By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Collision (Episode 122)
Columbus, Ohio, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center
Simulcast live December 6, 2025, on TNT and HBO Max
[Hour One] Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, and Ian Riccaboni checked in on commentary. Arkady Aura was the ring announcer and introduced the opening match…
1. Orange Cassidy (0) vs. Roderick Strong (0) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. Renee Paquette provided a voiceover from backstage, noting that Cassidy was not 100 percent but medically cleared. She also noted that Strong would be focusing on Cassidy’s injured back. The opening sequence of the match was primarily chain wrestling and a lot of side headlock takeovers. Right before the commercial, the tempo picked up as the action spilled to the floor with Strong dropping Cassidy back-first over the ringside barrier. Strong continued to work on Cassidy’s back as the show went to commercial….[C]
Strong continued to work over the back until Cassidy hit a spinning DDT. A crawl at the bottom of the screen recapped the Blue League leader board. Cassidy made the hot comeback until Strong hit a power slam for a near fall. Lots of back-and-forth action down the stretch with Strong hitting several back breakers and Cassidy countering for several near falls. Cassidy made use of the DDT, hitting the move several times. The finish saw Cassidy go for the Orange Punch, with Strong blocking it and attempting to drop Cassidy back-first over his boots. Cassidy blocked the attempt and rolled Strong up for the win…
Orange Cassidy (3) defeated Roderick Strong (0) in 13:24 in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match to earn three points.
After the match, Strong walked away from ringside without acknowledging Cassidy…
Schiavone announced that due to an injury suffered during his match with Kevin Knight, Darby Allin is officially out of the Continental Classic and will be replaced by Jack Perry…
Footage aired of a Darby Allin promo from a rooftop. He said that when wrestling Knight, he felt scared for the first time when his legs gave out. He said he didn’t care what happened to him or if the doctors were trying to save him from himself. Allin also didn’t care that Jack Perry was taking his place in the tournament and told him to win the whole effing thing. As for himself, Allin said he just didn’t know…
Don’s Take: A solid match from Strong and Cassidy. I enjoy covering the show during the Continental Classic as they’re generally good matches that feed into a larger story. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to a Strong heel run against the Conglomeration, but I liked the story they told with him focusing on Cassidy’s injured back. Allin’s injury is unfortunate, but let’s be honest, given the style he works, it felt like it was only a matter of time. That said, I wish him a quick recovery.
AEW Tag Team Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, along with Stokely Hathaway, made their way to the ring. They followed up on their promo from Dynamite, calling out Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn and daring them to touch their title belts again.
Robinson and Gunn came out. Harwood said that the only thing that Gunn is known for is being “Billy’s boy,” and the only thing Robinson is known for is being “Mr. Toni Storm.” He added that the only time they’re relevant is when they’re wrestling FTR. Harwood once again dared Robinson and Gunn to touch their belts.
Gunn said he was the son of a Hall of Famer, and Robinson was the son of a carpenter. He said Wheeler was the son of his cousin, and Harwood was a son of a bitch. Robinson said that they don’t need belts; they need titles. Robinson asked for a title match when AEW is in the United Kingdom and said that the next time they would touch the titles would be when the referee handed them over after they won them…
Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta, and Daniel Garcia cut a backstage promo running down Mark Briscoe in advance of his TNT Title defense against Garcia on next week’s Collision… [C]
Don’s Take: Good use of television time to set up some matches for the next couple of weeks of TV. The outcomes seem predictable, but it’s nice to have stories behind those matches.
2. Claudio Castagnoli (6) vs. Mascara Dorada (0) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. The story of this match in the early going was Castagnoli using mat-based maneuvers and Dorada employing aerial tactics. Heading into the break, the action spilled to the outside, and Castagnoli gained the advantage by dropping Dorada over the ringside barrier… [C]
Castagnoli remained on offense throughout the commercial and coming out of the break. Dorada went on the hot offense with tons of aerial moves and near falls down the stretch. The finish saw Dorada hit a Frankensteiner from the top rope for a near fall. The two immediately climbed back to the top rope. Castagnoli went for a superplex, but Dorada pushed him off and hit a shooting star press for the pin.
Mascara Dorada (3) defeated Claudio Castagnoli (6) in 11:58 in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match to earn three points.
Don’s Take: That was a bit of an upset, and I’m all for it. Castagnoli taking a loss here makes sense and can be easily explained by stating fatigue coming out of his match with Jon Moxley on Dynamite. The Death Rider story arc is interesting, with the group starting to rack up some losses.
Tony Schiavone was shown in the empty arena “earlier today” with Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, Willow Nightingale, and Harley Cameron in advance of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Title tournament final on Wednesday’s “Winter is Coming” edition of Dynamite. The gist was that Storm pointed out that she and Shirakawa are a tag team in real life, with Willow and Storm talking about how they’ve built a bond over the last three years in AEW. Schiavone noted that his heart was divided, but the four toasted each other with champagne and said, “May the best team win”… [C]
Tony Schiavone stood in the ring and introduced Swerve Strickland, who came out with Prince Nana.
[Hour Two] Strickland spoke about his three-month rehab and how he’s become the most dangerous version of himself. He talked about his goal of regaining the AEW World Championship and reminded viewers that the last time he won the title, it was by defeating the current champion Samoa Joe. Swerve said he would go through all of the Opps to get to Joe. He addressed “Hangman” Adam Page and said he would team up with him for one time only on Dynamite against Powerhouse Hobbs and Katsuyori Shibata. After that, Page and Strickland would need to have a long talk.
Josh Alexander came out and said that Strickland was lying and telling half-truths. He said the Don Callis Family owns the house now and that Strickland failed to mention that his injury was at the hands of Kazuchika Okada. Alexander ran down his own accomplishments, and this led to Strickland challenging Alexander to a match next week on Collision, which Alexander accepted.
Katsuyori Shibata entered the ring behind Swerve after the match was made. Shibata clipped the injured leg of Strickland…
Don’s Take: Again, good use of TV time to set up some matches for the next couple of weeks.
Lexy Nair interviewed Mercedes Mone and asked her if her two recent losses to Kris Statlander and Red Velvet were weighing on her. Mone was clearly angry and said that she is a global icon and the only things weighing on her were her 12 titles. She spoke about facing Leila Grey for the TBS Title, and how she’ll show her that there’s “a price to pay when you mess with Mone”…
Don’s Take: It seems that the unravelling of Mercedes Mone is beginning. I’m interested to see where this goes.
3. Mercedes Mone vs. Leila Grey (w/Christopher Daniels) for the TBS Championship. Mone attacked Grey before the bell, and the referee awarded Mone by ringing the bell. This was primarily all Mone in the early part of the match, with Grey getting in a few hope spots. At one point, Mone landed her double knees to the chest move, meant for Grey, onto Daniels… [C]
Grey hit a few more hope spots, but Mone quickly converted a bulldog by Grey into a Mone Maker for the submission.
Mercedes Mone defeated Leila Grey to retain the TBS Championship in 5:50.
After the match, Mone kept the submission hold on. Daniels came in to break it up and confront Mone, who hit him with a low blow. Mone put on a headset at the broadcast table and proclaimed herself the greatest TBS Champion of all time…
Don’s Take: I might have had Mone destroy Grey quickly and not have the commercial break. Even so, this was a fine way to have Mone come out and quickly overcome an opponent in an attempt to get back on track.
Eddie Kingston was backstage and talked about his upcoming opportunity to win the AEW World Title from Samoa Joe on Dynamite. He talked about his 25-year career and what AEW was supposed to be. He said Joe and some of the younger guys are ruining it, and he wants to use this opportunity to teach the young guys to do things the right way….[C]
Backstage, Thekla, Julia Hart, and Skye Blue attached some female enhancement talent. They said they were coming for Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander next week on Collision…
4. Ricochet (w/Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona) vs. Ace Austin for the AEW National Championship. The early part of the match was chain wrestling, with Austin getting the better of Ricochet throughout. Ricochet became frustrated and grabbed the bell hammer from ringside. As the referee turned to get rid of the hammer, Kaun tripped up Austin. Austin became distracted, and Ricochet hit him from behind… [C]
After the break, Austin made the hot comeback, and there was a lot of back and forth down the stretch. The finish saw Austin go for the Fold, with Ricochet pulling the referee in the way. Ricochet went for the low blow, but Austin blocked it. Ricochet flipped backward, hit the Spirit Gun, followed by Vertigo for the win…
Ricochet defeated Ace Austin in 10:05 to retain the AEW National Championship.
After the match, FTR attacked Austin. Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn ran out to brawl with FTR and cleared them from the ring… [C]
Don’s Take: Fine for what it was, and it makes sense to start building the National Title. I hope Austin gets more out of his AEW run than we’ve seen so far.
5. Konosuke Takeshita (3) vs. Jon Moxley (3) in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match. Don Callis was not in attendance at this show, so we didn’t have him on commentary. Riccaboni told viewers that they would stick with the match until the tournament time limit (the match began about 49 minutes into the hour). The early part of the match started off even, with Takeshita quickly focusing on Moxley’s ankle. Riccaboni reminded us that Moxley’s ankle was injured during his matches with Kyle O’Reilly, which was a nice touch… [C]
Schiavone mentioned that Moxley had never been pinned or submitted on Collision, which was another nice touch. Moxley hit the stomp on Takeshita on the ring apron. Down the stretch, tons of good back-and-forth action, including Takeshita putting Moxley through the announce table and Moxley hitting a good-looking cutter for a near fall. The finish saw Moxley’s leg give out after all the punishment it had taken. Takeshita hit a running knee to the head for a near fall. Takeshita hit a second running knee with his knee exposed for the win. Takeshita celebrated as Claudio Castagnoli came out to check on Moxley, and Collision quickly went off the air.
Konosuke Takeshita (6) defeated Jon Moxley (3) in 17:29 in a Continental Classic tournament Blue League match to earn three points.
The updated Blue League standings: Konosuke Takeshita (6), Claudio Castagnoli (6), Jon Moxley (3), Mascara Dorada (3), Orange Cassidy (3), and Roderick Strong (0).
Don’s Take: The main event was very good, and man, do they have something with Takeshita. I’d like to say an Okada/Takeshita final is a foregone conclusion, but with all the different story arcs here, I can’t. I love the storytelling that focused on Moxley’s injured leg at the hands of Kyle O’Reilly. I’m curious to see how things play out with the Death Riders racking up the losses.
This was a very good edition of Collision, largely driven by the Continental Classic. AEW needs to find a way to make the other 48 weeks of Collision as interesting and newsworthy as the ones in December usually are. And there was some nice setup for matches over the next few weeks of TV, so a good night all around.
That’s all for me for tonight. Will Pruett’s great weekly audio review of Collision will be available for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). I’ll be back next week for the review of Collision from Cardiff, Wales. Until then!
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