AEW Collision: Thanksgiving Review - November 27, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pac def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

Pac just beat Darby Allin at Full Gear, so it would've been silly for him to lose here. That said, Bailey looked more than credible in defeat and will be just fine in the remainder of the Continental Classic. This was an enjoyable outing from them and I'm glad it got some time. Pac will be facing Kazuchika Okada on Wednesday's Dynamite and I can't wait for that after that banger they had at Dynasty last year.

Daniel Garcia def. "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard

Menard and Garcia finally faced off in the Casino Gauntlet match at Full Gear. I can't say this was a match I was clamoring to see at some point, but it was logical to do. Ideally, I would've preferred to see Garcia go over quickly and decisively, but at least the outcome was the correct one. Mark Briscoe confronted Garcia afterward, so it looks like Garcia will be his first challenger for the AEW TNT Championship.

Bang Bang Gang Confronted AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR

FTR delivering their first promo as champions and that being it would've been acceptable, but I appreciate that no time was wasted in setting up their first challengers in Bang Bang Gang, who beat FTR several weeks ago. Now we know why. The mic work here wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was effective in building toward their upcoming championship clash despite it not being officially announced.

Dalton Castle and The Outrunners def. MxM TV (MxM Collection and Johnny TV)

MxM TV have taken over for Max Caster in the role of issuing open challenges and always losing. Meanwhile, Castle and The Outrunners have been largely been exclusive to ROH TV for the last month or two. They've been in the hunt for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, but I'd rather see them go after the AEW World Trios Championship eventually. This was a standard showcase for them with the focus being on Ricochet attacking Castle afterward, possibly hinting at Ricochet vs. Castle for the new AEW National Championship soon.

Eddie Kingston def. AEW World Trios Champion Katsuyori Shibata

It seems so strange to me that Kingston would barely address Hook's heel turn and instead immediately set his sights on the rest of The Opps. I'm sure Kingston vs. Hook is coming before long, but it makes no sense. I'm going to guess Hook will cost Kingston the AEW World Championship when he challenges Samoa Joe for it at the Winter Is Coming edition of Dynamite next month. At any rate, this was a well-worked match, but the best part was Kingston's passionate post-match promo. That's the fiery Kingston I've been waiting for since his return to the ring.

Thekla def. Tay Melo

Melo was on her own a few weeks ago because Anna Jay was out for some reason, but Melo teamed with Jay on last week's Collision, so I don't know why Melo was by herself here. She and Thekla had a decent match, but it seemed the only exist to set up Triangle of Madness, Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander in a six-woman tag team match, possibly as soon as next week.

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita def. Roderick Strong in a Continental Classic Blue League Match (Non-Title)

Strong is a great wrestler and all, but it's evident that he's only involved in the Continental Classic this year to eat as many losses as possible. His matches should be fun if this was any indication. They had a quality main event with Takeshita getting off to a strong start in the tournament. Takeshita vs. Okada is the obvious endgame this year, but I look forward to seeing what road they take to get there.

Overall Show

Personally, I have no interest in Thanksgiving Collision becoming a permanent thing going forward. Unless it's classic content, I'd prefer not to watch wrestling on Thanksgiving, but that won't stop the "sickos" from eating up everything AEW puts out. This was a perfectly solid show, but not one I'd recommend seeking out on a holiday. We're going to get a lot more shows like this for the next month while the Continental Classic is going on.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews