AEW Collision: Maximum Carnage Review - January 17, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Andrade El Idolo def. Angelico

This marked Andrade's first match in AEW since Worlds End 2023. Now that he's under contract to the company, hopefully he can start getting something going. Ideally, Kenny Omega should attempt to avenge that attack from October, but there's been no indication that's where AEW is headed with either guy anytime soon. This was a straightforward squash for Andrade as it should have been.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz def. Grizzled Young Veterans

Before this feud, Grizzled Young Veterans weren't even on AEW TV, so the outcome of this clash was never in doubt, but it's been nice to see Grizzled Young Veterans actually being utilized for a change. This was a pretty good match and I appreciated that it was competitive. I'd prefer to see Kingston on his own than in the tag team division with Ortiz, but we'll see where they go from here.

Marina Shafir def. Zayda Steel

Steel still feels miscast as a babyface in my opinion, but perhaps her alliance with SkyFlight will be short-lived. It gets her on AEW TV out of the gate, so that's a positive. This wasn't completely one-sided and went through a commercial break, but Shafir winning was a foregone conclusion. Shafir bores me, but Steel has potential and I'd like to see her get more opportunities on AEW TV.

The Don Callis Family (Josh Alexander, Kyle Fletcher and El Clon) def. SkyFlight (Top Flight and Scorpio Sky)

Don Callis Family attacked Jon Moxley before the bout and The Death Riders made the save. Don't tell me that's a faction feud coming up because that doesn't interest me in the slightest. As for the match itself, it was enjoyable stuff, but SkyFlight have quickly been established as jobbers to the stars. Alexander getting the win for his team made sense since he'll be facing Kenny Omega on Wednesday's Dynamite.

Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne def. Danielle Kamela and Viva Van

I'm glad Ford is finally cleared to compete after an injury put her on the shelf back in October. You'd think that'd put an end to MegaProblems, but Shafir was still with Ford and Bayne here. Oh well. The match was total destruction for Ford and Bayne. Post-match, Timeless Love Bombs addressed all three heels. It looks like they'll need to find a partner to fight them in a six-woman tag team matchup soon.

"Jungle" Jack Perry def. Anthony Bowens in an AEW National Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Bowens would've been a fun challenger for the National title a year ago (if the title was around a year ago), but not only has he lost a lot of momentum since then, we already saw him face and lose to Ricochet not too long ago. Granted, you could say the same about Perry, but at least Perry still needs to get revenge on Ricochet for sidelining Luchasaurus a few weeks ago. This was decent.

JetSpeed and "Hangman" Adam Page def. The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata and Samoa Joe) to Win the AEW World Trios Championship

For those unaware, Hobbs' contract reportedly expired on Wednesday, the same night this was taped. Thus, it was hardly a surprise that The Opps lost here, but if you were wondering why The Opps lost the belts so abruptly (and to such a makeshift trio), that's the reason. All the best to Hobbs in WWE, where I do think he'll be a perfect fit assuming he's used properly. This was an entertaining main event. We'll see if Page and JetSpeed keep the titles for the foreseeable future or if they're just transitional champs.

Overall Show

The title change in the main event made this Maximum Carnage edition of Collision slightly newsworthy, along with it likely being Hobbs' swan song in AEW. Wednesday's Dynamite was a stronger show on the whole, but this was still a thumbs-up effort with some solid action, Andrade's return to the ring in AEW and hype for next week's Dynamite. It would have been better for it to be live, but that's my only real nitpick of this episode.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews