By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Collision (Episode 138)
Taped on April 1, 2026, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at Canada Life Centre
Simulcast April 2, 2026, on TNT and HBO Max
[Hour One] No Collision opening. Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, and Nigel McGuinness checked in on commentary. Arkady Aura was the ring announcer as Jon Moxley was backstage with Pac and Marina Shafir. Moxley made his way to the ring…
1. AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens in an eliminator match. Renee Paquette spoke at ringside about the pressure on Bowens to show a killer instinct. This match was even for the first several minutes, with Bowens holding his own against Moxley. Bowens sent Moxley to the floor after a DDT and clothesline over the top rope. On the floor, Moxley sent Bowens over the ringside barricade, but Bowens was able to pull him over as the two battled into the crowd heading into a commercial. [C]
The two were back in the ring, with Moxley in control. Bowens recovered and traded blows with Moxley. Down the stretch, Bowens continued to hang with Moxley, breaking away from the bulldog choke at one point. Moxley rolled to the floor and threw a chair in frustration. Bowens went to the floor and tried to hit Moxley with the chair twice, but missed. Back in the ring, Bowens hit Moxley with three rolling elbows for a near fall. Moxley turned the pin attempt into a bulldog choke, followed by his Death Rider DDT finisher for the win.
AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley defeated Anthony Bowens in an eliminator match in 15:03.
After the match, Will Ospreay entered the ring to attack Moxley. He was about to attack Moxley with a chair when Shafir, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta pulled Moxley out of the ring. They left the Continental title in the ring. Ospreay took the mic and said they forgot something (referring to the belt) and that it wasn’t personal. He added that when the Death Riders stomp on someone, Moxley usually orders Claudio Castagnoli to do it.
Ospreay said that when he was injured, Moxley pulled the trigger. Ospreay doesn’t care what the explanation is, he just wants Moxley’s neck. He challenged Moxley to an added stipulation at Collision, where the AEW Continental Championship is on the line. This way, there is no interference, and it’s a 20-minute time limit. Ospreay said he could do a lot of damage in 20 minutes and left the belt in the ring for Moxley to pick up…
Don’s Take: This was fine, but did this really need the “eliminator match” label? I guess Bowens has failed his test to join The Opps. I still wonder what happened to the story they were telling with Bowens reuniting with Max Caster. I haven’t seen any reports of Caster being injured, so I find it odd that the story was just scrapped with no explanation. As for the post-match angle with Ospreay, these are effective to build anticipation for Dynasty. Adding the title stipulation was a nice touch.
Backstage, Kazuchika Okada was backstage with Mark Davis and Andrade El Idolo. Okada said Davis had to get revenge on the Rascalz for the injury Kyle Fletcher suffered last week. Okada said Fletcher was his best friend and he cares about him. He asked where Konosuke Takeshita was when Fletcher got injured. He told Davis that he had a better partner than Takeshita in Andrade. He told Andrade that he is a future world champion, but tonight he is fighting for Kyle Fletcher. Okada concluded by saying that he would be watching closely…
2. AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions “The Divine Dominion” Megan Bayne and Lena Kross vs. Ava Lawless and Kristara. This was a squash match. Kristara stopped the first attempt at a Divine Intervention choke slam on Lawless. Bayne and Kross performed their combination dropkick/German suplex on Kristara. They then were able to perform the Divine Intervention on Lawless for the win…
AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions “The Divine Dominion” Megan Bayne and Lena Kross defeated Ava Lawless and Kristara in 2:29.
Don’s Take: Lawless and Kristara are Canadian wrestlers, so it’s nice to see local talent get some exposure tonight.
Jon Moxley was backstage with Marina Shafir and Daniel Garcia. Moxley said he wasn’t surprised that Will Ospreay attacked him, but he was surprised that Ospreay challenged him for the AEW Continental Title. He said with no one allowed at ringside, it’s the purest form of competition. He doesn’t think Ospreay is 100 percent, but he wants Moxley to believe that he is. Moxley said that it’s a hell of a bluff and that he’s all about letting delusional people be delusional. He told Ospreay to expect no mercy and that he doesn’t have to beat Ospreay because Ospreay will beat himself… [C]
“The Hurt Syndicate” Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP were backstage after a long absence. MVP said that Lashley was medically cleared and added that they were looking for new members. He said business was about to pick up and that they would do what they do better than anyone – hurt people…
Don’s Take: Good to see them back, but that came out of nowhere. I’m surprised they didn’t air that on Dynamite.
Willow Nightingale made her entrance for her open challenge, which was accepted by former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida…
3. Willow Nightingale vs. Hikaru Shida for the TBS Championship. The two shook hands to start. The match was even until Nightingale hit the pounce on Shida and sent her to the floor, followed by a cannonball from the apron. [C]
Down the stretch, the action was a bit more even, with Shida attacking Nightingale on the floor and hitting a flying double knee to the chest in the ring for a near fall. Nightingale missed a moon sault, allowing Shida to hit two knee strikes for near falls. In the end, Shida blocked a lariat and battled with Nightingale for control in a backslide. Nightingale won the battle and scored the pin.
Willow Nightingale defeated Hikaru Shida to retain the TBS Championship in 9:32.
After the match, Shida teased hitting Nightingale from behind with the kendo stick before she stopped herself. Nightingale gave her the thumbs up and left the ring. Shida slammed the kendo stick in frustration. [C]
Don’s Take: This was fine and further cements last week’s speculation that Nightingale is going to focus on her singles journey going forward. Good to see Shida back, and I continue to believe that there is a more prominent role for her in the division.
4. AEW Tag Team Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. Mo Jabari and London Lightning in a non-title match. Another squash match. Jabari knocked Harwood and Wheeler down with kicks. Harwood and Wheeler faked being down. Lightning tagged in and went for the pin on Harwood. Harwood kicked out at one. Both Harwood and Wheeler immediately popped up and hit the Shatter Machine and Lightning for the win.
AEW Tag Team Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler defeated Mo Jabari and London Lightning in 2:49.
After the match, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage came out. They took out security in the aisle, trying to stop them. They got to the ring and brawled with FTR. FIT briefly had the upper hand, but Cage low-blowed Harwood and sent him from the ring. Copeland and Cage set up for a conchairto on Wheeler, but Hathaway grabbed the chair from Cage before he could perform the move. Security attacked Copeland and Cage. Cage hit the Killswitch on one, while Copeland hit the spear on the other.
Don’s Take: A simple angle to build some excitement for their showdown at Dynasty. I assume that the plan will be for Copeland and Cage to take the titles at Dynasty and face the Young Bucks in Wembley Stadium at All In. I like that the company is taking the time to close this chapter before moving on to the next showdown. As an aside, Jabari and Lightning are local talents. Jabari was trained by Bret Hart and Lance Storm (according to a quick Google search).
Footage aired that was taped after Dynamite. Lexy Nair was backstage with Jamie Hayter, Alex Windsor, and Mina Shirakawa. Hayter recalled Windsor being the New Japan Strong Champion. Hayter said she was once the AEW Women’s Champion, but the title was taken from her. She said Thekla was small but had a big mouth. Hayter said she beat Thekla once and can do it again at Dynasty…
[Hour Two]
5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Juice Robinson. This was primarily Robinson to start, with Ciampa getting some retaliation in at times. Heading into the break, Robinson hit a dive onto Ciampa on the floor, but Ciampa quickly retaliated by slamming Robinson into the announce table. [C]
Robinson went on a big babyface comeback, scoring several near falls and evading Ciampa’s exposed running knee whenever he would go for it. At one point, Ciampa pulled the referee in front of him, enabling him to hit a back kick low blow on Robinson, followed by a hanging DDT for a near fall. In the end, Robinson went for a DDT, but Ciampa grabbed his arm, took him down, and hit two exposed knee strikes for the win.
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Juice Robinson in 13:55.
Don’s Take: OK, last week it was Ace Austin, and this week it was Juice Robinson. This was good, but let’s get the trifecta over with and have Ciampa beat Austin Gunn so we can move on from this program. Ciampa can do so much more.
Isiah Kassidy cut a backstage promo saying that Jon Moxley is always forcing Private Party to change. This time, they’re changing because Marq Quen is out and Kassidy is all alone. He said he’s ready to swim with the sharks because he’s been downing his whole life. He told Moxley he’ll eat because he’s starving for an opportunity. [C]
Darby Allin was backstage and said Andrade El Idolo is the best version of himself and that he has to go through him to get to MJF. He added that Kenny Omega told him to honor the stipulation. Brody King and Jack Perry entered. King said they took years out of each other’s careers. Perry said Allin set him on fire. King said he wished death on Allin and had his name tattooed on a headstone. Perry said Allin set him on fire. Allin said they all hate the Don Callis Family and could coexist for one night on Dynamite. King and Perry agreed. Allin and King walked off. Perry looked into the camera and said, “He set me on fire”…
6. “The Don Callis Family” Andrade El Idolo and Mark Davis vs. “The Rascalz” Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier. Don Callis joined the commentary team. Davis and El Idolo attacked the Rascalz before the bell for several minutes. The bell rang once all four were back in the ring. Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla for the AEW Women’s Title was made official for Dynasty, while Alex Windsor vs. Marina Shafir was made official for the Dynasty Zero Hour pre-show. Eventually, the Callis Family had a clear advantage over Xavier. [C]
After the break, Xavier made the hot tag to Wentz, who cleaned house. Callis got nervous and left the commentary table, which is something we’ve been calling for during these matches. Down the stretch, the Rascalz went for their Hot Fire Flame finisher on Davis, but he got the knees up. El Idolo pulled Xavier to the floor and hit him with a spinning back elbow. In the ring, Davis hit the piledriver on Wentz and tagged in El Idolo, who hit his DM finisher on Wentz for the win.
“The Don Callis Family” Andrade El Idolo and Mark Davis defeated “The Rascalz” Zachary Wentz and Desmond Xavier in 10:48.
After the match, Davis and El Idolo left the area. Kazuchika Okada came out with Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta and continued to attack the Rascalz. Okada had Xavier set up for the Rain Maker, but Myron Reed broke it up and cleared the ring.
Don’s Take: They ran this back from last week with Andrade taking over for Kyle Fletcher, who was injured in last week’s match. Hopefully, he’s not out for too long, but I continue to enjoy Davis being showcased in these matches even though Andrade got the pin. Given his upcoming match with Darby Allin, that made sense. On the other hand, let’s be careful about jobbing out the Rascalz too many times. They can absorb some losses but can contribute more to the tag team division.
7. Mistico, Kevin Knight, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, David Finlay, and Clark Connors (w/Marina Shafir) in a tornado tag match. All eight started brawling at the bell. Throughout the action, we learned that Chris Jericho will address his future on Dynamite, Willow Nightingale will defend the TBS Title against Queen Aminata, and the match pitting Brody King, Jack Perry, and Darby Allin against “The Don Callis Family” trio of Mark Davis, Andrade El Idolo, and Konosuke Takeshita was made official. It was also announced that Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay will be on the card.
Don’s Take: How was this the first mention of Chris Jericho and his return on Wednesday’s Dynamite? How was there not get a recap video of his return?
There was a dumb babyface spot where Cassidy and Knight tried to do the hands in the pockets spot. That distraction allowed the heels to gain the advantage. The teams brawled into and during the final break of the night. [C]
The heels worked over Cassidy with Strong making the save. Down the stretch, everyone had a chance to shine. Cassidy and Finlay brawled to the back, while Connors and Strong were also out of sight. In the ring, Castagnoli hit the big swing on Mistico, and Yuta met Mistico with a kick to the head. In the end, Mistico was able to lock Castagnoli in La Mistica while Knight hit the UFO splash on Yuta for the win.
Mistico, Kevin Knight, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, David Finlay, and Clark Connors in a tornado tag match in 15:05.
The babyfaces celebrated as the show went off the air…
Don’s Take: This wasn’t billed as an “All Star” eight-man tag, but it might as well have been. A good, crowd-pleasing match with tons of spots to send the fans home happy.
This was a good edition of Collison that combined matches with some storyline developments as we build to Dynasty. I still am surprised by the random Hurt Syndicate promo with no fanfare and the lack of a Chris Jericho return recap.
That’s all for me for tonight. Will Pruett’s review of tonight’s episode will be available exclusively for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). I’ll be back next Saturday for another edition of the show. Until then, enjoy wrestling!
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