‘AEW: Collision’ Review (Jan 24th 2026)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Collision, which brings wrestling back to Saturday nights. We’ve got the “special” commentary team of Tony Schiavone, Excalibur and Paul Wight calling the action this week. Also, as usual, we’ll be abbreviating AEW’s huge match recaps where we can to save your eyes and your time! With that, let’s get into the review…
Match #1: “Hangman” Adam Page def. Katsuyori Shibata
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Page and Shibata exploded at the opening bell, immediately brawling around ringside as Page sent Shibata into the guardrails and announce desk. Shibata fired back with stiff boots, chasing Page through the crowd before Page regained control with a boot to the face and brought the fight back to the ring. Page followed with a fallaway slam, but Shibata answered with brutal kicks, a pair of apron suplexes, and a figure four that clearly did damage. The two traded strikes and suplexes until both were down. Shibata nearly stole the match after a sneaky low blow went unseen by the referee, but Page survived and turned the tide with a Deadeye on the apron followed by a moonsault. Shibata avoided an initial Buckshot Lariat and trapped Page in a headlock vice, but Page escaped and rallied. After countering once more, Page finally connected with a decisive Buckshot Lariat to score the pinfall.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Match – Kris Statlander def. Isla Dawn
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Dawn was accompanied by Grizzled Young Veterans, Zack Gibson and James Drake. At the bell, Statlander backed Dawn into the corner and hammered her before backing away for a charge. Dawn got a boot up to stop Statlander and tried for a dropkick, but Statlander caught it and slingshotted Dawn into the top turnbuckle! Dawn avoided a Statlander charge in the corner and lifted her over the top onto the apron. She cracked Statlander with a forearm and a kick to the head to send her to the floor. Dawn ran down the apron to kick Statlander in the chest. Back in the ring, Dawn suplexed Statlander and got a two-count. Dawn and Statlander traded strikes and kicks until Dawn nailed a Saito suplex out of nowhere for another near-fall. The two battled on the top turnbuckle with Statlander knocking Dawn to the mat. Dawn got back to her feet only to be knocked back down by a missile dropkick! Statlander grabbed Dawn for a fisherman’s suplex buster and connected, but Dawn kicked out at two again. Statlander wasted no time grabbing Dawn for a Staturday Night Fever, which was enough to put Dawn down for three.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Protoshita (“The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher & “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita) def. Billy & Austin Gunn
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Austin and Fletcher opened the match, with Fletcher using his power early before Austin used his speed to take control and bring Billy Gunn into the fray. Billy and Fletcher exchanged strength spots and taunts before Fletcher tagged in Takeshita, who quickly turned the momentum and sent Billy to the outside. A distraction from Don Callis allowed Takeshita to attack from behind, and Protoshita isolated Billy in their corner. Billy fought back and nearly put Fletcher away with the Fame-Asser, only for Fletcher to kick out at two. A blind tag led to the Gunns hitting 3:10 to Yuma on Fletcher, but Takeshita made the save and chaos followed. Austin and Fletcher traded counters until Fletcher dropped him with a dragon suplex, setting up a Protoshita double-team on Austin. Billy briefly broke things up, but Fletcher caught Austin with a flying boot, allowing Takeshita to finish him with Raging Fire for the pinfall.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #4: The Don Callis Family (Mark Davis & Jake Doyle) def. Jordan Oliver & Alec Price
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Doyle charged to the ring ahead of Davis and ran right through Oliver and Price to jumpstart the match. Price hit a quick flurry to slow Doyle for a second, but Doyle put him right back down by running Price over and posing over his crumpled body. Oliver jumped on Doyle’s back, so Davis grabbed Oliver and threw him with a German suplex. Davis and Doyle fired each other up and threw Oliver and Price out of opposite corners to create a violent teammate collision in midair! On commentary, Wight said he never saw anything like that before. Davis slammed Price’s head off the commentary desk, while Doyle turned Oliver head over heels with a massive lariat. He tagged Davis back in, who continued the assault on Oliver in the corner, punctuated with a sliding elbow to Oliver’s head. Oliver found just enough daylight to tag Price back in. Price unloaded on Davis with strikes followed by a dropkick and then ran up the ropes to take Davis down with an innovative neckbreaker! Oliver returned to help Price double-team Doyle with kicks to send him to the outside. Oliver followed with a running dropkick through the ropes. Price tried to follow with a dive, but Doyle caught him and launched him into Oliver, who was thrown to the outside by Davis in a sickening smash of heads! Doyle and Davis picked up Oliver and Price for powerslams, but not before running the partners into each other yet again. Davis hit Price with a stump piledriver, as Doyle put Oliver down with a spinning side slam. They pinned both Oliver and Davis at the same time to notch a dominant victory!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: TBS Championship Match – Willow Nightingale def. Julia Hart
