AEW has a PPV in greater Chicago tonight (Sat., Sept. 26), and after that was announced, WWE decided to hold a World Collide event with its Lucha Libre AAA brand the same night, 45 minutes away in another Illinois suburb of Second City.
They were slow to announce a card, although they started Chicago’s CM Punk as soon as tickets went on sale. Matches came together before a broadcast plan, and speculation was largely focused on this edition of Worlds Collide being an exclusive for WWE’s new subscription
rewards program, Club WWE. That’s now what they went with, but as signs indicated…
… the show won’t be available live outside of Rosemont’s Allstate Arena, at least not until next Wednesday when it gets uploaded to YouTube an hour before AEW Dynamite goes live on HBO Max and TBS.
We were ready to cover Worlds Collide live and head-to-head with All Out the way we’ve covered previous AEW event days that WWE fills with out-of-town alternatives, however. And that meant a roundtable of predictions for the matches on the multi-brand show. Seems a little weird now that most of us will probably have seen (or written about) spoilers before we see the show, but we wrote them up, so why toss them?
WWE NXT AAA WORLDS COLLIDE 2026 PREDICTIONS
CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, & El Grande Americano vs. Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, & Omos
Josh Jagler: I don’t think the juice would be worth the squeeze for any of the babyfaces to get pinned here. With CM Punk being Chicago, I think he picks up the win over McDonagh and sends the fans home happy. Pick: CM Punk, Rey Mysterio & El Grande Americano
Geno Mrosko: You quite literally book matches like this just to send the crowd home happy with a fun main event full of stars. Punk in Chicago, the greatest luchador of all time, and Rey Mysterio? Yeah, they’re taking this one. Pick: CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, & El Grande Americano
Manolo H. Pizzazz: CM Punk is not losing in Chicago. Any lesser partner, and I could see the rudos ransacking a win. If that happens here, then I hope Chicago riots. Pick: CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, & El Grande Americano
Sean Rueter: Having the benefit of picking after we learned the above broadcast plans makes it easier to pick under “send the crowd home happy” rules. Plus, that boy who looks like they stuck an orange on a toothpick is gonna take the pin. Pick: CM Punk, Rey Mysterio & El Grande Americano
Lucha Brothers (Penta & Fenix) vs. Los Perros del Mal (Daga & Berto)
Josh Jagler: Penta and Fenix have been two of the hottest wrestlers under the WWE umbrella individually for the past few months. If this is really just a glorified house show, those tend to favor the babyfaces, so I bet the Lucha Bros grab a win here. Pick: Penta & Rey Fenix
Geno Mrosko: You don’t beat Penta right now, and the heels can take the loss no issue. Pick: Lucha Brothers
Manolo H. Pizzazz: Just when I thought I was out, Los Perros del Mal pulled me back in with their classic theme song. Time to step off the bandwagon again. Pick: Lucha Bros
Sean Rueter: This is probably just me continuing to try to help them make Perros 2.0 half as cool as Perro Aguayo Jr’s original group was at rollout, but while I think the Bros get the win and may be even stand tall, we need some kind of angle here to use Penta and Fenix’s popularity to get some heat on the new Dogs of Evil. Pick: No contest
AAA Reina de Reinas Championship: La Catalina (c) vs. Roxanne Perez
Josh Jagler: La Catalina just ended a 1,000+ day reign a week or two ago, and has been featured frequently on WWE TV since. As much as I’d like to see Roxy with some gold, I’d rather see it happen via the Money in the Bank briefcase, which I think she’ll win in a few weeks. Pick: La Catalina
Geno Mrosko: An actually intriguing matchup here, for a number of reasons, but you can’t do a title change like this, not after La Catalina literally just won the damn thing and Perez has a Money in the Bank ladder match to gear up for. Pick: La Catalina
Manolo H. Pizzazz: WWE puts their main roster stars over the other promotions most times. However, Catalina losing the title so quickly would undercut her momentum to become a superstar for AAA. Pick: La Catalina
Sean Rueter: It’s past time for Roxanne(!) to get a non-NXT singles title win, but putting her over the just-crowned signee you hope to build AAA’s women’s division around isn’t the spot to do it. Pick: La Catalina
Axiom vs. Mini Vikingo vs. Je’Von Evans vs. EK Prosper (winner to receive shot at AAA World Cruiserweight Championship held by Fenix)
Josh Jagler: This match is going to be bananas. I’m silently hoping for another time-limit draw, as they had in the #1 contender match before TripleMania, so we can see all of these guys mix it up with Fenix. Unfortunately, that’s not the gimmick we’re going for here. If I have to pick one of these guys, I feel like Mini Vikingo might be the one that takes this one. Pick: Mini Vikingo
Geno Mrosko: Don’t sleep on EK Prosper here but this is WWE and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the main roster guy get the nod, especially considering the show. Pick: Je’Von Evans
Manolo H. Pizzazz: Evans versus Fenix is one of those low-key super fights that you didn’t think about until it was right in front of you. Pick: Je’Von Evans
Sean Rueter: Both because he doesn’t need to be losing — even in matches where he doesn’t have to take the fall — heading into Money in the Bank, and because he’s the only one of these guys who hasn’t had a singles match against Fenix, and I really want to see that ASAP. Pick: Je’Von Evans
Las Toxicas (Flammer, La Hiedra, & Maravilla) vs. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, & Lainey Reid)
Josh Jagler: Fatal Influence is draped in gold right now. On the Toxicas side, it’s only La Hiedra wearing a championship now. Methinks this match breaks down into an argument between Flammer and La Hiedra, which leads to Maravilla trying to play peacemaker and eventually eating a Rolling Encore for her troubles. Pick: Fatal Influence
Geno Mrosko: One of these teams actually still acts like a team, and are only on the rise. Pick: Fatal Influence
Manolo H. Pizzazz: Los Toxicas are getting toxic among themselves. I don’t foresee smooth teamwork between Flammer and La Hiedra. Pick: Fatal Influence
Sean Rueter: Heel vs. Heel takes the “send the crowd home happy” rule out of play, but only side of this one is a cohesive force for badness right now, so I’m picking Jacy’s squad. Pick: Fatal Influence
Dragon Lee vs. Jack Cartwheel
Josh Jagler: This could serve as a really strong showcase for Jack Cartwheel against a guy who was on the cusp of winning the Intercontinental Championship on Raw in Mexico two weeks ago. That being said, I think Dragon Lee’s star power gives him the edge here. Pick: Dragon Lee
Geno Mrosko: Lee may be on his way out — or he may not, you know how the rumor mill can be sometimes — and Cartwheel is on the way up. Give it to the kid. Pick: Jack Cartwheel
Manolo H. Pizzazz: This match has a high chance to steal the show. No stakes on the line, and Dragon Lee is the bigger star? Sounds like a recipe to pick up the win. Pick: Dragon Lee
Sean Rueter: Triple H wouldn’t let Undertaker beat a guy he needs long-term here, would he? Pick: Dragon Lee
Mr. Iguana, La Parka, Adelicious, & Mascarita Sagrada vs. Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes, Myka Lockwood) & Mini Abismo Negro
Josh Jagler: If this match were happening in Mexico, I’d give the edge to La Parka’s crew. Since it’s not, and the Vanity Project needs some momentum heading into the Dusty Classic, I think they’ll win here. What I’m really hoping to see is Myka Lockwood hitting that crazy finisher on… literally anybody on the opposing team. Pick: Vanity Project & Mini Abismo Negro
Geno Mrosko: I’m just here to watch Sagrada and Mini Abismo lock up. Pick: Mr. Iguana, La Parka, Adelicious, & Mascarita Sagrada
Manolo H. Pizzazz: An iguana, a skeleton, a reina, and a mini walk into a bar… Pick: Mr. Iguana, La Parka, Adelicious, & Mascarita Sagrada
Sean Rueter: As long as Myka powerbombs La Yesca, I’ll be a happy adult-child. Please also refer to the aforementioned “send the crowd home happy” rule. Pick: Mr. Iguana, La Parka, Adelicious, & Mascarita Sagrada
Special appearance: Who will Oba Femi beat up?
Josh Jagler: Let’s get weird. Dorian Roldan comes out and tries to get Oba to join El Ojo. Oba says no, so Omos comes out. Showdown between the monsters and Oba ends up clotheslining Omos over the top rope. Pick: Omos
Geno Mrosko: The Judgment Day will be in the building. Get the big head in there. Pick: JD McDonagh
Manolo H. Pizzazz: Someone needs to run their mouth for an interruption. A king for a king. Pick: Lexis King
Sean Rueter: Context for pick. Pick: A jobber dressed as Bronson Reed
Those are our picks for Worlds Collide. Share your predictions in the comments, before the spoilers start to come in from Allstate. See you Wednesday night before Dynamite for a watch post, I guess!
