AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights After Worlds End

Collision continued the Max era of All Elite Wrestling on January 4 in the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, presenting multiple title matches and a battle of long-time rivals with new allies.

Daniel Garcia defended his TNT Championship against Mark Briscoe. Could Red Death avenge his loss in the Continental Classic, or would Briscoe capture his first AEW championship?

Lio Rush and Action Andretti finally got their shot at the World Tag Team Championships. Could Private Party successfully defend their gold?

Rated FTR battled The Learning Tree. Cope and Chris Jericho would stand on opposite sides for the first time since 2010. Which veteran would emerge with another win?

Deonna Purrazzo hoped to take advantage of Toni Storm's fractured mind in a 2025 rematch. Would Storm continue her winning ways or face the wrath of The Vendetta?

Jeff Jarrett hoped to pick up some momentum with the hope to complete his final career goal: capturing the AEW World Championship.

This was certain to be an action-packed night for many of the top stars in AEW.

Mark Briscoe battered Daniel Garcia throughout this match, including hitting Froggy Bow and Jay Driller, but Red Death survived with a foot on the rope.

As the match nearly hit its 20-minute time limit, Red Death managed to roll up Chicken for three.

These two men do not have the clearest chemistry, but they worked hard to tell their story in the ring. Garcia was always going to win, but Briscoe sold his case to be TNT champion.

The biggest match of the night opened the show. AEW has done this in the past to tease hitting the time limit, which is exactly what they did.

Less than two minutes remained when Garcia picked up the pinfall. Throughout this match, it was clear that Briscoe had Garcia's number, but the challenger was rushed into a mistake late.

The draw was believable, adding some needed drama down the stretch when this could have been an easy win for Red Death.

Result

Garcia def. Briscoe by pinfall to retain the TNT Championship.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• Collision opened with short promos from Briscoe, Garcia, The Learning Tree and Rated FTR, hyping their Collision matches.
  
• It was great to hear the return of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting". by Elton John.
• Briscoe was frustrated early by the technical offense and taunts of Garcia. He pushed the pace until it became a scrappy brawl suited to his style.
• Chicken kept going for the Jay Driller but could not land it. He adjusted into a sit-out powerbomb at one point that nearly took the win.
• Red Death reversed a Jay Driller attempt into the Dragontamer, but Briscoe grabbed the rope before he could lean into it.
  

Jeff Jarrett made quick work of Aaron Solo, laying him out with the Stroke.

This was as long as it needed to be, especially if AEW wants to sell the potential of Jarrett winning the AEW World Championship in 2025. Just a quick innocuous match to put him over.

It is hard to imagine The Last Outlaw as a world champion at the age of 57, but the goal is likely only to tease that possibility rather than deliver.

Jarrett showed that he could make fans still care about him in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, and this last run will be focused on making the most of that fan connection.

Result

Jarrett def. Solo by pinfall.

Grade

D+

Notable Moments

• Aaron Solo tried to get his hands on Jarrett before the match and was stopped by the referee.
  
• Jon Moxley interrupted Wheel Yuta's promo to Jay White, turning his focus to Rated FTR who he warned to back up The Death Riders.
• Ricochet delivered a follow-up promo on his brutal attack of Swerve Strickland.
  

Lio Rush and Action Andretti nearly stole the match by using the ropes for leverage on a pin, but Dante Martin broke it up. Isiah Kassidy reversed the pressure into a pin of his own to win.

Kassidy and Marq Quen gave their challengers the spotlight in this one, selling hard for the offense of the heels. It led to one of the slowest matches Private Party has ever wrestled.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the Charlotte audience was not invested in the action enough to deliver the energy needed to make this match feel important.

This may have been a better match delivered in December when the feud was first developing. It took too long to deliver the match, and the audience was not buying the challengers.

Private Party need a clearer spotlight in 2025 with a variety of opponents to test them. Top Flight and The Death Machines are more exciting options than Rush and Andretti at this stage.

Result

Private Party def. Rush and Andretti by pinfall to retain the World Tag Team Championships.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

• Rush and Andretti isolated Zay after an early flurry from Private Party, taking out Quen whenever he got close to the tag.
• Quen's hot tag run did not last long due to damage done to his back by the challengers. Zay told Quen he would handle it.
• Rush and Andretti blasted Kassidy with a Gin and Juice for a near-fall.
• Top Flight and Leila Grey watched from the crowd with popcorn.
• Private Party hit a combination Twist of Fate and Shooting Star Press on Rush, but Andretti broke up the win with a Shooting Star Press of his own.
  

Deonna Purrazzo gladly accepted regular help from Taya Valkyrie in this fight, but she still could not stop Toni Storm' undefeated streak, caught with a familiar inside cradle pin for three.

This was the second match in a row affected by the quiet crowd Storm and Purrazzo needed to pick up the pace to engage the audience in what was mostly basic offense from both stars.

