AEW Collision Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights Before DoN 2025

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live cover of AEW Collision on a special Thursday night before this weekend's Double or Nothing PPV.

Mercedes Mone is set to face Jamie Hayter on Sunday, but before she competes in the finals for the women's Owen Hart Cup, she had to step into the ring with Reyna Isis from CMLL.

We also got some tag team action when Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong from The Paragon took on The Grizzled Young Veterans, James Drake and Zack Gibson.

This show also spent some time hyping the upcoming PPV since it was the final episode of AEW TV before the weekend.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Thursday's episode of Collision.

FTR, Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness sign their Double or Nothing Contract

Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The show skipped the usual opening video and we went right to Tony Schiavone welcoming Adam Cole, who joined the announce team. Then Tony brought out FTR and Stokely Hathaway.

Daniel Garcia and Daddy Magic came out next, followed by Nigel McGuinness. This was supposed to be a contract signing, but as usual, it turned into an exchange of promos.

Wheeler questioned whether this was in Nigel's best interest considering he is not a full-time worker anymore in an attempt to scare him. Garcia said he still care about FTR, but he sees them as selfish and narcissistic now.

McGuinness asked for FTR's word that they never talk to, touch or look at Schiavone or him ever again after Sunday. He threatened to end them for good if they don't listen to him.

Harwood tried one more time to talk McGuinness out of competing, and this is when it broke down into a brawl. This was obviously the way this was always going to end, but the crowd loved it as Garcia and Nigel had FTR locked in submissions until security broke it up.

This isn't the most well-developed feud on the PPV card, but this segment did a good job selling it as a personal grudge that needs to be settled.

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—It's always a little weird when AEW shows don't open with a match, and this is two shows in a row.
—FTR feel so much more natural in the heel role.
—It's such a shame that we missed out on so many years of McGuinness as a wrestler.

Konosuke Takeshita, Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta vs. The Outrunners and Bandido

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Konosuke Takeshita, Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta of The Don Callis Family took on Turbo Floyd, Truth Magnum and Bandido in trios action.

After the initial exchange, the babyfaces took control with some triple-team moves that sent all three members of the Callis Family out of the ring as the show went to a break.

Takeshita was the one who finally gave his team the upper hand once he tagged into the match. He was simply too powerful for Bandido to handle.

This was a solid trios bout with some fun moments involving all six competitors. It didn't necessarily feel like an important match, but it had the crowd making a lot of noise and that is the most important part.

Lance Archer took out Bandido behind the ref's back, leaving The Outrunners outnumbered and unable to kick out of a triple team move.

Result: The Don Callis Family defeated The Outrunners and Bandido

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—The announcers moaning about having to sit next to Callis was hilarious.
—This might have been the funniest Callis was on commentary in a long time. His back-and-forth with Cole was great.
—The pop when The Outrunners finally win tag titles in AEW or ROH is going to be huge. The AEW audience loves those guys and it's easy to see why. They're a lot of fun.
—Bandido's one-armed press slam is such an impressive move.

Mercedes Mone vs. Reyna Isis

Sam Hodde/Getty Images

Mercedes held an open challenge for the TBS title this week that was answered by CMLL's Isis.

They started with a nice exchange of takedowns and counters that ended in a stalemate. After a quick dance break, Mone put Isis in the Statement Maker. Isis broke free but was quickly taken down by The CEO.

The challenger was able to hit some nice moves, but it never once felt like Mone's reign was in any danger.

After a decent back-and-forth fight, The CEO scored the win with her trademark submission to retain her title and continue building momentum heading into her match with Jamie Hayter this weekend.

As she was celebrating her win, Hayter showed up on the stage and pointed at her wrist to indicate Mone was running out of time. Security ran out to get between them before a fight could happen.

Result: Mone defeated Isis

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

—The music Isis came out to is not the usual wrestling entrance music you would expect, but she made it work.
—Just so people know, Reyna's last name is pronounced like eesees.
—The way Mercedes applied her finisher was a little complicated but it might have been improvised. It was hard to tell.

Kyle Fletcher vs. Jay Lethal

Just days before he will meet Mark Briscoe in a Stretcher Match, Kyle Fletcher was in action against Jay Lethal.

Lethal went for the leg but was backed to the corner as the crowd chanted his name. Fletcher began picking him apart with various strikes, but Lethal did a quick strut before unloading on him in the corner.

Once Fletcher regained control, he was much more aggressive while still taking time to gloat. When we returned from a break, it was more of the same. Fletcher was dominant but Lethal kept himself in the fight with brief comebacks.

With only one of these guys having a big PPV match this weekend, the outcome was obvious from the jump. Fletcher won, but they did a good job along the way.

Cole had a brief confrontation with Fletcher after the match, but Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong ran down before it turned into a fight.

Result: Fletcher defeated Lethal

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—It was a little surprising to see Cody Rhodes shown and mentioned during the promo video for Sons of Texas vs. Hurt Syndicate.
—Harley Cameron did a quick ad spot before the match got started. It's great to see AEW putting her out there.

Paragon vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Strong and KOR stayed in the ring after helping Cole since their match against Drake and Gibson was up next.

O'Reilly almost won early with an armbar, but Drake fought his way out as they continued to put on a fast-paced sequence.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, this turned into a hard-hitting and entertaining match. Both of these teams are great at what they do and proved they are as good as any other duo on the roster.

Strong and O'Reilly were able to get the win as Cole cheered them on from the announce table.

Result: The Paragon defeated GYV

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—It's nice to see GYV back on TV. It felt like they got signed and then disappeared.
—Strong was hitting some pretty stiff chops. GYV might have some welts in the morning.

Josh Alexander vs. AR Fox

The Don Callis Family was represented once again when Josh Alexander took on AR Fox.

These guys work very different styles, but they are both so good at what they do that they meshed them together to create a highly entertaining match as soon as the bell rang.

Alexander's time in TNA showed everyone what he is capable of, and Fox reminds us what he can do every time he steps into the ring.

This was a pretty short match that ended with Alexander scoring the win, but it was fun for the few minutes we got to see them work.

Result: Alexander defeated Fox

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Something weird happened with the crowd audio in the middle of the match. It was like one of the audience mic feeds suddenly cut out.
—It's almost unfair that Fox can do everything he does and make it look that easy.
—Alexander, Fletcher and Alexander vs. The Paragon was booked for Double or Nothing.

Volador Jr., Magnus and Rugido vs. Mictico, Mascara Dorada and Templario

CMLL was represented this week with a trios match featuring Volador, Magnus and Rugido taking on Mistico, Mascara Dorada and Templario.

Most of these guys have made appearances in AEW before, but most fans might not be familiar with Templario and Rugido unless they watch CMLL.

The most important thing to note is that these six men all have great reputations as performers in Mexico, so we knew we were in for a fast-paced and high-flying match.

The heels tried to talk out but were booed enough to get them to come back and fight. Mistico tagged in for the first time to a nice reaction as he squared off against the only man in the match without a mask.

Dorada won for his team to end a very entertaining sprint of a match.

Result: Dorada, Mistico and Templario defeated Rugido, Volador and Magnus

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Mistico's music is the kind of song that could easily get drowned out by the crowd.
—Tags are a much looser concept in Mexican wrestling, so the ref felt even more helpless than usual to stop the chaos at times.

Mike Bailey and Komander vs. Rush and Dralistico

This week's main event saw Rush and Dralistico take on Komander and Mike Bailey in a tag team match.

LFI got an early advantage by attacking their opponents after the bell. They took the fight out of the ring and beat them all around the ringside area.

Once Speedball and Komander regained their footing, they started to take it to Rush and Dralistico. However, they tried one too many suicide dives and both men crashed and burned as we went to a break.

The match continued to entertain when we returned and it ended with Bailey and Komander getting the win, but the night wasn't over just yet.

Kazuchika Okada showed up and Bailey offered him a bow and a handshake, but Okada just flipped him off. Bailey responded with a kick that sent him out of the ring followed by a dive that took him down. The show ended with Bailey posing with the continental title.

Result: Bailey and Komander defeated Rush and Dralistico

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

—This match was booked after Dralistico and Rush attacked Speedball during Dynamite.
—The announcers noted that Kevin Knight was still in Japan and that is why he was unable to team with Bailey.

The Final Word

Thursday’s Collision managed to address most of the major feuds that will fill the Double or Nothing card while also providing us with several matches. 

Other than the one quick bout with Alexander and Fox, everyone was given enough time to give the crowd a good, competitive fight.

The main event was a solid tag match that gave Bailey a bit more momentum heading into the PPV, but it wasn’t the bout that stole the show.

The tag match between GYV and The Paragon was arguably the best thing on the card, but if you are a huge fan of lucha libre, the trios bout might have been your favorite.

With a handful of strong matches and some decent buildup for the PPV, this ended up being a solid episode of Collision that never slowed down. 

Grade: B