‘AEW: Collision’ Review (Aug 30th 2025)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Collision, which brings wrestling back to Saturday nights. We’ve got the commentary team of Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness calling the action, so let’s get into our review!
Match #1: Daniel Garcia def. Blake Christian
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Following a tough loss to Jon Moxley on AEW Dynamite and some interesting post-match conversation with Moxley and other members of the Death Riders, Daniel Garcia was in action accompanied by Daddy Magic to open up tonight’s AEW Collision live in Philadelphia. Right after the bell rang, Moxley seemingly appeared out of nowhere in Garcia’s corner and offered some words with Marina Shafir watching it all go down on the outside. Just as soon as they appeared, they were gone and the match began, leaving Daddy Magic a bit perplexed by the situation on commentary. Garcia almost seemed distracted by the entire interaction, and struggled to get out of the blocks with Christian taking some early control thanks to a little distraction from Lee Johnson on the outside. A defensive Garcia fought his way back in with a high angle suplex as the 2300 Arena chanted, “Danny! Danny! Danny!” And then Garcia flipped a switch, and he rained down chops on Christian, noticeably much sharper than the chops he threw earlier in the match. After choking out Christian, Garcia quickly switched to a spike piledriver and got the 1-2-3!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander def. Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
O’Reilly and Alexander started things off, although neither was able to get much of an advantage, so Ishii and Fletcher tagged in the match for the first time. They traded a few stiff shots before O’Reilly tagged back in and you know what that means… KYLE VERSUS KYLE! One of the most unique matches in AEW Collision history was revisited, but only for a short time, as Alexander helped take out O’Reilly on the outside. That put the Callis Family in firm control with Alexander coming back in to grind down O’Reilly. Alexander missed a moonsault attempt and after a big clothesline, O’Reilly tagged Ishii as Alexander tagged Fletcher. Ishii completely took over the match at this point, having no qualms about taking on both of his opponents, before focusing on Fletcher as the legal man. Once again Alexander and O’Reilly tagged back in with the Walking Weapon going to an ankle lock before O’Reilly reversed it to put on one of his own. O’Reilly kept Alexander in range to move to another submission before going into some brutal tag team offense with Ishii. On the outside, Fletcher narrowly avoided a flying knee from O’Reilly, which sent him crashing into the barrier. Back in the ring, Alexander and Ishii slugged it out, but with a simple trip from Fletcher, Ishii was distracted, allowing Alexander to hit an unseen low blow followed by straight jacket piledriver to get the win for the Callis Family.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: Hologram def. Jay Lethal
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Jay Lethal made his way to the ring to a nice reception from a Philadelphia crowd that knows him very well, as Tony Schiavone ran down Lethal’s accolades as the most decorated wrestler in ROH history. Hologram doesn’t have the longevity of Lethal, but when you’re 30-0 in AEW, all that matters is the present. And so far, no one has had an answer for Hologram. Early in the match, Lethal had his own struggles with Hologram, as he couldn’t seem to figure out any of Hologram’s unique movements and escapes. Lethal finally went to the tried and true backbreaker for his first offense of the match. The former ROH World Champion stayed on the offensive by dumping Ricochet on his face and continued the attack on the head and face. Lethal did his best to slow the match down to stay in control, but seemed to get overzealous and started to speed things up, which played right into Hologram’s hands. When Lethal took a little too much time gathering himself on the outside, Hologram saw an opening and hit a twisting dive to swing the match. Hologram walked the ropes, but jumped right into a Lethal Combination. With Lethal primed for the King’s Elbow, he dove right into a waiting Hologram, who showed a rare submission. Lethal reversed that into a figure four, but was too close to the ropes. Lethal tried for the Lethal Injection, but Hologram was ready and reversed it into a lung blower. With Lethal gasping for air, Hologram hit him with a Protobomb for the win.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Alex Windsor def. Ashley Vox
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
A focused and fired up Windsor marched to the ring with a purpose, which was evident when she made quick work of Vox with a fisherman’s buster, two powerbombs, and her version of the Sharpshooter for the submission win.
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #5: FTR def. JD Drake & Adam Priest
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Sadly, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler made their way to the ring without Stokely, as he was apparently still feeling the effects of Christian Cage’s sneak attack on AEW Dynamite. Perhaps FTR was taken a bit off guard early, as Drake and Priest hit some impressive tag team offense with Drake’s impressive agility for a man his size on display. FTR immediately went to underhanded tactics to distract the referee and swung the match back in their favor. With FTR in full control, Drake was punished and failed to get to Priest for the tag multiple times. He somehow found the energy to fight back into the match with a big suplex and cannonball. As he scaled the top rope, Philadelphia came unglued when Drake hit a picture perfect moonsault that nearly earned him and Priest the upset. Harwood and Wheeler hit a desperation Shatter Machine on Drake, sending him to the outside. Harwood then went to work on Priest with stiff shots to the jaw and vicious chops. Priest showed a lot of heart by trying to fight back, yet Harwood cut him off quickly and sent Priest’s shoulder into the ringpost three times. With Priest weakened, Harwood locked in the Border City Stretch to get the tap out win.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #6: Big Bill def. Juice Robinson
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Losing $200K in a 4-Way Tag is the only thing that’s been on Big Bill’s mind since the match happened over a month ago and he put the blame solely on the Bang Bang Gang. Finally, Bill had a chance to get his hands on Juice Robinson for revenge. Surprisingly, Bill didn’t let his anger get the best of him and took a few shots from Robinson before luring him into a mistake. Bill took advantage with a huge boot and he remained in control for quite some time, delivering punishment both in and out of the ring. A massive bear hug started to take the air right out of Juice, but he rallied with some help from the Philly crowd and fought his way back into the match by chopping down Big Bill. A big left cross connected right across the jaw of Big Bill, but Robinson was only able to get a two count. A clearly weakened Juice made his way to the top, which is when Bryan Keith got involved. The distraction was enough for Bill to recover so he could hit Robinson with his patented sidewalk slam and the victory.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #7: “Timeless” Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa & Queen Aminata def. Billie Starkz & Triangle of Madness (Skye Blue and Julia Hart)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Storm got things started with Skye Blue and fell right back into her teamwork with Mina Shirakawa before bringing in Queen Aminata, who continued her wild week with some of her textbook offense including the Chocolate Kisses. Then, Storm and Aminata went to work on the outside, which allowed Shirakawa to hit a huge crossbody from the top to the floor on Starkz, Blue, and Hart, as the crowd roared in approval. Before Aminata could take advantage, she got taken out on the apron and the match swung the other way. With Aminata stuck in the wrong corner, she took a lot of damage trying to tag in one of her partners, but eventually hit a roll of the dice to get some separation and tag in Storm. Storm was absolutely on fire, taking on both Blue and Hart on her own. Then, the match completely broke down with all six women getting into the mix. Eventually, it came back to Shirakawa and Hart as the legal women with Shirakawa exhibiting some very innovative offense. Hart fought through a figure four, and despite the damage to her leg and blood coming out of her nose, she hung in there and helped Blue subdue Shirakawa for a moment. Starkz finally tagged back in the match, but Shirakawa was ready with a back elbow to the head and finished Starkz off with the Glamourous Mina for the win in our main event.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
This week’s Collision leaned more on storytelling and character development than wild spot-fests, offering a slower but purposeful rhythm. Daniel Garcia’s journey was the highlight of the night. His hard-fought win over Blake Christian, followed by his bold rematch challenge, continued his tug-of-war between independence and the looming influence of the Death Riders. It was nuanced and compelling, showing how far Garcia has come as both a performer and a character. Elsewhere, the Don Callis Family picked up another strong tag team win, keeping their dominance intact and setting up bigger battles for the near future. The women’s trios match was lively, capped off by chaos when tensions boiled over post-match. Meanwhile, Hologram extended his unbeaten streak in a decent clash with Jay Lethal, only for a strange “corruption” glitch to hint at the emergence of a darker clone version of himself—an angle that could prove to be one of Collision’s most unique storylines yet. Overall, this was a solid episode – steady rather than spectacular, but one that moved stories forward with clarity and purpose. Collision continues to carve its own identity by focusing on long-form narratives, and this week’s show set the stage nicely for what’s to come.