AEW Collision results (2/21): Murphy’s review of Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Alexander for the CMLL Title, Hangman Page, Kevin Knight, and Mike Bailey vs. The Demand for the AEW Trios Titles

By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)

AEW Collision (Episode 133)
Oceanside, California, at Frontwave Arena
Simulcast live February 21, 2026, on TNT and HBO Max

[Hour One] There was no Collision opening. Tony Schiavone and Excalibur checked in on commentary. Arkady Aura was the ring announcer and introduced the opening match…

1. “Jet Set Rodeo” Hangman Page, Kevin Knight, and Mike Bailey vs. “The Demand” Ricochet, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun for the AEW Trios Titles. This match got off to a fast start with the heels attacking the babyface team. Everyone settled in with the champions taking turns delivering offensive moves to Ricochet. The momentum shifted briefly when the heels singled out Knight until he was able to make the hot tag to Bailey. Bailey did alright for a while until everyone ended up on the floor, and Liona took turns running over both Bailey and Knight by charging around the ring at top speed. [C]

Liona continued to work over Bailey. Bailey hit a flying dropkick on Liona and made the hot tag to Page. Plenty of action down the stretch. Highlights include Bailey hitting a backward dive over the top onto Kaun and Liona on the floor, Page hitting his Dead Eye move on Liona on the apron, and Page pushing Knight out of the way of a diving Ricochet to deliver a tombstone piledriver.

The finish saw Page go for the Buckshot Lariat on Ricochet. Ricochet pulled the referee in the way, distracting Page and allowing Ricochet to hit Vertigo on Page. Ricochet had Page set up for the Spirit Gun, but “Tarzan Boy” started playing, which brought Jungle Jack Perry to the stage. Ricochet threw Page over the top rope and turned to yell at Perry. This allowed Page to hit the Buckshot Lariat and get the pin.

“Jet Set Rodeo” Hangman Page, Kevin Knight, and Mike Bailey defeated “The Demand” Ricochet, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun in 14:28 to retain the AEW Trios Titles.

Don’s Take: An exciting way to open the show. I’m not feeling the Perry and Ricochet program, but the live crowd responded favorably to Perry. Liona had a great showing, and if the tag team doesn’t work out, I could see him as a strong singles. Apparently, on Dynamite, there will be another stipulation added to the Page/MJF World Championship match at Revolution. Man, are they overbooking this.

The Rascalz (Desmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, and Myron Reed) were backstage in a smoke-filled room promoting their new t-shirt. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) entered. Wheeler accused the Rascalz of smoking the “devil’s lettuce.” Wheeler said he was sorry that the Rascalz didn’t become number one contenders, as he wanted to kick their asses. Xavier challenged FTR to a match tonight. Harwood said they don’t fight for free. Xavier proposed an eliminator match, which Harwood accepted.

The announcers ran down the rest of the lineup, and we went right to the next match….

2. “The Young Bucks” Matt and Nick Jackson vs. “The Swirl” Blake Christian and Lee Johnson. A brief promo aired with Jay Lethal hyping the Swirl, saying that they’re not the “future,” they’re the “right now.” FTR and the Rascalz in an Eliminator Match was made official for later tonight. The Swirl got some quick offense in the beginning, but this was all the Young Bucks hitting a series of superkicks and a double dive as the show headed to commercial. [C]

The Swirl worked over Matt, who eventually hit stereo underhook suplexes and made the hot tag to Nick. Tons of action down the stretch with the Swirl getting in a surprising amount of offense. The finish saw the Bucks hitting a super hurricanrana on Christian and then hitting the Doomsday Device on Johnson. The Bucks followed up with a BTE Trigger on Christian for the win.

“The Young Bucks” Matt and Nick Jackson defeated “The Swirl” Blake Christian and Lee Johnson in 9:59.

Don’s Take: A good match with the expected outcome, given the Bucks are number one contenders to the tag team titles. This match went about 2-3 minutes more than it should have for my taste.

A video recapped the MJF/Hangman Adam Page segment from Dynamite, as well as the closing moments of the MJF/Zilla Fatu match last night from House of Glory. Backstage, MJF ran into Andrade El Idolo, who was involved in the finish of the match. Andrade said he had his eyes on the title, and MJF said that if he comes for him, he best not miss.

3. Claudio Castagnoli (w/Marina Shafir) vs. Josh Alexander (w/Lance Archer) for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. Before the match started, Tony Khan was in the ring and held up the title. According to Excalibur, this was a tradition in CMLL, and that Shafir and Archer were “nominated” as seconds. I feel like Castagnoli has defended the title in AEW before, and I haven’t seen this. Oh well.

Fairly even to start off. At one point, both men ended up on the floor, and Castagnoli hit a running European uppercut, which sent Alexander over the ringside barricade. Alexander regained the momentum several minutes later, once again out on the floor, when he slipped away when Castagnoli had him hoisted up. He rammed Castagnoli into the ringside steps, and Castagnoli sold his knee. [C]

Alexander continued to work on the knee. Castagnoli recovered, and two exchanged blows. Down the stretch, highlights included Castagnoli hitting a cutter from the second rope and his flying European uppercut. Alexander countered with two ankle lock attempts that failed. The finish saw Castagnoli going for the Neutralizer and Lancer Archer climbing onto the apron. He was joined by Shafir, and Castagnoli knocked Archer down. Alexander attempted a German suplex, but Castagnoli countered with a European uppercut to the back of the neck, followed by the Giant Swing and the Neutralizer for the win. [C]

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Josh Alexander in 13:53 to retain the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.

Don’s Take: A solid, gritty match. I liked the pageantry before the match, as it made it stand out from the many other titles the promotion has.

[Hour Two]

4. Megan Bayne (w/Penelope Ford) vs. B3cca. This was labeled a “standby match” for reasons known only by Tony Khan. This was a complete squash with Bayne roughing up Becca and hitting her Mega Bomb finisher for the win.

Megan Bayne defeated B3cca in 1:36.

Don’s Take: Bayne failed to capture the TBS Title on Dynamite, so this was the logical bounce-back match.

A brief clip aired of Kyle Fletcher retaining the TNT Title by defeating Mark Briscoe in a ladder match at “Grand Slam Australia.”

Lexy Nair was backstage with Tommaso Ciampa. Nair asked him how he was doing. Ciampa said it was 24 days since he became All Elite and 21 days since he defeated Briscoe for the TNT Title. He said when Briscoe recovers, he’d be honored to share the ring with him as an opponent or a partner. He said it’s been ten days since he lost the TNT Title and that Kyle Fletcher is celebrating in Australia, thinking Ciampa would go away. Ciampa said when Fletcher gets back, the “Psycho Killer” wants his title back.

5. Jon Moxley, Pac, and Wheeler Yuta (w/Marina Shafir) vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Davis, and El Clon. It was even to start before the Callis Family worked over Pac for a bit. Of note, Yuta wore a winter cap on his head to hide the aftereffects of his head being shaved last week. Pac made the hot tag to Moxley, who squared off with Davis. The Death Riders each hit moves on Davis, who recovered heading into the break. [C]

Takeshita had Moxley in a chin lock. Moxley eventually made the hot tag to Pac. Again, lots of action down the stretch, including Pac hitting an impressive backward moonsault on the Callis Family on the floor, El Clon no-selling a Moxley DDT, and Shafir intercepting a chair from Davis with Moxley clotheslining Davis over the top rope to the floor. The finish saw Pac throw Yuta onto Takeshita for a near fall. Yuta tried to maintain the momentum but was hit with a big forearm from Takeshita, followed by his Raging Fire finisher for the win.

Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Davis, and El Clon defeated Jon Moxley, Pac, and Wheeler Yuta in 14:32.

After the match, Takeshita faced off with Moxley. Davis attempted to attack Moxley while Yuta attacked Taksehita. Both were tossed from the ring, but the distraction allowed Moxley to hit Takeshita with the Paradigm Shift. [C]

Don’s Take: A decent match. Aside from Moxley and Takeshita, I’m not really into this faction war.

Lexy Nair was backstage with Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron. They spoke about all of the times they’ve defeated Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford. Nightingale asked Bayne what she wanted and said she would defend both titles twice as hard, all with a smile.

6. Thunder Rosa vs. Julia Hart. The match got off to a slow start with Rosa hitting a series of arm drags on Hart. Hart gained the advantage heading into the commercial by hitting a hanging neck breaker on Rosa between the top and middle rope. [C]

The action picked up coming out of the break, with Rosa hitting a dropkick on Hart against the ropes, followed by a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Hart countered with the Tarantula move on the ropes, followed by a similar submission attempt in the ring. The finish saw Hart go for a top rope moonsault where Rosa got the boots up. Rosa followed up with her Thunder Fire Driver for the win.

Thunder Rosa defeated Julia Hart in 9:12.

After the match, AEW Women’s Champion, Thekla, appeared in the stands and applauded Rosa. Thekla said Rosa was one of the best women’s wrestlers ever, as well as one of the dumbest bitches ever, for picking a fight with her after being out for eight months. Thekla said the title wasn’t Rosa’s anymore, but it was toxic. Hart attempted to attack Rosa while distracted, but she was stopped by Kris Statlander.

Don’s Take: I assume Rosa will be Thekla’s first challenger. That’s fine, but I hope they give Rosa some reps before Revolution to shake off some of the ring rust that was apparent here.

“Private Party” Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen were backstage with “The Outrunners” Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum. Anthony Bowens was also there, along with several unnamed wrestlers. Everyone was yelling, but the gist was that Private Party would take on all comers. [C]

Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors approached Tony Schiavone at the announce desk. Kidd said that Schiavone called him mental. Schiavone admitted it. Kidd said he was right and that his feud with Darby Allin wouldn’t be over until Allin was pushing up daisies. He said that Orange Cassidy wanted to get involved, and Connors said they would bleed Cassidy dry. They challenged Allin and Cassidy to meet them next week.

Jon Moxley vs. El Clon, Brody King vs. Mark Davis, and MJF’s segment with Hangman Adam Page were advertised for Dynamite…

7. AEW Tag Team Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. “The Rascalz” Desmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz (w/Myron Reed) in an eliminator match. The Rascalz hung with FTR pretty well early on. Harwood gained the advantage heading into commercial by throwing Xavier against the ringside barricade. [C]

Coming out of the break, Wentz dove onto FTR on the floor and continued to go after Wheeler while Xavier and Harwood battled in the ring. During this sequence, Tony Schiavone announced that Swerve Strickland has been fined $100,000 for his attack on Kenny Omega on Dynamite and that he was suspended from appearing on Collision.

Xavier hit a shooting star press for a near fall and tagged in Wentz. Down the stretch, highlights included a blocked Shatter Machine by FTR and a blocked Hot and Fire by the Rascalz. Xavier attempted to dive onto Wheeler on the outside but was stuffed by Wheeler. Reed checked on Xavier and was attacked by Wheeler. Wheeler was going to piledrive Reed on the ring steps, but the Young Bucks came out to stop it. In the ring, Harwood was distracted, allowing Wentz to take him down and hit the Hot and Fire finisher (with an assist from Xavier) for the win.

“The Rascalz” Desmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz defeated AEW Tag Team Champions “FTR” in an eliminator match in 10:45.

After the match, the Rascalz and the Young Bucks celebrated in the aisle but were attacked by Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona. FTR went to ringside and argued with the Bucks’ family. They threw powder in the face of the Bucks’ father and shoved the Bucks’ mother. They then dragged the Bucks’ younger brother Malakai over the barricade and then inside the ring, where they performed a spike piledriver. Jack Perry attempted to intervene but was taken out in the aisle by Ricochet with a Spirit Gun. The Bucks checked on their brother as Collision came to an end…

Don’s Take: A hot angle to end the show with a lot to unpack. They added a personal vendetta to the FTR/Bucks match at Revolution, which increased my interest. However, with the Rascalz getting the win over FTR, I fear that this will turn into a three-way match, which they don’t need, given the post-match angle. Realistically, since the Rascalz lost the number one contender’s match, they probably shouldn’t have even been eligible for an eliminator match, but I digress. And adding The Demand and Perry to this wasn’t necessary, and I’m hoping they’re not added to the title match either.

A newsworthy edition of Collision, driven by the main event. It seems that Tony Khan isn’t just making this supplemental content, and I appreciate it. I’ll be interested to see how this does in the ratings.

That’s all for me for tonight. I’ll be back next week for another Collision review. Until then, enjoy wrestling! Will Pruett’s weekly Collision audio reviews are available exclusively for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).

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