Ring Of Honor
Date: March 5, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

And then everything changed. Apparently from now on, the show is going to be taped from this studio, with multiple weeks already in the can. That could make for some better focus around here, but there is also the chance that this is going to result in the shows being even longer with more mostly tossed out there matches. We can hope for the best though so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening video.

Video on Persephone.

Persephone vs. Sara Leon

Persephone grabs a headlock to start and elbows Leon in the face to put her down. Back up and Leon’s chops don’t do much good, with Persephone taking over on the arm instead. A fall away slam sets up a hammerlock but Leon manages a headscissors into the ropes. Leon German suplexes her for two but Persephone is back with a missile dropkick for the same. A Razor’s Edge doesn’t work for Persephone so she hits a spear, followed by the Razor’s Edge for the pin at 5:37.

Rating: C. Commentary kept hyping up Persephone’s shot at the CMLL Women’s Title on Friday so this was a glorified warmup match. Leon got in some offense here and did well enough, but this was all about Persephone getting ready for Mercedes Mone. Not a bad match, but pretty much the same kind of thing that you would see on any of the older shows. That’s hardly the best way to start off a new era, if if the match was ok.

Komander vs. Sidney Akeem

They take turns spinning out of wristlocks to start and we get a handshake, with Akeem pulling him into a waistlock. Akeem flips out of a sunset flip and hits a running Meteora to put Komander down. A running shooting star press gives Akeem two but Komander is back up with a spinning high crossbody for the same. Komander superkicks him to the apron, where Akeem pops up and over a baseball slide for a dive to the floor (geez). Back in and Akeem flips away from some shots but gets sent outside for a suicide dive. Cielito Lindo finishes for Komander at 5:55.

Rating: B-. The match was all over the place as Akeem continues to look like a human video game character. The kinds of things he can do in the ring are absolutely insane and while he’s hardly a top star, there is pretty much no one else who can keep up with him. It’s worth a look, especially with Komander being one of the few people close to what he can do.

Video on Bustah And The Brain (Jordan Oliver/Alec Price). They’re described as “on the rise”. Their career record in ROH/AEW: 0-5.

Top Flight vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Their respective friends are here too. Darius takes Gibson down by the arm to start and they’re quickly on the mat for a technical off. Back up and Darius hits a dropkick, meaning it’s already time for a double tag. Dante comes in for a hurricanrana to Drake, who goes to the hair to pull Dante down. It’s back to Gibson, who is taken into the wrong corner so Top Flight can pick up the pace.

Darius is back in and gets cut off on the apron, allowing Drake to elbow him in the face for two. A suplex gets Darius out of trouble and it’s back to Dante to start flipping and kicking. The springboard high crossbody gets two on Drake with Gibson making the save. Everything breaks down and Isla Dawn jumps Zayda Steel on the floor. Darius is dropped as well as Steel fights back to go after Dawn. Back in and the double underhook double DDT finishes Gibson at 9:25.

Rating: B-. Another fun match, though forgive me for not believing that these teams are on the way up the ladder. Top Flight has been around for the better part of ever and never accomplished anything of note, which is rather frustrating. The Veterans aren’t much better, but you can probably pencil in a six person tag out of this thing.

Post match Top Flight goes to leave but walk past Big Bill and Bryan Keith, apparently now known as Paid In Full.

Paid In Full vs. Darian Bengston/Kiran Grey

Keith throws his gear at Bengston to start and shoulders him down for two. Bengston’s comeback is cut out with a spinning forearm to the face and it’s off to Bill. A running splash in the corner hits Grey and Bill does it a second time for extra oomph. Back to back big boots finish Grey at 2:47. Total squash.

Video on Athena vs. Maya World, with a Proving Ground match being set for next week.

Josh Woods vs. Nathan Cruz

Pure Rules. An early cross armbreaker sends Cruz straight over to the ropes for his first break before Woods works on a hammerlock. Back up and Cruz is sent crashing out to the floor, with a suplex bringing him back inside. The armbar goes on again but this time Cruz takes him into the ropes, with Woods being pulled into them for a break. Not a Rope Break but a break. A neckbreaker puts Woods down for two and a belly to back suplex gets two. Cruz’s sleeper is countered into an armbar with Woods using his legs to make Cruz tap at 4:23.

Rating: C+. As usual, Woods looks good in these things and can do some rather impressive technical stuff, but it only gets him so far when he’s barely ever around. If nothing else, it would be nice to see him go after the Pure Rules Title, just so it can be defended in a way that isn’t “the challenger doesn’t know the rules”. That finisher certainly looked good as I can go for someone using a unique way to torture their opponent.

Tommy Billington and Adam Priest are going to get to the Swirl and Jay Lethal, but they have something else to do this week.

Tommy Billington/Adam Priest vs. Workhorsemen

Priest uppercuts Henry down to start and it’s already off to Billington. Drake breaks up a double suplex though and Billington is taken outside for a piledriver on the floor. Back in and Priest gets caught in the wrong corner. Drake gives him a suplex and it’s back to Henry for some ripping at the face. Priest escapes but Billington is still down on the floor (that’s nice to see for a change) and Drake hits Priest in the face again.

The villains take turns beating on Priest in the corner again but Billington is back in for the save. Everything breaks down and back to back dives take the Workhorsemen down on the floor. Back in and Billington manages a rollup to pin Henry (that didn’t look great as Billington seemed to let go early) at 7:45.

Rating: C+. At least Priest and Billington are getting a push and are in an actual feud. That’s a heck of a lot better than what you would get otherwise, as there is something to be said about having two wrestlers actually doing something rather than running on the treadmill that is the tag division. The Workhorsemen are good in their spots, but they’re firmly locked into those spots and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Mina Shirakawa vs. Zayda Steel

Christopher Daniels is here with Steel. Shirakawa slides into the dance to start so Steel goes around her for a quick spank and dance of her own. Back up and Shirakawa pulls her into something of a Texas Cloverleaf and drops her into a backbreaker. The block of the Figure Four is blocked and Shirakawa gets it on, with Steel making the rope rather quickly.

A neckbreaker gives Steel two and a running knee in the corner rocks Shirakawa again. They trade the big forearms until Steel hits a running elbow against the ropes, only for Shirakawa to do the same. A missile dropkick and the top rope Sling Blade give Shirakawa two but Steel is back with a dropkick. Shirakawa just decks her with a spinning backfist though and the Figure Four finishes Steel at 7:47.

Rating: C. Hey look: Steel loses again. That’s almost all she does around here (and in AEW) and it’s getting more and more difficult to care about her. I’m not sure how many more matches she’s going to lose but odds are it’s going to be several, all while she’s “climbing the ladder” or whatever the latest term is around here.

Post match respect is shown.

Billie Starkz seems to have attacked Deonna Purrazzo and Athena says this is a message/warning to Maya World. Ignore that Purrazzo seems to be smiling her head off.

Bang Bang Gang vs. MxM Collection

Robinson sticks his finger in his nose for Mansoor’s tip to tip touch, earning himself a hair pull. An armbar puts Mansoor down and into the ropes, meaning Robinson is back up with an atomic drop. Gunn comes in and gets his eyes raked, only to hit Mansoor low. It’s off to Madden to hammer on Gunn in the corner so Robinson makes a blind tag. The Gang starts taking turns to stagger Madden, who suplexes both of them at once.

Mansoor comes in to stomp away, with Madden adding the running hips to the face. A belly to back suplex puts Gunn down and a side slam/running legdrop combination gets two. Madden misses a middle rope elbow though and it’s back to Robinson, who runs into a boot in the corner. Mansoor gets crotched on the top rope for some bouncing, with Madden hitting a double spear for the save. A double suplex drops Madden though and Mansoor gets thrown onto him. Robinson’s forward DDT finishes Mansoor at 12:01.

Rating: C+. So I guess the Gang is another team who is being added to the rotating roster around here because that’s what this place needs. Robinson is still a ball of charisma but as usual, there’s only so much that can be done with Robinson and one half of the Gunns. The team just feels like some scraps thrown together and that isn’t likely to go very far.

La Faccion Ingobernable brags about being undefeated as a tag team but they have to defend the belts. Therefore, it’s open challenge time for any former Tag Team Champions to come after the belts. And there’s the kind of thing that makes this weekly show feel useless. Commentary spends the entire show talking about how someone can win to move up in the title standings and all that, but instead it’s “anyone can come get a shot”. In other words, all of the previous matches mean nothing, because “eh screw it, open challenge time”.

Lacey Lane vs. Robyn Renegade

Renegade takes over with the power game to start so Lane does a rather springboardy wristdrag. Lane hits some running kicks in the corner but Renegade is back with a springboard stomp of all things. A sitout gordbuster gives Renegade two but Lane is back up with some running shots to the face. What looks like a Nightmare On Helm Street (which looked like it had a camera edit) gets two on Renegade, followed by something like an AA into a legdrop to finish for Lane at 5:17.

Rating: C. This was another match on a show with a lot of them. I’m really not sure what else there is to say here, as neither of these two have anything going on and it’s hard to believe that they’re going to have anything going on. Maybe Lane gets a TV Title shot or something, but it’s not like there’s any story there. That’s the problem with so many matches around here, as they’re just things that happen rather than matches that go anywhere.

Matt Menard vs. Shane Taylor vs. Lee Johnson vs. AR Fox

The winner gets an immediate title shot at a mystery championship and this is under elimination rules. Menard and Taylor start things off, with Taylor powering him into the corner. That has Menard bailing away a few times but getting dropped with a running shoulder. It’s off to Johnson vs. Fox for an exchange of quick escapes and counters until Taylor comes back in. A Tower Of London to the floor plants Johnson hard but Menard is back in to slug away on Taylor. Everything breaks down and Taylor punches Menard in the jaw for the elimination at 6:09.

Taylor takes Fox into the corner but gets low bridged down to the floor. Fox dives over the top onto both of them but Taylor is back in for running splashes in the corner. That doesn’t last long either though as Fox rolls Taylor up for the pin and elimination at 8:47. Johnson immediately rolls Fox up for some near falls, followed by Fox’s tiger bomb for two more.

The Swanton hits raised knees though and they trade some rapid fire kicks. Johnson hits a brainbuster and they’re both down (with their heads on the other’s arms, which should probably be a double pin. Johnson suplexes him hard and a frog splash gets two but Fox is back with a quick slam. The 450 gives Fox the pin at 13:34.

Rating: B-. This was another match that felt rather long and is designed to set up another match on this show, which feels rather crammed on at the end. Fox winning is a nice way to go as there is something to be said about having him fight like this and then win a title as a way to end the show. The other three were fine as well here and it was nice to see Menard getting hit in the face.

And now, a title match, with Fox pulling the announcement out of a box.

AEW International Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. AR Fox

Fox is challenging and we are again reminded that Okada is the greatest tournament wrestler of all time. I still have no idea what that has to do with a non-tournament match but that’s what we need to be told over and over. Okada dropkicks him into the corner to start as commentary tries to say Okada is wrestling on short rest as well after winning the Trios Titles last night (despite him not having that belt or being announced as such due to the taping schedule).

Fox gets choked on the rope and a DDT plants him on the floor. Back in and another DDT gives Okada two but he misses a charge and gets sent to the apron. That means a running DDT from Fox, followed by a kick to the face. An Air Raid Crash onto the knee sets up the top rope elbow to give Okada two. Back up and Fox kicks him in the face, followed by a 450 for two more. Okada misses a few Rainmakers but his the dropkick, setting up the Rainmaker to retain at 5:44.

Rating: C+. Well that happened. The bigger star came in, beat up the tired challenger, kicked out of his finisher, and retained the title. It was deflating to have Fox lose like that after his big win as it was little more than a quick loss. Maybe like, let the match be built up for a bit and get some time on another show?

Overall Rating: D+. Nope. I’m not sure what this was supposed to be, but it was more of the same mess that has gotten Ring Of Honor in its current place. This was supposed to be some new era of the promotion and NOT ONE OF THE EIGHT TITLES THIS SHOW HAS TO OFFER is on the line?

No no, instead your big moment is an AEW star coming in (unannounced of course) because Heaven forbid the Women’s Title, World Title or even the Six Man Titles are defended (I mean, none of them have been defended since Final Battle, three months ago). Instead, it’s the usual bunch of matches, most of which are just wrestling for the sake of wrestling. The show ran two hours because every single thing (even down to Josh Woods vs. Nathan Cruz and Lacey Lane vs. Robyn Renegade) absolutely had to be here.

Ring Of Honor isn’t a wrestling promotion. It’s Tony Khan getting to pretend that he owns two promotions because he thinks it’s impressive while putting on the least important weekly show he can imagine. As usual, this absolutely isn’t a problem from the wrestlers, but rather spending two hours with almost nothing involving Ring Of Honor taking place. I’m sure TV is coming though. Any…what is it, year now?

Results
Persephone b. Sara Leon – Razor’s Edge
Komander b. Sydney Akeem – Cielito Lindo
Top Flight b. Grizzled Young Veterans – Double underhook double DDT to Gibson
Paid In Full b. Darian Bengston/Kiran Grey – Big boot to Grey
Josh Woods b. Nathan Cruz – Leg armbar
Tommy Billington/Adam Priest b. Workhorsemen – Rollup to Henry
Mina Shirakawa b. Zayda Steel – Figure Four
Lacey Lane b. Robyn Renegade – Fireman’s carry slam into a legdrop
AR Fox b. Shane Taylor, Lee Johnson and Matt Menard last eliminating Johnson
Kazuchika Okada b. AR Fox – Rainmaker

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

So we wrap up the AEW year with this one, which is more or less the end of the Continental Classic, the World Title match, and a bunch of other stuff that happens to be taking place on the show. The tournament has taken over the company (as it always does) and while it has gone well (as it always does), it has made quite a bit around here feel a lot less important. For now though, we should be in for some solid action so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Zack Gibson vs. Eddie Kingston

This was added on this week’s Ring Of Honor as the Grizzled Young Veterans attacked Kingston. I’m not sure how much of a build this match really needs, but at least it’s something that gets Kingston in the ring. The fans are going to respond to him rather well and it helps him get back into the groove of things, which he has been needing since his return from injury.

There’s no reason to believe that Kingston is going to lose here so I’ll take the obvious with Kingston getting the win. He’s fighting half of a low level tag team in a match that shouldn’t go much longer than about five minutes. In this case, AEW might even stick to the time frame, as Kingston has mainly been wrestling shorter matches. He’ll get another win here, as he should.

Zero Hour: Sisters Of Sin vs. Hyan/Maya World

Here we have another match where it doesn’t feel like there is much to doubt as the Zero Hour continues to feel like a glorified episode of Rampage. I’m still not sure why we need to have the Sisters get a featured match here, but maybe they’re next in line to come after the Women’s Tag Team Titles. If nothing else, they’re already an established team so there are far worse ideas out there.

Of course I’ll take the Sisters to win, as while the division needs some fresh blood, there is no reason to think that the Sisters should lose here. They’re a fairly featured team and it would make sense for them to get a win here, especially if they might be coming for the titles soon. Hyan and Worlds continue to get time in the ring and I’ve heard worse ideas, even if there is a chance that it’s just to spite Miranda Alize and Nixon Newell.

Death Riders vs. Conglomeration/Roderick Strong/Toni Storm

So this is a thing and yes it is indeed called the Mixed Nuts Mayhem match, because if there’s one thing that you need for a Death Riders match, it’s a funny moniker. It’s likely going to be a wild brawl with some interesting bits, though I’m still completely good with not seeing Daniel Garcia and/or Wheeler Yuta for a long time. Throw in Claudio Castagnoli going from a dark horse to win the Continental Classic to this and it’s a bit of a downgrade.

I’ll take the heroes to win here, just for the sake of not having Storm lose again. Mark Briscoe could use a win of his own and the fans will always respond to Orange Cassidy, so it makes a bit of sense to get them on the card. Hopefully the match winds up being more goofy fun than anything else, as that’s probably the best way to feature most of them. Either that or Yuta and/or Garcia being beaten up rather badly.

Darby Allin vs. Gabe Kidd

This is kind of a weird story, as Allin was gone for most of the tournament but he’s able to be back to face Kidd in this match. I’m not sure how much I need to see Allin get beaten up again, but it’s pretty much his standard operating procedure. That’s probably what we’re going to be seeing in this one, though it’s a bit weird as Kidd just showed up again after being gone for months and is facing Allin again.

I’m not sure where to go here, though I’ll take Allin, as he could use a win after quite a long stretch of nothing good. Granted it also depends on if Kidd is sticking around, as he could use a nice victory of his own. Given what we know at the moment though, I’ll take Allin to get the come from behind win, as it’s easy to get behind him fighting a bully and that’s what we’re getting here.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Babes Of Wrath(c) vs. Athena/Mercedes Mone

This one has me intrigued, as the Babes are the new team and the inaugural champions, though it’s almost hard to imagine Mone or Athena losing again. Mone is already on a losing streak but there isn’t much value in beating her without a title on the line. At the same time you have Athena, who hasn’t done much in Ring Of Honor as of late but doesn’t have the best history in AEW.

I’ll go with the champions to retain here, as it would be something of a stretch to have them lose the titles so soon after they started. Hopefully it winds up being a good match, as the Babes have gone from newly formed to a rather nice team in short order. They need some time to establish themselves a bit better before dropping the titles though and that can be done when they win here.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Bang Bang Gang

It’s a street fight and a rematch from a few weeks ago when FTR beat the Gang to retain the titles. That doesn’t make for the best reason to do the match again, but it isn’t like FTR has anything else to do at the moment. With so many people involved in the tournament, there are some tag teams who are more than a bit busy. Hopefully that changes shortly after the tournament, but this is what we have for now.

Much like when they fought a few weeks ago, I see no reason to believe that FTR is going to lose to the leftovers of the Bang Bang Gang so we’ll go with FTR retaining. I like the Gang for the most part, but they’re only going to get so far with one of the Gunns and Juice Robinson going for the titles. FTR wins here, in what should at least be an entertaining match.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Women’s Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Jamie Hayter

The title is on the line here, but it only feels so important. The Women’s Title hasn’t felt overly important in a good while, which is at least partially due to how much else is going on in the women’s division. Statlander is still going well, but she needs to do something that makes her stand out a bit more. I’m just not sure that’s what we’re going to be seeing here.

While I’m not sure it’s going to work out, I’ll take Statlander to retain here. As much as she doesn’t seem to be doing much at the moment, Hayter is hardly doing that much better. Either of them could be fine as champion, but they’re going to need to step up it up. The tag division, plus whatever Toni Storm is doing, both feel more important and that needs to change. For now though, I’ll take Statlander in a coin flip.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Semifinals: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada

I’m not even going to begin to try to make sense of the title situation here, if nothing else due to how ridiculous it’s been. This has been built up as a big time match for a good while now and that should make things all the more interesting. It’s nice to have a match that feels like it’s taking place more due to people having issues rather than a schedule saying they’re fighting. Or at least it’s close enough.

I’ll take….geez I guess Okada here, as all of the hype about him being the GREATEST TOURNAMENT WRESTLER OF ALL TIME all but guarantees him a spot in the finals. At the same time, it’s hard to fathom the IWGP World Champion being allowed to lose, especially around a week before Wrestle Kingdom. I’ll go with Okada winning here, though it doesn’t feel like anything close to a lock.

Continental Classic Semifinals: Jon Moxley vs. Kyle Fletcher

This is the kind of thing that could go either way, but it feels more like a way to get Moxley back on track. He’s been having all kinds of issues as of late and it would be nice to see him at least get to the finals. At the same time, Fletcher is in a place where it wouldn’t be insane to see him beat Moxley. That’s quite the accomplishment, and it’s nice to have a match which could go either way.

I think I’ll go with Moxley winning here, as his attempts to get back on track feel like a better story at the moment. At the same time, it’s a bit hard to fathom an all Don Callis Family final, as it would feel fairly cold outside of Okada vs. Takeshita. Moxley wins here and sets up a pretty big final, though we’ll get to that later, as it should probably headline the show.

AEW World Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

I’m not sure what it means that I keep forgetting Joe is the World Champion but that has happened multiple times in a fairly short reign. Joe is already a two time World Champion and he still feels like something of a forgotten part of the match. Maybe it’s due to being part of the Trios Champions or facing a two man team of heroes or maybe it’s MJF feeling like such a big deal, but it might be time to get the title off of Joe.

At the end of the day, it’s almost hard to fathom anyone but MJF leaving as champion here. He returned a few weeks ago and immediately stood out and it would make sense to put the title back on him (assuming he’s sticking around full time). MJF hasn’t been champion in a good while now and he’s already feeling like one of the top names in AEW. Give him the title back and see what he can do with it.

Continental Classic Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Kazuchika Okada

Again, I’m not even going to try to figure out how the title situation works (and for the love of all things good and holy, please don’t explain it to me), but it seems that Okada leaves with a title one way or another. That gives him quite the out in possibly losing here and it’s not like him losing the Continental Title is going to hurt in any meaningful way. He’s been champion pretty much forever so it’s time to get it off of him.

As you can probably guess, I’m going with Moxley winning here, as it splits up some titles and hopefully clarifies things a bit. If nothing else, I could go for getting rid of the whole Unified Title or whatever happens here, as there are FAR too many titles in AEW already. Moxley needs the win anyway and it could be a big step in what feels like the start of a face turn for him anyway, because that’s what the world is waiting to see.

Overall Thoughts

It’s pretty clear that the Continental Classic has been carrying the show for the last month or so, if nothing else due to the amount of talent involved. At the same time, it hasn’t exactly done much good for everything else in the company. The top of the card feels big enough, but they’re going to need someone to step up to bolster the undercard. Thankfully that’s where AEW tends to thrive so I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Dynamite
Date: December 24, 2025
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson

It’s Christmas Eve and naturally that means it’s time to do more in the Continental Classic. The next two nights will determine the final four at Worlds End this weekend and that that should make for an interesting double header. Other than that, we need to build towards the rest of the pay per view, which will likely take place this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (6 points) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (7 points)

Cassidy rolls him up to start and he spins out of a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt. A crucifix gets a very close two and they go outside, with Takeshita sending him into the barricade. Cassidy comes back with a slingshot DDT into a tornado DDT for two of his own. The lazy kicks have their usual effect, followed by a hands in the pockets middle rope hurricanrana. Takeshita is right back up with a Blue Thunder Bomb and we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy reversing a super Raging Fire into a Stundog Millionaire. Takeshita rolls outside but gets caught with a diving DDT for two back inside. A wheelbarrow suplex drops Cassidy, who comes right back with an Orange Punch. They head to the apron where Cassidy grabs a Beach Break, followed by another Orange Punch into the crowd. Takeshita dives back in and reverses a small package into the Raging Fire for the pin at 15:26.

Rating: B. This was the serious Cassidy (for the most part) and he did well before being taken out in the end. That’s how it should have gone as Takeshita turning on the jets to beat someone like Cassidy makes sense. Takeshita is all but guaranteed (if not entirely guaranteed) a spot in the final four and now we get to see where that goes.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 10 points (1 match remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Gabe Kidd wants revenge on Darby Allin, who he has already sent down the steps and lit on fire.

The Bang Bang Gang wants a Chicago street fight with FTR.

Continental Classic Blue League: Roderick Strong (0 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (3 points)

They both go technical to start and fight over wrist control, with Strong bailing over to the ropes. Strong can’t get a cross armbreaker, instead being pulled into a surfboard. They head outside, with Strong dropping him onto the apron as we take a break. We come back with Dorada armdragging him on the floor, followed by a Swanton for two back inside. Strong’s Sick Kick gives him two of his own but Dorada kicks him down. The shooting star press gives Dorada the pin at 9:23.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have as much time as some of the tournament matches have received but it was still a good enough match. Dorada wins to keep himself alive while Strong can only play spoiler. It’s a bit more interesting when you see some of the people eliminated and things tightening up somewhat, which is the point we’ve finally reached.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 10 points (1 match remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (1 matches remaining)

AEW won a bunch of Sports Illustrated awards.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Here are Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander for a face to face stat. Statlander tells her to let it go with her sob story about having everything taken away from her. Don’t pity her for what she was, but fear her for what she’s become. They’re both ready to win.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Dustin Waller

A running knee, a slap, a lifting DDT and the Salt Of The Earth finish for MJF at 1:12.

Post match MJF gets the mic and the fans greet him with a HAPPY HANUKKAH chant. Cue Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland in the crowd to stare at him though, with Page saying the no physicality thing was left in England. Page tells MJF to cut another 90s style promo insulting them, but Page comes to the ring, where he and Swerve take out the Opps Dojo members.

Samoa Joe pops up on the screen to say he’s coming for all of them one by one and promises to retain the title at Worlds End. Page and Swerve lay MJF out and choke him with a chain, leaving Swerve to say MJF is more of a Diddy than he’ll ever be. Swerve talks about a bunch of the people MJF has used, such as Wardlow, the Pinnacle and Adam Cole. The reality is Swerve always works to make himself better while MJF just uses them. We hit the catchphrase to wrap it up.

The Babes Of Wrath are ready for their upcoming matches and praise each other quite a bit.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite Diamond: Bandido vs. Ricochet

For the vacant ring (and a World Title shot in January) and neither title is on the line. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere so it’s another standoff. Bandido connects with a headscissors into a dropkick but Ricochet manages a toss out to the apron.

Ricochet tries the Macarena but gets slapped in the back of the head, followed by the one armed gorilla press. Bandido throws him outside and we take a break. We come back with Ricochet rolling some suplexes, including one on the apron. Bandido rolls through that for a suplex of his own on the floor and they both get back inside. The referee almost gets crushed in the corner and Ricochet uses the distraction to hit Vertigo for two.

The Spirit Gun is blocked but Ricochet flips out of the 21 Plex. A Styles Clash is loaded up but instead Bandido jumps down into a sitout powerbomb (that was cool) for two more. The X Knee looks to set up the 21 Plex again but cue Kaun to make the save. Ricochet kicks him low and tries the Spirit Gun, which is reversed into a cradle for the pin at 12:27.

Rating: B. I’m a bit surprised Ricochet lost here, though either champion losing a singles match doesn’t feel like a good idea. If nothing else, this should set Bandido up for a National Title shot, which would go nicely with his ring. I still don’t know why this has to remain a thing, but it was nice to see it wrapped up this fast.

Post match Ricochet and the Gates Of Agony go after Bandido, with Brody King running in for the save.

Darby Allin isn’t worried about Gabe Kidd, who shows up and throws him down the steps.

Marina Shafir vs. Mina Shirakawa

Shirakawa fires off the kicks in the corner to start and snaps the leg over the middle rope. A missile dropkick gives Shirakawa two but Shafir counters a kick to the head with a powerbomb. We take a break and come back with Shirakawa hitting a top rope clothesline for two. The Figure Four goes on but Shafir fights out and grabs Mother’s Milk for the rather quick win at 7:20.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have a ton of time with the commercial in the middle taking up so much of the match. At the same time, Shirakawa basically squashed her until Shafir got in a few shots to win with the choke. Maybe this sets up Storm to come after Shafir, but for now it’s rather surprising that Shafir would win while looking fairly week for the most part.

Post match the choke goes on again but Toni Storm runs in for the save…and gets laid out just as fast.

The Young Bucks reveal that they are officially not cleared to return to the ring for the rest of the year. Kenny Omega has something to do while they’re out.

Jon Moxley wants to fight more in the Continental Classic.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac (6 points) vs. Jack Perry (3 points)

Pac works on the arm to start and they go to the mat, with Perry grabbing a hammerlock. A running hurricanrana sends Pac outside and Perry takes him down with a suicide dive. Back in and a top rope standing elbow gives Perry two and they head back outside. Pac hits a quick suplex of his own, with Perry banging up his ankle and we take a break.

We come back with Pac getting two off a missile dropkick before they slug it out. Perry belly to back suplexes him down but the leg is giving him trouble. A DDT gives Perry two but he charges into a suplex into the corner. Pac belly to belly superplexes him for two so Perry comes back with a poisonrana. One heck of a rebound lariat drops Pac again but Pac pulls him into the Brutalizer. That’s broken up so Pac goes with another hard clothesline into the Brutalizer…which is reversed into a cradle to give Perry the upset pin at 14:26.

Rating: B. Another good one here, with Perry getting a big win and making the Gold League VERY interesting. That’s one of the best things that can happen with this kind of a tournament and I’m curious to see where it goes. Hopefully they have some kind of a clever way out of things, though it’s getting into some uncharted territory. At least Perry is getting something out of the tournament rather than just being a doormat.

Gold League Standings

Kazuchika Okada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Kyle Fletcher – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Kevin Knight – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Pac – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Jack Perry – 6 points (1 match remaining)

Post match Luchasaurus brings out mile and cookies for Perry. And of course a Santa hat.

Overall Rating: B. The tournament stuff was working well here, though the rest of the show was only so good. The Dynamite Diamond stopped being interesting years ago and hopefully it isn’t anything more than something that we hear about from time to time. I’m almost scared of what is going to happen to a lot of these people when the tournament is over. Hopefully that includes some of these matches being followed up on, which should also be the case with Bandido pinning Ricochet. Either way, good enough show here, even on a fairly busy day.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita b. Orange Cassidy – Raging Fire
Mascara Dorada b. Roderick Strong – Shooting star press
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Dustin Waller – Salt Of The Earth
Bandido b. Ricochet – 21 Plex
Marina Shafir b. Mina Shirakawa – Mother’s Milk
Jack Perry b. Pac – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: December 17, 2025
Location: Co-op Live, Manchester, England
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the second half (or last third) of the double show on Wednesday. We’re still in England and that means it’s time to have a rather rowdy crowd. There is always the chance that this winds up going well, as there are going to be some Continental Classic matches to help bring the show up. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley says he likes the Continental Classic because it’s all about getting in the ring and seeing who wins. He likes to antagonize people and that’s what happened when he beat Roderick Strong in a tough match on Dynamite. Moxley left it all in the ring.

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (3 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (3 points)

They shake hands to start before going to the mat for the grappling. Dorada sends him bailing over to the ropes and Cassidy seems to know he needs to do something else. An armdrag sends Dorada over to the ropes as well and we take a break. We come back with Dorada flipping away from Cassidy, who is a bit confused.

Cassidy grabs a wristlock and teases walking the ropes but can’t decide which rope to walk. Instead he puts his hand in his pocket and jumps down. The hands in the pockets allow Cassidy to roll away and dropkick Dorada to the floor for a change. Something like an apron 619 staggers Cassidy, followed by the suicide dive.

A running shooting star off the apron hits Cassidy on the floor, followed by a springboard high crossbody for two back inside. A powerslam keeps Cassidy’s back in trouble and his spinning DDT is countered as Dorada extends his hands for a change. Another attempt connects but Dorada is right back with a backbreaker. They trade rollups for two each but the Orange Punch is blocked. Instead, Dorada tries a top rope armdrag, which is reversed into a crucifix to give Cassidy the win at 11:12.

Rating: B-. This was a good way to go, though I was wanting to see Dorada win here after mostly dominating the match. Cassidy couldn’t figure him out for the most part but did wind up winning with a smart rollup in the end. It was far from a bad match but it didn’t quite click as well as I was hoping.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 7 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Post match Cassidy gives Dorada his glasses in a show of respect.

Mercedes Mone and Athena aren’t happy with being asked if their win avenges their loss in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament. They want a title shot at World’s End and Mone will defend her Rev Pro Women’s Title on Collision. Uh the other Collision.

Jamie Hayter vs. Isla Dawn

They go to the mat for an early standoff until Hayter wins an exchange of strikes. Dawn sends her outside for a baseball slide and we take a break. We come back with stereo crossbodies leaving both of them down. Hayter gets up for a middle rope dropkick but Dawn grabs a snap belly to back suplex for two. A not great looking Haytebreaker sets up the Hayterade for the pin on Dawn at 6:50.

Rating: C+. You can only expect so much when about half of the match was spent in the break but it was nice to see Hayter get a boot on the way to her title match against Kris Statlander. Hayter is starting to get some of her old momentum back and if that can be rebuilt, AEW has quite the star on their hands. Dawn isn’t a big star, but she’s enough of a name that beating her still has some value so having her around in this spot makes sense.

Respect is shown post match but the Triangle Of Madness runs in to jump both of them. Kris Statlander runs in for the save but Hayter accidentally gives her Hayterade to leave her laying.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Bang Ban Gang

FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, is defending. Gunn and Wheeler start things off as the fans get to their singing. They fight over wrist control until Gunn takes over and hands it off to Robinson. A rake to the eye cuts Robinson off but he manages to fight out of the corner. Another cheap shot takes Robinson down but this time Gunn saves him from a double suplex. Wheeler gets catapulted out to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with Gunn grabbing a small package but the referee is distracted. Wheeler knocks Gunn down again but dives into some raised boots. The tag brings Robinson back in to clean house, including a double clothesline. A spinebuster gets two on Harwood and his suplex is reversed into a small package for two more. Stokely’s powder doesn’t work and Robinson gets two off a rollup.

The Gang steals the PowerPlex for two on Harwood, with Wheeler’s splash hitting Harwood by mistake. The Fameasser gets two on Harwood but Wheeler sends Gunn crashing over the barricade. Gunn is able to come back and break up the Shatter Machine though and the left hand drops Harwood for two, thanks to a foot on the rope. Back up and FTR crush Robinson’s knee, setting up an Indian Deathlock to retain the titles at 14:31.

Rating: B. I liked the match but there was pretty much no reason to think that the titles were changing hands to the leftover pieces of the Gang. It was a match that was built up and that did it a lot of good, as the work had been put in to make it better. I’m not sure who is next for FTR, but the division needs some new teams to come after the belts.

Overall Rating: B-. This show felt pretty short and it was a bit under an hour due to Dynamite going long. It helps that two of the three matches felt important in one way or another and that made for a pretty easy show to watch. It’s not some kind of great show, but for something that came and went so fast, it could have been far worse.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Mascara Dorada – Crucifix
Jamie Hayter b. Isla Dawn – Hayterade
FTR b. Bang Bang Gang – Indian Deathlock to Gunn

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: December 6, 2025
Location: Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Ian Riccaboni

It’s still Continental Classic season and that means we’ll still be seeing some rather quality matches. We’re still pretty early in the tournaments and it can be interesting to see who goes where. In addition, Ricochet is ready to defend the National Title, which could make for something fun. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (0 points) vs Roderick Strong (0 points)

Strong wins an early grapple off to start but Cassidy grabs the foot to slow him down. Cassidy can’t do much from there but eventually manages a headlock to grind Strong down. A spinning backbreaker can’t get Strong out of trouble as Cassidy stays on the headlock. They head outside with Strong hitting another backbreaker to really take over, followed by another back inside.

We take a break and come back with Cassidy hitting a spinning DDT. Cassidy makes what counts as a fired up comeback and sends Strong outside for the rams into the buckles. A high crossbody is countered into a powerslam to give Strong two and Cassidy is back with a slingshot tornado DDT. Another tornado DDT gives Cassidy two but Strong gives him another backbreaker. Cassidy’s rollup gets two and he manages the Stundog Millionaire. Strong tries another backbreaker but Cassidy slips out and cradles him for the pin at 13:24.

Rating: B. They had a hard fought match here and that’s what you want to see in something like this. Cassidy gets the win to get on the board, which isn’t overly surprising as Strong isn’t someone who gets a big push in this kind of a tournament most of the time. Good opener here, which is always nice to see.

Blue League Standings

Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Post match, Strong storms off.

Darby Allin is officially out of the tournament due to injuries and Jack Perry is taking his place.

Allin talks about how the Death Riders are winning the war because they’re out here doing pushups. He was wrestling Kevin Knight and he couldn’t feel his legs. It was the first time he was ever scared and while he’s never seen eye to eye with Perry, go win the whole thing. He’s not sure about his own future though.

Here is FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, for a chat. Hathaway is happy with his win but he has to address what happened this week on Dynamite. The fans boo him out of the building over and over, but Hathaway makes it clear: they want the Bang Bang Gang right now. Wheeler says that the Gang will always be Billy’s boy and Mr. Toni Storm (Robinson’s “is that a bad thing?” look is great).

Harwood brags about FTR’s all time success and they’re willing to let Robinson touch the belt because he’s a man of his word. Gunn says he’s the son of a Hall Of Famer. Robinson is the son of a carpenter, Wheeler is the son of his first cousin, and Harwood is just a son of a b****. Gunn brings up beating FTR recently and now they want a title match. Apparently the match is officially set for the United Kingdom next week, with the Gang promising to TOUCH the belts.

The Death Riders are ready to destroy Mark Briscoe and take the TNT Title.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli (6 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (0 points)

They fight over a lockup to start and neither can get very far. Dorada handles his own in a wrestle off until Castagnoli gives him a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Back up and Dorada flips around a lot until Castagnoli is sent outside. Castagnoli cuts off a dive with an uppercut and Dorada is dropped onto the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Castagnoli going for the mast but the Swing is escaped rather quickly. Castagnoli gets caught with a quick headscissors and Dorada sends him outside rather quickly. A top rope armdrag sends Castagnoli down again so a rollup can get two back inside. Castagnoli’s tilt-a-whirl cuts Dorada off as we’re halfway through the time limit. A rather spinning headscissors brings Castagnoli down but he’s right back up to try a superplex. That’s broken up as well and Dorada’s shooting star press is good for the pin at 12:00.

Rating: B-. I’m a bit surprised by the result here but it’s good to see Dorada get a win. He’s shown that he can hang in the ring with just about anyone but at some point that has to translate into some wins. It doesn’t matter as much in the tournament, though it’s certainly better than nothing. Castagnoli was never going to run the table in this thing anyway, so getting the loss out of the way is fine.

Blue League Standings

Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Earlier today, the Timeless Love Bombs and the Babes Of Wrath sat down for champagne. Storm talked about how she and Shirakawa love each other no matter what and she’s beaten both Babes. Cameron says the Babes have wrath but Shirakawa says they’re here for the titles. A toast is had.

Here is Swerve Strickland for a chat. Swerve talks about how he’s freshly back from three months out due to injury. When he was champion, he made it clear that he was going to bring everything and that brings him to Samoa Joe. Swerve beat him the last time they fought and now he has to go through a bunch of people to get to the Opps. It doesn’t matter though as Joe will fall.

That brings him to Hangman Page, and Swerve is willing to have his back for one night at Winter Is Coming. Cue Josh Alexander of all people to say this is Don Callis’ house. Why isn’t Swerve looking for revenge on the people who hurt him? Alexander thinks he should get the title shot so a match is set for Winter Is Coming….and Katsuyori Shibata sneaks in to chop block Swerve’s recently repaired knee.

Mercedes Mone does NOT want to talk about last night’s loss at Final Battle and now it’s time for some revenge.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Leila Grey

Grey is challenging and has Christopher Daniels with her. Mone jumps her to start fast and sends Grey outside, with a Meteora off the apron hitting Daniels. Back in and Grey slugs away but gets sent face first into the buckle. Grey’s bulldog out of the corner is blocked and we take a break. We come back with Grey hitting a running knee in the corner but Mone pulls her into the Statement Maker for the tap at 5:49. Not enough shown to rate but they didn’t waste time with Mone getting back to winning.

Post match the hold stays on until Daniels breaks it up, earning himself a low blow.

Eddie Kingston talks about how he’s been doing this for twenty five years and he doesn’t like Samoa Joe taking wrestlers down the wrong path. That all starts with the World Champion and Kingston wants it to change for the good. He’s not just doing this for the title but to show people how to do it the right way, as AEW was supposed to be.

The Triangle Of Madness have jumped a bunch of women. They’ll be in Cardiff.

National Title: Ricochet vs. Ace Austin

Ricochet, with the Gates Of Agony, is defending. Austin’s headlock doesn’t last long to start so he tries it again, which is broken up just as well. Ricochet is sent outside before getting la majistraled for two back inside. That’s enough for Ricochet to grab the bell hammer but the Gates trip Austin down so Ricochet can take over.

We take a break and come back with Ricochet missing a running dropkick in the corner, allowing Austin to drop a leg. After avoiding a Gates distraction, Austin hits a springboard clothesline into a doctor bomb. Ricochet is back with a dropkick into a standing shooting star press for two. The Spirit Gun misses though and Austin grabs a small package for two. A superplex into a running stomp gives Austin two more but he almost runs into the referee. Ricochet hits a quick clothesline into Vertigo to retain at 10:04.

Rating: B-. They only had so much time here given the commercial but Austin was able to showcase himself a bit. At the same time though, it’s still freshly into Ricochet’s title reign and the fans dislike him enough that he should hold onto the belt for a good while. Nice enough match here and a good way to feature both of them.

Post match FTR runs in to beat down Austin with the Bang Bang Gang making the save. The Gang holds up the titles, meaning they have to touch them, as FTR demanded never happen again.

Continental Classic Blue League: Jon Moxley (0 points) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (3 points)

Non-title. Feeling out process to start and they go to the mat with Moxley’s headlock not lasting long. Takeshita reverses into a leglock before they trade shoulders. A running elbow takes Moxley down and he seems to be favoring his recently injured ankle. Said ankle is rammed into the barricade and it’s a dragon screw ankle whip back inside.

We take a break and come back with Takeshita staying on the leg in the corner but Moxley goes after Takeshita’s ankle. A stomp on the apron rocks Takeshita and a double clothesline leaves both of them down. They trade forearms until Moxley’s running clothesline drops Takeshita hard. Moxley’s ankle lock sends Takeshita over to the ropes and he knocks Moxley outside. Takeshita can’t get a running start due to his ankle but a second attempt sets up a big running flip dive.

The Blue Thunder Bomb sends Moxley through the announcers’ table and he has to dive to beat the count. Unfortunately he dives right into a frog splash from Takeshita for another near fall but Moxley is back with a cutter. A double middle finger sets up the Paradigm Shift but Takeshita gets a foot on the rope. Moxley charges into a knee for two and a running knee into Raging Fire gives Takeshita the pin at 17:48.

Rating: A-. Well dang that worked. This started slowly and then turned into a heck of a fight, though I’m almost scared as it felt like they were teasing a Moxley face turn out of this whole thing. I get why that would be the case but the idea of this version of Moxley as a hero is disturbing. Otherwise, Takeshita’s incredible run continues, as he can basically do no wrong at this point.

Blue League Standings

Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B+. Rather solid show here as the Continental Classic continues to deliver. This was about a bunch of people having solid matches, plus Mone running through Grey. It’s still relatively early in the tournament so this can keep going for a bit, though that main event is going to be hard to top. Solid show here, as it mainly focused on one thing, which is often where Collision works best.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Roderick Strong – Rollup
Mascara Dorada b. Claudio Castagnoli – Shooting star press
Mercedes Mone b. Leila Grey – Statement Maker
Ricochet b. Ace Austin – Vertigo
Konosuke Takeshita b. Jon Moxley – Raging Fire

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: November 27, 2025
Location: The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a special Thanksgiving edition of the show and you can tell it’s a big one because Matt Menard is in action. Other than that huge one, we also have more in the Continental Classic, which fits Collision better than almost anything else could. Hopefully they take advantage of the special time slot and put on a bigger than usual show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac vs. Mike Bailey

They chop it out to start with Bailey kicking him down to the floor. A running kick misses though and Pac pulls him outside for a snap suplex. Bailey gets whipped into the barricade and taken back inside, with Pac sending him even harder into the corner. The cravate goes on, followed by a running elbow in the corner for two. A dropkick gets Bailey out of trouble and it’s a running shooting star press for two. Pac gets sent outside for the triangle moonsault and we take a break.

We come back with Pac hitting a toss belly to belly superplex for two but charging into a boot in the corner. They get up and trade kicks to the head before going outside to do it again. Pac grabs a German suplex and Bailey has to jump up to the apron at nine, with Pac missing a charge to the floor. That lets Bailey hit the big moonsault, followed by a poisonrana back inside. The Ultimate Weapon misses and the Brutalizer finishes for Pac at 15:10.

Rating: B-. Well, it was nice to see Bailey get beaten up for a good while as there’s something rather soothing about seeing that every time. Pac is on a bit of a roll at this point and it would be nice to see him make a run in this thing. Then again the first match doesn’t tend to mean much, so now we get to wait and see where it goes, which is kind of the point of the tournament.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Pac – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Daniel Garcia, with Jon Moxley, is ready to end Matt Menard and get some gold.

Bandido takes the blame for the loss for the Tag Team Title match at Full Gear. Brody King says the team isn’t over and they want the belts back. For now though, King wants him to retain the World Title at Final Battle.

Apparently Rush is out of the World Title match though so Bandido is defending against Sammy Guevara, The Beast Mortos, Komander, Hechicero and Blake Christian. This is the first mention we’ve had of the title match and it comes on an AEW show eight days before Final Battle.

Daniel Garcia vs. Matt Menard

Jon Moxley is on commentary. Menard yells at Garcia to start and shoves him out of the corner, followed by the right hands. Garcia fights out of trouble on the floor and comes back in to slug away in the corner. Menard is already busted open as we take a break. We come back with Menard fighting out of a Boston crab, which he reverses into one of his own.

That’s broken up as well and they go outside, with Garcia ramming him into the announcers’ table. A running dropkick crushes the steps against Menard’s head, which is naturally only good for a nine. Back in and Menard mocks Garcia’s old dance so Garcia kicks him in the chest. A bulldog choke finishes Menard off at 11:09.

Rating: C. Forgive me for only being so interested in Garcia, one of the least interesting stars in AEW, beating up his former mentor who was mostly a comedy star. This is a story that has been put together over the last several months but that doesn’t make for an interesting story. I guess we needed to see Garcia beat him up for that long, though hopefully this wraps the whole thing up for good.

Post match here is Mark Briscoe to interrupt. He’s thankful to be in Nashville and to be your TNT Champion, but he’s also thankful to Garcia for saying he wanted the TNT Title. Briscoe had been wondering who he should face first and now he knows that he’s going to devour Garcia like he’s going to devour turkey and macaroni and cheese tonight.

Ricochet lists off some names he’s already beaten and you should be glad to have him as your champion.

Here is FTR to brag about winning the Tag Team Titles back. Stokely Hathaway talks about how FTR keeps overcoming obstacle after obstacle…and here is the Bang Bang Gang to interrupt. The Gang talks about how they’ve recently beaten FTR and don’t need to hear about FTR’s greatness again. Over the weekend, the Gang won $200,000 and now they want some gold to go with the green. The Gang slaps the title down and wants a shot, with FTR bailing instead. Makes as much sense as anyone else would.

Here is MxM TV, for some reason dressed as the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man, for the Casting Call.

MxM Collection/Johnny TV vs. Outrunners/Dalton Castle

Castle and the Outrunners get jumped to start fast with Taya Valkyrie being powerbombed onto Castle on the floor. Back in and Magnum gets pummeled in the corner, only to powerbomb his way to freedom. Madden cuts off the comeback attempt but the Collection misses their own Mega Powers elbow. Castle comes in to clean house and it’s Total Recall to Mansoor. The real Mega Powers elbow sets up the Bang A Rang to give Castle the pin on Mansoor at 2:30. Just a quick comedy match.

Post match the Demand comes out to interrupt the celebration. The Outrunners and Castle are beaten down so Ricochet goes over and gets in an argument with a country singer. Said singer (Michael Ray?) jumps the barricade and they’re held apart.

The Don Callis Family is grateful for various things, with Kazuchika Okada being thankful that he doesn’t have to team with Konosuke Takeshita. This was no Survivor Series 1989.

Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata

The brawl is on outside before the bell, with Shibata putting him in a chair for a boot to the face. They get inside for the opening bell and Kingston grabs a butterfly suplex. Shibata snaps off a German suplex and takes over on the arm. Kingston gets beaten down in the corner and we take a break. We come back with Shibata hitting him low but not being able to get a cross armbreaker, with the referee making him break due to the low blow. Well that’s different. Shibata charges into a boot in the corner and gets DDTed for the pin at 7:06. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what this was about but almost half of the match was in the break and Kingston’s offense at the end was literally those two moves. Kingston hasn’t done much since he got back and this didn’t help him in the slightest. At the same time, Shibata is supposed to be this big tough fighter and gets pinned by a basic DDT in that little time? I don’t get it.

Post match Kingston says he won’t comment on what Hook did. He says he never wanted to just play a character. Instead, he is pro wrestling because he loves these people who love pro wrestling. He’s the guy who wants to inspire someone to get into wrestling one day (Kingston: “By the way, don’t do it.”). Then there’s Samoa Joe, who took the AEW World Title. Kingston only gets peace when he’s in this ring so defend the title against him at Winter Is Coming. When Kingston is on, he’s great at connecting with the crowd and he was feeling it here.

Red Velvet mocks Mercedes Mone for losing at Full Gear and wants a rematch at Final Battle. Do we really have to do this again?

Thekla vs. Tay Melo

Melo hammers away to start fast and throws Thekla down by the arm. Something like a reverse triangle choke (that’s a weird one) has Thekla in early trouble so she has to make the rope. A running knee sends Melo out to the apron and we take a break. We come back with Melo tying her hair up for the big slugout, with Thekla hitting a hard shot to the face. The Death Trap goes on but Melo stacks her up for two. Thekla does her spider thing and gets caught with a running knee. A piledriver gives Melo two more but the TayKO is escaped, allowing Thekla to hit a spear. The stomp gives Thekla the pin at 8:39.

Rating: B-. Another not very long match, especially with the break included, but at least Melo was able to put up a good fight. Melo might not be the most successful star in AEW but she’s often a tough out, which makes her a good choice in a match like this. Thekla continue to feel like a player and that’s a good thing to see, as the division can use some new blood.

Post match the Sisters of Sin come out for the beatdown but Jamie Hayter makes the save. Kris Statlander makes a fairly unnecessary appearance for part of the save as well.

Continental Classic Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Roderick Strong

Takeshita takes over with a test of strength to start, which is broken up rather quickly. Strong’s headlock doesn’t get very far so they go with the grappling. A backbreaker rocks Takeshita but he elbows his way out of an abdominal stretch. They go outside with Strong being sent hard into the barricade and we take a break.

We come back with Strong hitting a dropkick into an Angle Slam. The running forearms in the ropes set up a failed Strong Hold attempt, allowing Takeshita to hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. A super Raging Fire is blocked so Strong backbreakers him onto the turnbuckle for two instead. They strike it out until a fireman’s carry gutbuster rocks Takeshita. The Sick Kick misses so Strong German suplexes him for two. The running knee sets up Raging Fire to give Takeshita the pin at 13:17.

Rating: B. Commentary pointed out that Strong was taking Kyle O’Reilly’s place and that makes sense, as O’Reilly has been on a bit of a roll as of late. Other than that, this was pretty much exactly what you would have expected from these two, as Strong put up a good fight but wasn’t enough to overcome the rather complete Takeshita in the end. Still though, good main event and Takeshita had to work for it.

Blue League Standings

Jon Moxley – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 3 points, 4 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B-. Perfectly fine show here with some good matches, though it had some weak spots in there as well. The good thing is you can easily focus on the Continental Classic, which is going to eat up a bunch of time on any given show. At the same time, there were some weaker points on this show as well and they dragged the good stuff down. Not bad at all overall, but one where you should just catch a recap rather than watch the full thing.

Results
Pac b. Mike Bailey – Brutalizer
Daniel Garcia b. Matt Menard – Bulldog choke
Outrunners/Dalton Castle b. MxM Collection/Johnny TV – Bang A Rang to Mansoor
Eddie Kingston b. Katsuyori Shibata – DDT
Thekla b. Tay Melo – Stomp
Konosuke Takeshita b. Roderick Strong – Raging Fire

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Full Gear 2025
Date: November 22, 2025
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back on pay per view with a rare rematch in the main event. In this case that would be Hangman Page defending the World Title against Samoa Joe, this time inside of a cage. Other than that, we have the return of the Casino Gauntlet match to crown the inaugural National Champion. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Bang Bang Gang vs. Big Bill/Bryan Keith vs. Outrunners vs. Max Caster/Anthony Bowens

For $200,000 and Dalton Castle is on commentary. Gunn punches Bowens to start and the big shot to the head drops Bowens in a hurry. Back up and Bowens hits an atomic drop, prompting Caster to do the clapping. Bowens yells at him, saying he has this so Caster tags himself in. Robinson comes in to take over on Caster but Magnum tags himself in to dropkick Caster.

