AEW Collision Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From July 31

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Collision on July 31.

AEW has gotten into a pattern of moving Collision to Thursdays when WWE has a PLE airing on Saturday, and it has been a smart move to keep Collision relevant.

Here's a look at what AEW advertised for Thursday's show:

—Willow Nightingale vs. Thekla
—Dustin Rhodes vs. Kyle Fletcher (TNT Championship)
—Gates of Agony vs. Brodido
—Bang Bang Gang vs. FTR

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's Collision.

Gates of Agony vs. Brodido

As Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness welcomed us to the show, we saw a security guard being thrown past them. The camera panned over to see Wheeler Yuta. The rest of the Death Riders showed up so Jon Moxley could give a promo.

Mox talked about Darby Allin screwing with him since he returned and called him out. The risk-taker appeared in the balcony area, but then he disappeared into the crowd. Mox and crew went to look for him, which led to a video of Adam Page beating Moxley for the title.

The first match we got this week was the last quarterfinal match in the tag tournament. Bandido and Brody King took on Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun. Bandido and Kaun started the action for their teams.

Liona tried to get Bandido to tag in King for a faceoff, but the masked man wanted to face the big man himself. After a little tussle, King tagged in and the two powerhouses started colliding.

This was a good match to start the show because it was exciting enough to get the crowd amped up but didn't make it impossible for anyone to follow them. It was just a good tag team match from start to finish.

After a hard-fought battle that saw both teams have some impressive moments, Brodido scored the win to advance to the semifinals where they will face The Young Bucks.

Result: Brodido defeated Gates of Agony

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Allin's face paint was awesome.
—The body transformation Liona has had over the past year has been wild to see. He has gotten himself into great shape without losing that monster quality.
—The "Meat" chants are always fun.
—Bandido and King had some good double-team spots.
—Seeing a guy like King flying at you for a suicide dive has to be terrifying.

Kris Statlander vs. Lena Kross

We got a backstage segment that appeared to show Allin kidnapping Moxley before we went back to the arena for Kris Statlander's match against Lena Kross, an Australian talent.

Kross is one of the few opponents who Stat has to look up to look in the eys, but Stat still seemed to have the power advantage.

This could have been a simple squash, but Kross was able to get in some offense before Statlander inevitably beat her with a new submission finisher. There wasn't much to this match, but everything we got looked good.

Result: Statlander defeated Kross

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Kross had a nice German suplex.
—Statlander's finisher is like a modified Rings of Saturn.

Willow Nightingale vs. Thekla

Willow made her entrance as Statlander was still leaving. Thekla came out with Julia Hart and Skye Blue by her side.

Hart and Blue helped Thekla play some mind games early in the match to take control, but Nightingale had a significant size and power advantage, so she used that to keep finding ways to make a comeback.

Thekla was able to take control after sending Willow into the steel steps, and she maintained the upper hand throughout the break. When we returned, The Babe With the Power began making a comeback.

This match was paced well and had enough time to make sure both women had plenty of time to shine. This was the most competitive bout Thekla has had since coming to AEW. Both competitors came away from this looking great.

Nightingale put up a great fight, but a stomp from Thekla put her down for the three-count. The Triangle of Madness attacked Willow once the match was over. Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne joined in on the beating, but Queen Aminata, Anna Jay and Tay Melo came out with chairs to make the save.

Result: Thekla defeated Nightingale

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Thekla had some cool gear this week. Whoever made it did a great job.
—The moment with Thekla and Willow staring each other down with smiles on the mat was great.
—The way Willow crashed into the steel steps looked painful.

FTR vs. Bang Bang Gang

Austin Gunn and Juice Robinson were looking to continue their winning ways this week, but they had to content with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, who are one of the most successful duos in AEW.

Daniel Garcia joined the commentary table to watch as Wheeler and Robinson started for their teams.

The first half of the match was decent, but there was on moment that stuck out as very strange. You rarely see FTR fumble double-team moments, so it felt like it might be Gunn or Robinson's fault for not knowing where they were supposed to be.

The second half felt much more focused. Everyone was back on their A-game and made sure the rest of the match was a lot of fun. Robinson looked especially good in this bout.

FTR was able to win with a roll-up and some dirty tactics, earning them a spot in the finals against whoever wins between Brodido and The Young Bucks.

Result: FTR defeated Bang Bang Gang

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Bringing cardboard cutouts of Jay White and Colten Gunn was funny.
—Garcia was good on commentary. He didn't take attention away from the match but still contributed.
—There was a very awkward moment when all four men were in the ring and it seemed like at least two of them had no idea what to do next.
—Wheeler dove into the guardrail hard when he tried to hit Austin.

Max Caster Open Challenge

Max Caster came out to issue another open challenge, but first he made sure to put down his former tag team partner for attacking him after the bell on Dynamite.

This week, it was Rush who answered the open challenge. Caster tried to kill some time by doing laps around the ring, but Rush knocked his block off with one big right hand.

El Toro Blanco began running Caster from barricade to barricade all around the ring. Caster was able to take control momentarily, but Rush quickly recovered and unloaded on him in the ring.

Rush didn't care about the clock and let the time run out just so he could keep beating up Caster. Not only was this the most entertaining of Caster's open challenges, but it was the only one he has actually survived.

The rest of LFI came out and attacked Caster, but AR Fox, Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey made the save.

Result: Caster survived five minutes

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Caster was still being heavily booed, so fans did not automatically like him just because Bowens attacked him.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. SkyFlight

Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean were in action against Scorpio Sky, Dante and Darius Martin this week in a trios match.

Taylor and Sky started for their teams. The former TNT champion was cornered and beaten down for a bit, but he made a comeback against Bravo and tagged in Top Flight to hit a double-team attack.

Top Flight and The Infantry did most of the high-flying and fast-paced work while Sky and Taylor focused more on power moves and strikes.

There wasn't much of a pattern to what we saw, but the outcome seemed obvious from the jump. SkyFlight is the new trio on the block, so AEW is obviously going to be pushing them for a bit.

Sky for the win for his team by pinning Bravo with his finisher.

Result: SkyFlight defeated

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

—All six men were wearing the same colors, so it looked a bit weird to see them matching as if they were all one team.
—Sky's finisher always looks good.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Kyle Fletcher

This week's main event was a Chicago Street Fight for the TNT Championship between Rhodes and Fletcher.

The Natural started off hot and sent Fletcher out of the ring with a few strikes, but The Protostar was the first to grab a weapon when he found a kendo stick under the ring.

Both of these men are gifted technicians, but this match was anything but technical. They were looking to make the most of every minute of TV time they had by using as many things as possible to hurt each other.

Both men were bleeding within five minutes, and both had went through a table before the commercial break.

This was a physical and entertaining fight between a future world champion and one of the most celebrated veterans in the game. The show went into overtime to stay with the action until it was over.

They left everything in the ring, including several ounces of their own blood. We even saw Rhodes use an Iron Claw with a glove full of tacks.

Callis handed Fletcher a screwdriver and he used it to hit Rhodes in the head and damage his knee. He even stabbed it right into Dustin's leg, but The Natural refused to give up. He almost won with a roll-up before Fletcher hit a brainbuster on the tacks for the win to become the new TNT champion.

Result: Fletcher defeated Rhodes

Grade: A-

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Notable Moments and Observations

—Before the main event, we saw Allin almost dump Moxley over a fire escape before he was saved by security.
—Rhodes came out to new entrance music this week that was actually his old WCW theme music.
—The spot when Fletcher crashed through a table looked brutal.
—A 56-year-old man hitting an avalanche destroyer through a table is the kind of thing you never expect to see.

The Final Word

Thursday’s episode of Collision had a lot to like about it, especially when it came to how well the show was paced.

There wasn’t a single match or segment that felt like filler. Everything had a purpose and advanced a storyline or feud in some way.

Getting two women’s matches on a regular basis has helped the division in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to the newer faces on the scene. 

The main event between Rhodes and Fletcher will probably be the match most people single out, and for good reason, but Brodido vs. Gates of Agony was also a major highlight on the show. 

AEW has been on a roll lately and if it can keep up this momentum, Forbidden Door is going to be one of the best shows of the year. 

Grade: B+