The CEO will be on AEW Collision.
On Saturday, AEW announced that TBS Champion Mercedes Mone will appear live on tonight’s show, suggesting she could show up during Harley Cameron’s “Halftime Harley in Houston” concert. Cameron has been angling for a shot at the TBS title recently and even used a ventriloquist dummy made to look like Mone in backstage segments.
Tonight’s live AEW Collision from Houston, Texas, will continue to build next Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia from Brisbane.
In a trios match that has been building for weeks, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong will take on Shane Taylor & The Infantry and TNT Champion Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.
Bandido will return to AEW in-ring action for the first time in nearly two years as he faces Bryan Keith.
In a Continental Classic rematch, Kyle Fletcher will go one-on-one with Mark Briscoe.
Ahead of their Continental title match at Grand Slam Australia, Kazuchika Okada and Buddy Matthews will have a face-to-face confrontation.
AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May will compete in an exhibition match ahead of her title defense against Toni Storm next Saturday.
The show is rounded out by former champion Thunder Rosa vs. Penelope Ford, Dustin Rhodes in action ahead of his Dynamite match with MJF, and a live Harley Cameron concert.
Collision began with promos from Mark Briscoe & Kyle Fletcher. Sir Elton John played us in to Collision from Houston, Texas. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call. They were running down the card when a security guard was flung across the screen by Marina Shafir.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley was behind her, saying that the show began when he said it did. Moxley said that he was tired of Cope demanding a World Title match and made it clear that he called the shots. Moxley said that he had 1,000 reasons to deny Cope a title shot, but the major one was that he didn’t like Cope. Moxley said that while he wouldn’t give him a title shot, he would fight him whenever he wanted. He told Cope to bring his friend Jay White and his half-broken neck to Australia and pray that Moxley gave him the grace to walk out of Australia.
(A solid promo to start the show, with the crowd giving Moxley a ton of heat.)
Trios Three Way Match – The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, & Shawn Dean), & TNT Champion Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, & Matt Menard
(A phenomenal start to the show, as this may have been the best match on AEW TV in 2025 to this point. This is the ideal version of a trios division, as singles stars teamed with their established partners/friends. This Houston crowd was red hot for everything, which helped the cause. And the turnaround the Kingdom has done since the MJF feud has been impressive. Their in-ring work has helped to rehab them all, and now they feel like a real challenge for the Death Riders come Wednesday. An excellent segment.)
Strong and Taylor started off, with Strong baiting Taylor into the Kingdom corner to get peppered with shots from him and O’Reilly. Taylor took them down with a clothesline and brought O’Reilly into the STP corner, but Menard blind tagged O’Reilly to sneak in. Quick tags were the game here as Menard pulled double duty by hopping on commentary as Garcia hit the ten punches on The Infantry. STP took control of Garcia with an apron attack as we went to commercial.
Garcia took Taylor down with a side suplex as we came back from the break, but the Infantry pulled 2.0 off the apron to keep a tag from happening. Garcia was forced to tag out to O’Reilly, with the Kingdom running wild. We got a move train with everyone getting a big shot in as the Houston crowd was rabid. More fast action saw Taylor get taken out on the floor with a Total Elimination, and Cole scored the win with The Boom on Bravo.
After the match, The Death Riders attacked everyone. Claudio Castagnoli took the mic and congratulated Cole before reminding everyone who the best trio really was. The Kingdom fought back, with O’Reilly tapping out Yuta with an ankle lock. The Death Riders fled, and on behalf of the Kingdom, Cole challenged the Death Riders to a Trios Title match on Dynamite. The match was quickly confirmed for Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
We got a video package for FTR. They said that they’ve taken a back seat for too long, and that they wanted the World Tag Team Titles for a third time.
Max Caster was backstage with Alicia Atout, who asked about Hangman Page. Caster said that how Page acted on Dynamite wasn’t very manly, and that if Page wanted a fight, he should accept his Open Challenge when it returns on Dynamite.
$200,000 Bounty Match – Bandido defeated Bryan Keith
(This Collision rocks so far. Bandido looked awesome in his return, earning the crowd even as some were behind Keith as a native Texan. That duel at high noon spot was phenomenal, and the crowd ate it up. I truly believe that with his gimmick and his work, Bandido has the upside to be the next major lucha star in America if he’s given the chance.)
Keith threw his duster in Bandido’s face to sneak a boot in, but Bandido quickly came back and dropped Keith with a dropkick. Keith caught a diving Bandido with a forearm as he came off the ropes before we went to a commercial break. After the break, Bandido came back with a step-up tornillo and a one-armed gorilla press for a nearfall.
Keith cut off a 21-Plex with a lariat, then stunned Bandido with a rising headbutt. Keith took Bandido off the top rope with an exploder suplex. The two traded strikes before they stood back-to-back. The two men faced off at high noon by taking ten paces to the corner before taking each other down with boots. Bandido got Keith on his shoulders to hit the X-Plex, then hit the 21-Plex to score the win in his return match.
Powerhouse Hobbs was backstage with Lexy Nair. He told Big Bill that his boy wasn’t able to collect the bounty, and that he would be in Texas all week for a fight. He said that he would be in Austin on Tuesday, which is when Dynamite is being taped next week.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dralistico, & The Beast Mortos) defeated Ares Alexander, Jay Alexander, & Brick Savage
(Another great segment with AEW taking advantage of their location this week by highlighting the lucha stars on their roster. I was worried about Hologram’s momentum drying up after getting hurt a few months back, but the crowd was still into him as he made the save for Komander to possibly form a new team.)
LFI got a quick win, with Rush getting the pin after the Bull’s Horns. They beat down the locals after the match before Komander made the save. He took down Mortos with a springboard poisonrana, but the numbers were too much for him. LFI went to unmask him before Hologram made his return to AEW to get revenge on the men that put him on the shelf. Hologram and Komander posed before they hit big dives on LFI and brawled to the back.
In the meantime, Rush was threatening a referee with a chair. Other referees tried to hold him back, but Rush shoved them away and laid one out with a big forearm as the announcers said that big fines were headed Rush’s way.
Lexy Nair attempted to interview Megan Bayne, who stonewalled her. Thunder Rosa turned the corner and tried to welcome her to AEW, but Bayne stonewalled her too. Rosa took over the interview as Bayne went on her way, excited to be back in Texas to take on Penelope Ford tonight.
Harley Cameron, Live In Concert
(This segment had a real chance to bomb, but this was as good as you could hope a segment like this could be. This felt straight out of a 2015 episode of NXT in all the right ways. The crowd has really taken to Harley Cameron, and Mone was a great foil here for her to set up her next title defense.)
Cameron had Puppet Mercedes Mone in tow and kicked off by singing about she wanted to ride the Mone Train. She was quickly cut off by Mercedes Mone, who asked if Cameron was stupid or dumb. Mone was about to call Cameron a loser again, but Cameron cut her off to sing another song about Mone feeling the wrath. She got the crowd to chant Feel The Wrath, but Mone cut her off again.
Mone called Cameron a loser and told her to leave the ring, but the crowd chanted for Harley. Cameron said that she wanted to be where Mone was and wouldn’t stop until she got a shot at the title in her hometown. Cameron said that the most entertaining Mone had ever been was when she was a puppet. Mone slapped Cameron, but Cameron bonked her with the mic to send her to the floor. Mone accepted Cameron’s challenge and promised to embarrass Cameron in her hometown.
Buddy Matthews was sat backstage with Lexy Nair. They were scheduled for a sitdown interview with both Matthews and Kazuchika Okada, but Okada hadn’t arrived yet. Okada burst in late and asked for a water, but Matthews decided to cut to the chase. He wasn’t falling for Okada’s comedy schtick and knew what he was capable of, but didn’t think he knew what Matthews was capable of. Okada called Matthews a bitch, and Matthews feigned a swing to make Okada jump. Matthews left, and Okada threw his water down in anger.
Dustin Rhodes defeated Izzy James
This was not the old Bayley fan Izzy, in case I needed to make that clear. Dustin hit his moves and won in the time it took for me to write this down.
After the match, Rhodes took the mic and said MJF wasn’t the devil. Rhodes had looked the devil in the eyes, knocked his teeth out, and dragged his way out of hell. Rhodes said that everything MJF was planning to do to Rhodes had already been done, and that he would make sure MJF met the devil on Dynamite.
The Death Riders were in the back. PAC said that they had been Trios Champions for what felt like an eternity with no challengers and credited the Undisputed Kingdom for stepping up. Castagnoli gave the Kingdom credit for having teeth and promised to pull them all out. PAC and Castagnoli left, leaving Yuta by himself. All he did was give a little smirk, and the people booed him.
Thunder Rosa (w/ Toro The Mascot) defeated Penelope Ford
(I don’t know if Ford got dinged up or got gassed at some point, but there was clearly a point where these two were stalling for Ford to get her bearings. We seem to have Megan Bayne’s first program set with a former Women’s World Champion.)
Toro is the Houston Texans mascot, for those wondering. Rosa scored a nearfall with a sliding lariat before Ford forced her back into the corner. Ford sent Rosa to the apron before hitting a knee drop as we went to commercial.
Ford got a nearfall with a gutbuster after we came back from the commercial break. Rosa avoided a handspring charge into the corner and fired up, hitting a hesitation dropkick and a suplex for a nearfall. Ford came back with a Muta back handspring elbow and a boot across the face. Ford went to the top, but Rosa avoided the moonsault and got a nearfall. Ford hit a shotgun dropkick, but Rosa caught her with a victory roll for a nearfall. Rosa caught Ford with strikes, but Ford Matrix-ducked a lariat and hit a cutter for a nearfall. Rosa hit a backstabber and the Tijuana Bomb for the win.
After the match, Megan Bayne came out and went face-to-face with Rosa. Ford was still in the ring and jumped Rosa from behind, leaving Bayne to pick the scraps and leave Rosa laying with an F-5.
We got footage of Ricochet beating Swerve Strickland on Dynamite, then going to a DEFY Wrestling event to gloat in front of Strickland’s hometown fans in Seattle. Strickland made a surprise appearance to attack Ricochet, with Prince Nana helping him land a House Call.
Legendary Houston rapper Bun B was backstage with Lexy Nair, promoting his Trill Burgers that they were serving in catering. Ricochet entered the frame to confront Bun B, who was friends with Swerve and was part of his Wembley entrance last year. Ricochet helped himself to a Trill Burger before spitting it out and accosting the poor guy making the burgers. Ricochet said to thank Prince Nana for the Embassy robe he stole after Dynamite.
Non-Title Exhibition Match – AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May defeated Shay Carmichael
(A good angle here with the misdirection attack on May. I’ve had my issues with this angle throughout, but they seem to have the match hot right in time for the payoff.)
May came out with a big bag, the brand of which I wasn’t privy to. May jumped Carmichael before the bell, hit her moves, and won with the Mayday.
After the match, May dressed Carmichael up like Storm and smeared lip stain on her. Luther The Butler came out with a tray, revealing the bloody shoe May used all those months ago. May took the shoe and went to attack Carmichael again, but Toni Storm was in her place and attacked May. Storm went to piledrive May on the ring steps, but May escaped through the crowd.
Backstage, The Don Callis Family were laying people out, as they do. Mark Davis was hesitant but was told to start pulling his weight and joined in the attack.
Kyle Fletcher defeated Mark Briscoe
(An excellent main event to cap off the clear-cut best episode of AEW television this year. Briscoe was phenomenal here as the never-say-die babyface against this cocky heel, and the spots playing off of the Continental Classic match brought this match up to another level. This quickly supplanted the trios opener as the best AEW match of 2025, and I cannot recommend this episode of Collision enough. Awesome, awesome show.)
Fletcher jumped Briscoe with a boot at the bell and laid the boots to him in the corner. Briscoe came back and sent Fletcher to the floor, where he followed him out with a dive. Briscoe pulled out the plunder, tossing a chair in the ring and setting up a table on the floor. Briscoe sent Fletcher to the floor again, but Fletcher caught Briscoe and lawn darted him into the ringpost. Briscoe came up bloody, and Fletcher put him down with a powerbomb into the apron as we went to a commercial.
After the commercial, an even bloodier Briscoe fired back with shots before both men laid each other out with clotheslines. Briscoe laid in chops and hit an exploder suplex for a nearfall. Fletcher fought out of a Jay Driller and hit a hanging DDT. Fletcher hit a running knee and a cradle Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Fletcher hit the Yakuza Kick, but Briscoe countered the Brainbuster with a Fisherman’s Buster for a nearfall.
Fletcher cut Briscoe off on the top rope, but Briscoe slid out of a Brainbuster and went for a Cut Throat Driver that won the first match between these two. Fletcher held onto the referee and snuck in a low blow before hitting a brainbuster for a close nearfall. Fletcher dropped Briscoe with half-and-half suplexes before he slumped to the apron. Fletcher pulled the table into position, but Briscoe knocked Fletcher off the ropes and hit a Froggy Bow off the top rope through the table to a massive pop.
Briscoe got Fletcher in the ring and hit another Froggy Bow for another nearfall. Briscoe set up another Cut Throat Driver, but Fletcher held onto the ropes. Briscoe cut Fletcher down with a chop and set up a top-rope Jay Driller, but Fletcher escaped and hit two Yakuza Kicks. Fletcher hit the top rope Brainbuster to score the win.
After the match, Fletcher took the mic and bragged to the crowd about his win and promised to do the same next week in Australia.
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