By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Collision (Episode 125)
Taped on December 21, 2025, in New York, New York, at the Hammerstein Ballroom
Simulcast December 25, 2025, on TBS and HBO Max
[Hour One] Collision opened with Continental Classic video… Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness were on commentary… Ring announcer Arkady Aura delivered introductions for the opening match while the entrances took place…
1. Kyle Fletcher (6) vs. Jack Perry (6) in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match. There were dueling chants for the wrestlers. Perry jumped off the apron and tried to perform a huracanrana on Fletcher on the floor, but Fletcher caught him and powerbombed him on the apron.
Back inside the ring, Fletcher set up for a brainbuster or a subplex, but Perry bit his chest and escaped. Fletcher ate a few chops and then scooped up Perry and slammed him so that his legs hit the ropes. Perry sold an ankle injury.
Fletcher wedged Perry’s right ankle between the ring and the steps and then worked him over. Fletcher removed Perry’s left boot and then stomped his foot. Perry sold the move while Fletcher played to the crowd before a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Perry had one boot on as he fought back. Fletcher reversed a whip that sent Perry toward the corner. Perry ran up the ropes, flipped, and landed on his feet, which led him to sell his bad foot and ankle. Perry turned Fletcher inside out with a clothesline.
Later, both wrestlers traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Fletcher sidestepped a clothesline and hit a wicked suplex and then a running boot. Fletcher set up Perry for a powerbomb, but Perry countered into a botched Poison Rana. Perry followed up with a piledriver for a good near fall.
Schiavone said less than two minutes were remaining. Fletcher and Perry traded two counts, and then Fletcher turned Perry inside out with a clothesline. Fletcher set Perry on the top turnbuckle, but Perry headbutted him, causing Fletcher to fall to the mat. Perry stood on the top rope, but Fletcher kicked his legs out from under him. Fletcher threw a kick in the corner and then hit a brainbuster that led to a three count…
Kyle Fletcher (9) defeated Jack Perry (6) by pinfall in 19:18 to earn three points in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match.
Powell’s POV: A well worked opening match. There were a couple of rough spots, but far more good than bad. It should have taken Fletcher 19 minutes to beat Perry, especially since Perry had the storyline foot/ankle injury, but at least the right guy went over. I’m watching the show on delay and skipping through some commercial breaks, so the match times are courtesy of Cagematch.net.
Footage aired from earlier in the day of Renee Paquette interviewing Roderick Strong, who looked insecure. She mentioned that he could play spoiler for Claudio Castagnoli. Paquette said someone wanted to speak to him.
Kyle O’Reilly entered the picture and asked why he saw doubt in Strong’s eyes. O’Reilly said Strong never doubted him. He spoke about how he beat Jon Moxley despite having various injuries, and said that version of himself wouldn’t be possible without Strong.
O’Reilly told Strong that it was Christmas and he wanted to see a Christmas miracle. O’Reilly said Strong didn’t need a Christmas Miracle. He said Strong could beat Castagnoli even on his worst night. O’Reilly said it would be a Christmas miracle when Strong walks backstage with three points and a smile on his face, and he sees the man that he sees… [C]
Powell’s POV: This was really well done with O’Reilly trying to give his friend a confidence boost after Strong lost all of his tournament matches. O’Reilly’s promo was effective in making the match as much about Strong trying to regain his mojo as it is about Castagnoli being a win away from earning a spot in the semifinals. I think O’Reilly actually cut a better promo in support of Strong than he has for himself at any point during his AEW run.
Konosuke Takeshita made his entrance while the broadcast team said he had already qualified for the semifinals and could eliminate his opponent with a win. Mascara Dorada made his entrance…
2. Konosuke Takeshita (10) vs. Mascara Dorada (6) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. Dorada hooked Takeshita into an early pin for a two count. Dorada popped right up and then extended his hand to help Takeshita to his feet. Takeshita accepted the helping hand and then chopped Dorada.
A short time later, Dorada sent Takeshita to the floor. Dorada went up top and dove at Takeshita, who moved, sending Dorada crashing into the barricade before a PIP break. [C] Dorada performed a top rope moonsault onto Takeshita on the floor. Dorada got Takeshita back inside the ring and then hit him with a 450 splash for a near fall.
Takeshita came back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. A “this is awesome” chant broke out. Dorada rallied with a Poison Rana, but then he was immediately turned inside out with a clothesline and covered for a near fall.
