AEW Collision Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From July 5

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Collision on July 5.

Here is a look at what AEW advertised for this week's show:

—Storytime with Adam Cole
—Max Caster open challenge
—Willow Nightingale in action
—FTR vs. The Outrunners
—Kyle Fletcher vs. Daniel Garcia
—Nick Wayne vs. Kevin Knight vs. Shelton Benjamin
—Mistico, Hologram and Mark Briscoe vs. RPG Vice and Hechicero
—Thunder Rosa, Queen Aminata and TayJay vs. Athena, Thekla, Megan Bayne and Julia Hart

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

Shelton Benjamin vs. Kevin Knight vs. Nick Wayne

The 100th episode of Collision opened with Cole coming to the ring for a promo. He said he would remain TNT champion for the rest of 2025 and beyond, which brought out Fletcher and Garcia. This led to their match later in the show being turned into a No. 1 Contender's bout for a shot at Cole's title.

A couple of champions were in action in a non-title triple threat next as trios champ Benjamin faced Knight and ROH TV champion, Wayne. Knight's ribs were heavily taped to sell an injury from his previous match with The Hurt Syndicate.

The Jet went right after Benjamin as soon as he hit the ring, so Wayne took the opportunity to sit back and watch The Gold Standard throw Knight around.

While Knight and Wayne got in some offense here and there, this match was mostly Benjamin asserting his dominance over his younger opponents. This was why it felt like an upset when Knight pulled off the win.

This was a high-energy match that got the action on the show going in a good way. Knight continues to impress with each performance.

Result: Knight defeated Benjamin and Wayne

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Fletcher's shirt said "Say my full name." This is a joke related to when he faced Kyle O'Reilly recently and the fans made tons of Kyle chants for both guys.
—Wayne's entrance music is missing something. It's hard to say what it is but it doesn't stand out enough.
—Benjamin is so good at making all of his offense look just a little more effective than the average wrestler.

Mistico, Hologram and Mark Briscoe vs. RPG Vice and Hechicero

The Don Callis Family was represented by Hechicero, Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta in a trios match against Mistico, Hologram and Briscoe.

The heels attacked the babyfaces before they had a chance to react, but Mistico rebounded as soon as it was down to him and Romero in the ring together.

Hechicero had some great moments in this match, as did Hechicero, but it was Mistico who had the biggest reactions from the crowd out of the three masked competitors.

This was a match with a lot going all at once, so even though it was exciting, it felt a little disjointed at times. Mistico scored a submission win over Romero.

Result: Mistico, Hologram and Briscoe won

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—The crowd has really taken to Mistico's music since the show in Arena Mexico.
—The way Hologram countered a double-team move from Beretta and Romero did not look humanly possible. It was very impressive.
—Hechicero's technical ability is incredible. The way he got Hologram into position for a rear naked choke was great.
—MJF and MVP had a promo on the big screen after the match.

Max Caster Open Challenge

Caster made an appearance for another five-minute open challenge this week, and it was none other than Scorpio Sky who answered the call with Christopher Daniels and by his side.

The former SCU teammates appear to be working as a wrestler/manager combo now, but regardless, it was awesome to see Sky back on TV after months of inactivity.

Caster jumped on Sky immediately to get an early advantage, but Sky fired back immediately and took control. The crowd was hyped to see him return and chanted "Welcome back." Sky won with a cutter in less than a minute.

This was fun but we're not going to provide a letter grade for a 55-second match because there is almost nothing to judge when a match is comprised of four moves total.

Result: Sky defeated Caster

Grade: Incomplete

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Caster looking so convincingly morose during his promo made it so much funnier.
—Top Flight came out with Sky but didn't go to the ring with him for some reason.

Willow Nightingale vs. Vipress

Willow Nightingale was in action this week against Vipress, who the announcers said had trained at the L.A. New Japan dojo.

Much like Sky in the previous bout, Nightingale won in less than a minute in decisive fashion. It's always great to see Nightingale get some TV time, but she needs something more substantial than facing jobbers.

Result: Nightingale defeated Vipress

Grade: Incomplete

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Ricochet has officially recruited The Gates of Agony.
—Calling her finisher The Babe With The Powerbomb was something Willow decided on during her interview with us.

FTR vs. The Outrunners

One of the most highly anticipated matches this week was Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd. These two teams used to be friends, so this was a bit of a grudge match after their falling out.

It took all of 30 seconds before this turned into a big brawl with all four men. The Outrunners sent FTR out of the ring, so they regrouped with Stokely Hathaway before heading back in.

Out of everything we saw on Saturday night, this bout felt the most personal. AEW booked a lot of random stuff this week, but this match felt like the main attraction, which made it feel strange that it wasn't the main event.

The match got bloody during the break when Magnum was busted wide open. FTR had the match firmly in hand at this point. Even with a late comeback, The Outrunners didn't stand a chance.

This was entertaining from start to finish and really made The Outrunners look more legitimate as a threat than they have before. Them and FTR dud a great job pacing this match so it seemed like they had hope before it was ultimately dashed.

FTR got the win, but The Outrunners came away from this looking very strong.

Result: FTR defeated The Outrunners

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Harwood hit a punch to Floyd that looked stiffer than intended, but it led to a good exchange.
—Floyd spent most of the time in the ring for his team.
—The way Floyd was dropped on the steel steps looked brutal.

Rosa, Aminata and TayJay vs. Athena, Thekla, Bayne and Hart

Hart started against Aminata in this big eight-woman tag match, but Thekla tagged herself in before anything happened.

For a match with so many moving parts, this felt surprisingly well-paced and didn't devolve into mayhem until much later than expected.

Eight-person tag bouts, especially in AEW, can have a tendency to be chaotic and hard to follow. There is usually action happening in multiple places, so it's impossible to capture it all .

This felt much more focused and as a result, each big spot mattered more. It wasn't about packing as much into the time they had as possible. It was more about making each moment count.

Unfortunately, it's always hard to make sure all eight competitors are featured properly, so some talents stood out more than others.

Rosa and Athena ended up fighting to the back and a few moments later, Bayne won for her team with a running powerbomb.

Result: Bayne, Thekla, Hart and Athena won

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—As usual, Rosa's face paint looked awesome.
—Bayne no-selling to look more like a powerhouse is fine sometimes, but occasionally she does it when it looks like she should be selling more and it creates an awkward moment.
—Tay Melo looks like she hasn't lost a step.

Kyle Fletcher vs. Daniel Garcia

A TNT title shot was on the line in the main event as Fletcher took on the man who Cole beat for the belt, Garcia.

Fletcher had the height and power advantage, but Garcia was the more technically sound of the two, so it didn't feel like either one had a clear advantage over the other.

The crowd was chanting "This is awesome" before they even did much, so there was a lot of excitement for this bout in the arena.

They packed a lot into this match, and since they were given a good amount of time, they also had opportunities to take their time selling for each other.

Garcia managed to avoid a countout only to end up taking a running kick and a brainbuster as soon as he got back into the ring to give Fletcher the win. This was very enjoyable and well worth checking out.

Result: Fletcher defeated Garcia

Grade: A-

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Cole was on commentary for this bout. It's always fun when he joins the table. He is well-spoken and has a lot of knowledge. Callis was there, too.
—Fletcher doing Garcia's dance was funny.
—The apron powerbomb Fletcher hit looked nasty. Garcia sold it well.

The Final Word

Collision has been putting on a string of strong episodes recently and this week’s show managed to keep that momentum going even without having many significant storyline advancements. 

There was some solid action this week with FTR and The Outrunners having the most violent match of the night. These two teams probably aren’t done with each other, but for now, FTR prevailed. 

The women’s division getting two matches was a plus even if one was a squash, and the return of Sky is going to have a lot of fans excited.

However, Fletcher and Garcia were the ones who stole the show with their main event performance. These are two young, talented guys who AEW can always count on to bring strong in-ring action.

Grade: B+