Collision – May 22, 2025: They Keep Doing This
Collision
Date: May 22, 2025
Location: Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Adam Cole
It’s the last show before Double Or Nothing and in this case the show is taking place on Thursday rather than the usual Saturday spot. In theory that should mean AEW is going to try something a bit bigger than usual, with likely more people watching the show than their traditional audience. Or they’ll just do a show with low level people to fill in time. Let’s get to it.
Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.
Tony Schiavone brings out Adam Cole to join commentary.
Here are FTR/Stokely Hathaway, Daniel Garcia (with Matt Menard) and Nigel McGuinness for a contract signing. Cash Wheeler gives them one more time to get out of this because they still see Garcia as a son. McGuinness has been hiding behind the commentary desk and making jokes but there is no one to save him on Sunday. FTR signs but Garcia says they’re the ones who turned on him.
The reality is that Garcia is standing up for everyone FTR has hurt. They might be one of the greatest teams of all time but Sunday is going to be a fight. Garcia has seen the fire in McGuinness’ eyes and he knows McGuinness still has it. Garcia signs and McGuinness says we’ll see if he still has it at Double Or Nothing. Before he signs though, he wants a guarantee that FTR ignores himself and Schiavone for good. McGuinness goes to sign but Dax Harwood stops him.
Harwood says he needs to know that this isn’t all about McGuinness. If he wants FTR to finish him off, sign the contract. Otherwise, McGuinness can go sit down and we’ll forget about all of this and maybe be friends. This is just business, because otherwise, Harwood would have already dropped McGuinness. The brawl is on and FTR get put in stereo holds before they run off. McGuinness was bringing it as well as he could here, but it’s really hard to believe that a thrown together team is going to have a chance against FTR.
Toni Storm is ready to see Mina Shirakawa ended and it’s time for them to fight. They’ll make every cactus cream itself and then, decades from now, when they’re giving Brutus Beefcake a lap dance at the wrestlers’ retirement home, she’ll look at Shirakawa and say they lived. That’s quite the image.
Don Callis Family vs. Outrunners/Bandido
That would be Los Outrunners, just in case there is any confusion. Bandido takes over on Beretta to start and gives him the very delayed suplex. The Outrunners hit suplexes of their own and we take an early break. Back with Bandido cleaning house, setting up a showdown with Takeshita.
The corkscrew crossbody takes Takeshita down but he’s right back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Back up and it’s off to Floyd for some slams as house is cleaned. The Mega Powers Elbow hits Romero but Total Recall is broken up. Lance Archer gets in a cheap shot from the floor and a double spike piledriver finishes for Takeshita at 9:36.
Rating: B-. The Family being around is a good enough feature on the show, as they’re established names and can eat up a portion of the night. I’m not sure how much help RPG Vice brings to the group but I guess you need someone to take the fall later on. At the same time, it’s almost sad to see what has happened to the Outrunners, who never felt like they were used in a meaningful way.
Video on Gabe Kidd, who is working with the Death Riders and the Young Bucks because they’re going to eat AEW alive.
TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Reyna Isis
Mone is defending and Excalibur describes Isis as “tearing it up lately on Ring Of Honor”. This translates to “she has won two matches, most recently last October”. They trade rollups for two each to start and it’s off to an early standoff. Hold on though as Isis stops to dance, allowing Mone to grab a headscissors.
The Statement Maker is blocked so Isis kicks her in the back and follows with some running knees. Isis runs her over again for two and hits some kneelifts, only to get caught with a running headscissors. Mone hits a Meteora in the corner but dives into a Codebreaker for two. A quick Backstabber gives Mone two and she pulls on the Statement Maker for the tap at 5:20.
Rating: C+. Normally I would get annoyed at someone like Isis, who has pretty much no meaningful history around here, getting a title shot but they billed it as an open challenge. That’s its own set of issues, but at least they didn’t say she had earned the #1 contendership. Mone seems all but destined to win on Sunday so we’ll call this a nice warmup for her.
Post match Jamie Hayter comes out for a staredown but security is right there in advance.
Video on the Sons Of Texas, with Dustin Rhodes wanting to become a triple champion.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Jay Lethal
Lance Archer is here with Fletcher and Don Callis is on commentary. Feeling out process to start before Lethal takes him into the corner and hammers away. That’s broken up (as Callis doesn’t approve) and Fletcher knocks him down (Callis does improve) but Lethal goes for the legs. Fletcher is knocked outside for a suicide dive, only to come back with a powerbomb onto the apron.
We take a break and come back with Lethal striking away until a backslide gets two. Lethal goes for the legs again with some hard kicks but the Lethal Injection is blocked. The Figure Four goes on and Fletcher is in some trouble. They move around until Fletcher gets to the rope so Lethal goes up. After knocking Fletcher down, Lethal’s top rope elbow only hits raised knees. The brainbuster gives Fletcher the pin at 11:13.
Rating: B-. The match was good, as you would expect given who was in there, but it’s also a fine example of a match that didn’t need to go this long. Lethal has not been treated as anything important in a long time and he got over eleven minutes with an up and coming star. This could have been done in far less time and accomplished the same, if not even more. That’s been a flaw around here for a good while and hopefully AEW fixes it, at least a bit.
Post match the Don Callis Family comes in for the beatdown so Adam Cole gets up. The Paragon comes in and the villains bail.
Paragon vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
O’Reilly and Drake trade arm control to start and Drake rolls him up for two. A backbreaker into a running kick to the chest gets two on Drake but Gibson saves him from a suplex. O’Reilly comes back in to strike away on Gibson but the Veterans fight up and kick Paragon out to the floor. Drake drops O’Reilly on the floor and yells at Cole as we take a break.
Back with O’Reilly kicking Drake away, allowing the tag off to Strong. A Codebreaker out of the corner cuts Strong down though and Drake hits a Coast To Coast dropkick to the ribs. O’Reilly makes the save and it’s a four way slugout. High/Low cuts Drake off for the pin at 9:04.
Rating: C+. The Veterans do indeed still work here, even if you might have forgotten that given their absence from the ring. I’m not sure why you would have Gibson , one of the most annoying talkers in all of wrestling today, here and not let him talk though. If AEW wants the Veterans to matter, the key is to let Gibson drive everyone nuts and that hasn’t been the case in a long time.
Adam Cole challenges the Don Callis Family for Double Or Nothing.
Josh Alexander vs. AR Fox
Don Callis is on commentary again and accepts Paragon’s challenge. Alexander takes Fox down to start and then pulls him out of the air. Back up and Fox kicks him out of the corner, setting up a springboard Stunner. Fox ducks a clothesline and nips up for a cutter, with even Callis having to compliment him. Alexander avoids a 450 and counters a rolling cutter into a German suplex. The C4 Spike finishes for Alexander at 4:12.
Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time here but that was kind of the point. This was designed to make Alexander look like more of a monster, which has been lacking since he got to AEW. Having Alexander pull Fox in and then give him a beating for the win is a good way to go, even if Alexander feels like just another lackey for Callis.
Video on Will Ospreay vs. Hangman Page.
Mascara Dorada/Mistico/Templario vs. Los Depredadores
Templario and Rugido slug it out to start until Templario shoulders him down. Magnus comes in and gets armdragged down and it’s off to Dorada, who flips away from Rugido in the corner. A double springboard armdrag sends Rugido outside and Volador Jr. comes in. That means more flips from Dorada, setting up a hurricanrana out to the floor.
Mistico comes in and gets dropkicked in the back, meaning everything breaks down. We take a break and come back with Mistico and company hitting stereo dives. Back in and Mistico cleans house with headscissors, followed by a dive to the floor. Magnus is sent back inside, where Dorada poisonranas him into a shooting star press for the pin at 10:10.
Rating: B. Take six talented luchadors, including two of the biggest names in the style at the moment, and let them fly around for a bit. This was different from what you usually get on the show and that makes things feel so much better. The fans were into it too and that makes all the difference. Fun match here, with Mistico getting to show off his superstar power.
Video on Megan Bayne/Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay/Harley Cameron, with the tag match being set for the Buy In.
Double Or Nothing rundown.
Kris Statlander isn’t sure what she did to Willow Nightingale….other than choking her with a chain and spearing her off a stage. Statlander: “You may have a point.” Either way, she isn’t pleased with Nightingale and sounds a bit threatening.
La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Mike Bailey/Komander
Dralistico runs in from behind and starts hammering away to start fast. Rush wrecks both of them on the floor, including an energy drink to the head. We settle down to Dralistico chopping Bailey, who quickly kicks his way out of trouble. Komander comes in with a double springboard missile dropkick but the villains block some dives as we take a break.
Back with Komander kicking his way out of trouble, allowing the tag off to Bailey for the rapid fire kicks. The running shooting star press gets two on Dralistico before Rush and Bailey get to strike it out. Rush knocks him into the corner and hits the cocky kick to the face but Bailey is back up with a superkick.
Bailey and Komander hit dives to the floor, followed by stereo shooting star presses for two each. Back in and Rush hits a snap German suplex into a knee to Bailey and Dralistico’s super Pedigree gets two. Komander is back up with a Canadian Destroyer though and Bailey’s tornado kick sets up Cielito Lindo for the pin on Dralistico at 12:15.
Rating: C+. If you want Komander and Bailey’s flips and dives to stand out, you might not want to put them on after the CMLL match. Other than that, this really didn’t feel like a main event match but rather just the match that happened to go on last. Bailey is a fine enough challenger for Okada, even if Okada feels all but locked in to face Omega at All In.
Post match Kazuchika Okada comes out and flips Bailey off, earning himself a kick to the face. The big running flip dive takes Okada down and Bailey holds up the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. If they were trying to make me more interested in Double Or Nothing, I wouldn’t call this the biggest success. There was very little on here that you needed to see, even if there was some good action, including the CMLL match. I’m really not sure why AEW doesn’t do more with these Thursday Collisions, as they feel more like shows where they don’t want to get the extra attention, despite it being such a better time slot. Either way, Double Or Nothing has potential and that’s a good thing to see.
Results
Don Callis Family b. Outrunners/Bandido – Double spike piledriver to Floyd
Mercedes Mone b. Reyna Isis – Statement Maker
Kyle Fletcher b. Jay Lethal – Brainbuster
Paragon b. Grizzled Young Veterans – High/Low to Drake
Josh Alexander b. AR Fox – C4 Spike
Mascara Dorada/Mistico/Templario b. Los Depredadores – Shooting star press to Magnus
Mike Bailey/Komander b. La Faccion Ingobernable – Cielito Lindo to Dralistico
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“The Veterans do indeed still work here, even if you might have forgotten that given their absence from the ring. I’m not sure why you would have Drake, one of the most annoying talkers in all of wrestling today, here and not let him talk though. If AEW wants the Veterans to matter, the key is to let Drake drive everyone nuts and that hasn’t been the case in a long time.”
You mean Gibson right?
I do indeed.