Collision
Date: February 7, 2026
Location: Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s another title match tonight as the new TNT Champion Tommaso Ciampa is defending in a three way match against Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong. Other than that, the Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Eddie Kingston/Ortiz continues (for some reason) in an eight man parking lot brawl. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Gates Of Agony

The winners are in a three way #1 contenders match on Dynamite. Liona shoves Matt down to start so Nick comes in and charges into a slam from Kaun. Everything breaks down and the Bucks take over by sending the Gates outside. The stereo dives are pulled out of the air and it’s off to a double nerve hold on Matt back inside.

The Gates hit each other by mistake but Nick’s running flip dive is cut off as well. That means the Bucks can be rammed into each other and a headbutt drops Matt as we take a break. We come back with Matt sliding between Kaun’s legs and making the tag off to Nick to clean house. A high crossbody gets two and everything breaks down (meaning the referee gets to just stand there) as the Bucks take over.

The Bucks come off the top at the same time for stereo near falls but Liona is back with a double Samoan drop. The Gates hit their own dives onto the floor (because they can do that), followed by a wheelbarrow cutter for two on Matt. Nick is back in to help with the BTE Trigger for two, with Kaun making the save. The TK Driver finishes Kaun at 13:56.

Rating: B. It’s a good match, though the idea of getting anywhere closer to the Bucks vs. FTR again makes my head hurt. The Bucks got to do their usual stuff so it was entertaining enough, though I still don’t see much of a reason to get interested in them. It’s a good example of match quality not making the biggest impact, as they continue to just be there, often in a prominent spot.

Post match FTR and Stokely Hathaway pop up on screen. Hathaway can’t believe that in the year of our lord Beyonce Knowles, the Elite still wants to hold all of the gold like in the good old says. Dax Harwood says that’s the problem with the good old days: they’re not here anymore, unlike FTR, who are the top guys. And they’re out.

Video on the TNT Title triple threat.

Brody King is ready to win the World Title next week.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Here is Kris Statlander to announce the stipulation for her rematch with Thekla. Cue Thekla to spear her down though, with the Triangle Of Madness holding Statlander to the mat. Thekla whips her with the belt and promises to make things toxic no matter what. The villains go to leave but Statlander calls Thekla a stupid b**** and makes it a strap match.

Kyle Fletcher wants the TNT Title back and here is Kazuchika Okada for a quick pep talk.

Scorpio Sky vs. Kevin Knight

Christopher Daniels, Leila Grey and Mike Bailey are here too. They stare at each other to start and we get an SCU chant, which doesn’t impress Knight. The fight over a lockup goes around the ropes but doesn’t get either very far. A test of strength lets Sky shoulder him down and they exchange nipups. Knight makes fun of Sky’s lack of hair and gets chopped into the corner but Knight sends him outside.

The big dive drops Sky on the ramp and we take a break. We come back with Sky planting him down for two but Knight’s small package gets the same. A DDT gives Knight two more but Sky catches him on top with a superplex. Knight is right back with a springboard clothesline, followed by the UFO Splash for the pin at 11:44.

Rating: C+. This was kind of a weird one, as it felt like they were having something of a personal issue, despite the two of them not having any important interactions in a good while. I do like Knight winning a match on his own though, as he’s quite fun to watch. At the same time, given that most of the team wrestles in singles matches at the moment, I have no idea why Knight/Bailey/Hangman Page are the Trios Champions. Then again, the Opps barely ever defended them anyway so this does at least continue the tradition.

Hook says Samoa Joe is out injured so in the time being, he’s the new captain of the Opps. Sure. I completely believe that this will be the thing that gets Hook over after years of trying.

Mina Shirakawa vs. Viva Van

Shirakawa works on the arm to start but Van flips away and does Shirakawa’s dance. Some knees to the face put Shirakawa down and Van snapmares her into a chinlock. That’s broken up and Shirakawa starts firing off the kicks. A Stunner to the leg over the rope sets up a slingshot dive but Van blocks the Figure Four. Back up and Van’s flipping kick to the head gets two but Shirakawa is back with the top rope Sling Blade. They trade strikes to the head until the Figure Four finishes Van off at 5:42.

Rating: C-. This was a bit of a disappointment, as it felt like Van was wrestling in slow motion and not exactly working smoothly. It doesn’t help that Shirakawa is just kind of floating around at the moment while her partner teams with Orange Cassidy. She needs something to do, and a five minute match on Collision isn’t exactly much to see.

Death Riders vs. Sky Flight

Jon Moxley is on commentary. It’s a brawl to start with the men going outside while Shafir easily wrestles Steel down. The leglock is reversed into a quick choke and Steel gets two off a small package. A distraction from the floor lets Shafir get in another knockdown but it’s off to Dante Martin to take over. That lasts all of ten seconds before Yuta pulls him down into a chinlock and we take a break.

We come back with Yuta holding Martin up top and raking his back. One heck of a chop puts Yuta down though and the top rope flip dive connects. Yuta is back with a bridging German suplex into the elbows to the head but Martin fights up again. Steel comes in to take over on Shafir and even gets in a shot to Yuta on the apron. Shafir pulls Steel out of the air though and Mother’s Milk (with Shafir yelling at the camera and treating Steel like an afterthought in a nice touch) finishes at 9:21.

Rating: B-. This was basically a warmup for the Riders before their big hair vs. hair match next week and naturally Steel needed to take the loss. That’s all she’s done since showing up around here, which is apparently the new favorite way to debut stars. At the same time, Martin (and Sky Flight in general) feel even less important than ever, which is quite the feat.

Post match the Riders go for Steel’s hair but Toni Storm and Orange Cassidy make the save.

A man hits on Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter, earning himself a beating. They dub themselves the Brawling Birds.

After Dynamite, MJF went nuts and ranted about all the people coming for his title, which he’ll keep. He’s at his most dangerous when his back is against the wall and that will be the case next week.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Thekla vs. Brittnie Brooks

Thekla knocks her down to start and finishes with the spear at 28 seconds.

Post match Thekla whips Brooks with the strap and…no one makes the save.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita next week for the Continental Title.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Eddie Kingston/Ortiz/Rascalz vs. Grizzled Young Veterans/Big Bill/Ortiz

Parking Lot Brawl. Kingston throws in a trashcan full of weapons and charges in as the brawl is on with a fast start. A missed shot breaks a car window and Bill kicks a side view mirror off. We settle down to general chaos until the Rascalz hit Hot Fire Flame off the top of a car. Bill takes over again with the heavy forearms before tossing Xavier over the top of a car for a big crash.

We take a break and come back with Keith and Xavier fighting over a hammer until Wentz and Xavier fight into the back of the limo. Kingston cleans house with a stick and Xavier shooting stars off the limo roof. Bill is up again to start wrecking everyone and Wentz is chokeslammed through a windshield (with a camera suddenly inside the car). Some double teaming drops Bill on the concrete and a double suplex drops Keith on the top of the limo.

The Veterans get in a slugout with Kingston and Ortiz, with Kingston getting choked. Ortiz is up with a cable of some kind but Isla Dawn pops up to hit Ortiz in the head with a sheet. Myron Reed (the third Rascal) pops up with a flip dive off a car before stealing Dawn. Kingston DDTs Gibson onto the car for the pin at 12:31.

Rating: C+. Ok then. I mean what else am I supposed to think here? Kingston has destroyed the Veterans for the entirety of their feud and he did it again with this match. I’m not sure why this match needed to exist, as it felt like AEW wanted to do another parking lot brawl and then put the feud into the match as a result. It was your usual good carnage, but I had no reason to care about any of these people.

Post match Schiavone has trouble remembering how many people were in the match.

Roderick Strong says he needs to change things around here but Mark Briscoe interrupts. Briscoe thinks Strong has what it takes to win the title, but he wants a title shot against the winner. Strong appreciates that, though he’s not in the Conglomeration.

TNT Title: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Roderick Strong vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Only Ciampa is defending. Castagnoli is knocked outside to start fast and the other two are left to strike it out. Strong is sent flying over the top, with Castagnoli easily catching him to show off a bit. Back in and Ciampa kicks Castagnoli in the face but Strong is back with a jumping knee to Ciampa. Castagnoli hits his running shots in the corner but Ciampa grabs a Downward Spiral/DDT to drop both of them.

A double suplex drops Castagnoli and the other two get to strike it out a bit. They all head outside with Strong chopping away against the barricade and a charging Castagnoli is sent into said barricade. Naturally Castagnoli is fine enough to drop Ciampa face first onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. We come back with Castagnoli striking Ciampa down again and muscling him up top.

Strong pulls Castagnoli down though and dropkicks Ciampa out of the air. A backbreaker sets up the Stronghold, with Castagnoli making the save. Castagnoli gets to show off a bit with a double suplex but Ciampa is right back with a DDT. The Fairy Tale Ending gets two on Castagnoli but the running knee is cut off. Castagnoli’s Swing is broken up as well and an uppercut hits Strong for two. Strong’s jumping knee drops Castagnoli but Ciampa’s running knee knocks Strong silly to retain at 11:43.

Rating: B. So this was the match designed to prove that Ciampa’s win last week wasn’t a fluke. That’s a fine way to go as Ciampa was more than good enough to hang in there. It made for a strong main event with Castagnoli getting to show off the insane power. Strong can work well with anyone as well and that made Ciampa look even better retaining. Odds are he loses it to a big name soon, but at least they’re starting somewhere.

Post match Kyle Fletcher comes out to hold the title, which he hands back to Ciampa. Fletcher asks how it feels to know that Ciampa will never fill his shoes. He wants the title match next week and it seems to be set for Dynamite (I’m assuming Ciampa kissing him on the cheek counts) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was the run of the mill Collision, with good action but little that felt important. The opener and main event both felt big enough that it made for a good show, though as usual, it’s not exactly a show you need to see. At least next week is Grand Slam so things should feel bigger. The show looked good on paper and lived up to the hype, though it had its usual Collision issues.

Results
Young Bucks b. Gates Of Agony – TK Driver to Kaun
Kevin Knight b. Scorpio Sky – UFO Splash
Mina Shirakawa b. Viva Van – Figure Four
Death Riders b. Sky Flight – Mother’s Milk to Steel
Thekla b. Brittnie Brooks – Spear
Eddie Kingston/Ortiz/Rascalz b. Grizzled Young Veterans/Big Bill/Ortiz – DDT onto a car to Gibson
Tommaso Ciampa b. Roderick Strong and Claudio Castagnoli – Running knee to Strong

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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So we wrap up the AEW year with this one, which is more or less the end of the Continental Classic, the World Title match, and a bunch of other stuff that happens to be taking place on the show. The tournament has taken over the company (as it always does) and while it has gone well (as it always does), it has made quite a bit around here feel a lot less important. For now though, we should be in for some solid action so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Zack Gibson vs. Eddie Kingston

This was added on this week’s Ring Of Honor as the Grizzled Young Veterans attacked Kingston. I’m not sure how much of a build this match really needs, but at least it’s something that gets Kingston in the ring. The fans are going to respond to him rather well and it helps him get back into the groove of things, which he has been needing since his return from injury.

There’s no reason to believe that Kingston is going to lose here so I’ll take the obvious with Kingston getting the win. He’s fighting half of a low level tag team in a match that shouldn’t go much longer than about five minutes. In this case, AEW might even stick to the time frame, as Kingston has mainly been wrestling shorter matches. He’ll get another win here, as he should.

Zero Hour: Sisters Of Sin vs. Hyan/Maya World

Here we have another match where it doesn’t feel like there is much to doubt as the Zero Hour continues to feel like a glorified episode of Rampage. I’m still not sure why we need to have the Sisters get a featured match here, but maybe they’re next in line to come after the Women’s Tag Team Titles. If nothing else, they’re already an established team so there are far worse ideas out there.

Of course I’ll take the Sisters to win, as while the division needs some fresh blood, there is no reason to think that the Sisters should lose here. They’re a fairly featured team and it would make sense for them to get a win here, especially if they might be coming for the titles soon. Hyan and Worlds continue to get time in the ring and I’ve heard worse ideas, even if there is a chance that it’s just to spite Miranda Alize and Nixon Newell.

Death Riders vs. Conglomeration/Roderick Strong/Toni Storm

So this is a thing and yes it is indeed called the Mixed Nuts Mayhem match, because if there’s one thing that you need for a Death Riders match, it’s a funny moniker. It’s likely going to be a wild brawl with some interesting bits, though I’m still completely good with not seeing Daniel Garcia and/or Wheeler Yuta for a long time. Throw in Claudio Castagnoli going from a dark horse to win the Continental Classic to this and it’s a bit of a downgrade.

I’ll take the heroes to win here, just for the sake of not having Storm lose again. Mark Briscoe could use a win of his own and the fans will always respond to Orange Cassidy, so it makes a bit of sense to get them on the card. Hopefully the match winds up being more goofy fun than anything else, as that’s probably the best way to feature most of them. Either that or Yuta and/or Garcia being beaten up rather badly.

Darby Allin vs. Gabe Kidd

This is kind of a weird story, as Allin was gone for most of the tournament but he’s able to be back to face Kidd in this match. I’m not sure how much I need to see Allin get beaten up again, but it’s pretty much his standard operating procedure. That’s probably what we’re going to be seeing in this one, though it’s a bit weird as Kidd just showed up again after being gone for months and is facing Allin again.

I’m not sure where to go here, though I’ll take Allin, as he could use a win after quite a long stretch of nothing good. Granted it also depends on if Kidd is sticking around, as he could use a nice victory of his own. Given what we know at the moment though, I’ll take Allin to get the come from behind win, as it’s easy to get behind him fighting a bully and that’s what we’re getting here.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Babes Of Wrath(c) vs. Athena/Mercedes Mone

This one has me intrigued, as the Babes are the new team and the inaugural champions, though it’s almost hard to imagine Mone or Athena losing again. Mone is already on a losing streak but there isn’t much value in beating her without a title on the line. At the same time you have Athena, who hasn’t done much in Ring Of Honor as of late but doesn’t have the best history in AEW.

I’ll go with the champions to retain here, as it would be something of a stretch to have them lose the titles so soon after they started. Hopefully it winds up being a good match, as the Babes have gone from newly formed to a rather nice team in short order. They need some time to establish themselves a bit better before dropping the titles though and that can be done when they win here.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Bang Bang Gang

It’s a street fight and a rematch from a few weeks ago when FTR beat the Gang to retain the titles. That doesn’t make for the best reason to do the match again, but it isn’t like FTR has anything else to do at the moment. With so many people involved in the tournament, there are some tag teams who are more than a bit busy. Hopefully that changes shortly after the tournament, but this is what we have for now.

Much like when they fought a few weeks ago, I see no reason to believe that FTR is going to lose to the leftovers of the Bang Bang Gang so we’ll go with FTR retaining. I like the Gang for the most part, but they’re only going to get so far with one of the Gunns and Juice Robinson going for the titles. FTR wins here, in what should at least be an entertaining match.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Women’s Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Jamie Hayter

The title is on the line here, but it only feels so important. The Women’s Title hasn’t felt overly important in a good while, which is at least partially due to how much else is going on in the women’s division. Statlander is still going well, but she needs to do something that makes her stand out a bit more. I’m just not sure that’s what we’re going to be seeing here.

While I’m not sure it’s going to work out, I’ll take Statlander to retain here. As much as she doesn’t seem to be doing much at the moment, Hayter is hardly doing that much better. Either of them could be fine as champion, but they’re going to need to step up it up. The tag division, plus whatever Toni Storm is doing, both feel more important and that needs to change. For now though, I’ll take Statlander in a coin flip.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Semifinals: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada

I’m not even going to begin to try to make sense of the title situation here, if nothing else due to how ridiculous it’s been. This has been built up as a big time match for a good while now and that should make things all the more interesting. It’s nice to have a match that feels like it’s taking place more due to people having issues rather than a schedule saying they’re fighting. Or at least it’s close enough.

I’ll take….geez I guess Okada here, as all of the hype about him being the GREATEST TOURNAMENT WRESTLER OF ALL TIME all but guarantees him a spot in the finals. At the same time, it’s hard to fathom the IWGP World Champion being allowed to lose, especially around a week before Wrestle Kingdom. I’ll go with Okada winning here, though it doesn’t feel like anything close to a lock.

Continental Classic Semifinals: Jon Moxley vs. Kyle Fletcher

This is the kind of thing that could go either way, but it feels more like a way to get Moxley back on track. He’s been having all kinds of issues as of late and it would be nice to see him at least get to the finals. At the same time, Fletcher is in a place where it wouldn’t be insane to see him beat Moxley. That’s quite the accomplishment, and it’s nice to have a match which could go either way.

I think I’ll go with Moxley winning here, as his attempts to get back on track feel like a better story at the moment. At the same time, it’s a bit hard to fathom an all Don Callis Family final, as it would feel fairly cold outside of Okada vs. Takeshita. Moxley wins here and sets up a pretty big final, though we’ll get to that later, as it should probably headline the show.

AEW World Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

I’m not sure what it means that I keep forgetting Joe is the World Champion but that has happened multiple times in a fairly short reign. Joe is already a two time World Champion and he still feels like something of a forgotten part of the match. Maybe it’s due to being part of the Trios Champions or facing a two man team of heroes or maybe it’s MJF feeling like such a big deal, but it might be time to get the title off of Joe.

At the end of the day, it’s almost hard to fathom anyone but MJF leaving as champion here. He returned a few weeks ago and immediately stood out and it would make sense to put the title back on him (assuming he’s sticking around full time). MJF hasn’t been champion in a good while now and he’s already feeling like one of the top names in AEW. Give him the title back and see what he can do with it.

Continental Classic Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Kazuchika Okada

Again, I’m not even going to try to figure out how the title situation works (and for the love of all things good and holy, please don’t explain it to me), but it seems that Okada leaves with a title one way or another. That gives him quite the out in possibly losing here and it’s not like him losing the Continental Title is going to hurt in any meaningful way. He’s been champion pretty much forever so it’s time to get it off of him.

As you can probably guess, I’m going with Moxley winning here, as it splits up some titles and hopefully clarifies things a bit. If nothing else, I could go for getting rid of the whole Unified Title or whatever happens here, as there are FAR too many titles in AEW already. Moxley needs the win anyway and it could be a big step in what feels like the start of a face turn for him anyway, because that’s what the world is waiting to see.

Overall Thoughts

It’s pretty clear that the Continental Classic has been carrying the show for the last month or so, if nothing else due to the amount of talent involved. At the same time, it hasn’t exactly done much good for everything else in the company. The top of the card feels big enough, but they’re going to need someone to step up to bolster the undercard. Thankfully that’s where AEW tends to thrive so I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: December 25, 2025
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

It’s the last night of the Continental Classic, or at least the league stage, and that means we should be in for something interesting. There is a six way tie in the Gold League so something is going to have to give as we move on to Saturday. We also have an extended show this week, because AEW loves content. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at the Continental Classic, as you probably expected.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kyle Fletcher (6 points) vs. Jack Perry (6 points)

They circle each other a bit to start with Fletcher avoiding a dropkick but not being able to get anywhere with a grab of the (previously injured) leg. Instead Fletcher stomps on the leg and grabs a half crab. That’s broken up and Perry avoids a charge in the corner to send Fletcher outside. Fletcher cuts off a hurricanrana and powerbombs him onto the apron before slamming Perry into the corner.

With Perry down, Fletcher starts taking off Perry’s boot. Referee: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Fletcher: “I’M TAKING HIS BOOT OFF!” A big stomp onto the apron onto the step has Perry in more trouble as we take a break. We come back with Perry hitting a dropkick but hurting his ankle again. Perry knocks him outside and hits a sitout bulldog on the floor. Fletcher is able to hit a brainbuster on the floor, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Perry fights out of trouble on top and hits a super sunset bomb.

The running knee is countered into another half crab, but Perry reverses that into the Snare Trap, leaving Fletcher panicking. One finger on the rope gets Fletcher out of trouble and he knocks Perry back again. The sitout powerbomb is countered into a Code Red, setting up a piledriver for two. Perry knocks him off the top but gets caught with a running boot to the face. The brainbuster finishes Perry at 19:20.

Rating: B+. Heck of a match here with Perry trying to fight from underneath with the leg injury. It made Fletcher look like that much more of a killer as he was going after the damaged Perry, who managed to make it more than interesting. I liked this more than I was expecting as Fletcher likely moves on to the next round.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Kevin Knight – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Pac – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Jack Perry – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Kyle O’Reilly tries to tell Roderick Strong to lean on the Conglomeration and to never give up. Strong seems encouraged.

Continental Classic Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (10 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (6 points)

Dorada works on the arm to start before grabbing a rollup for two. Takeshita stomps him down in the corner and knees him in the face but Dorada is back with a springboard wristdrag. The big dive to the floor only hits barricade though and we’re back with Dorada grabbing a rather spinning headscissors.

Another springboard is countered into a Blue Thunder Bomb to give Takeshita two. Dorada’s charge is cut off with a clothesline but he’s able to grab a super hurricanrana. They trade rollups for two each before Dorada’s running shooting star press gets two more. Takeshita is back with a running knee and the Raging Fire finishes Dorada off at 11:39.

Rating: B-. It was hard to imagine Dorada being a major threat to Takeshita here, which is kind of a shame as Dorada has been showcasing himself rather well in recent months. He’s someone who could be quite the star if he’s given a chance, but Takeshita is going to be a favorite to win the whole tournament. Let him look strong going into the semifinals this weekend.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 13 points (0 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (1 match remaining)

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli (7 points) vs. Roderick Strong (0 points)

Castagnoli hits a running uppercut for an early two and Strong rolls him up for the same. Another uppercut sends Strong outside and Castagnoli dumps him over the barricade. Back in and Strong grabs an Angle Slam, followed by some jumping knees for the VERY quick pin at 3:22.

Rating: B-. Well ok. During this match I was thinking that I really didn’t need to see a long match between two people who have no realistic chance to win the tournament and they didn’t give me one. Well done on throwing in a curve ball there, as you do not see short matches like this in the tournament at all.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 13 points (0 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Post match the Death Riders run in to beat down Strong but Mark Briscoe runs in for the save. Toni Storm comes in to go after Marina Shafir and gets a kiss on the hand from Briscoe, leaving Storm with the vapors.

The Bang Bang Gang wants a rematch from FTR, with Stokley Hathaway accepting for Worlds End.

Worlds End rundown.

Video on Kris Statlander vs. Jamie Hayter.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kevin Knight (6 points) vs. Pac (6 points)

Pac takes him up against the ropes to start so Knight grabs a wristlock. A running shoulder puts Knight down but he sends Pac outside for a breather. Back in and they chop it out until Knight sends him outside again. Knight hurricanranas him on the floor, setting up a springboard clothesline. A sliding forearm gives Knight two and we take a break.

We come back with Fletcher charging into an overhead belly to belly suplex to send him crashing over the top for a scary landing. An overhead belly to belly superplex gives Pac two but Knight is back up with a missile dropkick. Pac German suplexes him on the floor though and, after flipping off the crowd, wants the countout.

Knight beats the count back inside and jumps to the top for a top rope superplex. They forearm it out and Knight dropkicks him down, setting up the Coast To Coast. Knight’s UFO Splash hits raised knees though and Pac rolls him up. The Black Arrow hits raised knees and Knight rolls him up a few times, only to get pulled into the Brutalizer…as time expires for the draw at 20:00.

Rating: B. They have something with Knight who is athletic, has some size, and has momentum right now. That is worth a look, and hopefully it happens rather than seeing more with Mike Bailey. Pac getting aggressive (ok more aggressive) as time ran out was great, but Knight survived in a cool moment,. Nice job here.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Pac – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Jack Perry – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Here is Gabe Kidd, who talks about hearing Darby Allin’s body bouncing down the steps. He said Allin isn’t indestructible and now Allin is in the ICU. Cue Allin (of course) with a baseball bat to chase Kidd off. The match is set for Worlds End.

Video on Mercedes Mone/Athena challenging the Babes Of Wrath for the Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Babes Of Wrath vs. Maya World/Hyan

Non-title. Hyan gets elbowed and side slammed for two to start. Nightingale drops Cameron onto Hyan for two more and everything breaks down. The running flip dive off the apron drops Hyan and World as we take a break. We come back with Nightingale suplexing both of them down and giving World a backbreaker. Everything breaks down and Soul Food into a swinging neckbreaker finishes Hyan at 7:01.

Rating: C. This was just a long squash and odds are that was the case due to the extended run time this week. Thankfully the Babes didn’t have any trouble here, which is a good way to go before they have their big title defense on Saturday. The team is still relatively new and they need some more reps so this wasn’t a bad idea.

Post match the Babes talk about being in New York, including going to Eddie Kingston’s mother’s house. They met Santa Claus and talked about wanting peace, except for in Chicago, because they’re going to hurt Mercedes Mone and Athena.

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (6 points) vs. Jon Moxley (6 points)

They fight over a piledriver/Beach Break to start before crashing out to the floor. Moxley wins a slugout but gets hammered in the corner back inside. Cassidy gets knocked outside and his elbow is banged into the barricade. Moxley is right on him with a whip into the steps but a Stundog Millionaire gives Cassidy a breather back inside. A top rope DDT drops Moxley back inside and we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy actually winning an exchange of forearms, setting up the Orange Punch. Moxley is sent outside for a suicide dive and they go onto the barricade, where Cassidy DDTs him through a table. They barely beat the count and Cassidy nails an Orange Punch. Moxley grabs the Gotch style piledriver for two but he comes up favoring his leg. Cassidy grabs a half crab but Moxley is quickly out, only to get caught with a running DDT. The Beach Break gets two and Cassidy goes for the leg, which is reversed into a small package to give Moxley the pin at 17:06.

Rating: B. These two do have chemistry together and it feels like something of an accomplishment for Moxley to beat Cassidy in a bigger match. At the same time, it’s interesting to see Cassidy just kind of floating around lately. He hasn’t had much to do in recent months and I’m not sure what changes that.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 13 points (0 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Video on the World Title match at Worlds End.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kazuchika Okada (6 points) vs. Mike Bailey (6 points)

They take turns backing each other up against the ropes and Okada has to avoid a tornado kick. Bailey sends him to the floor and hits a triangle moonsault, only to charge into a flapjack back inside. Instead a missile dropkick connects for Bailey, who walks into the neckbreaker onto the knee. Okada’s top rope elbow connects and he flips off the fans and they strike it out until we take a break.

We come back with Bailey winning a strike off (doesn’t seem too bright for Okada) but getting sunset flipped for two. The moonsault knees miss for Bailey but he avoids a charge and hits a springboard corkscrew moonsault to the floor. They go to the ramp where Bailey hits the moonsault knees to the chest and a kick to the face gets two back inside.

The Ultimate Weapon connects but Okada rolls outside before the cover. Back in and Okada hits a Rainmaker but another is cut off with a superkick. The Ultimate Weapon gets two so Bailey loads up the Flamingo Driver. That’s reversed as well but Okada misses the Rainmaker, only to grab the rollup for the pin at 16:08.

Rating: B. They had another good match here with Bailey feeling like a long shot at best to win the thing. Okada gets to move on to the next stage, because he is THE BEST TOURNAMENT WRESTLER EVER and since that is apparently a thing, he can survive to fight another day. It wraps up a pretty awesome group stage of the tournament and it worked well with a good match.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Pac – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (0 match remaining)
Jack Perry – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Konosuke Takeshita comes out to stare Okada (his opponent at Worlds End) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a rather good show with a bunch of solid wrestling and a bit of drama as there were a few options for who might advance. This show was almost all about the Continental Classic, which makes sense as it has dominated the last month or so. They were focusing on the wrestling here and that is one of the best things AEW can do, though I’m almost scared of what comes next for them.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Jack Perry – Brainbuster
Konosuke Takeshita b. Mascara Dorada – Raging Fire
Roderick Strong b. Claudio Castagnoli – Jumping knee
Kevin Knight vs. Pac went to a time limit draw
Babes Of Wrath b. Hyan/Maya World – Swinging neckbreaker to Hyan
Jon Moxley b. Orange Cassidy – Small package
Kazuchika Okada b. Mike Bailey – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: December 24, 2025
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson

It’s Christmas Eve and naturally that means it’s time to do more in the Continental Classic. The next two nights will determine the final four at Worlds End this weekend and that that should make for an interesting double header. Other than that, we need to build towards the rest of the pay per view, which will likely take place this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (6 points) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (7 points)

Cassidy rolls him up to start and he spins out of a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt. A crucifix gets a very close two and they go outside, with Takeshita sending him into the barricade. Cassidy comes back with a slingshot DDT into a tornado DDT for two of his own. The lazy kicks have their usual effect, followed by a hands in the pockets middle rope hurricanrana. Takeshita is right back up with a Blue Thunder Bomb and we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy reversing a super Raging Fire into a Stundog Millionaire. Takeshita rolls outside but gets caught with a diving DDT for two back inside. A wheelbarrow suplex drops Cassidy, who comes right back with an Orange Punch. They head to the apron where Cassidy grabs a Beach Break, followed by another Orange Punch into the crowd. Takeshita dives back in and reverses a small package into the Raging Fire for the pin at 15:26.

Rating: B. This was the serious Cassidy (for the most part) and he did well before being taken out in the end. That’s how it should have gone as Takeshita turning on the jets to beat someone like Cassidy makes sense. Takeshita is all but guaranteed (if not entirely guaranteed) a spot in the final four and now we get to see where that goes.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 10 points (1 match remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Gabe Kidd wants revenge on Darby Allin, who he has already sent down the steps and lit on fire.

The Bang Bang Gang wants a Chicago street fight with FTR.

Continental Classic Blue League: Roderick Strong (0 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (3 points)

They both go technical to start and fight over wrist control, with Strong bailing over to the ropes. Strong can’t get a cross armbreaker, instead being pulled into a surfboard. They head outside, with Strong dropping him onto the apron as we take a break. We come back with Dorada armdragging him on the floor, followed by a Swanton for two back inside. Strong’s Sick Kick gives him two of his own but Dorada kicks him down. The shooting star press gives Dorada the pin at 9:23.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have as much time as some of the tournament matches have received but it was still a good enough match. Dorada wins to keep himself alive while Strong can only play spoiler. It’s a bit more interesting when you see some of the people eliminated and things tightening up somewhat, which is the point we’ve finally reached.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 10 points (1 match remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (1 matches remaining)

AEW won a bunch of Sports Illustrated awards.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Here are Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander for a face to face stat. Statlander tells her to let it go with her sob story about having everything taken away from her. Don’t pity her for what she was, but fear her for what she’s become. They’re both ready to win.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Dustin Waller

A running knee, a slap, a lifting DDT and the Salt Of The Earth finish for MJF at 1:12.

Post match MJF gets the mic and the fans greet him with a HAPPY HANUKKAH chant. Cue Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland in the crowd to stare at him though, with Page saying the no physicality thing was left in England. Page tells MJF to cut another 90s style promo insulting them, but Page comes to the ring, where he and Swerve take out the Opps Dojo members.

Samoa Joe pops up on the screen to say he’s coming for all of them one by one and promises to retain the title at Worlds End. Page and Swerve lay MJF out and choke him with a chain, leaving Swerve to say MJF is more of a Diddy than he’ll ever be. Swerve talks about a bunch of the people MJF has used, such as Wardlow, the Pinnacle and Adam Cole. The reality is Swerve always works to make himself better while MJF just uses them. We hit the catchphrase to wrap it up.

The Babes Of Wrath are ready for their upcoming matches and praise each other quite a bit.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite Diamond: Bandido vs. Ricochet

For the vacant ring (and a World Title shot in January) and neither title is on the line. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere so it’s another standoff. Bandido connects with a headscissors into a dropkick but Ricochet manages a toss out to the apron.

Ricochet tries the Macarena but gets slapped in the back of the head, followed by the one armed gorilla press. Bandido throws him outside and we take a break. We come back with Ricochet rolling some suplexes, including one on the apron. Bandido rolls through that for a suplex of his own on the floor and they both get back inside. The referee almost gets crushed in the corner and Ricochet uses the distraction to hit Vertigo for two.

The Spirit Gun is blocked but Ricochet flips out of the 21 Plex. A Styles Clash is loaded up but instead Bandido jumps down into a sitout powerbomb (that was cool) for two more. The X Knee looks to set up the 21 Plex again but cue Kaun to make the save. Ricochet kicks him low and tries the Spirit Gun, which is reversed into a cradle for the pin at 12:27.

Rating: B. I’m a bit surprised Ricochet lost here, though either champion losing a singles match doesn’t feel like a good idea. If nothing else, this should set Bandido up for a National Title shot, which would go nicely with his ring. I still don’t know why this has to remain a thing, but it was nice to see it wrapped up this fast.

Post match Ricochet and the Gates Of Agony go after Bandido, with Brody King running in for the save.

Darby Allin isn’t worried about Gabe Kidd, who shows up and throws him down the steps.

Marina Shafir vs. Mina Shirakawa

Shirakawa fires off the kicks in the corner to start and snaps the leg over the middle rope. A missile dropkick gives Shirakawa two but Shafir counters a kick to the head with a powerbomb. We take a break and come back with Shirakawa hitting a top rope clothesline for two. The Figure Four goes on but Shafir fights out and grabs Mother’s Milk for the rather quick win at 7:20.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have a ton of time with the commercial in the middle taking up so much of the match. At the same time, Shirakawa basically squashed her until Shafir got in a few shots to win with the choke. Maybe this sets up Storm to come after Shafir, but for now it’s rather surprising that Shafir would win while looking fairly week for the most part.

Post match the choke goes on again but Toni Storm runs in for the save…and gets laid out just as fast.

The Young Bucks reveal that they are officially not cleared to return to the ring for the rest of the year. Kenny Omega has something to do while they’re out.

Jon Moxley wants to fight more in the Continental Classic.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac (6 points) vs. Jack Perry (3 points)

Pac works on the arm to start and they go to the mat, with Perry grabbing a hammerlock. A running hurricanrana sends Pac outside and Perry takes him down with a suicide dive. Back in and a top rope standing elbow gives Perry two and they head back outside. Pac hits a quick suplex of his own, with Perry banging up his ankle and we take a break.

We come back with Pac getting two off a missile dropkick before they slug it out. Perry belly to back suplexes him down but the leg is giving him trouble. A DDT gives Perry two but he charges into a suplex into the corner. Pac belly to belly superplexes him for two so Perry comes back with a poisonrana. One heck of a rebound lariat drops Pac again but Pac pulls him into the Brutalizer. That’s broken up so Pac goes with another hard clothesline into the Brutalizer…which is reversed into a cradle to give Perry the upset pin at 14:26.

Rating: B. Another good one here, with Perry getting a big win and making the Gold League VERY interesting. That’s one of the best things that can happen with this kind of a tournament and I’m curious to see where it goes. Hopefully they have some kind of a clever way out of things, though it’s getting into some uncharted territory. At least Perry is getting something out of the tournament rather than just being a doormat.

Gold League Standings

Kazuchika Okada – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Kyle Fletcher – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Kevin Knight – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Pac – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Jack Perry – 6 points (1 match remaining)

Post match Luchasaurus brings out mile and cookies for Perry. And of course a Santa hat.

Overall Rating: B. The tournament stuff was working well here, though the rest of the show was only so good. The Dynamite Diamond stopped being interesting years ago and hopefully it isn’t anything more than something that we hear about from time to time. I’m almost scared of what is going to happen to a lot of these people when the tournament is over. Hopefully that includes some of these matches being followed up on, which should also be the case with Bandido pinning Ricochet. Either way, good enough show here, even on a fairly busy day.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita b. Orange Cassidy – Raging Fire
Mascara Dorada b. Roderick Strong – Shooting star press
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Dustin Waller – Salt Of The Earth
Bandido b. Ricochet – 21 Plex
Marina Shafir b. Mina Shirakawa – Mother’s Milk
Jack Perry b. Pac – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: December 17, 2025
Location: Co-op Live, Manchester, England
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the second half (or last third) of the double show on Wednesday. We’re still in England and that means it’s time to have a rather rowdy crowd. There is always the chance that this winds up going well, as there are going to be some Continental Classic matches to help bring the show up. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley says he likes the Continental Classic because it’s all about getting in the ring and seeing who wins. He likes to antagonize people and that’s what happened when he beat Roderick Strong in a tough match on Dynamite. Moxley left it all in the ring.

