By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Collision (Episode 143 – “Fairway to Hell”)
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, at SoFi Center
Simulcast May 9, 2026, on TNT and HBO Max
Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness checked in on commentary and ran down the evening’s lineup. Arkady Aura was the ring announcer and introduced the opening match…
Don’s Take: The venue looks great, as it’s an actual indoor golf center, so the ring was surrounded by green. Well done.
1. Jack Perry vs. Mark Davis (w/Don Callis) for the AEW National Championship. Renee Paquette previewed the match from ringside before the bell. Don Callis joined the commentary team. The story of this match was Perry using speed, while Davis used brute force. Davis controlled most of the opening minutes of the match, attacking Perry on the floor and knocking him off the apron with a shoulder tackle. [C]
Perry slowly mounted a comeback, with a sunset flip into a powerbomb off the top rope, followed by a hurricanrana from the second rope to the floor. Davis retaliated with a lariat. Perry regained the advantage and hit Davis with a hurricanrana from the second rope. Callis left the broadcast table, climbed the apron, and distracted the referee. This allowed Ricochet to hit Perry in the back with a golf club. Davis hit his piledriver finisher for the win and the title.
Mark Davis defeated Jack Perry in 14:21 to win the AEW National Championship.
Callis shook hands with Ricochet, as Davis celebrated with the title…
Don’s Take: This wasn’t as good as Perry’s match last week with Mascara Dorada, but I enjoyed it. And, I couldn’t be happier for Mark Davis. While the National Championship is one of many titles, this is a testament to the work he’s been putting in and the investment the company is making in him. In this case, the title elevates the talent, and in time, he could be on to elevate that particular title.
A video spotlighted Nick Wayne, who will be participating in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual “Best of the Super Juniors” tournament…
Renee Paquette spoke from ringside and announced that Will Ospreay has been medically cleared for action and will face Ace Austin on this week’s Dynamite. [C]
Jack Perry cut a backstage promo and said that winning the National Championship was one of the greatest moments of his life, and that Don Callis and Ricochet took that away from him. He added that Chris Jericho and the Hurt Syndicate were looking for two more partners for Stadium Stampede at Double or Nothing. He said that since the show was Double or Nothing, he would bring four partners in the Elite, which would be Perry, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega…
Don’s Take: I guess that means it’s seven-on-seven now. That’ll be enjoyable, but it will definitely be a tough one to keep track of.
Renee Paquette was backstage with the new AEW National Champion, Mark Davis, along with Don Callis and Ricochet. Paquette asked Callis for his reaction to what Jack Perry just said. Callis said Perry was a dumb ass for gifting him the chance to take care of Jericho, Perry, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega all in one night. He told Ricochet that Davis would join the team, and then said they would go get a drink to decide what other members of the Don Callis Family would participate in the match…
2. AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Megan Bayne and Lena Kross vs. Ruthie Slay and Rachel Ley in a five-minute Eliminator Challenge. Before the match, Bayne and Kross cut a picture-in-picture promo explaining the concept of the challenge. Basically, if any team can last five minutes with them, they will receive a title shot. They don’t have to beat them, just last the five minutes. This was a complete squash, with Bayne and Kross hitting their Divine Intervention double choke slam finisher on Slay for the win…
AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Megan Bayne and Lena Kross defeated Ruthie Slay and Rachel Ley in 2:17.
A video spotlighted recent events involving Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander, Jamie Hayter, and AEW Women’s World Champion, Thekla. It was announced that the four will meet in a four-way title match at Double or Nothing…
Don’s Take: I like the five-minute challenge as a hook, as it will be fun to see teams try to beat the clock, though there was no mystery here. As you know, I’m not a fan of multi-person title matches, but with the lack of a credible challenger for Thekla, this is fine.
Tony Schiavone announced that the men’s and women’s brackets for the annual Owen Hart Foundation tournaments will be announced on Dynamite… [C]
Don Callis cut a backstage promo and said that the Don Callis Family would take the AEW World Championship from either Darby Allin or Pac on Dynamite. He announced that Kazuchika Okada had to go to Japan to tend to family business and that Konosuke Takeshita would take Okada’s place in the title match on Wednesday. Callis said that Takeshita will win if he follows Callis’ game plan and that Takeshita is the best wrestler in the world when he listens to Callis. Takeshita said he will win the International Title at Double or Nothing and will win the World Title on Dynamite, unlike Okada…
A video spotlighted Kyle O’Reilly and the Conglomeration. It was announced that Orange Cassidy will join the Young Bucks, Christian Cage, and Adam Copeland to face FTR, The Dogs, and Tommaso Ciampa in a 10-man tag…
3. “Speedball” Mike Bailey (w/Kevin Knight) vs. Kiran Grey. Grey got in a couple of hope spots, but Bailey hit him with his Ultima Weapon finisher, which is double knees to the back off the top rope, for the win.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Kiran Grey in 1:51.
After the match, Knight took the mic and said Bailey was hot, and although Knight didn’t win the World Title, he is still the king of TNT. He said he and Bailey would climb to the top together.
Don’s Take: I look forward to this team imploding and feuding over the TNT Title. Those matches should be excellent.
A video previewed the history between Darby Allin and Pac…
4. Darby Allin vs. Pac for the AEW World Championship. The two started brawling on the green, which was a cool visual. Allin hit a Destroyer into the sand trap, as well as a running drop kick into a second sand trap. Pac hit a release belly-to-belly suplex into the sand trap and locked in the Brutalizer. Pac followed up with a gorilla press slam into the sand trap. [C]
Don’s Take: This is fun, but isn’t the referee supposed to count?
The two made it back to the ring. Pac hit a Falcon’s Arrow from the top rope for a near fall. The action spilled to the outside, where Pac set Allin up on a table, but missed a reverse moonsault. In the ring, Allin locked in the Scorpion Death Lock, but Pac made it to the ropes.
Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia came out carrying a table, which distracted Allin and allowed Pac to regain the advantage. Pac hit a tombstone piledriver on the ringside steps, as Yuta and Garcia stacked up several tables. Pac carried Allin to the back. [C]
Back from the break, the two are fighting on the balcony above the stack of tables. Marina Shafir appears on the balcony to distract the referee, allowing Pac to low-blow Allin and throw him off the balcony through the tables. Pac carries Allin back to the ring for the pin, and Allin kicks out to a loud pop.
Yuta and Garcia distract the referee, and Shafir slides in the AEW Title. Pac goes to hit Allin with the belt, but Allin pops up, kicks Pac in the balls, hits him with the belt, and hits the Coffin Drop from the top rope for the win.
Darby Allin defeated Pac in 20:17 to retain the AEW World Championship.
The Death Riders helped Pac to the back, while the referee helped Allin to his feet as the show came to an end…
Don’s Take: OK, where do I start? This was wild, and the live crowd loved it. And I’ll admit that I enjoyed the big spots in the match. But the following may be unpopular with the die-hards, as several things in this match took me out of the moment. I’m probably not the right audience, so I’ll say that up front. First, there was the loose interpretation of the rules, notably, the long sequence when they’re fighting on the green and the referee isn’t counting. I recognize WWE is guilty of this as well, so it’s an industry problem I’d like them to address.
Second, and more importantly, was the lack of selling. Allin takes a tombstone on the steps and a dive from the balcony through about five tables, and he bounces up in the ring. I’m sorry, that doesn’t help to suspend my disbelief. Again, I’m likely in the minority.
Third, and this is something that’s been said by others, I know Allin is a trained stuntman, but at this pace, this guy is going to end up severely injured sooner rather than later. Have a look at Mick Foley. All of those years of bumps and high spots have reduced his quality of life in later years. I know that Darby is going to do what he does, but man, I’d love him to space these crazy spots out and not do them in every match. They will be more impactful when he does them and will potentially add years to his career, with a better quality of life when he hangs up the tights and boots.
This was a very newsworthy hour of wrestling, with a new champion crowned, a wild main event, and several developments for Dynamite and Double or Nothing. I love the venue and would like to see them return.
That’s all for me for tonight. Will Pruett’s review of tonight’s episode will be available for Dot Net Members (including Patreon patrons). I’ll also be back next week for another review. Until then, enjoy wrestling!
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