AEW TOP MATCH AND PROMO OF THE WEEK: Why Darby Allin’s first AEW World Title defense against Ciampa kicked ass, Moxley-Ospreay on Collision showed how good Mox is in this role

Match Highlight of the Week

Darby Allin (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship – Dynamite 4/22/26

I am still fully in the camp of thinking that taking the title off MJF was a mistake, but I think AEW did a great job this week of establishing Darby Allin as a worthy champion.

I thought the promo packages they had on the show showing Darby’s history in AEW were well done and I wish they had given Darby more time to talk in the ring before he was interrupted by MJF. I like Darby, but for me he can be a little much sometimes. Case in point: He is now going to defend the title every week until “the wheels fall off.”

I get that Darby is balls to the wall all the time, but having what equates to an open challenge every week for the World Title is going to dilute the title and the matches. My favorite part of AEW the last few months with MJF as champ was all the top stars trying to earn a title shot, and having phenomenal matches along the way to earn the title shot. This week Brody King is going to get a title shot. He is most likely going to lose, and this will be another big match that Brody King loses. Does that help Brody King in any way? The answer is no.

Darby Allin was going to be AEW World Heavyweight Champion at some point in his career, but I feel like this rush job of putting the title on him during WrestleMania week was the wrong decision. It should have meant more and there should have been a longer story arc of Darby trying to win the title.

I mean, let’s be honest; Darby Allin was as cold as the top of Mt. Everest going into that title match with MJF. Before the match with Andrade, he was in a horrendous feud with Gabe Kidd, and he was part of my worst match of the year so far when he fought Gabe Kidd in that coffin match on Dynamite. I am just not a fan of tipping over the apple cart just to tip it over.

Alright, let’s get to the match. This match kicked ass ,plain and simple. Darby was not joking around when he said he’s going to keep defending the title until his body falls apart because he had some insane spots in this match. The Coffin Drop off the top rope to the outside on Ciampa two minutes into the match, the leap from the ring-post through the timekeepers table on Ciampa, and the slingshot Darby took into the steel frame of the ring was bonkers.

This match was also another prime example of how Darby doesn’t need his matches to be hardcore every time. He can make a straight up wrestling match look like a car crash without barbed wire or fire. I thought Ciampa came off as vicious in this match, and he was really lying in his knee strikes in this one.

The Psycho Driller he hit on Darby to the outside of the ring was insane and I can’t believe they are allowing Darby to take this many insane bumps a week into his title run. They are playing with fire, allowing him to do this. Can you imagine having to have a vacant title at this point.

I loved Ciampa showing Darby respect at the end of the match putting the title over his shoulder, but is he a babyface now? I was a little confused. This match was a great kick-off to the Darby Allin era in AEW but I still have my reservations.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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Promo Highlight of the Week

Jon Moxley – Collision 4/25/26

This promo with Will Ospreay was so good that there aren’t enough superlatives to give to it. It makes me angry that AEW wasted months with Moxley with the Don Callis feud and the merry-go-round of mixed tag matches that led nowhere with the Don Callis Family.

The promo starting off with Marina Shafir snapping Will Ospreay’s neck back into place was great and the small touch of Ospreay looking at his hand like he finally regained feeling in his fingers was great. I think I’ve reached my limit with the ringside doctor having to get involved with every Will Ospreay match, so hopefully this is a sign that we don’t have to have that every match.

I loved Moxley telling Ospreay, “You take dominion over your mind, and we can turn you into a weapon that professional wrestling has never seen.” Moxley giving Ospreay this wake up call is a turning point moment for the Will Ospreay character.

Moxley giving Ospreay the option to break his neck and get his revenge was also a great moment at the end of the promo. Moxley basically tells Ospreay: You can get your revenge, but that isn’t going to change the path you are on and it’s not going to change the destruction you are doing to your body and your mind.

I love this because Will Ospreay is at a crossroads now and he has to make a decision and quite possibly make a deal with his enemy. This combined with the backstage promo Ospreay had with Kenny Omega last week is just incredible story telling and it makes me believe somehow, some way, we are getting Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay at All In.

I just can’t say enough of Moxley in this promo. There aren’t many guys in the world of professional wrestling that can pull off this type of promo. It was cinematic and when Moxley is locked in like this there is no one better in this role as a mentor. Will Ospreay, climbing back to the top of the AEW ranks with the help of Moxley and I’m assuming the encouragement of Kenny Omega is going to be a fun journey.

Thoughts and Observations:

– You think Samoa Joe is going to be mad that Hook didn’t add any members to the Opps? What a total waste of time that angle was while Joe was gone.

– Alex Windosr has the makings of a real star for AEW, and I hope they continue to feature her weekly.

– I have no desire to watch Adam Copeland & Christian Cage bleed like stuck pigs on this Street Fight with FTR at Double or Nothing. I just have no interest in watching these guys in the twilight of their careers do these hardcore matches. It’s borderline sad to watch. I really wish Copeland would call it a career sooner rather than later. It’s time.

– Chris Jericho has done it again. He’s sucked me into what he’s doing. I am pleasantly surprised with how this recent run is going, but he is up to something. Something is simmering story wise and I know he’s got something up his sleeve character wise that’s coming.

– I really enjoyed MJF calling out Kevin Knight for speaking in the third person in every sentence. He has to stop doing that. It’s off putting to hear him constantly call himself The Jet.

PODCAST PLUG

Be sure to check out the Collision Café podcast I host with PWTorch’s Brian Zilem, available exclusively to PWTorch VIP members. Be sure to also check out Brian Zilem’s weekly AEW Collision Hits and Misses article here at PWTorch.

To reach out to the podcast please email collisioncafevip@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from our listeners.

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