The Viejas Arena Hangover: What Just Happened in San Diego?

Pull up a barstool, grab a cold pint of cheap domestic light beer, and let’s talk about All Elite Wrestling. Specifically, we need to hash out the absolute state of the creative decisions coming out of the Viejas Arena in San Diego. It was a bizarre night of television that left fans scratching their heads and looking for a double shot of tequila to numb the confusion.

Because of the July 4th holiday weekend, AEW taped this episode of Collision on Wednesday night and aired it on Thursday. They ran a special 2.5-hour broadcast to fill the holiday slot. What we got was a mixed bag of great in-ring action and head-scratching creative choices that felt like they were written by a guy who fell asleep during a basic wrestling booking seminar.

The show featured a wild tag team encounter with Claudio Castagnoli and PAC representing the Death Riders against Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney of Unbound Co. On paper, this match should have had the internet wrestling community drooling into their keyboards. In reality, it was a prime example of AEW getting in its own way with over-complicated stables.

The San Diego crowd was hot, but they were treated to a finish that felt incredibly cheap. We need to examine how a promotion with so much talent keeps falling into these faction-bloated traps. Let's break down the timeline, look at the behind-the-scenes context, and see where the train went off the tracks.

The Sunday Night Pre-Show Embarrassment

To understand why the tag match on Collision felt so backward, we have to look at the previous Sunday. At Forbidden Door in San Jose, Daniel Garcia faced Drilla Moloney in a match that did not even make the main pay-per-view card. Instead, it was relegated to the Buy-In pre-show, a spot usually reserved for matches that don't matter.

Garcia has spent the last year being built up as a major player in the singles division. He turned heel in late 2025 to join Jon Moxley's dangerous Death Riders stable, which was supposed to turn him into a serious killer. Yet, on June 28, 2026, he was pinning his shoulders to the mat on a free YouTube stream, looking less like a dominant heel and more like an afterthought.

Moloney secured the victory in exactly 10:26 after a hard-hitting exchange. Losing a pre-show match to a New Japan junior heavyweight is a tough look that immediately damaged Garcia's credibility as a rising threat. He went from a guy who could have been a top champion to a guy who gets pinned on the pre-show.

The booking choice left fans confused and frustrated. If the Death Riders are supposed to be a dominant force, their members should not be losing on the pre-show. The booking team tried to get Garcia his heat back quickly by running a tag match three days later, which only made things worse.

A Taped Thursday Night Robbery

The tag team match on Collision was designed to resolve the fallout from San Jose, pitting Claudio Castagnoli and PAC against the team of Takagi and Moloney. The match itself was a highly physical showcase of hard-hitting wrestling. As BodySlam.net reported in their Collision results, the action was intense from the opening bell.

Shingo Takagi is a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion who brings unbelievable power to the ring. He traded stiff forearm strikes with Claudio in the center of the ring, shaking the entire arena while PAC flew around hitting springboard dropkicks. The crowd was fully invested in the high-stakes action, and it looked like we were going to get a clean, satisfying finish.

During the match's peak, PAC executed a deadlift German suplex on Moloney that looked absolutely brutal and defied the laws of physics. Moloney responded by hitting a crushing spear on Claudio, nearly securing a two-count. The back-and-forth action had the crowd chanting for both teams, creating a fantastic atmosphere in the arena.

Then, the inevitable booking shenanigans ruined the moment. Daniel Garcia ran down to ringside to exact his revenge, slamming Moloney into the steel steps and distracting the referee. This allowed Claudio to hit a massive Swiss Death uppercut on Takagi, allowing the Death Riders to steal the win.

Having Shingo Takagi take a pin on a taped Thursday night show is a highly questionable decision. He is a special attraction who should be protected, rather than used as fodder to get heat back for a pre-show feud. It was a taped-show robbery of a finish that left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Moxley Empire and the Death Riders Problem

The bigger issue here is the presentation of the Death Riders stable. Ever since Jon Moxley took over the group, they have been booked as unstoppable monsters who claim to represent the heart and soul of professional wrestling. Yet, they constantly rely on cheap interference to win matches, which feels like a classic 1999 WCW playbook.

If Claudio and PAC are truly the toughest guys in the locker room, they should not need Garcia to cheat for them. This booking pattern makes them look weak rather than dominant while hurting Garcia's development as a performer. He went from a beloved babyface who had fans dancing to a generic heel sidekick playing second fiddle in an overcrowded group.

This faction bloat is becoming a massive headache for the viewers. It seems like every wrestler on the roster has to belong to a gang, which waters down their individual appeal. We miss the days when a wrestler could stand alone and cut a promo without five people standing behind them.

With Moxley, Claudio, PAC, and Wheeler Yuta, the stable is bursting at the seams. To make matters worse, the Death Riders have established a loose alliance with Gabe Kidd's faction, The Dogs. This led to a massive brawl at the end of Collision where Adam Copeland and the Bang Bang Gang were jumped by both stables.

The visual of ten guys fighting in the ring is fun, but it loses its impact when it happens every week. The individual matches are starting to feel secondary to the post-match chaos that ends every broadcast. We need to see more focused, personal rivalries instead of these generic gang wars.

The Road to All In: London

We are rapidly approaching the biggest show of the summer, and AEW needs to establish clear directions for its top stars. The current booking of Daniel Garcia is not working as he remains trapped in a creative holding pattern. Pinned on the pre-show, cheating on Collision, and interfering in tag matches is not a recipe for stardom.

The booking team needs to decide if they want Garcia to be a top-tier player. If they do, they need to stop booking him like a mid-card heel who cannot win without cheating. The New Japan talent also deserves better treatment, as stars like Shingo Takagi should not be imported just to take pins on taped television.

AEW has a history of letting storylines get bogged down in endless faction brawls. If they want to sell out Wembley Stadium again, they need compelling singles feuds with high stakes. The Death Riders cannot just beat up the entire babyface roster without any consequences.

The fans are starting to notice these repetitive booking tropes. Ratings and ticket sales will reflect that if changes are not made. Tony Khan needs to clean up the creative process before the UK show and stop relying on the same old tricks.

For now, we are left with a frustrating episode of television. The wrestling was great, but the booking was a mess. Hopefully, next week will bring some logical progression as I watch from my usual bar stool.