These two can deliver better as they have in the past, but both worked surprisingly timid.

Much like the early stretch of Storm's Timeless era, it seems like she is not in position to deliver her best in-ring work yet. It's a shame particularly for The Virtuosa, who does not often get spotlights like this.

If Storm is not completely on point yet with this gimmick, AEW should focus even more on the depth of the women's division while she finds her footing.

There is no excuse for any Collision to have less than two women's matches a week.

Result

Storm def. Purrazzo by pinfall.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

• Taya got in the way of Storm outside to allow Purrazzo time to recover then grabbed the leg of The Rockstar to set up a baseball slide.
• Storm finally took out Valkyrie with a right hand. Purrazzo took advantage with a stack-up pinfall attempt, but Storm kicked out.
  

• Cameras caught Christopher Daniels and Hangman Adam Page arguing backstage after Dynamite until they started brawling.
• Anthony Bowens called out Max Caster backstage after their Dynamite loss, saying that Billy Gunn was the only one that was keeping Caster safe.

Brian Cage was the destroyer in this match, especially after Komander planted The Beast Mortos with a poisonrana. He took out Komander with an F5 then hit a modified Gory Bomb on Dante Martin to win.

It is always good to add stakes to fun matches to make them feel more important, but the money match stipulation hardly feel real when it is thrown onto a last-minute TV match.

Just looking at this as a fun Fatal 4-Way though, it was by far the best action of the night following the opener. This was a highlight of four workhorse performers, all moving at top speed.

Cage picks up a valuable win for his continued momentum as a member of the Don Callis Family, though it was odd that commentary did not put more emphasis on Komander and Cage's history since Komander recently took Cage's ROH TV Championship.

This could have been a perfect time to give The Beast Mortos a win though after going winless in the Continental Classic. He and LFI need a serious momentum swing soon.

Result

Cage def. Martin, Komander and Mortos by pinfall to earn a $100K bonus.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Lio Rush and Action Andretti attacked Martin outside early to get revenge for earlier.
• In a promo taped in Japan, Don Callis talked up Konosuke Takeshita winning the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 19.
  

Cope found himself overwhelmed by The Learning Tree in this contest, likely due to ring rust, but FTR helped him find his footing. They hit Chris Jericho with a Shatter Machine and Spear to win.

The Rated-R Superstar tried to celebrate the win, but The Death Riders revealed they had tied up The Rock 'n' Roll Express. The Outrunners got beat down for trying to help then Jon Moxley and his crew escaped.

On paper, this was not the most thrilling match with limited build, but everyone played their role in this action-packed main event that was the only match to fully invest the crowd.

Jericho looked as good as he had in a while, playing to his opponents' strengths. Bryan Keith and Big Bill bumped well throughout.

It was shocking to see Jericho take the pin instead of his partners since he is the ROH world champion, but this result could set up any member of Rated FTR to challenge Jericho solo in the future.

It may not excite the hardcore AEW fans, but the company clearly has a big money match in eventually delivering Jericho vs. Cope.

The early strength of this match was the history of Y2J and The Rated-R Superstar. Down the stretch, Harwood took over and carried the action to a welcoming crowd.

The only real disappointment in the main event was the post-match. The Death Riders tying up The Rock 'n' Roll Express then scurrying off without doing any real damage hardly felt impactful.

Result

Rated FTR def. The Learning Tree by pinfall.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• Jericho made fun of Cope backstage after The Rated-R Superstar talked more about The Death Riders than The Learning Tree in his interview.
• FTR managed to keep the peace between The Outrunners and Rock 'n' Roll Express before heading out for their match.
  

• The crowd finally woke up when Cope and Jericho both tagged in. The Learning Tree tried to start a chop fest, but The Rated R Superstar picked up the pace.
• Jericho countered the Spear with a Codebreaker for a near-fall.
• Cash was a house of fire in his hot tag sequence, rolling over Big Bill with speed and high-flying.
• Rated FTR hit a high-flying series on Bill: superplex into a frog splash into a diving elbow drop. Bill kicked out in the most effective near-fall.

This was a two-match show that had the potential to be much more.

Daniel Garcia and Mark Briscoe absolutely delivered in a dramatic hard-hitting opening title match.

Rated FTR continued to round into shape as one of AEW's best trios, overwhelming The Learning Tree.

The rest of the card, especially Private Party vs. Lio Rush and Action Andretti, did not live up to the expected standard for AEW.

The show lacked for big moments with so many stars in Japan for Wrestle Dynasty (a show AEW never hyped once on air even in a graphic).

The Charlotte crowd was clearly uninterested in much of the action, and that hurt the atmosphere as well.

This would have been fine for a normal week of Collision, but this was the first show on Max. It needed to make a greater impression in and out of the ring.

For a show that could be streamed plenty in the next week, AEW set up fans to just watch the opener then skip to the main event.

Overall Grade: C-