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Nightingale and Hart began the TBS Championship match one-on-one, with Hart immediately provoking the champion and getting overpowered in the early exchanges. Nightingale dominated with suplexes and corner clotheslines, but Hart used her speed and craftiness to turn the tide with a throat thrust, arm wringer, and hurricanrana. A brief distraction at ringside involving Skye Blue and Harley Cameron was quickly neutralised, keeping the focus on the title bout. Hart avoided a cannonball and punished Nightingale with strikes and corner offense, earning several near-falls as the crowd rallied behind the champion. Nightingale battled back with a desperation lariat and a burst of power, only for Hart to respond with aerial offense and an arm wringer on the floor. Nightingale countered with a vertical suplex from the guardrail and regained control. The closing stretch saw both women trading submissions and big strikes, with counters on both sides. Hart nearly stole the win after reversing Babe with the Powerbomb into a hurricanrana, but Nightingale regrouped and finally planted Hart with Babe with the Powerbomb to retain the TBS Championship.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #6: Andrade El Ídolo def. CMLL’s Magnus
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Andrade looked to complete a clean sweep for the Don Callis Family, entering alone and immediately imposing his will on Magnus with a brutal, no-nonsense approach. He shut down Magnus’ speed with stiff strikes and power, faking a figure four before simply booting him in the face. Magnus briefly fought back with a flying head scissors, but a missed dive to the outside handed momentum straight back to Andrade. Andrade dominated while taunting the crowd, showboating at ringside and giving Magnus just enough time to recover before cutting him off again. He hit Three Amigos but pulled Magnus up to prolong the punishment, even attempting to unmask him. Magnus rallied with a low dropkick, a tope to the floor, and a senton atomico from the top, but Andrade kicked out at one and immediately reasserted control. Andrade finished Magnus with The DM, sealing another emphatic victory.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #7: CMLL World Heavyweight Championship – Claudio Castagnoli def. Roderick Strong
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Championship protocol opened the bout, with seconds at ringside and Tony Khan presenting the CMLL World Heavyweight Title. Jon Moxley joined commentary and mocked the formalities before chaos broke out, as Castagnoli attacked Strong mid-announcement. Strong fired back at the bell, but Castagnoli quickly took control, spilling the fight outside and targeting Strong’s right leg with ruthless precision. Castagnoli focused on the injured limb with chops, uppercuts, and repeated half crabs, even smashing Strong’s knee into the guardrail. Strong battled through the pain with backbreakers, knees, and near-falls, including a step-up knee and an avalanche fireman’s carry slam. Castagnoli survived and repeatedly cut Strong off by attacking the leg, narrowly escaping the Strong Hold after Moxley grew visibly concerned on commentary. Interference followed, with Yuta targeting Strong’s leg before being dropped by Orange Cassidy. In the closing moments, Strong looked to finish things, but Castagnoli shoved the referee aside, kicked Strong in the head, and capitalised on the damaged knee. He sealed the match with a Neutralizer, retaining the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship for the third time.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
This episode of AEW: Collision was a solid, workmanlike show that leaned heavily on in-ring quality rather than major storyline advancement, and it’s worth noting that it very much felt like a card that had been lightly reshuffled on the fly. With severe weather in parts of the US reportedly forcing some late changes to travel and planning, Collision came across as an episode designed to steady the ship rather than rock it. Hangman Page vs. Katsuyori Shibata set the tone with a stiff, no-nonsense opener, while Claudio Castagnoli vs. Roderick Strong delivered the clear match of the night thanks to smart limb work and genuine intensity. Protoshita continue to look like a serious threat, Andrade’s dominant win reinforced his edge, and Willow Nightingale once again proved her consistency as champion. Elsewhere, a few matches felt more functional than inspired, likely victims of those behind-the-scenes adjustments. Nothing here was outright bad, but only a handful of bouts truly stood out. Given the circumstances, Collision did well to remain entertaining, even if it stopped short of being essential viewing.