Dorada went up top and attempted a shooting star press and had to land on his feet when Takeshita moved. Takeshita performed a tombstone piledriver, but Dorada immediately rolled him over into a pin for a two count. Dorada hit a running shooting star press for a two count.
Dorada got Takeshita on the top turnbuckle and then joined him on the top rope. Takeshita fought back and hit him with a lariat that flipped Dorado before he landed on the mat. Takeshita followed up with a knee strike and Raging Fire for the win…
Konosuke Takeshita (13) defeated Mascara Dorada (6) by pinfall in 11:40 to earn three points in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match.
After the match, McGuinness said Takeshita was miles ahead of the other wrestlers in the Blue League, with the only blemish on his record being a draw… [C]
Powell’s POV: Great athleticism, but the lack of selling major moves such as a Poison Rana and a tombstone piledriver was disappointing. Oddly, the broadcast team didn’t make a fuss over Takeshita going into the match needing a draw or a win to clinch the Blue League, nor did they really put over his Blue League win once he pinned Dorada.
Claudio Castagnoli made his entrance through the crowd. Roderick Strong made his entrance via the stage, where the broadcast table and a Christmas tree with gifts were set up…
3. Claudio Castagnoli (7) vs. Roderick Strong (0) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. Casagnoli was dominant to start and dumped Strong over the barricade. Castagnoli returned to the ring and told the referee to count him out, but Strong beat the referee’s count.
Strong performed an Olympic Slam on Castagnoli, who came back with some running uppercuts. Castagnoli went for a pop-up move, but Strong caught him with a knee strike. Strong hit another knee strike, lowered his kneepad, and then drilled Castagnoli with a third knee strike before pinning him.
Roderick Strong (3) defeated Claudio Castagnoli (7) by pinfall in 3:22 to earn three points in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match.
After the match, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia ran out and attacked Strong while Marina Shafir watched from the floor. Mark Briscoe’s entrance music played, and he came out with a kendo stick, causing Yuta and Garcia to exit the ring. Shafir climbed on the apron.
Toni Storm ran out and pulled Shafir off the apron and then wrapped a pearl necklace around her fist before punching her. Yuta and Garcia had to stop Shafir from entering the ring. Storm and Briscoe shook hands, and then Briscoe kissed Storm’s hand…
Powell’s POV: I really like the way they followed the near-fall-filled first two matches with a quick win for Strong. I’ve called for this to happen on AEW pay-per-views to help shake things up, rather than having every match go close to 20 minutes with a slew of near falls.
A video package aired on the “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn feud, including the champions being challenged to a Chicago Street Fight for the AEW Tag Team Titles at Worlds End…
Stokely Hathaway stood backstage and agreed to the Chicago Street Fight. He said FTR won’t be held liable for whatever they do to Robinson and Gunn…
A video package spotlighted Kris Statlander vs. Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women’s Championship at Worlds End. Hayter thanked Statlander for her advice and then said she doesn’t need a therapist. Hayter also said she wasn’t there to shake her hand…
Kevin Knight made a standard entrance.
[Hour Two] Pac entered through the crowd and then hopped the barricade. Schiavone spoke about how the winners of the leagues would face the runners-up from the other league in the semifinal matches. Oddly, he didn’t even mention that Takeshita won the Blue League…
Powell’s POV: I suspect that the broadcast team isn’t to blame for the approach with the dumbed down approach to discussing the leaderboards and not mentioning Takeshita as the Blue League winner. If Tony Khan wanted them to approach it differently, surely he’d make that clear while producing them through their headsets. I hope he doesn’t think it would be too confusing for viewers. I can’t even imagine the backlash a network would get if its broadcast teams and studio hosts dumbed it down and didn’t acknowledge when division champions were crowned.
4. Pac (6) vs. Kevin Knight (6) in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match. After roughly five minutes of action, Knight executed a pendulum DDT for a near fall. Fletcher hit a seated Pac with a shoulder block and covered him for a two count before a PIP break. [C]
Late in the match, Knight hit Pac with a Coast to Coast. Knight went up top again and attempted his UFO Splash, but Pac put his knees up and then hooked Knight into a pin for a two count. Schiavone noted that there was a minute remaining when Pac ran the ropes and turned Knight inside out with a clothesline and then covered him for a two count.
Pac went for the Black Arrow, but Knight put his knees up and immediately went for the pin, but Pac kicked out at two. Knight got two more near falls, and then Pac hooked him in the Brutalizer. The time limit expired while Knight was in the hold.
Pac (7) fought Kevin Knight (7) to a draw in 20:00 to each earn one point in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match.
After the match, Pac and Knight sat in opposite corners and looked dejected as they looked at one another. A “both these guys” chant broke out with some fans. The broadcast team explained that the draw didn’t help either man. They both finish with seven points, while Fletcher has nine points. McGuinness said that Kazuchika Okada and Mike Bailey will both have a chance to advance when they meet in the final Gold League match… [C]
Powell’s POV: Another strong match. The draw did more for Knight than Pac, who finished the tournament with a loss to Perry on Dynamite and then this draw with Knight. Rather than get into any specifics over what would happen if Okada and Bailey also fight to a draw or who would win the Gold League depending on whether Okada or Bailey were to win and Fletcher, they simply said Okada and Bailey both have a chance to advance. I’m guessing they’ll get more specific once we get to that match, but it’s just another example of the dumbed down approach to discussing the leaderboard.
The lights were down when Gabe Kidd started speaking over a microphone before the live crowd could see him. Kidd walked out through the crowd and recalled being dragged in a body bag behind a vehicle driven by Darby Allin. Kidd said he’s having the same problem he had when he was in the psych ward, in that nobody was listening. Kidd questioned how Allin would answer his challenge if he were laid up in a hospital bed.
The lights went out, and then Darby Allin was in the ring once they were turned on. Kidd smiled. Allin pulled out a baseball bat and swung at Kidd, who dodged it and fled to ringside. Allin got a mic and said, “This Saturday, it’s your world’s end”…
A video package aired on Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron vs. Mercedes Mone and Athena for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles at Worlds End…
Maya World and Hyan received a televised entrance and wore matching green gear with Chistmas themed jackets. The entrance of Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron followed…
5. AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron vs. Maya World and Hyan in a non-title match. Willow picked up Cameron and pushed her feet at World and Hyan to dropkick them off the apron. Cameron held World and Hyan until Willow hit them with a cannonball dive from the apron. [C]
Schiavone announced that Cameron and World will face Julia Hart and Skye Blue on the Worlds End pre-show. Willow hit Hyan with a Pounce that cleared her from the ring. Cameron hit World with a kick and a knee strike. Cameron performed Sole Food, which sent World into Willow’s neckbreaker, and then Cameron got the three count.
AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron beat Maya World and Hyan in 7:01 in a non-title match.
Willow and Cameron approached World and Hyan, who were seated in their corner, and shook hands with them. The champions cut a post-match promo. They did a Christmas bit, and then they fired up at the end about what they would do to Mone and Athena on Saturday… [C]
Powell’s POV: A spotlight win for the champions that served as a buffer between the tournament matches. It was a lopsided match, so it was hard to care when Schiavone announced the Worlds End pre-show match featuring World and Hyan.
Orange Cassidy made his entrance. They did the “voice of Renee Paquette” gimmick with her recalling a conversation she had with Cassidy about the match, and then Jon Moxley entered through the crowd. The announcers finally broke down the possibility of a three-way tie in the Blue League if Cassidy and Moxley were to fight to a draw. Schiavone said Claudio Castagnoli would win the tiebreaker…
6. Orange Cassidy (6) vs. Jon Moxley (6) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. Cassidy went for a quick pin to start the match, but Moxley kicked out. A short time later, Cassidy raked Moxley’s back and then jumped from the top rope and DDT’d him before a PIP break. [C]
Cassidy put the boots to Moxley in a corner of the ring moments after Arkady Aura announced ten minutes were remaining in the time limit. A short time later, Cassidy ended up standing on the ringside barricade and put Moxley through a table with a DDT. After all this, the referee’s count was only at four, and they both beat the count.
Cassidy continued to control the majority of the offense and hit an Orange Punch. Moxley came back with a lariat and a Gotch-style piledriver for a near fall.
[Hour Three] Cassidy hit Moxley with several Orange Punches and then hit Beach Break for a near fall. Cassidy went for an ankle lock, but Moxley caught him in an inside cradle and got the win.
Jon Moxley (9) beat Orange Cassidy (6) by pinfall to earn three points in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match.
McGuinness noted that Moxley finished second in the Blue League and will face Gold League winner Konosuke Takeshita in a semifinal match at Worlds End… [C]
Powell’s POV: Moxley winning the match wasn’t much of a surprise due to the way the other Blue League matches played out tonight. I couldn’t see Cassidy advancing, and it was hard to imagine Castagnoli advancing with no momentum after losing clean to Strong in a brief match earlier in the night. That said, Moxley and Cassidy worked hard to make it seem like Cassidy was going to win. While the inside cradle finish was nothing special visually, the storytelling was good in that Moxley escaped the ankle lock, which has been his recent Kryptonite.
A video package recapped the recent developments that set up Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page vs. MJF in a four-way for the AEW World championship at Worlds End…
Kazuchika Okada made his entrance. “The voice of Renee Paquette” chimed in again and said that Mike Bailey will try to avoid the Rainmaker at all costs. Bailey made his entrance. The broadcast team finally did a good job of explaining the various Gold League scenarios. Schiavone said that Bailey would win the Gold League if he beat Okada, and Kyle Fletcher would finish second due to Bailey having the tiebreaker advantage. If Okada wins the match, then Fletcher wins the Gold League, and Okada finishes second due to Fletcher holding the tiebreaker over Okada. Schiavone also said that if the match were to end in a draw, there would be a four-way tie for second place in the Gold League, which would set up a “four-way playoff” at Worlds End…
7. Mike Bailey (6) vs. Kazuchika Okada (6) in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match. Don Callis sat in on commentary. Schiavone spoke about AEW winning various Sports Illustrated year-end awards.
Powell’s POV: At the rate this is going, Tony Khan may take a page out of the late Jim Irsay’s book by having a banner made for AEW winning those SI awards. Yes, that’s back-to-back Colts references. Anyway, it was good to hear Schiavone run through all those leaderboard scenarios. I hope we get more consistent breakdowns throughout future tournaments.
Schiavone credited Tony Khan with making a “Mixed Nuts Mayhem” match with Marina Shafir, Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Toni Storm, Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, and Roderick Strong.
Bailey had an ice flurry of offense around the ten-minute mark. He dropped Okada with a big roundhouse kick and then covered him for a near fall. Bailey had Okada on the top turnbuckle when he climbed to the top rope. Okada punched Bailey, who fell to the mat. Bailey got back on the ropes, but Okada punched him until he fell, and this time Bailey’s legs were hooked over the middle rope.
Okada threw a series of kicks at Bailey, who sat up and held his middle finger in Okada’s face. Bailey returned to the top rope and performed a huracanrana. Bailey followed up with the Ultima Weapon. Okada rolled out of the ring to avoid being pinned. The referee’s count reached six, but Bailey left the ring to break it up while the announcers spoke about how he didn’t want to win via count-out even though he would have advanced in the tournament.
Aura announced that five minutes were remaining. Okada went for a backslide, but Bailey stood up, only to be blasted with a Rainmaker. Okada set up for another, but Bailey hit him with two kicks and then followed up with a spinning kick in the corner. Bailey hit the Ultima Weapon again and covered Okada for a near fall. Bailey set up for the Flamingo Driver, but Okada escaped. Bailey blocked a Rainmaker, but Okada hooked him into a pin and got the three count.
Kazuchika Okada (9) defeated Mike Bailey (6) by pinfall in 16:02 to earn three points in a Continental Classic tournament Gold League match.
The broadcast team said Kyle Fletcher won the Gold League by a tiebreaker over runner-up Okada. As such, it will be Fletcher vs. Jon Moxley, and Blue League winner Takeshita vs. Okada in the semifinal matches. Callis boasted about three of his men being in the semifinals, and then joined Okada inside the ring.
Konosuke Takeshita came to the ring and went face-to-face with Okada. Both wrestlers held up their title belts while Schiavone wished viewers a Merry Christmas to close the show…
Powell’s POV: The formula was similar to Moxley vs. Cassidy earlier, with the person who controlled the majority of the offense ultimately taking the loss. They’ve been teasing Okada vs. Takeshita for so long that you had to know Okada was winning, but it felt like Bailey gained more in defeat than Cassidy did earlier.
Going into the tournament, I mentioned that it would make sense to have Okada vs. Takeshita in the semifinals rather than the finals. It would have made the semifinal matches too predictable if they were in different semifinal matches, and they can officially advertise Okada vs. Takeshita rather than merely play it up as a possible tournament final.
Overall, this was a strong show with every tournament match feeling significant as opposed to there being matches involving two wrestlers facing off after already being eliminated. I will have a lot more to say about when I catch up with my audio review of Wednesday’s Dynamite, and Will Pruett will be by with his Collision audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons) on Friday. The members will hear the new Dot Net Weekly audio and my same-night WWE Smackdown review on Friday, and our same-night audio review of AEW Worlds End on Saturday. I hope you had a great Christmas.
Join me for my AEW Worlds End live review on Saturday.
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