Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s coverage of “AEW Collision” on May 16, 2026, coming to you from the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, MD!

After his match on Zero Hour, AEW pillar Sammy Guevara challenged another pillar, Darby Allin for the Men’s World Championship, which will be on the line tonight.

Red Velvet retained the ROH Women’s TV Championship at Supercard of Honor. She’s jealous she’s not on AEW TV or in the Owen Hart Cup, so she is answering Willow Nightingale’s challenge for the TBS Championship.

Last week, Divine Dominion started a 5 minute challenge. If you can last five minutes with them, you get a title shot. Tonight, they’ll have another Women’s Tag Title Eliminator match.

After Dalton Castle & The Outrunners won the ROH Six Man titles, Orange Cassidy & Mark Briscoe made the save when STP beat them down after the match. Tonight, The Conglomeration will face The Infantry & Lee Moriarty in an eliminator match for the AEW Trios titles.

Samoa Joe & Anthony Bowens will take on Joe’s former protégé, Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson.

This past February, Danhausen’s WWE debut at the Elimination Chamber was met with a mixed reaction, with some fans being familiar with his gimmick from AEW, while others were disappointed that he was the surprise reveal in the mystery crate that was featured on television for weeks. However, over the last two months, Danhausen has continued to earn the respect of a the WWE Universe, as he’s not only gotten fans to buy into his catchphrase and comedic timing, but he’s also become one of the top merchandise sellers in the company. Danhausen has even started to impress the older generation of the wrestling industry, including WWE Hall Of Famer Eric Bischoff, who praised the 35-year-old on “83 Weeks” despite the character not being of interest to him.

“Well, it’s not for me. It is for a seriously large segment of the WWE Universe, but it’s not for me. And guess what? That’s exciting. That’s why you have people around you who can make really good high-risk decisions,” Bischoff explained. “Somebody saw that upside. I don’t think they just brought Danhausen in and went, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re going to do, and let’s just see if it works.’ There was somebody behind this who believed in it. That merchandise was ready fast. So, I’m thrilled for him … ended up at AEW and somebody at TKO went, ‘Huh, we could probably make a couple hundred million dollars off of that. Call that kid up,’ and boom, here we are. I think it’s a fascinating journey.”

Bischoff also believes that Danhausen isn’t going to be a “week in, week out” storyline character, stating that he’ll be featured on a quarterly basis for a few weeks at a time and will only be inserted into feud when WWE feels it’s appropriate. 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “83 Weeks” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Shawn Michaels has introduced a different style to WWE NXT since taking charge of the brand in 2021, with Luke Menzies, formerly known as Ridge Holland, detailing what Michaels added to the promotion as the brand’s creative head.

Michaels took charge of “NXT” after Triple H’s health scare, and since taking control of the developmental brand, he has brought in a fast-paced style of wrestling, which Menzies explained in his interview with “Sportshadow Wrestling.”

“So, I’d say that since kind of Shawn took over, NXT became more like a lot more fast, like faster paced, shorter matches, kind of like TikTok style for like the young generation. They didn’t want to lose anyone’s interest, which is hard as a wrestler because you want to tell stories, you want to put some time in and make everything mean something. And it’s hard when you’re trying to get rushed through matches, you know, but you just got to do your best. I had pleasant experiences under both, both gave me an opportunity. So I’m grateful for that,” he said.

Michaels himself discussed the differences between how he runs “NXT” compared to Triple H in a 2023 interview, claiming that the roster is much younger than before and that he allows them to have fun and be goofy. 

Holland had the opportunity to work under both Triple H and Michaels in “NXT,” initially being guided by the former after joining the promotion in 2018, and later returning to the developmental brand following a stint on the main roster, this time with Michaels at the helm of “NXT.”

Not since Mariah May has a woman walked into AEW and risen up the ranks like Thekla has. Still less than a year into her AEW tenure, “The Toxic Spider” is already among the top stars in AEW’s women’s division, forming the Triangle of Madness with Julia Hart and Skye Blue, winning the AEW Women’s World Championship from Kris Statlander in February, and even signing a brand new extension with AEW just a few weeks ago.

In an interview with TMZ Sports’ “Inside the Ring,” Thekla talked about life in AEW, from becoming close backstage with Hart, Blue, and Megan Bayne to her quick adjustment to AEW when she first joined last year. When she was later asked about re-signing with AEW and what helped her make the decision, Thekla stated that the vibe of the promotion, from her boss Tony Khan to the rest of the women’s locker room, just made it the natural place for her to ply her craft.

“I think AEW is the perfect fit for me,” Thekla said. “So when bossman asked me, it’s like ‘Hey, would you mind staying with us for a little longer than we originally said?’, I was like ‘Yeah! If the circumstances are right and allow it for me to, you know, feel lucrative enough, I definitely thinking that could be a very cute idea.’ 

“It’s great, honestly, a no brainer. I love TK, I love working with him, and I love his energy backstage. And all the girls are nice, the locker room is quiet and peaceful, and I love my job. It’s cute. I don’t need to…I don’t think the grass is greener anywhere else, because I’m sitting in the f*****g garden, you know?”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Inside the Ring” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

There has been a ton of negativity directed towards WWE in recent weeks, from what many felt was a lackluster build to WrestleMania, to a large number of roster cuts, some of which were caused by talents refusing to take pay cuts. Among the loudest voices complaining about WWE and TKO’s treatment of the promotion and its roster is WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, who himself felt mistreated when appearing at WrestleMania weekend for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

One person he isn’t blaming in the WWE/TKO hierarchy, however, is Triple H, Nash’s long time friend and WWE chief content officer. While railing against TKO during the latest episode of “Kliq This,” Nash was sure to point out that Triple H didn’t deserve the same criticism, and implored TKO to stop interfering with his friend’s work.

“It doesn’t take anything from Paul Levesque, because Paul Levesque still knows what the f**k he’s doing,” Nash said. “So if anyone out there just seems to be maybe think that this might be applying to them, how about leaving the f*****g company alone, get your f*****g noses out of creative, go f**k yourselves, let Paul run the f*****g company. You guys want to cut the talents? Don’t f*****g throw it in Paul’s lap. Don’t make him be the bad guy.”

Nash’s loyalty to Triple H is so strong that he admitted, despite his misgivings towards TKO running WWE, he would only completely cut bait with the promotion if they ever did anything to mess with Triple H’s job.

“If something happens, and Triple H is no longer at the helm through some kind of a powerplay, I hope you would follow my lead, because the minute they f**k with him, I’ll have nothing to do with that product for the rest of my life,” Nash said.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Kliq This” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription