AEW Collision Review - May 25, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Claudio Castagnoli Saved IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley from Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis

Moxley vs. Takeshita definitely feels tacked onto the Double or Nothing card, especially with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship not being on the line, but I appreciated the effort to give them more of a story to work with by having Callis confront Moxley and talk about their history. Takeshita's attack on Moxley was basic, but it gave him some last-minute heat after Moxley laid him out on Dynamite.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia def. The Righteous and Lance Archer

Tanahashi was the surprise partner for Castagnoli and Garcia. All the focus in recent weeks has been on Double or Nothing (as it should be) that I totally forgot about Forbidden Door coming up at the end of June, so his appearance here served as a nice little reminder of that. Could he be who challenges Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship on that show, especially since he beat him on Collision that same weekend a year ago? This was given an ample amount of time and was an enjoyable outing.

The Lucha Brothers def. Unified AEW World Trios Champions The Gunns

With this win, Death Triangle vs. Bang Bang Gang at Double or Nothing will now be for the Unified AEW World Trios Championship. Was there ever any doubt? That said, I like that Death Triangle had to earn their opportunity instead of randomly being given one. This was a fairly basic bout, but it was what it needed to be. I assume Bang Bang Gang retains and Pac faces Jay White one-on-one at Forbidden Door.

Kyle O'Reilly def. KM

O'Reilly just lost to Malakai Black on Wednesday's Dynamite, so this allowed him to bounce back with a win in dominant fashion. It didn't overstay its welcome, but I'm not sure what other purpose this was supposed to serve on a show a night before a pay-per-view he isn't on. Perhaps he'll have direction post-Double or Nothing, but this felt like filler that would have been better off on Rampage.

AEW TBS Champion Willow Nightingale Addressed Mercedes Mone

Nightingale hasn't received much mic time in front of a crowd in AEW, but her promos have improved considerably in the last month or so. She's getting increasingly more comfortable on the mic and is adding another layer to her already-likable character in the process. I assume she's losing the AEW TBS Championship to Mone on Sunday, but I hope she continues to be prominently featured on television afterward.

House of Black (Brody King and Buddy Matthews) def. The Infantry, The Acclaimed and The Gates of Agony in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

You'd think a future shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship would have been on the line with it being a four-way tag team shot. From a storyline standpoint, why did this happen if there was nothing at stake? It was a well-worked match and the outcome was the correct one, but House of Black's win should lead to them getting a tag title opportunity post-Double or Nothing. However, I'm confident that it won't because The Young Bucks are champs and also heels.

Mariah May def. "Legit" Leyla Hirsch

Much like O'Reilly vs. KM, I have no idea why this had to happen on this show. Unlike O'Reilly, May will be at Double or Nothing in the corner of Toni Storm for her AEW Women's World Championship defense, but it's not as if she'll be wrestling and that she needed this momentum boost before then. The match was serviceable, but all people are going to remember from this will be that spot from May that's bound to go viral on wrestling Twitter.

Bryan Danielson and FTR def. Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Satnam Singh

We just saw Danielson and FTR in six-man tag team action on last week's Collision and this was more of the same. It was essentially an extension of what we got on Dynamite with Danielson able to give Singh and his crew their comeuppance by beating them. It was an average main event and nothing more. The Singh crew doesn't belong in main events, especially on the eve of a big pay-per-view.

Overall Show

I have never been more convinced than I was coming out of this show that Collision is completely pointless. As I've said before, it was important early on when CM Punk was the focal point, but it struggled to maintain its own identity once he left and it's largely been a meaningless program ever since. This edition of Collision did absolutely nothing to add to my excitement for Double or Nothing and progressed nothing in a remotely compelling fashion. I genuinely do not know why this needed to exist.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews