AEW Collision is live tonight from Alliant Energy Power House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Three matches were announced ahead of time for the show.
Kazuchika Okada will defend the AEW International Championship against Kevin Knight. Knight defeated Okada in last year’s Continental Classic. They are 1-1 against each other in singles matches, as Okada defeated Knight on the May 7, 2025 AEW Dynamite.
An AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship match is also scheduled, with Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) defending against the former champions, Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron). Divine Dominion defeated Babes of Wrath for the titles two weeks ago at AEW Revolution.
In singles action, Tommaso Ciampa will face Ace Austin of the Bang Bang Gang. Ciampa is 4-2 in AEW singles matches since debuting in January. Austin is 1-4 in AEW singles matches since his debut in August.
Live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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The Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron) vs. Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne & Lena Kross) for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship
Nightingale and Bayne started the match, attempted to overpower each other. Nightingale was knocked down with a shoulder tackle but cartwheeled out of an Irish whip into a back suplex on Bayne. That was a great spot. Cameron and Nightingale exchanged fast tags, switching up the offence a lot in the first few minutes of the match, including Cameron hitting a shining wizard and crossbody before tagging out. Nightingale was pulled from the ring and Kross hit an electric chair drop onto the apron on Nightingale.
Bayne went for a tope suicida to the floor, but got caught on the middle ropes and faceplanted on the floor. That had to suck. She recovered quickly and sent Nightingale into the guardrail and Kross continued to beat on Nightingale as they went to the ad break on TNT. Bayne and Kross kept the heat up for a bit, and every time Nightingale started to make her comeback, they beat her down more. Classic heat segment here, in that regard, including Nightingale following the Ricky Steamboat rule.
Nightingale ate a German suplex from Bayne and was attacked in the corner again, but ducked under a lariat from Kross, rolled to her corner, and tagged in Cameron, who hit a series of moves ending with a flying lariat on Kross, then locked on a half crab. Bayne broke it up, but Nightingale came in to cut Bayne off. The Babes of Wrath both tried crossbodies on their respective opponents, but Kross and Bayne caught them, slammed them into each other, and then hit fall away slams.
Nightingale tagged back in and began hitting a series of German suplexes on both women before being stopped by Kross. Kross missed a corner charge and hit a lariat that dropped Bayne on her head. That looked scary. Bayne has had two rough bumps in this match. Cameron tagged in and hopped on Nightingale’s back like a backpack and Nightingale hit a senton on Bayne for a 2-count. Bayne tried to hit a fallaway slam off the middle ropes, but Bayne was fighting it off. Kross came in to attempt to break it up, but Nightingale hit Kross with the pounce and Cameron hit the half crab. Cameron and Nightingale locked in stereo half crabs and it forced Bayne and Kross to the ropes.
Kross sent Nightingale into the ring post, and soon Cameron ate a running kick and German suplex combo before being hit with the Divine Intervention (an elevated double team spinebuster or bomb of sorts), for the pinfall.
Result: Divine Dominion defeated Babes of Wrath to retain
This was a very good tag match as Divine Dominion is put over strong.
–Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor were backstage, and talked about how Thekla seemed to have a lot unresolved aggression issues, as she used brass knuckles against Mina Shirakawa. Shirakawa then came on screen and admitted that she was going to do everything she could to get back to a title shot against Thekla, and she was going to find out who took out Toni Storm. Windsor and Hayter said they didn’t give a… well, a cuss word, who they had to fight. Shirakawa’s eyes went wide and looked shocked at this cussing. That was funny. Good promo from all 3 here.
Myron Reed (w/ Dezmond Xavier & Zachery Wentz) vs. Johnny TV (w/ Mansoor & Mason Madden)
Reed and TV exchanged some quick moves early on, countering each other by flipping back out of suplexes until TV could hit the Moonlight Drive, but Reed kicked out, hit an enziguri, and then a slingshot into a leg drop on TV. Reed hit a superkick but missed a springboard attack. TV hit a strange Alabama slam type move, but he flipped into it, and it almost looked liek he took a Canadian Destroyer. TV tried to hit Starship Pain, but Reed moved. Reed ducked under a lariat but falling backward and nipping up before hitting a cutter and then a springboard 450 splash for the win.
Result: Myron Reed defeated Johnny TV
This was about as perfect a short match you could get, with lots of action, and a showcase for Reed.
–The Death Riders were backstage, and Garcia was calling out Private Party, saying he has changed a lot since they started to take a year long vacation, and he was not the same wrestler he was when they last were with each other. Moxley said that Private Party walked the same, talked the same, and sure partied the same, but he wasn’t sure if they were ready to work, and that they would have to earn every single second of offence in their match, and they were swimming with real sharks tonight. Jon Moxley rules. That promo was so great.
–Private Party as backstage with Lexy Nair to respond, but the video feed cut out a little bit on MyAEW for a second, and we missed part of it as they talked about Garcia. That was ironic, given Moxley’s promo. They promised to bring their best to the fight.
The Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia) (w/ Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
As the Death Riders made their way to the ring, Garcia continued his promo against Private Party saying that something had to change for them and that tonight, he and Moxley were going to change them. As Private Party made their entrance, The Death Riders were doing pushups on the floor to warm up.
Garcia took down Kassidy and started wiping his feet in the direction of Kassidy, lightly kicking him in the process. Kassidy did not like this. Garcia ate two armdrags from Kassidy, but dodged the third and slapped Kassidy. Kassidy then got angry and started throwing punches, so Garcia chopped Kassidy in the throat and tagged in Moxley to a pop from the crowd.
Moxley tried to get the fight out of Kassidy, begging Kassidy to hit him. Moxley ate a few chops and a few forearms before dropping Kassidy with a forearm smash. Quen tagged in and attempted to use his own body as a launching pad for Kassidy to attack Moxley, but Moxley hopped over Quen and took out Kassidy with a lariat. Garcia then pulled Quen to the floor and threw him into the barricade, and the beatings truly began.
Garcia hit 9 punches in the corner and teased doing his dance, but didn’t and hopped down to boos from the crowd. As the referee was looking at Kassidy, Moxley came behind Quen and started choking him out with a rear naked choke, which popped the crowd. Garcia was screaming “Fight back! Fight back!” as they continued to beat on him. Quen managed to hit a spinning enziguri on Moxley before tagging out to Kassidy.
Kassidy ran wild, hitting a senton bomb on Garcia, referencing his mentorship from the Hardy Boys, for a 2-count. Kassidy hit a Canadian Destroyer off the ropes and then Private Party hit the Silly String on Moxley before hitting a double team cutter on Garcia, and Quen hit a top con giro on Moxley. Garcia got hit with a 450 splash from Kassidy, but Kassidy basically landed with his knees right on the chest of Garcia. Ouch. Garcia kicked out.
Garcia raked the eyes of Quen as he put Garcia up in the electric chair and Garcia sent Quen to the floor for Quen to get laid out by a huge European Uppercut from Claudio Castagnoli. Garcia tried for a Dragon Tamer, but Kassidy countered into a pinfall attempt. Garcia kicked out and hit a spike piledriver for a 2-count. Moxley then gave instructions for Garcia to finish the job, so he started throwing hammer fists on Kassidy before locking in the Dragon Tamer for the submission.
Result: The Death Riders defeated Private Party
This was an excellent match. Moxley and Garcia went out of their way to try and make Private Party look good, while still being firmly in control until the finish. This is why Jon Moxley is the ace of AEW. Excellent stuff.
–The Demand were backstage talking about Kenny Omega, and talking about Jack Perry. Ricochet had a theory that Kenny Omega used his power to get Ricochet in that battle royal where he lost his title to Jack Perry, but he promised he, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun were going to take them out before Omega even has a chance to get to MJF at Dynasty.
The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter) & Mina Shirakawa vs. Nixi Xs, Aminah Belmont, & Haven Harris
Windsor hit a lariat on Xs immediately while Shirakawa and Hayter took out Belmont and Harris. Hayter and Windsor hit the Two Birds, One Stone on Xs while Shirakawa locked on a figure four lock for the submission win.
Result: The Brawling Birds & Mina Shirakawa defeated Nixi Xs, Aminah Belmont, & Haven Harris
–After the match Windsor and Hayter assured Shirakawa that they were not the ones to attack Toni Storm, and said they had a common enemy in Thekla and the Sisters of Sin. Thekla came out through the crowd and said that none of them could handle Thekla, Blue, or Hart, and if they tried to fight them again, they would end up like Toni Storm. Shirakawa grabbed a mic and challenged them to a six-woman tag match.
–The Don Callis family were backstage with Lexy Nair, and Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis, and Kazuchika Okada were the ones there. Nair wanted to know about their attack on Darby Allin on Dynamite at MJF’s direction, and Fletcher reiterated that while he enjoyed Davis piledriving Allin in the ramp, but did not think they should be partnering with MJF, and instead trying to take the world title from him.
Okada said that he saw what Fletcher said with Takeshtia on Dynamite (making a fake teary face), but reminded Fletcher that they were the leaders of the Don Callis family, and they were going to be world champions again because Okada believed in Fletcher. Fletcher agreed, and said that after they were done with getting their trios titles back, and done with The Rascalz tonight, he was going to go after MJF. Excellent promo segment here that advances a few key stories for Fletcher, Okada, and Takeshita.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ace Austin
This match had no story going into it, except that it would be a great match between a younger star and a great veteran like Tommaso Ciampa. There was a lot of back and forth action before they went to an ad break and came back as Austin hit a powerbomb on Ciampa. Austin and Ciampa tried to suplex each other multiple times but kept countering each other until Ciampa hit Project Ciampa for a 2-count.
Ciampa hit a running knee on Austin as he was on the apron, which gave Austin enough time to recover and hit a stomp to Ciampa. Ciampa manged to hit the Psycho Driver on Austin for a 2-count, and Ciampa started chopping him, but Austin fired up and hit chops of his own. Austin hit some short arm lariats and a spinning kick to Ciampa, who went limp. Austin deadlifted Ciampa and hit a Death Valley Driver into the corner before going for The Fold, but Ciampa hit a belly-to-belly suplex into the corner and hit the killshot running knee for the pinfall.
Result: Tommaso Ciampa defeated Ace Austin
–The Rascalz were backstage celebrating Myron Reed’s win and saying they were going to move up the ladder tonight when they beat The Don Callis Family. Dezmond Xavier struggled with basic math. That was funny.
–The Babes of Wrath were backstage, recovering well from their loss, insisting that they are still a tag team, but it might be time for them to focus on singles action for a bit, with Nightingale defending her TBS title. They will always have each other’s back, but for now, they are going to try going their own way. This was a decent way to move them away from the tag division for now, while having them remain as allies that are going to help each other as needed in their singles feuds.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier) (w/ Myron Reed)
Wentz hit a huge hurricanrana on Fletcher, who proved to be a good base for the smaller Wentz in the early part of this match. Xavier and Wentz exchanged a fast tag and a few double team moves on Fletcher. Davis tagged in but found himself on the other end of bronco buster soon thereafter. Davis cartwheeled out of an Irish whip to hit an enziguri on Xavier, and then hit a double team move where he fireman’s carried Xavier and launched him into a kick by Fletcher. Aussie Open proves they have not lost their tag team ability, as they used their superior size to dominate Wentz and Xavier as they went to break on TNT.
Wentz hit a blockbuster on Fletcher as they came back from break and Xavier tagged in and hit a Whisper in the Wind on Fletcher before hitting a superkick to the kneeling Davis. Xavier hit a handspring kick into Davis, but as both men got him, Davis hit a flying kick on Xavier and forearmed Wentz from the apron. Xavier hit a knee to Davis, but Davis responded with a dead lift piledriver for the pinfall. Seems like they got a little lost there at the end, but nonetheless, a decent tag match.
Result: Aussie Open defeated The Rascalz
–A promo from MLP/ROH Global War, with Ricochet and Don Callis aired, as he and Rich Swann won their match. Callis said that he would cut Ricochet into his MJF bounty money if he takes out Kenny Omega in the trios match on Dynamite with The Demand vs. Kenny Omega, Jack Perry, and Brody King.
–Kevin Knight was backstage with Lexy Nair, and he talked about how he was going to take advantage of this opportunity, noting that he beat Okada in the C2, and that he had MJF down for 13 seconds, even though the referee didn’t see it. Knight claimed he wasn’t being cocky, and he was going to keep proving he had Okada’s number. Great promo from Knight here.
–Jon Moxley and the Death Riders were backstage again, and Moxley noted that a lot of people were asking about Will Ospreay as if he should feel bad about what they did to him when he got injured. Moxley noted that no doctor would clear him, so they had an unsancationed cage match, and Moxley was not one to let someone off the hook from facing the consequences of their actions. He walked into the match with a broken neck, and Moxley made sure he faced that consequence, and when PAC faced him on Dynamite, the consequences would continue, as this was a cold game. Another phenomenal promo.
Kevin Knight vs. Kazuchika Okada for the AEW International Championship
Knight and Okada started slow, exchanging technical wrestling holds. Knight went for a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, but Okada ducked under, let Knight float over him, and then hit a DDT on Knight as he turned around. That was great. Okada sent Knight back into the ring and arrogantly kicked Knight, challenging him to stand up. Knight got angry, and Okada smiled, inviting him to chop him, and Knight complied. Okada ate the chops and followed up with some hard European uppercuts.
Knight bounced out of the corner with a lariat and then hit a flying lariat after leaping over Okada. Knight slammed Okada hit a standing UFO splash for a 2-count, and Okada rolled to the floor to get away. Knight then missed a pescado, but Knight adjusted in midair, landed on the apron, and followed Okada around as he walked away, hitting a pescado over the corner of the ring to the floor. Knight brought Okada back into the ring, and Nigel McGuinness noted that Okada usually let his opponents expend energy trying to use their best stuff on Okada, and when they are vulnerable, he pounces. Okada then hit a flapjack right after that as Knight hit the ropes, and as he wasn’t even breathing hard, he hit a DDT and flipped off the crowd.
Knight leapfrogged a Rainmaker attempt and then hit a dropkick on Okada, which was fantastic. Knight started stomping on Okada in the corner and Okada shoved Knight away, but Knight hit a series of lariats and countered a Rainmaker attempt with a DDT for a 2-count. Knight hit a giant springboard lariat to the floor on Okada. Knight hit a second springboard lariat on Okada when they came back into the ring for a incredibly close 2-count.
Knight put Okada on the top rope and Knight attempted a superplex, but Okada blocked it. Okada shoved Knight off the ropes, but Knight landed on his feet and did a vertical leap back onto the top rope before going for a top rope superplex, but Okada shoved him off again, and Knight did a back flip, landed on his feet, rolled backwards, and then ran and hit a leaping hurricanrana on Okada who was still on the top rope. That was awesome.
Knight then hit a coast to coast dropkick on Okada for another near fall. Okada immediately started selling his shoulder, as that took most of the damage from Knight. Knight went to teh top rope and Okada slowly tried rolling away, but Knight decided to go for it anyway, and jumped across the ring with a UFO splash, but Okada got the knees up and went for a Rainmaker, but Knight countered into a pinfall attempt for a 2-count. Knight did a second pinfall attempt, but Okada kicked out again. Knight tried to cradle Knight again, but Okada countered into a pinfall and held the ropes for leverage to finally pin Knight.
Result: Kazuchika Okada defeated Kevin Knight
What a fantastic finish, as the fans in the front row were screaming at the referee for missing Okada grabbing the ropes, and Bryce Remsburg looked shocked at their reaction, and screamed at even more as Okada’s hand was raised and Knight looked disappointed. That was real heat on Okada there, and Knight looked like an absolute star in losing. Excellent main event match with a good finish that actually put heat on the heel.
Final Thoughts
Not many of the matches were in doubt here tonight, but I admit that Knight and Okada got me to believe for a split second that Knight had it. Excellent main event on a good show, with some tremendous Jon Moxley promo work, and a fantastic main event that shows how good Okada is at making others look good. Knight absolutely held his own, and this match will help elevate him further if Tony Khan can capitalize on it. Knight looked totally at home in the main event, and I would argue this match was almost better than their C2 match (minus the incredible Okada dropkick spot on Knight when he went for the coast to coast in the first one). Highly recommend it. Knight and Okada have to wrestle again at some point in a rubber match. Excellent stuff.
