AEW Collision Review - June 20, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Elite (The Young Bucks and "Jungle" Jack Perry) def. The Lethal Twist (The Swirl and Jay Lethal)

It's always funny seeing The Swirl (and now Lethal Twist as a whole) positioned as some sort of a threat on ROH TV yet be utilized as stepping stones on AEW TV. I don't blame the booking here as The Elite are far superior to Lethal Twist, and it's not like this was a straight-up squash. In fact, Lethal Twist scored a fair amount of offense (arguably more than they should have). It was a nice opener on the whole.

Kris Statlander def. Mina Shirakawa to Qualify for the AEW TBS Championship Survival of the Fittest Match

Shirakawa never wins anything of note, so it was hardly surprising that she lost yet again here, especially considering who her opponent was. Statlander had to quality, so her going over was the correct outcome. There wasn't much to this match since it was on the shorter side, but it was a quality contest for as long as it lasted. I wouldn't mind Statlander regaining the AEW TBS Championship since she doesn't seem to have anything else going on at the moment.

The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley) def. Warren Johnson and Zack Mason

I believe we last saw Hurt Syndicate in action at Double or Nothing when they were on the winning team in the Stadium Stampede match, but otherwise, they've been pretty directionless since they returned a few months ago. This squash didn't do much to change my mind that something significant is on the horizon for them, but at least it reestablished their dominance.

Tommaso Ciampa Attacked Chris Jericho

Ciampa has been trying to bring the serious side out of Ciampa and he was able to do just that in this segment. They had an effective brawl and I liked that Ciampa was the one who stood tall. Interestingly, they announced that their match will take place on the Beach Break edition of Dynamite on July 8th as opposed to Forbidden Door next week. I'm not complaining, but I'm surprised they're waiting that long.

Mistico def. Dante Martin

You know it's Forbidden Door season when Mistico is involved in a random match on Collision with nothing at stake. Don't get me wrong, Mistico is a treat to watch, but it was never made clear why this match happened. I'm sure he'll be in action at the pay-per-view, but that wasn't made clear. Either way, this was a fun sprint from him and Martin, who we don't see wrestle often enough in AEW these days.

Pac def. Jay Alexander

This was a quick showcase for Pac and nothing more. Jon Moxley sat in on commentary to hype up Pac, so there was that. We found out earlier in the evening that Pac will challenge Shota Umino for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. Obviously, he has no chance of actually winning it, but the key is Umino's history with Moxley and if that will factor into the finish at all.

Zack Sabre Jr. def. Adam Priest

Priest is more than your average enhancement talent as he's been a part of a handful of competitive matches on AEW TV in the past, but this wasn't too different from a majority of the matches on this show in that the outcome was predictable and it was longer than it needed to be. This only existed to give Sabre Jr. a victory before he battles Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door.

Maya World def. ROH Women's World Champion Athena in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Semifinal Match

This was far and away the highlight of the night. World and Athena had a pair of great matches on ROH TV earlier in the year, so I knew this would deliver and I wasn't wrong. What I was wrong about, however, was World winning. I automatically assumed Athena was advancing, but World picking up the upset instead was an awesome shocker. AEW has a major opportunity to make a new star out of World when she faces Mercedes Mone in the finals.

Overall Show

To me, this was very much a one-match show, and needless to say, that one match was the main event. Everything else was inconsequential, and although there was no shortage of enjoyable wrestling, none of the matches really mattered. I'm ready for AEW to get Forbidden Door over with so they can get back to focusing on their active roster and building better storylines. What we're getting in the meantime isn't bad, but a lot of it feels like filler.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews