SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW COLLISION REPORT
OTCOBER 3, 2026
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY. AT TRUIST ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON TBS & HBO MAX
REPORT BY JOSHUA WHITE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Paul Wight
Ring Announcer: Arkady Aura
Attendance: WrestleTix reports as of today 2,091 tickets were distributed while the arena was set up for 2,289.
[HOUR ONE]
– The camera panned around the full-looking arena as Tony Schiavone welcomed everyone to the show.
-Renee was backstage with Lee Moriarty and Kofi, each with their entourage. Renee was wearing an insane outfit (feel free to google it to join in my confusion) as she noted that tonight would be Kofi’s first singles match in AEW. Kofi said Lee Moriarty was one of the best up-and-comers in the company. Moriarty interrupted saying he’s one of the best in the world, having held the ROH Pure title for some hundreds of days. Kofi seemed confused that Moriarty was mad after he complimented him.
(1) KOFI (w/Austin Creed) vs. LEE MORIARTY
The New Level theme played to bring out Kofi alongside Austin Creed with their trios titles. Lee Moriarty’s music played and he made his entrance along with Shane Taylor Promotions as Creed took a seat at the commentary table. Shane Taylor and company returned backstage as the bell rang to start the match five minutes into the show.
The crowd chanted for Kofi as he escaped a straight jacket hold. Moriarty transitioned into an octopus stretch forcing Kofi to shuffle to the ropes to break the hold. Kofi flipped out of a wristlock and sent Moriarty to ringside. Kofi hit the ropes and feigned a dive, but instead remained in the ring and briefly danced. Kofi held the ropes to lee Moriarty in, but Moriarty swept out Kofi’s legs.
Moriarty went for a monkey flip, but Kofi flipped through and landed on his feet. Moriarty countered a hip toss attempt with a jumping DDT. Moriarty hit a hatch suplex as they went to commercial break. [c]
Back from break, Moriarty hit a spinning clothesline in the corner. Moriarty whipped Kofi across the ring but charged into a kick. Moriarty came back with a high back body drop. Moriarty set Kofi up on the top rope and climbed up, delivering headbutts. Kofi fought back with right hands and knocked Moriarty to the mat. Kofi leapt from the middle rope and hit a swinging DDT.
Kofi hit a pair of double chops and a dropkick. Moriarty hit a moonsault press from the middle rope onto Moriarty into a pin for a two count. Moriarty went for a headscissor lock, but Kofi rolled him into a pin to escape. Kofi caught Moriarty with a springboard crossbody.
Moriarty hit Kofi with a sudden belly to belly suplex and bridged into a pin for teo. Kofi came back with a jumping clothesline, followed by the jumping double leg drop (boom drop still?). Kofi went for the spinning kick, but Moriarty ducked it and lifted Kofi into an airplane spin type of maneuver. Moriarty spun Kofi face first into the mat and locked on the Border City Stretch. Kofi crawled to the rope to break the submission.
Kofi countered a suplex attempt with a roll-up for two. Moriarty rolled Kofi up for a quick two. As both men got back to their feet Kofi nailed Moriarty with a sudden Trouble in Paradise kick. Kofi made the cover and got the win.
WINNER: Kofi in 13:00
(White’s Take: Not sure why Moriarty thought holding ROH Pure title on AEW television was going to do him any favors. Bandido, the ROH world champion is the designated pin taker for most of his AEW appearances. This was one of those Collision matches where the results is obvious and the match goes longer than necessary, but you don’t complain too much because the action is good, even as it seems like an unceremonious way for Kofi to have his first singles match.)
-Kofi offered Moriarty a handshake after the match, which he accepted reluctantly.
-They showed some highlights from the Pac tribute show on Wednesday, including Moxley’s promo from after the show over the video, including Pac’s quote about being “professionals who give a shit.”
-They cut to Nigel and Paul Wight both emotionally saying how good of a wrestler and a person Pac was and how much he’ll be missed.
-They showed a backstage video of the Young Bucks which was highly emotional, as all the Dynamite videos were. Nick and Matt unsuccessfully fought back tears while recalling Pac’s influence and helping them navigate their time in Japan. [c]
-They showed a clip from the scrum after All Out with Will Ospreay touting the upcoming show in Paris and his match with Okada. Okada added “Bonjour, bitches.” They showed highlights of previous meetings between Okada and Ospreay, noting that OSpreay has only won two of eleven matches.
-Tony Schiavone introduced the world title match for WrestleDream, which will be a Clockwork Carnage match. The match will feature eight total wrestlers, with two starting the match at random, while a new wrestler enters randomly every three minutes. During this time, any wrestler who is pinned or submitted is eliminated from the match. Once all eight wrestlers have entered the match, the remaining wrestlers compete in a 15-minute scoring period where every pinfall or submission scores a point/fall. When the 15 minutes expires, the wrestler with the most falls wins.
(White’s Take: Because Casino Gauntlet matches are played out and not convoluted enough, we’re getting whatever the hell this thing is. I like the name, but the match sounds like an unnecessarily confusing gimmicky cluster.)
(2) THE CONGLOMERATION (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy) vs. SOLOROTA (Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo) & GRIFF GARRISON
The Conglomeration’s music played to bring out Strong, O’Reilly and Cassidy. The opposing team of Griff Garrison and Soloroto were waiting in the ring and appeared to be cosplaying the Brodido and Hangman group for some unknown reason. The bell rang to start the match 33 minutes into the show.
Strong attacked Griff, rammed him into the corner, and tagged in Kyle. They hit pairs of kicks before Kyle climbed the ropes and delivered ten-count punches. Strong tagged in and hit ten punches as well. Cassidy tagged in and surprisingly hit a flurry of roughly 30 right hands. Strong, Kyle, and Cassidy triple suplexed Comoroto and Solo.
Cassidy hit a dive onto Garrison at ringside. Cassidy slowly climbed the ropes, and Griff swept his legs out in front of him. Solo got the tag and did the Macarena, mocking Brodidio still. Cassidy hit Comoroto with a swinging DDT. Kyle and Strong hit a high-low attack on Garrison at ringside. Solo attempted a 21-Plex on Cassidy, but he rolled outside of the ring and got beat down by Strong and Kyle.
Comoroto barked, seemingly mocking Brody King. However, he turned around into an Orange Punch from Cassidy. Cassidy made the cover and picked up the win.
WINNERS: The Conglomeration 4:00
(White’s Take: No idea why Griff Garrison, Aaron Solo, and Nick Comoroto were mocking Brodido and Hangman, but I assume it’s leading to an ass kicking of some kind. On the other side, it was cool to see The Conglomeration come out completely serious and wrestle a good, straight-forward match.)
(3) THE DEATH RIDERS (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli w/Marina Shafir) vs. THE BANG BANG GANG (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn & Ace Austin w/Juice Robinson)
The Death Riders’ theme played to bring out Wheeler, Garcia, Claudio and Marina. They made their way through the crowd and to the ring face-to-face with The Conglomeration before The Bang Bang Gang’s music hit. Juice, Ace, Austin, and Colten made their way to the ring as they showed highlights (if that’s even the right word) from their football-themed preshow match from All Out. They noted that Jay White was injured in the match and will be out for a few months, which makes me hate the match even more. The bell rang to start this match 39 minutes into the show.
Yuta hit mocking jabs, and Austin came back with jabs of his own. Ace hit a dropkick on Garcia and then hit one on Claudio as well. Ace took out Garcia and Yuta with strikes. Ace lifted Garcia and Yuta onto his shoulders and squatted both men in the center of the ring until Claudio charged in and broke it up with a running boot. Yuta, Garcia, and Claudio stomped on Ace as they went to commercial. [c]
They returned from commercial as Colten got the hot tag and took down Garcia and Yuta with right hands. Colten hit a neckbreaker on Yuta and nailed Garcia with a dropkick. Austin hit Yuta with a jumping flatliner and Colten hit a flying club to the back of Garcia. Colten made the cover, but Garcia kicked out at two.
Colten set Garcia up on the top rope and went for the superplex. Marina distracted the referee, allowing Claudio to powerbomb Colten off the ropes. Garcia made the cover as the ref turned around, but Colten icked out at two. The crowd chanted “Gunsup” as Ace got the tag. Ace hit a combination of strikes on Garcia but charged into a clothesline.
All six men entered the ring and charged into each other with three pairs of double clotheslines. Marina got into the ring again and Juice Robinson slid in to get in her face. Gabe Kidd blindsided Juice and they brawled up the ramp.
Yuta hit a Claudio-assisted crossbody to the outside onto Colten and Austin. Ace hit Garcia with an enziguri, but he got caught by Garcia, Yuta, and Claudio as they ran a train of running attacks on Ace in the corner. As the ref distracted, Marina slid in and hit probably the hardest strike in the corner.
Claudio and Garcia held Ace in place while Yuta drilled him with the running knee. Garcia locked in the Dragon Tamer and Ace tapped out.
WINNERS: The Death Riders in 12:00
(White’s Take: Differentiating between heels and faces has been a complication associated with The Death Riders for a long time, which has only been made more complicated with the passing of Pac and the lovely tribute on Wednesday. However, the group operated the same as always, across from the presumed babyfaces of The Bang Bang Gang, a group full of talented wrestlers, all of whom would probably be better off not being part of that group. The match was solid, because the random six-man matches on Collision are always solid.)
-Darby Allin was leaning against a wall, saying the last few weeks have put things in perspective. He said he thought Steven Borden’s wrestling career might be over. When Steven came to in the hospital, he told Darby that he’s not going to quit. Darby said what makes him feel alive is risking everything, including the TNT title. Darby addressed Kyle Fletcher, noting he never lost it, but was stripped of it while injured. Darby said he needs to feel alive and will see Fletcher in Paris.
(4) MYRON REED vs. DANTE MARTIN (w/Christopher Daniels)
The Rascalz’s music played and Myron Reed stepped out onto the stage with Xavier and Wentz. Reed continued to the ring on his own. The SkyFlight theme played to bring out Dante Martin along with Darius, Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal and even a Scorpio Sky sighting. Dante made his way to the ring with Daniels. The bell rang to start the standby match 54 minutes into the hour.
Dante hit a knee to the face and Reed came back with a jumping leg drop across the back on Dante’s neck. Reed dodged a clothesline, but Dante tossed him to the apron and booted him to the floor. Dante ran around the ring and hit a dropkick through the ropes diagonally by the ringpost. Back in the ring, Reed hit a dropkick followed by a springboard single leg dropkick as they went to commercial. [c]
[HOUR TWO]
Back from break, Reed rolled out of the way of a standing moonsault. Reed hit an enziguri and attempted a draping flatliner off the rope, but Dante blocked it and tossed Reed to the outside. Dante flipped over Reed to the floor, but Reed caught him, draped him off the apron and delivered the flatliner to the floor. Reed rolled Dante into the ring and made the cover, but Dante kicked out at two.
Reed climbed to the top rope, but Dante met him up there and hit a quick superplex. Dante rolled through into a second suplex attempt, but Reed countered it into a stunner/ Reed charged Dante in the roeps, but Dante stepped on the bottom rope and flipped over Reed. Reed landed at ringsife where Dante hit him with a quick dive.
Reed caught Dante with a kick that stunned him on the apron. Reed got a running start and went for a jumping cutter from the inside of the ring to Dante on the apron, but Dante blocked it and hit Reed with a poison rana on the floor. Dante hit an enxiguri from the apron that knocked Reed to the mat. Dante climbed to the top and went for a flying splash, but Reed hopped to his feet quickly and caught Dante with a cutter (out of nowhere). Reed followed up with the No Cap Splash 450. Reed made the cover and got the win.
WINNER: Myron Reed in 10:00
(White’s Take: Myron Reed is in a similar spot that Dante Martin was in several years back: an promising young high-flyer that’s the more impressive part of a talented team. Now Dante is with a team of folks who disappear for long periods of time and then show up to lose. Dante didn’t look like the scrawny kid I remember him as, but he still performed his dazzling array of moves while Reed performed equally dazzling offense on his way to victory. Fun match, but it didn’t quite hit the next-gear these guys are likely capable of.)
-They cut backstage where Thekla had commandeered a camera man and dragged them to Mercedes’ locker room. Thekla knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Thekla asked “Big D Mone” to show her how she swings it. Thekla said she was a big fan and begged for a photo or any autograph. Thekla asked if she was afraid, and Mercedes charged from behind and clocked Thekla over the head with the belt. Mercedes said “See you at WrestleDream, you stupid little bitch.” She left Thekla lying and went into her dressing room;
(5) THE DIVINE DOMINION (Megan Bayne & Lena Kross) vs. EMILY ROSE & JOIYA BLAKE
The Divine Dominion’s music played brining out Megan Bayne and Lena Kross. Their opponents, Emily Rose and Joiya Blake, were already in the ring. The bell rang six minutes into the second hour as Kross and Bayne hit a pair of sudden running boots on the unlucky ladies in the ring.
Bayne hit shoulder thrusts on Rose in the corner and Korss added a running avalanche. Bayne suplexed her out of the corner. Bayne dispatched Blake easily and then she and Kross hit The Divine Intervention double chokeslam on Rose. Kross made the pin for the quick win.
WINNERS: The Divine Dominion in 1:00
(6) JULIA HART vs. QUEEN AMINATA
As Bayne and Kross celebrated on the stage, Julia Hart’s music played. She walked right past Bayne and Kross and made her way to the ring. Queen Aminata’s music played and she stepped out to the stage with Mina Shirakawa. Mina gave a smack on the backside and Aminata continued to the ring on her own. The bell rang to start the match ten minutes into the second hour.
Hart offered a handshake, but Aminata delivered a forearm instead. Julia rolled out of the ring and Aminata chased her around the ring. Julia and Aminata brawled n the mat briefly before Aminata hit Julia with the chocolate kisses followed by a running kick to the chest. Aminata made the cover, but Julia kicked out at two.
Aminata trapped Julia’s legs behind her back with her legs and forced her face to the mat in a unique submission, but Julia escaped. Aminata set up for a fisherman’s neckbreaker, but Julia countered it with an armdrag. Julia went for a suplex, but Aminata countered with a snap suplex. Julia dodged Aminata in the corner, slapped her across the face and slammed her to the mat by the hair as they went to commercial. [c]
They returned from commercial as Julia caught Aminata in the ropes with the tarantula hold. Aminata came back with a backbreaker and a pair clotheslines. Aminata hit a snap suplex that left Julia down in the corner. Aminata hit a running kick as the crowd chanted “Queen! Queen! Queen!.” Aminata hit a double stomp from the middle rope and made the cover, but Julia kicked out at two.
Julia rolled out of the ring where Aminata tossed her into the barricade. Aminata set up a chair and sat Julia down on it. Amianta climbed to the apron, got a running start and nailed Julia with a dropkick the knocked her to the floor as the chair collapsed.
Back in the ring, Julia caught Aminata with a thrust kick that left both women down. Julia hit a flurry of forearms, but Aminata fired by with one stiff shot. Julia hit the ropes and caught Aminata into a flying octopus hold. Aminata powered Julia up and slammed her down to escape. Aminata made the cover but Julia kicked out at two. Aminata quickly went for another cover, but Julia countered it into the Hartless Lock. Aminata rolled into a pin attempt to break the submission, but Julia countered that into her own roll-up for a two-count.
Julia reapplied The Hartless Lock, but Aminata powered to her feet to escape again. Julia caught Aminata with her double-leg lungblower and then kipped up as Aminata stumbled into the corner. Julia hit a running clothesline in the corner. Aminata caught Julia’s feet and lifted her onto her shoulders into the electric chair position before dropping her down in front and delivering a German suplex (not unlike Omega does on Croyt’s Wrath). Julia landed splayed across the bottom rope and Aminata drilled her with the Off With Her Head running kick. Aminata made the cover and got the win.
WINNER: Queen Aminata in 9:00
(White’s Take: It seemed like four or so years ago that Julia Hart was rapidly improving and could end up being a valuable addition to the women’s division in the future with her character work in The House of Black and run with the TBS title. However, we’ve made it to the future and since her return from injury she’s been, eh, fine. This match, however, reminded me a bit her unrealized potential. Of course, Aminata probably deserves even more credit for this being a pretty good match, especially with her crisp offense and believable aggression. Seemed like they packed a lot into nine minutes also, further proof that matches don’t need to go fifteen to be entertaining and move things forward.)
-New Level were backstage where Creed was proud of Kofi beating Lee Morarity. Kofi said they want to be tag champions and singles champions. Creed said they should be in line for something bigger. Kofi called out Bandido. Creed said the bases are loaded, ‘causing Kofi to challenge Bandido for the ROH title at Grand Slam France. [c]
-They returned from commercial with a video highlighting Samoa Joe’s return at All Out. The cut to Perry saying he may have asked for more than he can handle, but he’s the only one with the balls to challenge Joe. Perry said Joe has something he wants, and if he won’t give it to him, he’s going to take it.
-Joe was backstage and he said he understands Jack Perry’s quest. Joe said Perry sees him as the hammer or the anvil, used to shape iron. Joe said he’s neither, but he is the fire. Unquenchable, uncontrollable. He said it’s a tool you can’t use if you don’t respect it. He said he’s going to burn away all the weakness and hopes there will be enough left for Perry to be the man he thinks he is.
(7) MARK DAVIS (w/Rocky Romero) vs. ADAM PRIEST
Mark Davis’ music played and he made his entrance followed by Rocky Romero. Adm Priest’s music hit and he made his entrance. The bell rang to start the match 27 minutes into the second hour.
Davis immediately ran priest over with a big shoulder block. Priest ducked a chop and hit a few shoulder blocks of his own, but Davis didn’t budge. Priest charged into a big scoop slam. Davis went for a jumping senton, but Priest rolled out of the way. Priest went for a wristlock, but Davis dropped him with a big chop.
Davis lifted Priest up for a powerbomb, but Priest blocked it with a few punches and executed a hurricanrana that sent Davis tumbling out fo the ring to the floor. Priest got a running start and hit a dive onto Davis, knocking him into the announce table. Priest hit a flurry of trikes on Davis at ringside.
Back in the ring, Priest hit a dragon screw in the ropes. Priest climbed to the top rope, but Davis caught him and slung him to the mat. Davis followed up with a huge shotgun dropkick. Davis delivered a double underhook suplex and landed a senton. Davis made the cover, but Priest kicked out as they went to commercial. [c]
They returned from commercial as Priest took Davis down with a chop block. Priest hit a jumping, swinging DDT from the top rope. Priest countered a scoop slam and rolled into a leg breaker. Priest went for a single leg crab, but Davis punched his way out of it. Davis went for an enziguri, but Priest ducked it and locked on the single leg crab. Davis rolled over and shoved Priest off with his legs.
Davis dodged Priest in the corner and hit him with a rolling German suplex. Priest got a two-count on an inside cradle, but Davis came right back with the Close Your Eyes and Count to Three piledriver. Davis made the cover and got the win.
WINNER: Mark Davis in 9:00
(White’s Take: Seeing Adam Priest wrestle is one of the fun parts of Collision. I suppose seeing him win a match would be asking a bit too much, but he looked good, intense, and technically proficient in the loss. Davis is also a good big man, and it’s great to see him continue to get a spotlight even as his luck hasn’t been the greatest. Reuniting with Doyle for a run in the tag division would still be my vote.)
-Renee was backstage with Queen Aminata and Mina. Renee congratulated Aminata on her winning streak and said, per Tony Khan, she’s in line for a title shot. Aminata said she saw Mercedes lay Thekla out earlier and it was “juicy.” She said it’s also “juicy” that AEW is going to France on Tuesday before WrestleDream in two weeks. Aminata reminded everyone that she hates Thekla, and decided it would be sweet to win the title from Mercedes and then deal with the “Ragged-ass toxic spider.” Aminata added that she went to law school in France and it would be a great place to crown the queen. Mina shook her chest in agreeance. [c]
(8) JON MOXLEY vs. JAKE DOYLE – AEW Continental Championship eliminator match
Jake Doyle’s music played and he made his way to the ring with no Callis Fammily members, per Continental rules. Jon Moxley’s music played and the camera cut backstage to Moxley with the Death Riders. A chair leaned against the wall with a towel sitting on it marked “Property of Ben.” Renee was ringside to note that the last few days have been rough for wrestling fans, moreso for the Death Riders. She said Moxley is the kind of man who does his healing inside the ring. She said Moxley has never been more focused on his mission to do what he needs to do with the day in front of him. The bell rang to start the match 45 minutes into the second hour as the crowd loudly chanted for Moxley.
Moxley took Doyle to the mat and snapped his fingers. Moxley took Doyle down with a side headlock takeover. Doyle shot Moxley off the ropes and Moxley came back with a shoulder block, but he bounced off of the larger Doyle. Doyle hit another shoulder block that took Moxley down.
Moxley ducked a clothesline and finally knocked Doyle down with the shoulder block. Doyle forced Moxley into the corner and hit a few shoulder thrusts followed by a running avalanche in the corner. Moxley dodged a second, climbed the ropes and hit a flurry of punches to Doyle’s head. Doyle came back with a running body block that knocked Moxley off of the apron and into the barricade as they went to commercial. [c]
They returned from the final commercial as Doyle hit a running shoulder thrust in the corner. Doyle hit a running body block that knocked Moxley to the mat. Moxley rolled out of the ring and struggled to get back to his feet. The ref began the ten count as Moxley sat against the ringpost, acknowledging the counter. Moxley slid in at the count of nine.
Moxley hit a series of forearms. Doyle and Moxley collided with clotheslines midring, but neither man went down. They traded forearms until Moxley hit a combination of jabs. Doyle ducked a clothesline and hit a back suplex. Doyle charged Moxley in the corner, but he fired out with a big lariat that left both men down.
Moxley hit Doyle with a sudden cutter. Doyle rolled out of the rings and Moxley caught him with a dive through the ropes. Moxley rolled Doyle in the ring and set up for a piledriver. Doyle countered it with a backdrop and then went for a powerbomb, but Moxley escaped and bit at Doyle’s face. Moxley planted Doyle with a piledriver. Doyle came back with a forearm and hit Moxley with a powerbomb into a pin, but Moxley kicked out at two,
Doyle set up for the Into The Void swinging sidewalk slam, but Moxley slapped him and gave him the finger. Doyle went for the move again, but Moxley swung around into a sleeper hold. Doyle collapsed to the mat as Moxley tightened the hold and Doyle tapped out.
WINNER: Jon Moxley in 14:00
(White’s Take: The combination of recent upsetting events and being near Cincinnati yielded a relatively small crowd that was very loud for Moxley. This was a good match, with Moxley struggling to take down the bigger man in Doyle, who hasn’t necessarily been protected, but he’s not Lance Archer either. Doyle looked good, although you could argue he got in too much offense on someone of Moxley’s caliber, but the long match with the obvious winner is bult into AEW’s DNA at this point.)
Marina entered the ring and held the Continental title up as Moxley took as seat in the center of the ring. Moxley posed on the ropes as Schiavone ran down some of the matches on Grand Slam France before signing off.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I was not sure what we were going to get with this episode of Collision. I thought maybe an extension of the tribute to Pac, which we got some of. I thought maybe they’d have to hastily build to Grand Slam on Tuesday, which we also got some of. But mostly, it was a typical Collision, but on the higher end of that scale. Matches were all good and featured a good mix of talent and styles and match length. There were also storyline developments in the women’s title scene, TNT title divison, and more, not to mention the announcement of the gimmickiest of gimmick matches for the world title at WrestleDream, making for a somewhat newsworthy edition of Collision.
