another “fine if you saw it, fine if you didn’t” episode. As usual, Collision appeals to the “sickos” and I have given up any hope that Tony Khan will do anything of substance to grow the show to where it’s attractive to a broader audience. That said, I am looking forward to Wednesday’s Dynamite.
That’s all for me for tonight. Will Pruett’s great audio reviews of Collision are available for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Keep an eye out for my predictions for the upcoming WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event next weekend. Jason Powell will have a live review of SNME while I handle Collision duties again next week. Until then!
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