AEW COLLISION HITS & MISSES (4/26): Eliminator match Toni Storm vs. Queen Aminata, The Cru vs. Top Flight Tornado Tag, Anna Jay returns, and FTR vs. The Paragon

AEW COLLISION –HITS & MISSES
EPISODE 90 – “PLAYOFF PALOOZA”
NEW ORLEANS, LA. AT UNO LAKEFRONT ARENA
AIRED ON TBS & MAX (Recorded on 4/23)
REPORT BY BRIAN ZILEM, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

Ring Announcer: Arkady Aura

Welcome! I’m taking over this feature as David Bryant shifts to occasional special features due to his schedule. If you’re wondering what I thought was a show’s best and worst part, know that my list of Hits and Misses are going to be in descending order. I will also provide a final score for each review. Let’s get started!

HITS

HEEL FTR

The Tag Division and FTR both required the new paint code after the FTR heel turn. The fact that this FTR vs. Paragon match wasn’t saved for Double or Nothing surprised me, to be honest. Going ahead, I hope that this iteration of FTR will remain consistent with AEW’s PPV cycle. Traditional, old-fashioned team matches have been absent from AEW PPVs, and more importantly, they might broaden the PPV scope.

NBA LEAD-IN

It’s usually a smart idea to take advantage of the NBA lead-in with Swerve Strickland, one of the top talents. Within the company, Strickland is a cross-over star and mogul. When the ratings are announced later this week, we’ll be able to see how many more people stayed after the baseball game.

TONI STORM

Toni Storm remains a standard bearer of not only the Women’s Division but also of AEW. The overall match quality was elevated quite a bit due to the stiff work both Storm and Queen Aminata put into their match.

TORNADO TAG TEAM MATCH

Although “plunder” is a useful cheat code, Top Flight hasn’t looked this good in a long time. As a heel duo, the CRU is developing. At some time, I would like to see the CRU vs. Hurt Syndicate match for the AEW Tag Team Titles.

“HANGMAN” PAGE-KYLE FLETCHER HYPE VIDEO

The match itself has a 5-star ceiling, but this brief video package to hype Hangman vs. Fletcher for this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite was the cherry on top.

MEGAN BAYNE’S ARC

Bayne remains AEW’s next star to push. A feud against Anna Jay is a good way to build Bayne back up the ladder for a title opportunity in the future. I want more character development with Bayne in the next few weeks.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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MISSES

ROH

I ask this in good faith: What is Ring of Honor at this point in 2025? Bandido is a fantastic talent, but it’s hard to be invested in someone who just exists in the Honor Club when I don’t have the time to watch or commit more time to watching more wrestling content.

FINAL SCORE

• HITS 6
• MISSES 1

FINAL THOUGHTS: There was good ringwork throughout the show. It would have been nice to see additional plot developments. I recommend that Collision include an in-person promo featuring Jon Moxley and Samoa Joe before the Beach Break AEW World Title match on May 14.