It’s off to Bill for the big boot to the floor and we take a break. We come back with Floyd coming in to clean house, including the Mega Powers elbow on Keith. The Unacclaimed break that up but Scissor Me Timbers is cut off. The Arrival into the Mic Drop has Keith in trouble and Caster wants to scissor. Bowens isn’t sure but Bill interrupts anyway. Bowens strikes him down but Robinson steals the rollup pin on Bowens at 7:27.

Rating: C+. Not a bad all over the place match here and I’ll take that over the Unacclaimed winning and being all annoying with the WE DON’T LIKE EACH OTHER deal. The Gang has been needing a win of some sort and this is as good as anything they’re going to do at the moment. Just let Robinson talk some more and they should be fine.

Kickoff Show: RPG Vice vs. Big Boom AJ/QT Marshall

Paul Wight and Don Callis are on commentary. Vice is beaten up to start and AJ powerslams Romero. Beretta gets punched off the apron and they all brawl to the floor as we take a break. We come back with Marshall fighting out of a chinlock but getting sent outside. The Rizzler checks on Marshall but Romero shoves Big Justice (AJ’s son) down, which draws Wight over to scare them away.

Back in and the tag brings in AJ to clean house, including some powerslams. A gorilla press and full nelson slam give AJ two with Romero making the save. AJ loads up the Powerboom but Callis offers a distraction. Beretta gets in a cast shot and the running knee connects for two. Strong Zero gets two on AJ with Marshall making the save from the top. Romero grabs the cast but Justice comes in with a Diamond Cutter. Beretta goes after Justice and gets punched by Wight, setting up a Powerboom/Blockbuster combination to finish Beretta at 9:14.

Rating: C. The match was fine and while I’m not a fan of the Costco Guys, they seemingly have an audience and there’s no harm in having them in a less than serious Kickoff Show match. It’s not like RPG Vice is doing anything important right now anyway. You can pretty safely call this “harmless” and that’s an acceptable use of time on this show.

Kickoff Show: Hook/Eddie Kingston vs. Workhorsemen

The Workhorsemen jump them on the floor to start and it’s Hook in trouble in the corner to start. Drake chops him up against the ropes but Hook suplexes his way to freedom. It’s off to Kingston (in street clothes) for a DDT and the pin at 1:52. I’m going to assume this was shortened due to time and hopefully not due to Kingston’s knee, which he was favoring at the end.

Kickoff Show: CMLL Trios Titles: Don Callis Family vs. Sky Team

Sky Team (Mistico/Neon/Mascara Dorada) is defending but there is no Kazuchika Okada, who apparently hasn’t arrived yet. Hechicero and Konosuke Takeshita jump the champs from behind to start, with Hechicero crushing Mistico’s arm with a chair. The arm is sent into the steps and then twisted around a chair as Takeshita chinlocks Dorada inside. We get the opening bell and it’s Dorada flipping over Takeshita and handing it off to Neon.

A top rope armdrag takes Hechicero down as we cut to Okada arriving in a rather fancy car. The Kickoff Show ends and we pick things up on the proper pay per view everyone brawling. Mistico has been taken out and now Okada manages to get to the ring. Hechicero tries to get his partners on the same page but Okada flips Takeshita off. The champs block superplex attempts and here’s a taped up Mistico to fight back. A springboard double high crossbody connects and a spinning wristdrag drops Okada.

Back in and Neon does the same to Okada but Takeshita grabs a kind of wheelbarrow Tombstone. Takeshita loads up Raging Fire but Okada breaks it up. The Family gets in a shoving match and a Rainmaker accidentally hits Takeshita. Dorada and Neon are back in to take Hechicero down, setting up stereo moonsaults to the floor. Mistico poisonranas Hechicero and La Mistica retains the titles at 13:44.

Rating: B. The Sky Team continues to be a blast, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The catch here though is that the titles were totally secondary to the stuff with the Family, which has been going on for a long time now. I’m not sure what that’s going to mean, but at least they seem to be setting up the big showdown, likely at World’s End.

We recap Darby Allin vs. Pac. Allin has been going after the Death Riders for what feels like ever and now it’s time to have him face someone other than Jon Moxley. The catch this time is that Pac wants it one on one with no shenanigans.

Pac vs. Darby Allin

After a quick video of a bandaged Allin getting ready to fight, with Allin’s face being fine (not so much with his taped up arm and ribs). Allin takes him down by the arm to start and cranks away, including an armbar. A shotgun dropkick sends Pac outside but he reverses a hurricanrana back inside. Allin grinds away on a headlock instead before switching to a leglock, which has Pac in the ropes.

Pac is back up with a gorilla press onto the floor, which isn’t going to do well on those bad ribs. That’s only good for an eight count so Allin ribs the tape off Allin’s arm and gives him an Indian burn. A hard whip sends Allin through the corner and outside again for a nasty crash. Back in and Pac scores with a missile dropkick but Allin ties him in the ring skirt and hammers away.

A dive drops Pac and Allin puts him in a chair for a missile dropkick. Back in and Pac grabs a snap German suplex, followed by a toss into the corner. Allin fights up with a knockdown of his own but Pac blasts him with a lariat for two. The Brutalizer goes on, with Allin getting his feet into the ropes for the break. Allin sweeps the leg and gets the Scorpion Deathlock but here is Wheeler Yuta for a distraction. That makes Allin let go and a baseball bat to the face finishes for Pac at 16:57.

Rating: B. Allin wanting to do this clean and then cheating in the end is about as on point for the Death Riders as you can get, though I’m almost scared to know how much longer the team is going to be fighting Allin. Odds are Allin will want revenge and that sounds like a reason for quite the violent match. Again.

We recap the women’s four way tag. They’re all in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament. Pretty much end of recap.

Sisters Of Sin vs. Timeless Love Bombs vs. Babes Of Wrath vs. Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir

The winners get to pick the stipulation for their semifinals match in the tournament. It’s a brawl to start with Storm and Shafir being left alone in the ring. Storm gets sent into the corner for the rapid fire kicks and forearms from Shafir and Bayne. A suplex sends Storm flying into the corner again but she’s able to flip Shirakawa onto Bayne for a quick two.

Back up and Bayne takes over on Shirakawa so Shafir can come back in for some choking. Blue comes in with a quick swinging neckbreaker but the Babes come in to take Blue down. Hart gets a chance to take over on Cameron but stops to shove Shafir. This doesn’t go well for Bayne, who gets in a shot of her own so Shafir can take over on Cameron. A tornado DDT finally gets Cameron out of trouble and the much needed tag brings in Nightingale.

That doesn’t last long either as it’s off to Shirakawa, who takes over on the Sisters. Shafir is right back in with Mother’s Milk but Storm makes a quick save. That’s enough for Storm to come in and clean house but Cameron tags herself in. A high crossbody gives Cameron two on Storm but Bayne German suplexes the Sisters at the same time. Everything breaks down and Shirakawa hits a dive to the floor, leaving Storm to small package Cameron for the pin at 13:10.

Rating: C+. Bayne got to show off a bit, but as usual there is only so much you can do with so many people in one match at one time. It also doesn’t help that this was for a stipulation in a tournament semifinal match. That doesn’t exactly make it feel must see, but with so much of the women’s division in the tournament, it was about all they could do.

We recap FTR vs. Bandido/Brody King for the Tag Team Titles. FTR are the all time team around here but King/Bandido are the hot team.

Tag Team Titles: Bandido/Brody King vs. FTR

FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, is challenging and we get a quick video from Hathaway where he walks in a dimly lit room and looks at footage of the champs. I’m assuming he’s not a fan. Bandido and Wheeler start things off with Wheeler working on the arm but Bandido is back with some armdrags. Harwood and King come in to slug it out with King taking over and hitting a quick backsplash for two.

Bandido comes in and slams King onto Harwood, meaning it’s Macarena time. Hathaway’s distraction doesn’t do much as Bandido dives over him, only to get dropped face first onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Harwood grabs a Gory Stretch but Bandido is out with a kind of double spinebuster (or a double flapjack that didn’t work). It’s still not enough for the tag though as Bandido gets pulled into the corner.

That doesn’t last long either as he kicks his way to freedom and brings in King to wreck both of them. A Death Valley Driver sends FTR into the corner for a cannonball but Harwood low bridges Bandido out to the floor. King is able to block the PowerPlex though, with Bandido coming in with a frog splash back to Harwood. King’s dive onto Hathaway only hits the floor, leaving Bandido to roll Harwood up for two.

The sitout powerbomb into a top rope splash gets two on Bandido, who is right back with a one armed gorilla press to send Wheeler outside. The big dive takes FTR out again and Bandido counters the Shatter Machine back inside. That’s enough to set up the 21 Plex but Harwood pops up for a Shatter Machine, with King having to make the save. Wheeler grabs a title and knocks Bandido silly for two but he’s right back up for a Shatter Machine to Harwood for two.

The monkey flip 450 is broken up, just like the Doomsday Device, as Bandido powerslams Wheeler out of the air for two more. King tries to get back in and is quickly spike piledriven onto the apron. Something like a double reverse AA plants Bandido for two and the spike piledriver gets the same. The Shatter Machine gives FTR the titles back at 20:12.

Rating: B. This was the kind of high speed, action packed match you would expect, but dang some of the lack of selling took me out of it. People were hitting big moves and the other person just kept popping up. That’s a good way to derail things a bit, as it made me roll my eyes more than anything else. FTR getting the titles back is fine as Bandido and King never felt like a long term team. That being said, can we do something with Bandido already? I’d say he’s earned it.

We recap the Casino Battle Royal for the inaugural National Title. Well recap it as much as possible, as we only know a few of the entrants so it’s basically just about Ricochet and the Hurt Syndicate.

National Title: Casino Gauntlet Match

For the inaugural title. The idea is basically a Royal Rumble with unknown entrants, untimed entrances and the first fall wins, meaning it could be over with only two entrants. Bobby Lashley is in at #1 and Shelton Benjamin is in at #2 and they show respect to start. Lashley goes for the leg and can’t get anywhere so they circle a bit until Ricochet is in at #3 after quite the disappointing segment.

Ricochet says we want violence so here are the Gates Of Agony to jump the Syndicate. MVP gets jumped on the floor while Benjamin is dropped onto a chair and Lashley is sent into the steps. The Gates are sent to the back as Ricochet dances and Claudio Castagnoli is in at #4. Ricochet’s dive is cut off by an uppercut and Castagnoli throws him back inside. The Swing sets up the running uppercut in the corner but Ricochet manages a headscissors out to the floor.

Daniel Garcia is in at #5 to choke Ricochet from the apron, allowing the Riders to crush him in the corner. Orange Cassidy is in at #6 and gets picked up by Castagnoli. The spinning DDT is blocked so it’s a Stundog Millionaire for Castagnoli as Wheeler Yuta is in at #7. Cassidy and Yuta’s staredown is cut off by the Death Riders, with Ricochet getting in on the running shots in the corner.

Kevin Knight is in at #8 and takes out Garcia on the floor but gets cut off by Ricochet. The Riders take over again and it’s Roderick Strong in at #9 with a Sick Kick for two on Ricochet. Mark Davis is in at #10 for a spinning piledriver on Ricochet and another one to Cassidy. Mike Bailey is in at #11 with a DDT to Davis but Bailey and Knight aren’t sure who should cover. Knight rolls Bailey up for a fast two so he kicks Knight in the face. Garcia grabs a Dragontamer on Bailey but Matt Menard is in at #12.

Menard and Garcia yell at each other and it’s Davis vs. Castagnoli, which is cut off by the returning Hurt Syndicate. Davis and Castagnoli are sent outside so Ricochet comes back in and immediately realizes his screwup. The Syndicate quickly beats him up but Cassidy is back in with some Orange Punches. Lashley misses a charge into the barricade and Wheeler knees Cassidy for two, with Knight making the save. Knight hits the UFO splash but Ricochet drops him with the Spirit Gun for the pin and the title at 22:55.

Rating: B-. This was a bit weaker than some of the previous editions of the match as it was pretty much just Ricochet vs. the Hurt Syndicate with some other stuff going on. Most of the people involved were little more than warm bodies and there wasn’t much drama about a lot of them winning the title. Ricochet is a good choice though, as he’s been doing some great stuff in recent weeks.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Moxley has been broken by submitting so he’s facing a submission expert, who has made him tap out before. This time though it’s No Holds Barred, which is a bit less violent after the last time Moxley tapped out inside Blood & Guts.

Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly

No Holds Barred. O’Reilly strikes away at the bell to start and they go to the grappling. That’s broken up and O’Reilly kicks him into the corner, with Moxley sticking out his face for some free shots. A bend of the finger sets up an abdominal stretch on Moxley, which O’Reilly switches into an ankle lock. Moxley bails out to the floor before coming back inside to work on the arm.

That’s enough wrestling, so Moxley whips out a fork to stab O’Reilly in the head. The blood starts flowing and Moxley bites away at his head. Moxley works on the arm and bites a finger before switching to a full nelson. That’s reversed into another ankle lock, which is countered into a stabbing of O’Reilly’s nipple (Schiavone: “You want to describe that one Excalibur?”).

O’Reilly grabs a choke and dragon screw legwhips Moxley over the rope. A catapult sends Moxley into the post and the ankle lock goes on again back inside. The kneebar has Moxley in trouble and O’Reilly stabs him in the head with the fork for a change. O’Reilly grabs a chain and they take turns wrapping it around each others’ neck before fighting for a suplex. Moxley is the one getting suplexed but they’re still connected so neither can go anywhere.

They trade forearms until Moxley shrugs off some kicks and bulldog chokes him. That’s reversed as well until Moxley gets an STF, which is broken up with a stab to the hand. Moxley stomps him onto the chain (the fans do Seth Rollins’ song) and it’s time to Pillmanize the arm. The Death Rider sets up a Kimura, which is reversed into an ankle lock with the chain to make Moxley tap at 19:18.

Rating: C+. They were getting close to some good stuff here with the grappling but then it kept getting derailed by the fork nonsense. The chain was fine and the chair fit in well, but the fork stuff felt like it was from a totally different match. I do like the stuff with Moxley’s tough man image being broken as it fits the long term story for him. Just stop with the ultraviolent garbage and let the match work on its own.

Post match Moxley beats him down again but gives what looks like a look of respect.

We recap Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Title. They’ve traded wins but Briscoe wants one more shot at the title. If he loses though, he has to join the Don Callis Family.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe

Briscoe is challenging, Don Callis is on commentary and it’s No DQ. We get a special video with Briscoe talking about trying to find a new family after his brother passed away. He found that with the Conglomeration and now his future family depends on this match. This was really good and it hit the emotional notes perfectly well to sell the stakes for Briscoe. They forearm it out to start (as tends to be the case in AEW) but Briscoe can’t get an early Jay Driller.

Instead Fletcher sends him outside, where Briscoe gets in a trip off the apron. Some chairs are brought in, with one of them hitting Fletcher in the back. The Bang Bang Elbow is pulled out of the air though and Briscoe gets brainbustered onto the chair. A short ladder is brought in and Briscoe’s missed running flip dive sends him through it for a crash. The bleeding Briscoe is taken inside and whipped into the ladder again.

Briscoe fights out of trouble though and it’s a missile dropkick to send the ladder into Fletcher. That’s enough to get Callis off commentary and Briscoe grabs a table. Fletcher gets off of said table before the dive though and suplexes Briscoe on the floor instead. A bunch of chairs are loaded up on the floor but Briscoe gets up and sends him onto them. That takes too long as well, allowing Fletcher to shove him off the top and through the table for the big crash.

Back in and something like a running Alabama slam sends Briscoe through another table in the corner for two. As Callis tries to figure out if he has to feed Briscoe’s kids if Briscoe joins the Family, Fletcher pours out the thumbtacks (of course). The powerbomb onto the tacks is broken up and Briscoe gives him a fisherman’s buster onto the tacks. Briscoe grabs a barbed wire table, plus a ladder and a regular table (yet somehow, Fletcher can’t be kept down for three seconds at the moment).

They go to the apron, where Briscoe drives him into the group of open chairs. Back in and they both climb the ladder, with Briscoe getting to the top for an elbow to drive Fletcher through the table (onto the tacks) for two. That means that either Fletcher is winning or they missed the point where it should have ended. Fletcher is back up with the screwdriver (yep they missed it) but after stabbing Briscoe, gets it stuck in the turnbuckle. A brainbuster onto the tacks gets two on Fletcher, who manages to turn the screwdriver upside down in the buckle.

The super brainbuster onto the pointed up screwdriver is teased (this is stupid), only to be reversed to avoid a bad case of death. The Cutthroat Driver is broken up with a stab to the head and a running stab sets up the brainbuster to give Fletcher two more. They go up top, with Briscoe managing a toss Razor’s Edge through the barbed wire table. That and the Jay Driller are enough to finish Fletcher at 25:16.

Rating: B-. I know what they were going for here and what makes it all the more frustrating is THEY HAD IT. If this ended with Briscoe’s big elbow from the ladder (and maybe a Jay Driller for the family thing), it would have been great and easily the best thing on the show. Instead, they went another five minutes and had the stabbing stuff, which is, in a word, REALLY FREAKING STUPID. Forgive me for not buying the image of Fletcher teasing impaling Briscoe’s head on a screwdriver. The first twenty or so minutes were great and the last five minutes were dumb, which makes this quite the irritating situation.

We recap the Young Bucks/Josh Alexander vs. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express for a million dollars. The Bucks have been broke for a bit but are teasing joining the Don Callis Family for the sake of getting their money back.

Young Bucks/Josh Alexander vs. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express

For a million dollars. Nick works on Perry’s arm to start and they flip around a bit until they both try dropkicks. Matt and Luchasaurus come in with Luchasaurus working on the arm. It’s quickly off to Omega for more of the same, though Omega comes up favoring his recently damaged ankle. The villains take over on Omega, who manages to hurricanrana Nick to the floor.

The ensuing dive slows Omega down though and it’s back to Perry, who gets World’s Strongest Slammed onto the apron. Nick dives onto Luchasaurus and hands it back to Matt for Risky Business on Perry. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Perry hits a nice running diving DDT, allowing the much needed tag off to Luchasaurus. The Bucks superkick him down but he manages a double knockdown of his own and it’s back to Omega.

House is quickly cleaned but Alexander escapes You Can’t Escape. Everything breaks down and it’s a springboard Destroyer to Luchasaurus but Perry hits a running knee to leave everyone down. Omega and Alexander get up to slug it out until Omega grabs a snapdragon. The Bucks come in to take Omega down and we hit the ankle lock, which is broken up via the ropes. Matt gets caught in a spike Tombstone but the Countdown To Extinction is broken up.

Alexander clotheslines Matt by mistake though and now the Countdown To Extinction connects, with Alexander making the save. Perry hits a double Doomsday Device on the Bucks, who completely no sell it (because a springboard double clothesline has no effect) and start firing off the superkicks. Some of those superkicks hit Alexander, who gets planted with the One Winged Angel on the floor. A rollup gives Perry two but it’s the BTE Trigger to finish Perry at 19:06.

Rating: B+. I’m not big on the Bucks but they know how to do an exciting six man tag. I wasn’t expecting the Bucks to win here, as it felt like Alexander was only there to take the loss. The match was rather entertaining, though you can tell Omega is a far shell of what he used to be. That’s no surprise given what he’s been through, but dang it’s getting rough to see him out there.

Post match the Bucks get their money and Callis says they’re in the Family. Alexander and the rest of the Family jump Omega and the Express, with the Bucks almost being dragged away by Callis. The Bucks come back for the big save and make peace with the Express, followed by the big hug with Omega. Oh good grief ENOUGH WITH THE ELITE MELODRAMA ALREADY. Omega has to be helped to the back and even collapses on the ramp. The Family seems to have left with all of the money, so the Bucks are still broke.

We recap Mercedes Mone challenging Kris Statlander for the Women’s Title. Mone beat her before and now wants to do it for her 385th title.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander

Only Statlander is defending. Mone goes for the leg to start but gets rolled up for two instead. The Statement Maker is broken up as well so Mone sends her outside in a crash. Statlander is able to roll through a dive though and a nice superplex drops Mone hard. It’s too early for the 450 though as they’re definitely starting fast. Statlander rolls outside and seems to be favoring her elbow, with Mone hitting a running Meteora off the apron.

A big stomp to the arm has Statlander in even more trouble and it’s off to a Fujiwara armbar back inside. Back up and the bad arm is sent into the buckle but she uses the good arm to elbow Mone in the face. Mone uses her feet to bend the arm again and snaps off a tornado DDT for two. Fourteen Amigos have Statlander down and the fans cheering for Mone (the villain, because doing something cool is more important).

The frog splash lands on raised feet and Statlander manages a backdrop, followed by something like a Michinoku Driver for two. The bad arm gets crushed again but Statlander gives her a Blue Thunder Bomb on the floor. Back in and Mone hits a Codebreaker into a Backstabber into a sunset bomb into the corner. The running Meteora is cut off with a clothesline so Mone kicks at the bad arm again.

Statlander’s crossface is reversed into one from Mone, which is broken up as well. A super gutbuster (Dean Malenko style) drops Mone for a delayed two but the arm is too banged up for Staturday Night Fever. Instead it’s a package piledriver for two, with Mone having to grab the rope for the escape. Mone is back with a hurricanrana and running knees against the ropes for two and they fight over a Tombstone. Statlander finally sends her into the corner and muscles her up into the Staturday Night Fever to retain at 23:06.

Rating: B+. This was rather good as well and would have been even better had Mone not seemingly been more about getting cheered than winning. What matters the most is that Statlander won, which is what should have happened. There was no reason for Mone to win here and while she will likely get the title down the line, at least she didn’t get it here, as Statlander picks up probably her biggest win ever. Really nice match here, with the arm injury telling a good story as Statlander didn’t have her usual power advantage.

The Don Callis Family is happy with having the money and Callis says that it’s time for the team to come together for the Continental Classic. Konosuke Takeshita says he’ll be in, as does an angry Kyle Fletcher. Well that was obvious, but in a good way.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe. Page retained the World Title over a good Joe last month so now it’s evil Joe in a cage.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe

Page is defending in a cage and apparently comes to the ring to a song from Red Dead Redemption 2. They tease rams into the cage to start with Page getting the better of things to bust Joe open early. Page takes his boot off to hammer Joe in the head for two but Joe sends him into the cage right back.

Now it’s Page busted open and getting his face raked against the cage, which isn’t a good sign. Page is back up to win a slugout and even tries his own Koquina Clutch. Joe’s release Rock Bottom out of the corner drops Page and he takes a turnbuckle pad off. Another comeback lets Page tease the Deadeye but here is Katsuyori Shibata for the distraction.

Eddie Kingston cuts him off but the referee gets crushed against the cage. The Deadeye connects for no count and here is Powerhouse Hobbs to break through the door. Page sends him into the cage and hits a Buckshot Lariat on Joe for no count. Instead here’s Hook to deck Page with the title and reveal an Opps shirt. Commentary acts like this is some shocking moment, as someone joining a stable he was part of just a few months ago is shocking. The Elite has done that what, half a dozen times? Anyway, Joe hits the MuscleBuster to retain the title at 16:02.

Rating: B. It was a violent, bloody brawl in a cage, which might have had a bit more impact had there not been two blood baths earlier in the night and two far bloodier cage matches just ten days ago. On the other hand, I do kind of like Joe winning the title again, as Page was (again) coming off as a huge afterthought as champion. I don’t get why that’s the case, but Joe is more interesting almost by definition. Good, violent match here, though a heel on top of a stable as champion, AGAIN, isn’t the most thrilling way to go.

Post match the Opps (complete with a group of Opps Dojo goons) celebrate but the lights go out. We see a burning home and Swerve Strickland is back. The Opps bail and Swerve takes out the goons (Like a…..house of fire?), with Page getting up to help to end the show. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Overall Rating: B+. This did exceed my expectations, which weren’t overly high coming into the show. What matters the most is that they changed the World Title, which just wasn’t an interesting situation for a long time. At the same time, we got some rather good matches, with the six man and Women’s Title matches being pretty close to excellent. I really could go with a lot less of the blood and more hardcore violence, but that’s just baked into a lot of modern wrestling. Either way, more than solid show tonight with some very good moments, even at five and a half hours (yes, the Kickoff Show counts, as always).

Results
Bang Bang Gang b. Max Caster/Anthony Bowens, Outrunners and Big Bill/Bryan Keith – Rollup to Bowens
Big Boom AJ/QT Marshall b. RPG Vice – Powerboom/Blockbuster combination to Beretta
Hook/Eddie Kingston b. Workhorsemen – DDT to Henry
Sky Team b. Don Callis Family – La Mistica to Hechicero
Pac b. Darby Allin – Baseball bat to the face
Timeless Love Bombs b. Sisters Of Sin, Marina Shafir/Megan Bayne and Babes Of Wrath – Small package to Cameron
FTR b. Bandido/Brody King – Shatter Machine to Bandido
Ricochet won the Casino Gauntlet Match – Spirit Gun to Knight
Kyle O’Reilly b. Jon Moxley – Ankle lock with a chain
Mark Briscoe b. Kyle Fletcher – Jay Driller
Young Bucks/Josh Alexander b. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Perry
Kris Statlander b. Mercedes Mone – Staturday Night Fever
Samoa Joe b. Hangman Page – MuscleBuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

I’m not sure if it’s due to Blood & Guts last week or something with the build itself, but it’s been a bit difficult to get up for this show. Part of it comes down to a lack of a hot main event. I’m assuming the main event is the cage match, but there is only so much you can get when Page already beat Joe last month. Hopefully the action is able to carry things over the finish line so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Big Boom AJ/QT Marshall vs. RPG Vice

So the Costco Guys are back and that means it’s time to act like they’re really interesting all over again. While AJ is far from terrible or even bad, it’s still hard to get interested in whatever the story is with himself and Marshall, which has been going on for way too long now. At least it’s in this spot and it’s not like Vice is going to lose much when they get beaten here.

In case that’s quite the spoiler, go back in time and insert your own warning. Of course there’s no reason to believe that the celebrity team is going to lose here. AJ is one of the bigger names that AEW can get at the moment so he’ll need to win here to keep his star power. It does help quite a bit that this is about as low level on the ladder as you can get, which at least keeps this from taking up more important time.

Kickoff Show: Hook/Eddie Kingston vs. Workhorsemen

In addition to the World Title match, here we have what is basically another rematch, or at least a repeat of the same setup. In this case, we have Kingston and Hook teaming up in an open challenge, only with the Workhorsemen accepting rather than the Frat House. I get the idea of wanting to get Kingston and Hook on the show, but maybe come up with something a bit more interesting?

As uninspired as this feels, there’s pretty much no doubt about the winner here, as this is all about trying to get Kingston and Hook to mean something. I’m not sure which one one is seen as the bigger star at the moment, but neither of them are exactly on fire right now. Maybe they can find something to spark them up a bit, but it’s hard to believe that them winning here will change much.

Kickoff Show: Max Caster/Anthony Bowens vs. Bang Bang Gang vs. Big Bill/Bryan Keith vs. Outrunners

It’s another match for a bunch of money which is code for “we have nothing else for these people to do but here they are anyway”. Caster and Bowens are by far the most important team at the moment, even if they’re not really a team. I could go for seeing the two of them together more often as the singles stuff was only so good, but either have them get back together or not.

That being said, I’ll take the Gang to win, partially due to how fun it could be to see Juice Robinson doing his stuff about the money, as you saw earlier this week. It sounds better than Caster and Bowens’ will they/won’t they deal, though that is the more likely pick. Maybe it’s due to me not caring much about Caster and Bowens, but hopefully the Gang wins here.

Kickoff Show: CMLL Trios Titles: El Sky Team(c) vs. The Don Callis Family

This is a bit of a confusing one as the names involved would make it feel like it belonged on the main card. While the titles might be in jeopardy, this feels like it’s much more about Konosuke Takeshita’s and Kazuchika Okada’s issues, which very well may spill over here. That has been teased for a good while now and it can only be stretched out so much longer. At the same time, getting the titles is something certainly in the realm of possibility.

I’ll take the champions to retain, as the Family doesn’t need to do much more at this point. Let them have some issues, possibly with a big showdown coming up in the Continental Classic. The Sky Team is fun to watch and it should make for a good match here, with the Family having some variety to spice it up a bit. The champs retain, but the focus is going to be on the Family, as tends to be the case.

National Title: Casino Gauntlet Match

We’ll start the main show with this one because it’s hard to say what we’re going to be seeing. While we are likely to have about twenty entrants, we only have five coming into the show. That doesn’t give us much in the way of the knowing where this is going as we’ll have to pick from the limited options that we have, which is hardly the best way to go but it’s the problem with a match like this.

Of the five options that we have (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight and Ricochet), I’ll take Ricochet as the most likely choice. Given that he’s been getting a good bit of screen time and actually needs to win something, this would be a good way to start. I’m not sure who else is going to be in there and there is always the chance that it’s someone out of nowhere, but Ricochet seems like at least a safe bet.

Darby Allin vs. Pac

This is the next match in Allin’s seemingly never ending war with the Death Riders. The idea here is that this is going to be a regular match with no extra shenanigans. I know that’s quite the concept on a wrestling show, but it would be nice to see after all of the insanity that Allin has been doing lately. If nothing else, it’s not Allin vs. Jon Moxley for a change and the breather should be nice.

There’s no reason to think Allin will lose here so we’ll go with him getting the win. In theory Allin is going to be going over the Death Riders in the end, though I have no idea what kind of big closing match they’re going to have. This doesn’t feel like a pay per view match, but at least it’s something different than what we’ve been seeing from Allin for such a long time now.

Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express vs. Young Bucks/Josh Alexander

This is the other money match (a million dollars in this case), as Tony Khan continues to give the evil and annoying Young Bucks a chance to make a huge sum all at once. At the same time, there was something of a tease of an Elite reunion earlier this week, which sums up just how annoying this whole thing has been. The Bucks doing all of their stuff is one thing but my head might implode if I’m supposed to cheer for them again.

Ultimately, this feels like Omega and the Express’ to win, as the Bucks need to fall even further before they can turn it around. Omega probably does not have many big matches left in him as his body is breaking down so quickly, but at least he’s still in the ring for the time being. Alexander feels like he’s there to take the fall, which has been the case for a long time now. Either way, the good guys win here.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher(c) vs. Mark Briscoe

Title vs. Briscoe joining the Don Callis Family, which makes me think that it’s going one certain way. The Family continues to do pretty much whatever it wants, which doesn’t make for the most thrilling story. On the other hand you have Briscoe, who rarely wins the big one and has been chasing this title for a VERY long time now. One of those things is going to have to give and that is where we are today.

I’ll take Briscoe to win here, as Fletcher has held the title for a very long time now and there isn’t much to gain by having him keep it any longer. On the other hand you have Briscoe, who needs to win the title again before he starts losing his status. Fletcher is at the point where a loss won’t hurt him very much and he seems likely to move up to the main event scene anyway. Briscoe winning here makes more sense.

Babes Of Wrath vs. Sisters Of Sin vs. Timeless Love Bombs vs. Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir

I can’t get my head around this one, as it’s that dumb of an idea. In this case we have the four semifinalists for the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament (which as of this coming Wednesday will be one of three ongoing title tournaments under the Tony Khan banner). The winner of this match gets to pick the stipulation for their semifinal match, which is likely happening this coming week. Yes, this is the best they could come up with for a pay per view.

As this has such little impact on who wins the titles, give me the Bombs to win, just to see whatever wacky idea Storm gives us in the semifinals. I still can’t fathom that this was the best they could do for this show, though I guess it’s due to Blood & Guts taking up a week. It’s almost like AEW tries to do too much and isn’t great at pacing its stuff out, but that must be nonsense of course.

Women’s Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Mercedes Mone

So this is Mone’s chance to win her….I believe it’s 14th title? The idea is that Mone has been TBS Champion for about 37 years now and has all kinds of other titles but failed in her one attempt to win the AEW Women’s Title. I’m still not sure what the appeal of the Belt Collector deal is supposed to be yet here we are, with the whole thing somehow still continuing.

I think I’ll go with Statlander retaining here, as Mone needs to lose something here sooner than later. While I’m sure she’ll get the title at some point and that’s fine, Statlander hasn’t had it very long yet and deserves a better run as champion. Hopefully it doesn’t turn into another case of “let’s all praise Mone”, but that is probably what winds up happening in the end.

Tag Team Titles: Bandido/Brody King(c) vs. FTR

This is another case where we’ve seen FTR as champions so many times now that it’s hard to bring myself to care about the possibility of seeing it again. Bandido and King have done really well with the titles thus far and it would be nice to get to see that continue. At the same time though, there is a real chance that the “real” team wins the belts here as Bandido moves on to whatever else.

Give me the champs retaining here, if nothing else for the sake of I’ve enjoyed seeing them more often. What I don’t need to see is FTR winning and then defending against a reunited Copeland/Cage, which is a rather strong possibility. Maybe it’s just me having false hope, but hopefully King and Bandido get to hang onto the titles here, as they’ve earned the right to keep them for awhile.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jon Moxley

This is No DQ and could be another big step in the already rather lengthy downfall of Moxley. The idea is that Moxley keeps giving up in matches after months of talking about how tough he is and it’s not exactly holding up. In theory this leads to the downfall of the entire Death Riders, which has LONG since run its course. On the other hand though…it’s O’Reilly.

As little sense as it might make, I’ll take O’Reilly to win here, as that’s the story that has been built up. Maybe it comes with some shenanigans, but there is no reason to have Moxley win here after losing so many times in recent weeks. The Death Riders desperately need to come to an end already and this is as good of a way to do so as there is right now. It’s hard to imagine O’Reilly as the guy to make it happen, but for now, the pieces are there.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page(c) vs. Samoa Joe

So this is a case where had it been anything other than the World Title and likely the main event, I would have put this way higher as there just isn’t much doubt over the winner. We’ve already seen this last month with Page retaining over Joe clean, which set up the ensuing heel turn. I’m not sure why I would want to see this again here, but someone has to challenge for the title.

Of course I’ll take Page to win here, as there is no reason to believe that Joe is taking the title. This has felt like quite the filler feud for the title, which isn’t exactly much to see. I’m sure the fight will be good enough as these two know how to make it work, but Page really needs to move on to something else, as the two matches with Joe haven’t exactly felt that important. At least this one is different though.

Overall Thoughts

Dang that’s a lot of matches. I know four of them are officially on a separate show, but it’s one big block of AEW without much in the way of a top match. That’s been an issue for a good while now in AEW, as they really don’t seem to have a major story going on. Maybe that changes soon, but it’s not making for the most interesting pay per view, at least on paper. That’s been the case for the last few shows too, and that really needs to change.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: November 8, 2025
Location: Bayou Music Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the last show before Blood & Guts and as luck would have it, we’ll be getting to see what happens with the two advantage series. That should be enough to carry most of the show, but other than that, we’re likely in for some build towards Full Gear, which is coming up as well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

FTR vs. Bang Bang Gang

Stokely Hathaway is here with FTR. Gunn starts with the Guns Up pose to Harwood before taking Wheeler down in an armbar. That’s broken up and it’s off to Harwood vs. Robinson as things slow down a bit. Robinson hammers away in the corner but is smart enough to catch Wheeler with a spinning high crossbody.

Harwood is taken out again but Wheeler is back in with a chop block to take Robinson down. Robinson fights out of trouble and gets two off a sunset flip, followed by a double DDT. Gunn gets the tag and cleans house, including busting out the old Quick Draw. Wheeler low bridges Gunn to the floor though and we take a break.

We come back with Robinson coming in to clean house, including a leg lariat to Harwood. A slingshot dive drops Wheeler but Harwood rolls through a high crossbody and grabs the tights for two. Cue Bandido and Gravity to go after Hathaway, though they stop to superkick Wheeler. The Fameasser of the middle rope staggers Harwood and the forward DDT gives Robinson the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. They certainly kept the energy up here and it made for a hot opener. At the very least, I rather like seeing the Gang get a nice win, as they’ve been doing nothing for such a long time now. Hopefully this is a sign that they’re getting back on their feet, as it’s not like they had much further to fall.

Kyle Fletcher is ready to beat up Ace Austin tonight and Mark Briscoe at Full Gear. Kazuchika Okada comes in to say they’ll win and be Proto-Kada. Fletcher likes it…I think?

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Ace Austin

Fletcher is defending. They fight over wrist control to start with Fletcher taking him down and striking a double biceps pose. Back up and Austin knocks him outside for an early breather so things can reset a bit. A big boot puts Austin down but he’s right back with la majistral for two. Fletcher backbreakers him into a swinging full nelson slam for two and we take a break.

We come back with Austin striking away, setting up a Russian legsweep. Fletcher bails out to the floor, where he counters a kick to the chest into a powerbomb onto the apron. Back in and the sitout Last Ride gets two on Austin, who is right back with some corner clotheslines.

A super hurricanrana plants Fletcher though and a faceplant gives Austin two. The Fold misses though and Fletcher lawn darts him into the corner. Austin fights back up but another Fold attempt is countered into a brainbuster for two. They trade kicks to the head until Fletcher takes him up top for the brainbuster onto the turnbuckle to retain at 14:38.

Rating: B. Good stuff here, as Austin is someone who has proven himself well in AEW thus far and Fletcher is rather dependable to put it mildly. This is the match designed to have Austin become a big deal and that’s a good way for him to go. Then again, that’s how a lot of people are treated in AEW and the results have been a mixed bag of success.

We look at Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir joining forces.

Kris Statlander thinks Mercedes Mone has a lot of things that she’ll never have, but Statlander has the focus. Statlander will follow her into Blood & Guts and then on to Full Gear to beat her once and for all.

The Don Callis Family wants the Death Riders to destroy Mark Briscoe and offers them favors for a job well done. Jon Moxley isn’t interested and a lot of staring ensues.

Anna Jay/Tay Melo vs. Hyan/Maya World

Melo takes Hyan into the corner to take over and Jay comes in to hammer away. World makes a save but gets sent outside, meaning it’s a Gory Bomb into a knee to the face to finish Hyan at 1:48. Total dominance.

Athena is annoyed at getting pinned by Harley Cameron, who is getting a Ring Of Honor Women’s Title match later this month. Now it’s time for pain in Blood & Guts and then retaining the title.

Women’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Skye Blue vs. Jamie Hayter

Blue’s team is up 1-0 and a win gives them the advantage. They trade some early rollups and go outside, with Hayter giving chance but getting sent into the steps. Back in and Hayter’s spinebuster lets her hammer away but she misses a dropkick. Blue gets two off a basement superkick and we take a break.

We come back with Hayter hitting a middle rope dropkick for two, followed by a big boot for the same. They trade forearms and then headbutts, with Hayter falling on top for two. Blue powerbombs her out of the corner for the same but Code Blue is countered. Hayterade gives Hayter the pin at 10:06.

Rating: B-. They weren’t exactly hiding the fact that Hayter was going to win here as otherwise there wouldn’t have been another match. Hayter continues to rise up the rankings and hopefully she’s able to get back into the title picture sooner than later. Blue is someone who can take losses without losing much and it won’t hurt her, so this was fine.

Post match the Triangle Of Madness run in for the beatdown but Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale make the save.

Women’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Thekla vs. Harley Cameron

For the advantage. It’s a brawl to start with the fans entirely behind Cameron in quite the reaction. They go outside with Cameron hitting a Russian legsweep before heading back inside. Thekla pulls her out of the corner for a face first crash onto the buckle, followed by a suplex on the floor. Thekla adds another one and we take a break with Cameron in trouble.

We come back with Cameron getting caught with the upside down choke in the ropes for two. Back up and a running faceplant drops Thekla and Cameron gets to stomp away in the corner. A sling blade gives Cameron two and she headbutts Thekla into the Tree Of Woe for a running dropkicks. That doesn’t get her very far though as Thekla hits a spear for the pin and advantage at 12:04.

Rating: C+. Cameron is getting better in the ring but what matters the most is that the fans love her. You can’t plan that kind of thing and it made for a great step forward for her career. She’s coming up on the biggest singles match of her career, which makes the loss here a bit of a bad idea, but it’s not like Cameron is likely to beat Athena anyway.

Jet Speed aren’t done with FTR and they’re ready to be in the Casino Gauntlet match for the North American Title.

Anthony Bowens insists that the Acclaimed is done. He and Max Caster will both be at the Tailgate Brawl but Tony Khan insists that there is more interest in them working together. Therefore, that’s what will happen at the Tailgate Brawl. Bickering ensues.

Full Gear rundown, oddly with the camera on commentary instead of the graphics.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe, setting up Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs at Blood & Guts.

Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat will both be at Blood & Guts.

Men’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong

For the advantage. Moxley’s early front facelock is countered into an armbar but he pulls that into a Kimura. That’s broken up so Strong shoves him out to the floor, where Moxley gets to flip off the crowd. Back in and Moxley takes over on the arm again, with Strong being knocked outside for a change. Moxley follows him outside but gets whipped into the steps. Strong tries a suplex but gets dropped onto the steps as we take a break.

We come back with Moxley tying up the legs with an Indian deathlock, sending Strong over to the ropes. A butterfly superplex drops Strong for two but he’s right back with a tiger driver for the same. Moxley tries the bulldog choke, which is escaped just as fast for the slugout. Marina Shafir trips Strong so here is Kyle O’Reilly, who is cut off by Wheeler Yuta.

That earns him an ejection so here is Pac to kick Strong in the face. That’s only good for two so Moxley gets a cross armbreaker, which is quickly escaped. Pac loads up a table at ringside but Strong puts an invading Daniel Garcia through it instead. A full nelson slam sends Moxley onto the steps and….someone (it’s Darby Allin) grabs his leg to make sure Strong wins by countout at 18:10.

Rating: B-. It was a nice brawl and Moxley’s fall continues, but I could go a long, long, long time without seeing the Death Riders doing anything again. It feels like the same “here comes all of them one after another as Moxley does submissions” that we’ve seen forever. In theory the team is mostly done after Blood & Guts, but that feels like it has been the case for a long time now.

Overall Rating: B-. This started really well and then slowed down a good bit. The problem is you’re only going to get so much out of control series for matches that are going to wind up with everyone staring at each other for a big showdown. Full Gear didn’t get a ton of attention here, but odds are that will have a lot of fallout from Dynamite. This was another Collision that would have been better at just an hour, which is so often the case around here.

Results
Bang Bang Gang b. FTR – Forward DDT to Harwood
Kyle Fletcher b. Ace Austin – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Anna Jay/Tay Melo b. Hyan/Maya World – Gory Bomb into a knee to the face to Hyan
Jamie Hayter b. Skye Blue – Hayterade
Thekla b. Harley Cameron – Spear
Roderick Strong b. Jon Moxley via countout

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: November 1, 2025
Location: Bert Ogden Arena, Edinburg, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s Fright Night, meaning it’s time to have something a bit scarier around here. However, we also have quite the stacked lineup, with the Ring Of Honor World Title on the line, plus Mercedes Mone defending…well one of her many titles. Other than that, we are in the middle of the Women’s Tag Team Titles tournament so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

The opening video focuses on the Dia de los Muertos and looks at the card.

Opening sequence.

Max Caster/Anthony Bowens vs. Kazuchika Okada/Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is on commentary and the match is having so he can prove his Family works well together. Takeshita and Bowens trade arm cranking to start before chopping it out. Bowens knocks him down and Caster comes in to knock the Family outside. Bowens teases a dive off the top but Caster takes them down with a slingshot dive instead, much to Bowens’ annoyance.

Back in and Caster gets beaten up in the corner, setting up Okada’s falling top rope elbow. Okada’s middle finger to Takeshita lets Caster get two off a rollup so Okada gives him the Air Raid Crash onto the knee for two. Caster is able to slip over for the tag off to Bowens, whose house cleaning is quickly cut off by Okada as we take a break. We come back with Bowens striking away at Okada and flipping away from Takeshita.

That’s enough for Caster to tag himself in, meaning it’s time for some claps. Everything breaks down and Takeshita hits a Tower Of Doom, including a powerbomb to Okada. Bowens plants Okada but Caster tags himself in to load up the top rope elbow. They argue again and Okada Rainmakers Bowens, leaving Takeshita to take himself in for Raging Fire on Caster (ignore his shoulder being on Takeshita’s leg and therefore up during the pin) for the pin at 14:02.

Rating: C+. The action was fine, though I was having flashbacks to something out of a Battlebowl here. Having both teams fighting among themselves didn’t make for the most exciting match and that’s what we had here. Takeshita still seems likely to leave the Family soon, which would be a better move, just because this is quite the odd usage of the IWGP World Champion.

Post match Callis makes them raise their hands together but they aren’t happy.

Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale are a team because they have matching gear. You can take the babes out of the wrath but you can’t take the wrath out of the babes.

Video on Toni Storm/Mina Shirakawa.

CMLL Women’s Title: Olympia vs. Mercedes Mone

Mone is defending and Kris Statlander is on commentary. They pose at each other to start before Mone takes her down and dances. That earns her a whip into the corner and some running knees into a dance from Olympia. Mone gets thrown down again and Statlander is rather impressed. A superplex is broken up and Mone sends her outside for the Meteora off the apron.

We take a break and come back with Mone getting two off a fisherman’s suplex but an armbar is countered into a sitout powerbomb. Mone tries some rollups but gets muscled into a sitout F5 for two. That’s enough for Mone to go outside where she gets in an argument with Statlander. Back in and Mone easily gets the Statement Maker to retain at 10:56.

Rating: C+. Again, you knew what you’re going to get from Mone, as the matches are usually fine but it’s almost impossible to imagine her losing anything. Yes it happened once and that does help, but at the same time, Mone having so many titles and defending a few of them on TV is a lot to take. Either have her lose some titles or just stop with the belt collector deal, which still isn’t that interesting.

Post match Mone has to run away from a charging Statlander.

We recap Dynamite.

The Young Bucks are distraught when Don Callis comes in. He’s gotten them a six man tag at Full Gear, where they can team with Josh Alexander against the Jurassic Express and Kenny Omega. The prize for the winners: $1 million. Question: why would Tony Khan keep giving the Bucks these chances? They’ve abused his money and power for years and are under contract, so why would he keep letting them try to get back on their feet?

Miranda Alize/Nixon Newell vs. Marina Shafir/Megan Bayne

Jon Moxley is on commentary. Alize and Newell jump them to start fast and Bayne misses a charge in the corner. Double superkicks stagger Bayne again but she German suplexes both of them at once. It’s off to Shafir to slam both of them at once and everything breaks down. Bayne gives Newell the running Liger Bomb for the pin at 2:26 while Shafir gives Alize Mother’s Milk.

We unveil the lineups for the women’s Blood & Guts match:

Triangle Of Madness/Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir/Mercedes Mone
Jamie Hayter/Queen Aminata/Willow Nightingale/Harley Cameron/Toni Storm/Kris Statlander

So just about every woman on the roster of note.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. The Conglomeration

Strong and Guevara go with the grappling to start, with Guevara actually getting the better of things. Komander comes in to fire off the chops before flipping over Dralistico. They trade armdrags and legsweeps into a standoff and it’s off to Mortos to shoulder Briscoe. Guevara even jumps in on commentary to brag about his teammates before Mortos gets in a big backdrop. Briscoe strikes away to take over and it’s back to Komander for a spinning anklescissors.

La Faccion is sent outside for stereo dropkicks through the ropes from Briscoe and Strong. Guevara cuts Komander down though and we take a break. We come back with Dralistico hitting a springboard spinning Canadian Destroyer for two. Komander gets in a faceplant though and it’s Strong coming back in to clean house. Mortos comes in to deck Strong, who gets over to Briscoe to strike away. Briscoe adds a big dive to the floor but Mortos breaks up the Jay Driller. Komander is back in with a springboard poisonrana though, leaving Briscoe to Jay Driller Dralistico for the pin at 11:56.

Rating: B-. This was the usual AEW six man tag, with everyone flying around and getting in their stuff. Briscoe gets a win as he’s trying to find something else to do, which is always appreciated. LFI doesn’t have anything going on anyway (yes that includes being ROH Tag Team Champions) so put them out there and let them get at least a bit of exposure.

We recap the Hangman Page attack on Samoa Joe from the end of Dynamite.

Eddie Kingston was checking on Hook after his loss to Samoa Joe but doesn’t have much to say.

Here is MxM TV for their Casting Call.

MxM TV vs. Bang Bang Gang

Austin and TV start things off and everything breaks down rather quickly. Gunn cleans house and Austin hits a running flip dive to the floor. Back in and Austin flips out of a double belly to back suplex, allowing the tag off to Robinson. The forward DDT hits TV and a powerbomb gets two on Mansoor. A double suplex drops Madden and it’s the Fold to finish TV at 3:32.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here and it was nice to see the Gang getting back on track. Granted it helps when you have an actual three man team rather than the leftovers of the original version. If nothing else, Austin getting time on a bigger stage is nice to see, as he’s certainly good enough to get a shot.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

We recap Mascara Dorada challenging Bandido for the Ring Of Honor World Title. They had a classic in their first title match so we’ll do it again.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Mascara Dorada vs. Bandido

Bandido is defending and they fight over arm control to start. Dorada takes him to the mat and tries a surfboard, with Bandido standing up to escape. That works so well that they switch places and do the exact same thing for another standoff. Stereo handspring flips leave them staring at each other again but Bandido sends him outside. A dive misses though and Bandido’s shoulder is banged up again as we take a break.

We come back with Dorada elbowing him down for two but getting taken down with a spinning high crossbody. Bandido slams him with one arm and Dorada is knocked outside for an Alley Oop onto the apron. The big dive connects but Bandido goes head first into the announcers’ table for a nasty crash. Back in and a monkey flip sends Dorada into the corner so the frog splash can give Bandido two. A spinning DDT gives Dorada two and they go to the apron, where Bandido hits a pop up cutter to the floor.

We take another break and come back with Dorada hitting a springboard high crossbody. A hurricanrana sends Bandido outside for the running corkscrew dive, followed by a shooting star. Back in and Bandido’s running knee gets two but Dorada reverses a DDT into a suplex. A pop up powerbomb gives Bandido a breather and they trade running boots for a double down. Dorada’s shooting star press hits raised knees but he’s fine enough to catch Bandido on top. A running super hurricanrana is countered into a sunset bomb for two, followed by the 21 Plex to retain Bandido’s title at 22:44.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was great, as Bandido is on the roll of rolls this year. He’s seemingly incapable of having a bad match and it’s awesome to see what he does no matter who he’s out there against. Dorada has turned into a star as well and he had an outstanding performance of his own here. Great stuff, though it would be nice to have it actually on Ring Of Honor instead of elsewhere.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event helped the show a lot and that’s a good thing, as the rest of this week was just decent. It was a lot of focus on less than interesting stuff, including the Don Callis Family and Mercedes Mone. Blood & Guts and Full Gear coming up will help a lot, though it would be nice if something more interesting happened around here. Bandido can only do so much, and while the main event was great, it’s still just the Ring Of Honor World Title.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita/Kazuchika Okada b. Max Caster/Anthony Bowens – Raging Fire to Caster
Mercedes Mone b. Olympia – Statement Maker
Marina Shafir/Megan Bayne b. Miranda Alize/Nixon Newell – Running Liger Bomb to Newell
The Conglomeration b. La Faccion Ingobernable – Jay Driller to Dralistico
Bang Bang Gang b. MxM TV – Fold to TV
Bandido b. Mascara Dorada – 21 Plex

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6