Worlds Collide (2026)

Background

Worlds Collide is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on January 26, 2019, when the American promotion WWE held an interbrand tournament featuring wrestlers from NXT and the now-defunct NXT UK and 205 Live brands;^[2][3][4] the show and tournament took its name from the 1994 When Worlds Collide event co-promoted by World Championship Wrestling and AAA. WWE later held Worlds Collide events in 2020 and 2022.^[5][6] On June 7, 2025, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, United States, WWE held a fourth Worlds Collide event in collaboration with the Mexican promotion AAA.^[7] WWE had previously announced its intention to acquire AAA; the deal was finalized on August 1.^[8]

On July 16, 2026, WWE announced a series of events from late September to early October, including Worlds Collide. The event was scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 26, at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The event would be held on the same day as All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s All Out, which was scheduled to take place at the nearby Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, marking direct WWE-AEW competition in the Chicagoland area.^[9] Chicago-native and WWE SmackDown wrestler CM Punk was confirmed to appear at the event.^[10] On the September 19 episode of Lucha Libre AAA, AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio revealed the match card and announced that WWE Raw wrestler Oba Femi would appear at Worlds Collide.^[11] On the September 25 episode of WWE SmackDown, WWE announced that the event will air on tape delay on Wednesday, September 30, on YouTube.^[12] The event's broadcast went head-to-head against A Tribute to Pac, a live special episode of AEW Dynamite.^[13]

Storylines

The event included professional wrestling matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by writers of the participating promotions, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, and Lucha Libre AAA, as well as at other WWE and AAA events.^[14][15][16]

On September 3, AAA announced a fatal four-way match involving Roxanne Perez, Faby Apache, Nattie, and La Hiedra at Night 1 of Triplemanía 34 for the right to challenge for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship at Worlds Collide.^[17] The winner of that match would challenge the winner of the Reina de Reinas Championship match between Flammer and La Catalina at Night 2 of Triplemanía.^[18] The number one contender's fatal four-way match at Night 1 of Triplemanía 34 was won by Perez,^[19] and at Night 2, Catalina ended Flammer's 1,128-day reign as champion to win the title.^[20]

Preliminary matches

The event opened with the team of AAA's AAA Latin American Champion La Parka, Mr. Iguana, Adelicious, and Mascarita Sagrada versus the team of NXT's The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes, and Myka Lockwood) and AAA's Mini Abismo Negro, accompanied by Jackson Drake. When Lockwood tried to attack Sagrada, Adelicious stopped her before diving to the outside onto Lockwood. Iguana then followed by diving to the outside onto his opponents, which was quickly followed by another dive by Parka. After Sagrada escaped a pinfall attempt by Negro, Sagrada retaliated and then pinned Negro to gain the victory.^[21]

The next match was between Raw's Dragon Lee and AAA's Jack Cartwheel. Lee countered a dive by Cartwheel by raising his knees up to make Cartwheel land on his knees. Lee then executed the "Operation Dragon" on Cartwheel, in which Lee backflipped over Cartwheel while grabbing his neck to drive his head backwards down to the mat, before pinning Cartwheel to get the victory.^[21]

The third match featured SmackDown's WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid), accompanied by their leader and WWE Women's United States Champion Jacy Jayne, versus Las Tóxicas (Flammer and AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion La Hiedra), accompanied by Maravilla. Fatal Influence, along with Jayne, attacked Hiedra in the corner until Hiedra tagged in Flammer. After Flammer dove to the outside onto Fatal Influence, Maravilla and Jayne began to brawl on the outside. Flammer later kicked Reid's jaw, but she was unable to attempt a pinfall because the referee told her that she was not the legal competitor, which confused Flammer. Reid then took advantage of Hiedra's confusion by pinning Hiedra to win the match.^[21]

The next match was a 4-Way, 4-Brand Cruiserweight Contenders match to determine the number one contender for the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship, which featured SmackDown's Axiom, NXT's EK Prosper, Raw's Je'Von Evans, and AAA's Mini Vikingo, who later attempted a dive onto Axiom, but Evans interfered by executing a stunner on Vikingo, grabbing Vikingo's head before falling backwards to drive his head down into the mat. Prosper then followed with a moonsault on Evans, in which Prosper performed a backflip off the top rope backwards onto a supine Evans. Vikingo neutralized Prosper by performing a shooting star press on Prosper, jumping off the top rope by performing a backflip onto a supine Prosper. Vikingo then executed a corkscrew 630° splash onto Axiom, in which Vikingo rotated horizontally while performing a double front somersault off the top rope onto a supine Axiom. Vikingo then pinned Axiom to win the match and become the number one contender.^[21]

Then, AAA's La Catalina defended the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship against Raw's Roxanne Perez. Early into the match, Perez faked a knee injury to catch Catalina off guard with an attack before revealing her trickery. Perez later illegally put her feet on the ropes for leverage as she attempted a pinfall but the referee caught her. As Perez set Catalina up for an attack, Catalina countered with a backslide pin, in which Catalina hooked Perez's arms after standing back-to-back before kneeling forward to slide Perez backwards onto her shoulders. Catalina then flipped over Perez for leverage to win the match and retain her title.^[21]

In the penultimate match, The Lucha Brothers (Raw's Penta and SmackDown and AAA's AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fénix) faced two-thirds of the AAA World Trios Champions Los Perros del Mal (Daga and Berto), accompanied by AAA World Trios Champion Angel and Karmen Petrovic. As the match progressed, Petrovic interfered by tripping Fénix, allowing Perros del Mal to attack him. Fénix later executed a stunner on Daga, followed by a Mexican Destroyer from Penta on Berto, in which Penta flipped over Berto to force Berto to flip backwards and land his head onto the mat. Daga then attacked Fénix's groin, forcing the referee to end the match and give The Lucha Brothers a win via disqualification. Following the match, Garza entered the ring as Perros del Mal attacked The Lucha Brothers.^[21]

Main event

The main event featured teams consisting of Raw and AAA wrestlers as CM Punk, AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio, and AAA Mega Champion El Grande Americano fought Dominik Mysterio, Omos, and JD McDonagh, accompanied by Dorian Roldán. Rey and Americano executed a clothesline on Omos, in which Rey and Americano used their arms to attack Omos' chest, to send Omos to the outside. Rey then attacked Omos with the "619", in which Rey swung between the ropes to kick Omos' head as Omos rested on the ropes. Punk followed with a dive onto Omos on the outside. Dominik tried to attack Rey with the "619", but Punk blocked him. Punk then executed the "GTS" on McDonagh to win the match via pinfall.^[21]

Following the match, Dominik, Omos, and McDonagh attacked Punk, Rey, and Americano. Oba Femi then appeared and went face-to-face with Omos. Femi and Omos began to brawl, which ended when Femi sent Omos to the outside. A furious Omos tried to get back in the ring, but Dominik and McDonagh restrained him and convinced him to retreat.^[21]

Critical reception