AEW Collision 16th May 2026
Tony immediately welcomes us to Dynamite, nice one Tony this is Collision. They run down the card, which is basically ROH guys going against AEW champions, which tells you the show isn’t worth watching from the start as you know who’s winning every match. The Trios match is advertised as a World Trios Eliminator Match but has a picture of Mark Briscoe, despite the fact he’s not actually a champion so that doesn’t make sense. And Darby Allin is going to cram in defence number 937 of his title run against a guy who hasn’t been on AEW TV in how long?? Sammy Guevara. I thought “Speedball” Mike Bailey was going to challenge him next? And the match is No Countouts. Why don’t they just make the World Title 24/7 and Darby can be the new Crash Holly?
Death Riders Promo School. First Jon Moxley responds to Kyle O’Reilly’s challenge for his Continental Title. Moxley says he’s tapped out twice to Kyle, but he is better than he was six months ago and tomorrow’s Jon Moxley is better than today's. He is always getting better and he will find a way to beat Kyle O’Reilly. Moxley leaves, then up steps Claudio Castagnoli who addresses Brody King, he says Brody may have the bark but he better bring the bite for their Owen Hart Foundation Tournament match. PAC steps forward next, he says Death Riders against the world and Daniel Garcia and Yuta repeat the sentiment. Marina says “bring it pussies”.
The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy & Mark Briscoe) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shawn Dean, ??? & Lee Moriarty). This is Mark Briscoe’s home town. Apparently STP were losers at the ROH show last night. Tony says this is a Trios Title Eliminator match, but as I said before that doesn’t make sense since Briscoe is not a champion. I have no idea who one of the STP people is, I tried to listen to the ring announcer twice but couldn’t make out the name. It sounded like Tony called him Charlie Bravo, which sounds like a call sign on a radio channel. Shane Taylor got involved with a leg drop on Orange Cassidy on the apron. There’s too much on this show that requires you to have watched the ROH pay per view. It turns out the mystery man is called Carlie, which I thought was a girl’s name. Mark Briscoe won the match for his team with a Jay Driller on Shawn Dean. Winners: The Conglomeration
They show footage of Tommasso Ciampa taking out Mark Briscoe back in March and they plug their upcoming singles match on Dynamite. Also, they plug Jon Moxley facing Kyle O’Reilly this week on Dynamite in an Eliminator Match which is weird to me, I thought they’d just have a title match at Double or Nothing.
After Dynamite, Ospreay apologises for not getting back to Samoa Joe’s messages, he made it sound like he missed his voicemails or something. He says he’s been busy getting himself ready for the Owen Hart tournament. He said he rushed back to AEW from his injury and struggled, he says he was annoyed he couldn’t get revenge on Jon Moxley, but was more upset that he couldn’t be the guy AEW once put their trust in. He says people may not understand, but Jon Moxley is the Ace of AEW, and people around him are elevated, what could happen for Will if he had Jon in his corner. He says he has nothing but respect for Joe, and Joe made him want to be a pro wrestler, but no one will stop him from winning the Owen Hart Tournament. He says it’s poetic that the man who took away his old life has given him a second chance of winning the World Championship.
Backstage with the Conglomeration, Kyle O’Reilly says he has Jon Moxley’s number. Mark Briscoe says he hasn’t heard from Ciampa and questions if he’s scared. Orange says Willow should say something. Willow says she’s going for the triple, she’s the TBS Champion, she is going to win the Owen Hart Tournament again, and then she’s going to win the AEW World Championship she says Red Velvet may have beaten her in the past but she won’t win tonight.
TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale © vs. Red Velvet Velvet cuts a promo backstage saying she’s salty that Willow is in the Owen Hart tournament and she isn’t so she’s going to take her TBS title. Good luck with that. I could hear Tony Khan giving notes during this match on commentary. Willow missed a Cannonball on the floor. Willow hit the pounce and won with the Babe with the Powerbomb Winner: Willow Nightingale
They show Tony and Nigel at the commentary desk and Nigel is clapping his hands to Willow’s music. They plug the brackets for the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament and Willow Nightingale vs. Alex Windsor.
They show Sammy Guevara’s challenge from the ROH show to Darby for the World Title saying he’s beaten Darby four times in the past. He’s grown a moustache, so he’s now 25% more Spanish than he used to be. They then show him backstage being interviewed, Sammy repeats that he’s beaten Darby four times and he’s a 3 time TNT Champion while Darby was only a 2 time TNT Champion. He says he’s going to beat Darby then at Double or Nothing he will shave MJF’s head bald, which doesn’t make sense. I thought the contract that was signed on Dynamite was for MJF vs Darby in a Hair vs Title match… Where’s Mark Sterling when you need him? Sammy says he’s the best wrestler, the best talker (highly debatable with this promo) he says his time is now, and he’s numero uno, that means number one.
They show old footage from ROH of Samoa Joe being a mentor to Jay Lethal and up next they will wrestle each other in a tag team match with their new proteges.
Backstage Darby Allin is being interviewed by Lexy Nair, he asks if MJF is there, he says he loves putting the World Title on the line and taking the risk. He says if there’s anyone else as crazy as him then it’s Sammy Guevara. He says if he wins tonight he’ll defend again against “Speedball” Mike Bailey on Dynamite.
Backstage Tommasso Ciampa is assaulting Mark Briscoe and he brings him out into the ringside area. Briscoe reverses Ciampa into the guard rail and then launches him into another guard rail. He hits a dive from the ring to the outside, and throws Ciampa into the steps. Briscoe goes for a Jay Driller on two steel chairs but Ciampa low blows him. Ciampa hits him with a steel chair across the back and then chokes him in the corner with a chair. Ciampa puts Briscoe on the top rope and sets the two chairs up to put him through the chairs with the Psycho Driller but Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy run in and chase him off. Briscoe gets on the mic, and says on Dynamite their match should be anything goes No DQ. Ciampa is not best pleased with this.
They say Swerve Strickland will return to Dynamite this week, and plug the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
The Opps (Samoa Joe & Anthony Bowens) vs. Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson) Nigel talks about how Joe mentored Lethal, did he teach him how to do the Ric Flair impression too? Lethal asks to start with Joe, who is unimpressed. Nigel clarifies that Joe didn’t teach Lethal the Flair stuff as he struts around. Bowens repeatedly rammed Lethal into the ring apron so much so that Joe stepped in to pull him away, but Joe was apparently impressed with the aggressiveness. Joe gets tagged in, but Blake Christian who is on the outside provides a distraction allowing the heels to take control and team up on him. Bowens got a hot tag and took out both Lethal and Johnson. Lethal with a suicide dive on the outside to take Joe out. Johnson hit a DVD on Bowens and Lethal hit an Elbow off the top. Joe protected Bowens in the corner from a double team, absorbing the punishment. Lethal went for the Lethal Injection Joe went for the Coquina Clutch, Lethal went for a Figure 4 leg lock but Joe got him in the Coquina Clutch. Bowens was legal with Johnson and put him in a wristlock submission for the tap out win. Winners: The Opps Post-match Anthony Bowens cut a promo saying he’d found a group who understood him, he says he is the fans’ hero and he deserves a standing ovation and Joe starts to applaud him. He says Joe is teaching him everything he needs to know and choices have consequences and you choose violence. Joe takes the mic and asks Ospreay if he understands what he does for his friends, Will chose a different road, he says he is honoured that Ospreay considers facing him a “dream match”, but when he gets him in the ring it’s going to be nothing but a nightmare.
Video package of Swerve Strickland showing him attacking Bandido at the ROH show.
Backstage, Lexy Nair is with Brody King and Bandido. Brody shouts that he warned Swerve not to mess with his friends, Bandido stops him and says this is his battle and he needs to respect it. He says Swerve will not survive, he says Swerve might be the most dangerous but he is the most wanted.
Divine Dominion have a squash 5 minute eliminator match against two jobbers which lasted 1:50
Video package for the Women’s World Title Match at Double or Nothing. Thekla says she’s going to destroy New York. That sounds wonderful.
Backstage Lexy is with Athena and Mina Shirakawa, they are due to face each other in the Owen Hart Tournament. Athena says she’s been ROH Women’s Champion for over 1200 days, and she’s beaten Mina in the past. Mina says she had a dream where she put Athena in the figure four leg lock. Athena is flattered but says Mina should have a dream where Mina is lying dead in a ditch alongside Toni Storm. Mina says she has dreamt of winning the Owen Hart Tournament and then winning the AEW Women’s World Title and ending Athena, she cannot dream anymore, now she will live it. They start arguing. What a horrible segment.
Ringside, we cut to Tony and Nigel - Tony puts over Nigel beating Josh Woods at the ROH show and we see highlights of their match. They also show highlights of Lio Rush getting screwed by Action Andretti in his match with AR Fox from the ROH show. They then show earlier in the day, Nigel interviewing Lio Rush he wanted to ask about Andretti costing him his match, Lio says it’s fine, these things happen, it’s fine. Nigel leaves the shot, and Lio takes his Sunglasses off to reveal his eyes are red and a black liquid is coming out of his mouth. He repeats that everything is fine. If he’s alright I don’t want to be.
The Dogs (Clark Connors & David Finlay) & Mark Davis vs. The Rascalz (Myron Reed, Zachary Wence, Desmond Xavier) Nigel says it’s David Finlay’s birthday. They did a spot where Davis told The Dogs to get two of the Rascalz up on their shoulders and he started to climb up to the top rope but the Rascalz hit poison Ranas and then Desmond Xavier rushed up and hit a Superplex to Davis. The faces then did leaping dives to the outside to wipe the heels out. The Rascalz hit a triple dropkick to Davis, then proceeded to hit a Swanton, Frog Splash and 450 Splash but The Dogs broke up the pin. Outside the ring The Dogs took control, wiping out Xavier & Wence. In the ring, Davis destroyed Reed with a lariat and a piledriver, he tagged in David Finlay and The Dogs hit the Full Clip for the three count. Nigel called it The Last Clip. It’s some kind of clip, either way. Paper Clip maybe? Winners: The Dogs & Mark Davis. Finlay yells in the camera that if you want carnage you get the dogs. On commentary Tony excitedly plugs the main event coming up next.
Backstage Lexy is with Anna Jay, and Lexy puts over Jay’s comeback match against Willow two weeks ago. Jay says maybe Willow isn’t the comeback killer, because she’s still here and there’s still a lot left for us to do, “Isn’t that right?” and looks off camera, in comes Tay Melo and they hug. Melo says Jay is back, and she’s back and there’s one thing they need to do. Jay says if people want to find out what that is, then just try them.
AEW World Championship: Darby Allin © vs. Sammy Guevara Sammy swats the camera away as he makes his entrance, he immediately pulls a table out from under the ring and sets it up. I thought this was only No Countouts? He pulls out another table and a ladder, he then rolls in the ring. Darby makes his entrance and comes out. Nigel repeats that it’s no countouts, so how are they going to explain them doing stunts with weapons later on? Darby puts the title belt on the mat and kneels down to pray before it, and Sammy immediately stomps him before the bell sounds and tosses him out of the ring and into the guard rails around ringside. Sammy pulls the table into the aisle and sets up the ladder. Tony casually explains that there can be disqualifications in this match, it’s only a no-count out match and Sammy needs to be careful. Please Tony, only Thekla gets disqualified in AEW. Sammy hits a running jumping knee and puts Darby on top of the table. Sammy climbs to the top of the ladder and hits a Swanton Bomb putting Darby through the table. I thought Darby was going to move, but nope. How are they going to explain this not being a disqualification? “Holy Shit” chants from the fans. In the ring, Sammy goes for a pin but Darby kicks out at 2. Sammy lifts him up for the GTH but Darby blocks and does a double leg, puts him in the Scorpion Death Lock, while he has the hold, Darby holds his head and then collapses. The ref holds Sammy back and Nigel says Darby passed out. Tony says you can’t be surprised based on how many matches Darby has had defending the title, well he’s an idiot Tony. Sammy hits a splash off the top for a two count, then covers him again for another two count. Sammy sits Darby on the top rope, and Darby knocks Sammy down with a headbutt, he spins around for a Coffin Drop attempt but Sammy pushes him off the top and Darby bumps on the apron to the floor, seemingly hitting his face on the apron as he goes down. Darby tries to fight back, but Sammy comes off the steps with a thrust kick. In the ring, Sammy hits three amigos for a two count. Sammy puts Darby in a side headlock and Nigel compliments Sammy’s moustache. Darby runs into a thrust kick for a 2 count. Darby has done nothing in this match, it’s been all Sammy.
“Let’s Go Darby” chants from the fans. Nigel makes a Moustache Gracias joke. Sammy tosses Darby into the guard rail by the commentary position, he takes Nigel’s headset and says how great he is, but then says he’s better than Nigel ever was. That was random. Tony says Darby is stumbling around like a drunk man, and Nigel says he’s offended by that comment. Tony says it’s amazing what Darby does, is it Tony? He’s done fucking nothing in this match. Sammy slingshots Darby into the bottom rope. Darby finally does something and hits shotgun dropkick on the apron. He goes back in the ring, goes for his crazy dive but comes up short and Sammy barely hits a cutter on him. Sammy sends Darby back in and goes for a springboard cutter but Darby catches him in a sleeper with body scissors, Sammy gets to the ropes. Darby goes up top but Sammy rolls out of the way before he can do anything, Sammy comes off the top and hits a double stomp to Darby on the apron, rolls him back in and gets a 2 count. Sammy sets Darby up for a Superplex but Darby fights back, knocks him down but Sammy runs back up and hits a top rope Spanish Fly for another two count. Sammy sells his right knee, and like a total geek he lowers his knee pad to expose the bad knee. Nigel also points out this is a bad move, saying it’s the last thing he would have done if he had a bad knee. Darby fights back with strikes, but walks into a thrust kick, Darby with a spring board Coffin Splash and a Code Red for a two count. Darby goes for a Scorpion Death Drop but Sammy gets out. Sammy then hits not one, but two GTH’s using his exposed knee but doesn’t pin Darby. Instead he goes up top and hits a weak looking Frog Splash for a 2 count. What is this guy? A cut price Dominik Mysterio? Darby rolls to the outside and Sammy sets a table up. Paul Turner tells him not to do it, fucking disqualify him you idiot. I just realised I sound like Jim Ross. Sammy goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a 630 Splash but Darby moves out of the way and he goes through the table. Darby rolls him in the ring, hits a Coffin Drop and gets the 3 count. Winner: Darby Allin © Tony says he’s still the freaking champion. They plug Darby vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey for Dynamite and that’s the end of the show.
Hadaway and shite
What a horrible show this was. All designed to try and get you to go back and check out the ROH show which I’m not interested in doing.
I’m begging them to take the World Title off Darby. I really am, this guy looks weak as piss. Looking back at my notes, he did maybe five moves? I was very complimentary of his match with Takeshita, but a title defence against Sammy Guevara?! Really? I thought him defending against “Speedball” Mike Bailey didn’t make much sense, but Tony Khan outdid himself here letting Sammy challenge for the title. Who cares if Sammy beat Darby five years ago? Or whenever it was. The guy should be nowhere near the World Title scene. Letting anyone who feels like it challenge Darby is just stupid. Who’s next? Someone who beat Darby in an arm wrestling contest in High School? I say it every week, LESS IS MORE. Fewer World Title matches please to make the title mean something when the title is defended. I’m amazed with myself that I didn’t think of the parallels with Crash Holly sooner.
Sammy’s promo made zero sense, he’s meant to be a heel but then tried to insult MJF and say he was going to shave his head bald, when that stipulation was reserved just for Darby’s title defence with MJF. This was made worse, as on commentary during the main event they said MJF had sent a tweet saying he wanted Sammy to win the match so he wouldn’t have to face Darby in a Hair vs Title match and had offered Sammy $500k to get the job done. Sammy also got a thumbs up from Nigel on commentary, then proceeded to take his headset and insult him, which again didn’t make sense. Both guys are heels, the heels are meant to stick together. It’s no surprise this guy is an ROH guy now and not on the main AEW roster.
Ospreay actually explaining himself and how he sees his relationship with Moxley was well done.
The Dogs and Mark Davis were great as usual.
They’re finally going to do something with Anthony Bowens, I think him being with The Opps will be a good fit.