AEW Collision Preview: Trios Titles, Ladder Match Qualifiers Ahead of Redemption

AEW Collision rolls into Nashville on Saturday, July 25, with less than a day to go before AEW Redemption in Montreal, and the go-home show is stacked with title defenses and qualifiers that will shape Sunday’s card.

The headline attraction sees The Conglomeration — Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong — defend the AEW World Trios Championship against ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle and The Outrunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd). The challengers arrive on a 17-match trios winning streak dating back to last September, while the champions are a perfect 8-0 as a unit and chasing their fifth successful defense. The two teams share history, with Cassidy having helped Castle and The Outrunners win the ROH titles at Supercard of Honor, adding extra intrigue to a matchup between two of the promotion’s most well-liked groups.

Ahead of Sunday’s title matches in Montreal, AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla and TBS Champion Hikaru Shida team up against their respective challengers, Willow Nightingale and Maya World, in a champions-versus-challengers preview bout. The tension between Thekla and Nightingale has already boiled over on Dynamite, while Shida’s dismissive comments about World’s short AEW tenure add a layer of disrespect for World to answer.

The Young Bucks continue their build toward facing AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay at Redemption by taking on another Death Riders pairing, Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta. Matt and Nick Jackson challenged Moxley and Ospreay after warning AEW World Champion Kenny Omega about Moxley’s track record, so this matchup doubles as a chance to send a message before Sunday’s showdown.

Two final spots in Redemption’s 6-Way Ladder Match for a shot at the AEW International Championship will be determined on Collision. ROH World TV Champion Lio Rush faces the returning El Clon, back in AEW for the first time in three months as part of the Don Callis Family, while Nick Wayne squares off with AR Fox — the man who ended Wayne’s 387-day ROH World TV Championship reign, the fourth-longest in the title’s 16-plus-year history. Those already qualified for the ladder match include Mike Bailey, Jack Perry, The Beast Mortos and Komander.

Elsewhere on the card, Tommaso Ciampa faces Zachary Wentz of The Rascalz, who is looking for payback after Ciampa injured his partner Myron Reed last week and called out Paul Wight to demand a No Holds Barred Match with Jericho at Redemption. Matt Sydal makes his AEW in-ring return after more than two years as part of SkyFlight, teaming with Scorpio Sky and Dante Martin against The Lethal Twist. CMLL World Women’s Champion Persephone also returns to action following her chaotic run through Survival of the Fittest, where she turned on Harley Cameron and later cost Kris Statlander the TBS Championship.

With so many storylines converging just hours before Redemption, Collision serves as both a proving ground and a final tease of what’s to come in Montreal. Fans looking to see where the trios division, the International Title picture and the Death Riders rivalry stand heading into Sunday won’t want to miss it.