AEW Collision: Playoff Palooza Review - April 26, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Young Bucks Interrupted Swerve Strickland; Strickland def. Blake Christian

Strickland was going to start the show with a promo before the Bucks interrupted and declared that he'd have his scheduled match with Christian right away instead of later in the show. Despite not being in his gear, Strickland still won with relative ease. That's how much of a threat (or lack thereof) Christian is. Post-match, Kenny Omega saved Strickland from the Bucks to plant more seeds for whatever multi-man match we're probably getting at Double or Nothing.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Queen Aminata in an AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Match

Storm feels like she's in a holding pattern until after Double or Nothing, where she'll find out who her AEW Women's World Championship challenger will be for All In. In the meantime, it looks like she'll just be having predictable Eliminator matches. This was a good, competitive contest and Aminata had a solid showing in defeat, but this didn't serve much of a purpose beyond keeping Storm busy.

Hologram def. Max Caster

I didn't think Caster's open challenge gimmick would continue after Anthony Bowens accepted it at Dynasty and quickly beat him, but honestly, it's not a bad use of Caster because he excels as the annoying enhancement talent. This served as an extended showcase for Hologram, who continues to build momentum. He's won so many matches that you'd think he'd be contention for a championship by now.

CRU def. Top Flight in a Tornado Tag Team Match

This feud has been going on for what feels like a decade, so I'm glad we finally got the blow-off (or what should be the blow-off). This was boring early on, but it got better once they picked up the pace and made the most of the stipulation. This was a nice win for CRU, but we'll see if it actually amounts to anything and if it earns them an eventual shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship. They'd have no chance against The Hurt Syndicate, so maybe they can go after the ROH World Tag Team Championship instead?

Anna Jay def. Taylor Gainey

This was Jay's first televised match since December when she unsuccessfully challenged Mercedes Mone for the AEW TBS Championship. She feuded with Mariah May over the AEW Women's World Championship right before that, so there wasn't anything left for her to strive for unless she transitioned over to Ring of Honor full-time. This was a simple squash for her, but the focus was on the post-match angle with Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne laying her out.

ROH World Champion Bandido def. Dralistico

It speaks volumes that an ROH World Championship match randomly happened in the middle of Collision instead of being saved for the main event of ROH TV. The belt practically means nothing at this point, so I can't say I'm too surprised. To the credit of these guys, though, this was a fun lucha match, despite there being zero doubt surrounding the outcome. I'd rather see Bandido involved in something more meaningful on AEW TV.

Rush def. AR Fox

Between Dralistico getting a shot at the ROH World Championship and this match, I have faith La Faccion Ingobernable might be afforded more opportunities as singles stars in addition to working as a trio. Rush has received plenty of start-and-stop pushes since signing with AEW, so I'm not holding my breath, but this was a step in the right direction and an enjoyable outing while it lasted.

FTR def. Paragon (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong)

This was the rubber match between these teams. FTR turned heel since their last encounter, so that made this more interesting, even if there wasn't anything on the line. They got a ton of time and made the most of it with a strong main event. Before FTR could go after Adam Cole afterward, Daniel Garcia made the save, so we're clearly headed for FTR vs. Cole and Garcia soon.

Overall Show

This was billed as the Playoff Palooza episode because it aired immediately after the NBA Playoffs, but there was nothing all that special about it otherwise. The main event was entertaining, but the rest of the show was fairly standard stuff. On the whole, it was a thumbs-up episode with the usual quality wrestling, but you also wouldn't be missing much if you didn't tune in/catch it later on.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews