Tonight’s 100th episode of AEW Collision from Ontario, California, will feature former AEW Tag Team Champions FTR taking on The Outrunners as a featured bout.
In another featured match, former TNT Champion Daniel Garcia battles Kyle Fletcher in a rematch from last year’s Continental Classic. Current champion Adam Cole will also be on the show, celebrating his birthday.
In another eight-woman tag, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena teams with Megan Bayne, Thekla and Julia Hart to take on Thunder Rosa, Tay Melo, Anna Jay and Queen Aminata.
In a singles challenge turned three-way, Shelton Benjamin will take on Kevin Knight and ROH TV Champion Nick Wayne.
Mistico will team with Hologram and Mark Briscoe against Rocky Romero, Hechicero and Trent Beretta of the Don Callis Family.
Willow Nightingale will take on Vipress while Max Caster will host another open challenge to round out the broadcast.
Our coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.
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Adam Cole opened the show, making his way down to the ring to hype up the crowd. Cole introduced the 100th episode of Collision and he thanked the fans for their support, saying he is proud to represent TNT as the TNT Champion, and that he is optimistic for the future of AEW. Cole promised to hold onto the championship for the future into 2026, and he was interrupted by Kyle Fletcher.
Fletcher claimed that the future of the company belonged to him, and said he was going to take the TNT title from Cole. Fletcher reminded Cole that he and MJF beat Aussie Open at All In 2023 when they won the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Fletcher said that he was not the same wrestler he was back then, and this time, when they faced off at All In, he wanted a match with Cole, and he was going to win the TNT Championship.
Daniel Garcia came out and pointed out that he is the future of AEW, not Fletcher, and that when he sees Adam Cole in the ring, he is distracted and tempted to look past Fletcher, because he wants the TNT Championship back.
Cole responded that he would give Garcia a chance anytime he wanted, and that Fletcher needed the help of the Don Callis family to survive the last time they were in the ring. Cole said that as he was a fighting champion and he would fight them both. Fletcher protested, pointing out that he beat Garcia in the Continental Classic last year when Garcia was TNT Champion and never got a shot, so he deserves the shot one-on-one. Garcia responded that he didn’t want the title shot as a reward, but that he wanted to earn it, while reminding people that he may lose, but he always gets back up, so he wanted to make his match with Fletcher tonight a chance at a title shot. Cole agreed.
–A hype video aired for Toni Storm and Mercedes Mone that was incredible. Storm talked about how not everything in life was worth fighting over, but sometimes you find that one thing that is worth losing blood over, and for Storm, it is the AEW Women’s World Championship. She said that the match at All In would not be pretty, and it would be a fight that might discourage girls from becoming wrestlers because it was so violent. She also said that there were two types of people in wrestling – the egotistical, greedy, selfish people that want it all, and the people that take them down. Excellent video.
Shelton Benjamin (w/ MVP) vs. Nick Wayne (w/ Mother Wayne & Kip Sabian) vs. Kevin Knight (w/ Mike Bailey)
Benjamin spent the early part of the match throwing Wayne and Knight around the ring until Knight cradled Benjamin as he ran at him, but he kicked out. Wayne and Knight dropkicked Benjamin from the ring, and Wayne hit a flying uppercut on Knight before going after the ribs in the corner. Wayne walked backwards into Benjamin and realized he was in trouble, as Benjamin suplexed him and then tossed Wayne to the floor.
Benjamin slammed Wayne on the floor, as Mother Wayne looked on concerned. Wayne escaped Benjamin and locked Knight in a chinlock back in the ring. Knight hit the ropes, Wayne dropped down, and Benjamin came in and popped Knight up into the air for him to crash down to the mat. Benjamin hit a tilt-a-whirl slam on Wayne, and Knight flew off the ropes into a sunset flip on Benjamin, but Wayne broke it with a crucifix on Knight and Knight kicked out. Both Wayne and Knight then superkicked Benjamin, sending him back into the corner.
Knight sent Wayne across the ring into the arms of Benjamin who powerbombed Wayne into Knight, hit a German suplex on Wayne, and another on Knight. Benjamin then started several German suplexes on both men, throwing people around like they weighed nothing, hitting flying knees on both men. Knight low bridged Benjamin and Wayne flew over Knight with a tope con giro onto Benjamin which Knight followed with a springboard clothesline on both men.
Wayne bit a code red back in the ring on Knight for a 2-count. Knight hit a dropkick on Wayne for a 2-count. Benjamin ducked under a Knight attack, locking on an ankle lock. Nick Wayne hit a superkick on Benjamin, then Wayne’s World. As he went for the pin, Knight flew off the ropes with a UFO splash onto Wayne and Benjamin to pin Benjamin for the win.
Match Result: Kevin Knight
Excellent match from these guys, though the heat was not very high for it. Of course, it wouldn’t be given the beating Knight and Bailey took on Dynamite making people believe that they did not stand a chance here. Thankfully, they gave Knight the win, clean as a sheet, which adds at least a little doubt about the Hurt Syndicate winning at All In.
–The Death Riders were walking out of the building after Dynamite, refusing an interview until Claudio Castagnoli stopped and turned to the camera, saying he was getting sick of the Opps, and how he, Yuta, and a partner were coming for their AEW Trios Championships at All In. Solid promo. Who will their partner be, given PAC is out injured?
The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe & Hologram) & Mistico vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) & Hechicero
Mistico got a superstar reaction coming out, which always makes me smile. Mistico and Romero started the match, with Mistico hitting a lucha arm drag on Romero before tagging out to Briscoe, who hit a series of chops and strikes with his redneck kung fu. Hologram handed Briscoe a chair and Briscoe went for a dive to the floor off the chair, but Beretta shoved the chair out of the way and then hit a drop toe hold onto the chair on Briscoe as the referee’s back was turned.
The heels got the heat on Briscoe for the next few minutes. When they came back from the break Hologram was hitting a headscissors takedown on Hechicero. RPG Vice tried to hit a double team move but only succeeded in swinging Hologram backwards around Beretta leading into a poisonrana of sorts. It took all three men of the Don Callis Family to stop Hologram, with Romero hitting a flying knee on Hologram who was draped on the ropes, and a running knee from Beretta. Hechicero flipped Hologram into the air into an armbar, but Briscoe broke it up.
Romero celebrated hitting a kick on Mistico, but ate a monkey flip from Hologram. Beretta floored Hologram, and it left Briscoe in the ring with Beretta, who was quickly dumped to the floor. Briscoe hit a flip dive off the apron on Romero before setting up two chairs with Hologram and hitting stereo tope con giro as Mistico hit La Mistica on Romero for the finish.
Match Result: Mark Briscoe, Hologram, & Mistico
–MJF and MVP appeared on the screen, and MVP said that while Briscoe wanted to chat one-on-one, MJF doesn’t chat without his crew with him, and that Mistico has no chance of coming up for the Casino Gauntlet Match as MJF was going to beat Briscoe before anyone else could make their entrance.
–Swerve Stricktland, Anna Jay, and AEW were present for a NASCAR race, and showed the stars hanging out with the pit crews and drivers, promoting the event, while they also promoted AEW. This was cool! AEW stars are frequently at sports events and almost never show it, so this was a win. Show this stuff more often, as it makes the wrestlers look like huge stars.
–Max Caster was in the ring for his open challenge, and they started to chant his chant. Caster claimed they were making funny of him, so they should chant “This crowd sucks!” The crowd then chanted “This crowd sucks!” which was hilarious. They put a 5 minute timer on the video awaiting the challenger. They showed Scorpio Sky training with Christopher Daniels as his coach, and Top Flight as his trainees, to a great reaction from his hometown crowd.
Max Caster vs. Scorpio Sky (w/ Christopher Daniels)
Caster jumped Sky to start the match, but it was less than 15 seconds before Sky turned it around, hit a TKO, and pinned Caster as the fans were chanting “Welcome back!” at him.
Match Result: Scorpio Sky
It is really great to see Scorpio Sky back. I had been wondering where he was, and he looked in incredible shape here.
–Ricochet was with Lexy Nair and he refused to expose what he was talking about with the Gates of Agony last week, saying that actions speak louder than words, and led the camera back to a laid out Blake Christian and Lee Johnson, who were destroyed by the Gates of Agony. It seems Ricochet has found his crew, and it wasn’t Christian and Johnson, but Ricochet did say they have to earn his respect.
Willow Nightingale vs. Viperess
Nigel McGuinness said that it is impossible to hate Nightingale, saying he tried his best, but failed. That was a great line. Kris Statlander was shown watching the match backstage while Wheeler Yuta walked up, and Statlander insisted that she did not need Yuta’s help as Nightingale hit a pounce on Viperess and a powerbomb for the pinfall.
Match Result: Willow Nightingale
–Renee Paquette walked up to Anthony Bowens backstage, saying that his match did not go as he wanted, and before he could talk, Billy Gunn walked up and said that he wasn’t out there because he believed that Bowens didn’t want him there. The division between them seemingly mended when Bowens said he wanted results now, and Gunn said that he just needed to trust in him, and they would get through this.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (w/ Stokley Hathaway) vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
McGuinness claimed Turbo Floyd was one of the Garbage Pail Kids, with another gem of a line. The Outrunners and FTR broke down into a brawl early on, with The Outrunners sending FTR to the floor. Hathaway started shouting at Tony Schiavone in response to this, which caused Schiavone to exclaim, “You’re trouble!” I love Tony Schiavone. Truth Magnum hit an old school headscissors takedown on Cash Wheeler before Wheeler tagged out to Harwood.
As Harwood beat on Floyd, FTR pulled some old school tag team tactics with the abdominal stretch and holding each other’s hands, and switching partners behind the referee’s back. As the referee turned around, he saw Wheeler in the ring, who is noticeably not bald, so twin magic did not work here, and the referee demanded Wheeler leave the ring. That was hilarious. Floyd managed to tag out after reversing a suplex by Wheeler. Wheeler stopped the SOB Elbow and they took Floyd to the floor, smashing his leg between the ring steps and the post.
Harwood punched Truth Magnum right between the eyes, and he started bleeding just above the bridge of his nose. Wheeler hit a knee breaker on the ring steps on Floyd as Magnum was bleeding everywhere in the ring thanks to Harwood. Harwood hit a brainbuster and tagged out to Wheeler. Magnum dodged a dropkick in the corner from Wheeler, kicked Harwood as he went for back body drop, and almost made the tag, but Wheeler pulled Floyd from the apron preventing the tag.
FTR hit a double team DDT on Magnum, and Wheeler put his foot on Magnum’s chest for a pinfall attempt, but Magnum kicked out and fought off a superplex attempt in the corner. Harwood blocked him from a tag, and both men hit clotheslines as Magnum fought out of the corner and were down. Wheeler pulled Floyd from the apron again, but Floyd hit a strike on Harwood, letting Magnum roll him up for a 2-count. FTR then hit a powerbomb into a neckbreaker for a 2-count, and Harwood missed a Harley Race style headbutt and Magnum finally got the tag.
Floyd came in and had trouble bodyslaming Harwood, but hit a lariat and a bodyslam after great effort. The SOB elbow saw them both able to stand and they hit it on Wheeler for a 2-count as the fans started to go nuts. Wheeler hit a dragon screw leg whip on Floyd, leading to Floyd being on the apron. Floyd hit a sunset flip on Wheeler, but Wheeler kicked out. The Outrunners hit the Shatter Machine and almost got the win, but Harwood barely made the save. Wheeler floated over the back of Floyd and Floyd turned into a Shatter Machine for the pinfall, as the camera showed Hathaway holding the foot of Magnum, preventing him from making the save.
Match Result: FTR
This was an incredible tag team match. Both teams work together well, and just know what to do to tell a compelling story throughout the match. All 4 guys worked very hard, and FTR gave The Outrunners everything before beating them, including an excuse for the loss. While I think it might have been a good call to have The Outrunners go over here, I don’t think this loss hurt them. That said, being the team that comes close and always loses is no way for them to stay over long term. They need to do something with these guys, and it felt like they were heating back up here in this match, so I hope AEW takes advantage of it.
TayJay (Anna Jay & Tay Melo), Queen Aminata, & Thunder Rosa vs. Julia Hart, Megan Bayne, Athena, & Thekla (w/ Penelope Ford)
Thekla started the match with Aminata, hitting a headscissors and a strike. Aminata hit a slap that rocked Thekla, who smiled and tagged out to Julia Hart. Hart did not last long before Rosa and Bayne ended up in the ring, with Rosa hitting a dropkick that didn’t even move Bayne. Bayne dumped Rosa into the corner, hit a chop, and missed a corner charge. Rosa hit a dropkick from the top rope that dropped Bayne.
Aminata hit a flying double stomp on Bayne, but Bayne stood up and Aminata tagged back out to Rosa to begin to double team Bayne, who hit a flying clothesline that dropped both wrestlers. Bayne hit a running helluva kick in the corner and tagged out to Thekla. Rosa and Thekla exchanged hard shots in the middle of the ring until Thekla locked her version of the tarantula in the corner on Rosa. Anna Jay saved Rosa from a submission, and Thekla squared off with Jay as Hart had Rosa in the opposite corner, with Hart and Thekla both suplexing their opponents, then Hart moonsaulting into the feet of Thunder Rosa.
Tay Melo tagged in and hit a black hole slam and three helluva kicks in the corner on Thekla. Anna Jay came in and hit a gory bomb into a knee from Tay Melo, but the heels broke up the pinfall. The match broke down into everyone hitting big moves, including Athena sending Jay into a headlock from Melo, elbowing Melo, and forcing Melo to accidentally DDT her own partner. Rosa and Athena then brawled all around ringside, setting up their match for Friday’s ROH PPV.
Anna Jay hit a DDT on Bayne, but Penelope Ford distracted the referee and Skye Blue sent Melo into the guardrail behind the referee’s back. Bayne missed a spear attempt on Jay, hitting the ring post, but Ford distracted her and Bayne hit a flying clothesline and huge powerbomb for the win. I like that running powerbomb as her finish more than the F5.
Match Result: Megan Bayne, Julia Hart, Thekla, & Athena
–Another Alex Windsor hype video aired, as she discussed her torn ACL, and how she refused to give up, wanting to show her son that she can win gold. This was very good.
Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis & Lance Archer) vs. Daniel Garcia (w/ Matt Menard)
Fletcher and Garcia started the match exchanging holds and a brief dance off. There was a very loud piped in “This is awesome!” chant that the crowd was clearly not chanting. I imagine they were chanting something very rude about Don Callis, as Callis was upset, and Garcia flipped off Callis. Garcia sent Fletcher to the floor, but he ate a pump kick from Fletcher. Callis stood up and hugged Fletcher, which proved to be a distraction that allowed Garcia to drop Fletcher.
Garcia and Cole bumped fists, but Fletcher sprung back up and sent Garcia into the guardrail like a lawn dart and he came up covered in blood. When the came back from the break, a bloody Garcia was fighting on the apron over a suplex, and Garcia hit a German suplex on the apron before hitting a shotgun dropkick as Fletcher was sitting on a chair against the guardrail. Garcia hit a superplex and rolled over into a pinfall attempt, but only got a 2-count. Fletcher hit a superkick on Garcia and a Last Ride powerbomb for a 2-count.
Fletcher went for a corner charge, but Garcia took the leg and locked on the dragon tamer, but Fletcher reached back as Garcia leaned back and put him in a headlock, forcing the break of the whole. Garcia stood up and tried to suplex Fletcher, and both men spilled over the top rope to the floor. Fletcher hit a half nelson suplex on the floor on Garcia, who seemed to be in a daze as Fletcher picked him up. Fletcher picked Garcia up and powerbombed him into the apron, and Cole got flashbacks to when Fletcher did that to him. Cole stood up and started encouraging Garcia to get up, but Flechter ran in with a helluva kick and hit a vertical drop brainbuster on Garcia for the win.
Match Result: Kyle Fletcher
This was an awesome match, start to finish. Fletcher and Garcia have excellent chemistry, and Fletcher continues to be one of the hottest rising stars in the company. I think Fletcher should probably win the TNT title from Adam Cole at All In, and then go from there. He should absolutely be factored into the main event scene when Ospreay finally wins the title, presumably next year, and I would have Fletcher beat him for the title after Ospreay’s run is over. We shall see if that is what will happen over the next few years, but it seems Fletcher is destined to be a big time main eventer for AEW.
Final Thoughts
While none of the very top stars were on this show, this was nonetheless an excellent edition of AEW Collision, with several matches being setup for All In. Even though it is a B-show, it was a B-show that advanced many of the midcard stories leading into the PPV, which is exactly what they should be doing with Collision every week (with the occasional A-level episode). This week’s show is definitely worth a watch for the FTR/Outrunners match and Fletcher/Garcia alone.