Continental Classic Blue League: Orange Cassidy (3 points) vs. Mascara Dorada (3 points)

They shake hands to start before going to the mat for the grappling. Dorada sends him bailing over to the ropes and Cassidy seems to know he needs to do something else. An armdrag sends Dorada over to the ropes as well and we take a break. We come back with Dorada flipping away from Cassidy, who is a bit confused.

Cassidy grabs a wristlock and teases walking the ropes but can’t decide which rope to walk. Instead he puts his hand in his pocket and jumps down. The hands in the pockets allow Cassidy to roll away and dropkick Dorada to the floor for a change. Something like an apron 619 staggers Cassidy, followed by the suicide dive.

A running shooting star off the apron hits Cassidy on the floor, followed by a springboard high crossbody for two back inside. A powerslam keeps Cassidy’s back in trouble and his spinning DDT is countered as Dorada extends his hands for a change. Another attempt connects but Dorada is right back with a backbreaker. They trade rollups for two each but the Orange Punch is blocked. Instead, Dorada tries a top rope armdrag, which is reversed into a crucifix to give Cassidy the win at 11:12.

Rating: B-. This was a good way to go, though I was wanting to see Dorada win here after mostly dominating the match. Cassidy couldn’t figure him out for the most part but did wind up winning with a smart rollup in the end. It was far from a bad match but it didn’t quite click as well as I was hoping.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 7 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Post match Cassidy gives Dorada his glasses in a show of respect.

Mercedes Mone and Athena aren’t happy with being asked if their win avenges their loss in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament. They want a title shot at World’s End and Mone will defend her Rev Pro Women’s Title on Collision. Uh the other Collision.

Jamie Hayter vs. Isla Dawn

They go to the mat for an early standoff until Hayter wins an exchange of strikes. Dawn sends her outside for a baseball slide and we take a break. We come back with stereo crossbodies leaving both of them down. Hayter gets up for a middle rope dropkick but Dawn grabs a snap belly to back suplex for two. A not great looking Haytebreaker sets up the Hayterade for the pin on Dawn at 6:50.

Rating: C+. You can only expect so much when about half of the match was spent in the break but it was nice to see Hayter get a boot on the way to her title match against Kris Statlander. Hayter is starting to get some of her old momentum back and if that can be rebuilt, AEW has quite the star on their hands. Dawn isn’t a big star, but she’s enough of a name that beating her still has some value so having her around in this spot makes sense.

Respect is shown post match but the Triangle Of Madness runs in to jump both of them. Kris Statlander runs in for the save but Hayter accidentally gives her Hayterade to leave her laying.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Bang Ban Gang

FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, is defending. Gunn and Wheeler start things off as the fans get to their singing. They fight over wrist control until Gunn takes over and hands it off to Robinson. A rake to the eye cuts Robinson off but he manages to fight out of the corner. Another cheap shot takes Robinson down but this time Gunn saves him from a double suplex. Wheeler gets catapulted out to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with Gunn grabbing a small package but the referee is distracted. Wheeler knocks Gunn down again but dives into some raised boots. The tag brings Robinson back in to clean house, including a double clothesline. A spinebuster gets two on Harwood and his suplex is reversed into a small package for two more. Stokely’s powder doesn’t work and Robinson gets two off a rollup.

The Gang steals the PowerPlex for two on Harwood, with Wheeler’s splash hitting Harwood by mistake. The Fameasser gets two on Harwood but Wheeler sends Gunn crashing over the barricade. Gunn is able to come back and break up the Shatter Machine though and the left hand drops Harwood for two, thanks to a foot on the rope. Back up and FTR crush Robinson’s knee, setting up an Indian Deathlock to retain the titles at 14:31.

Rating: B. I liked the match but there was pretty much no reason to think that the titles were changing hands to the leftover pieces of the Gang. It was a match that was built up and that did it a lot of good, as the work had been put in to make it better. I’m not sure who is next for FTR, but the division needs some new teams to come after the belts.

Overall Rating: B-. This show felt pretty short and it was a bit under an hour due to Dynamite going long. It helps that two of the three matches felt important in one way or another and that made for a pretty easy show to watch. It’s not some kind of great show, but for something that came and went so fast, it could have been far worse.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Mascara Dorada – Crucifix
Jamie Hayter b. Isla Dawn – Hayterade
FTR b. Bang Bang Gang – Indian Deathlock to Gunn

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: December 13, 2025
Location: Utilita Arena, Cardiff, Wales
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re overseas for this one as Collision is on earlier in the day, likely due to Saturday Night’s Main Event. That should make for an interesting situation as we’re also getting more of the Continental Classic. The tournament is off to a good start with an awesome match taking place earlier this week on Dynamite. It would be great if they could keep up their momentum so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

We run down the card.

We look at Hangman Page’s comments on Dynamite, saying he wants the World Title.

Swerve Strickland vs. Josh Alexander

Alexander is described as being “red hot” lately. No. Don Callis sits in on commentary as they fight over a lockup to start. Alexander’s kick to the ribs is countered into a backbreaker and a knee drop keeps him down. Prince Nana yells at Callis as Strickland is pulled off the apron and dropped knees first onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with an exchange of forearms until Alexander goes after the knee some more.

Strickland is back by loading up a powerbomb but he whips Alexander over into a powerslam (that was slick) for two. Alexander is taken up top for a super Angle Slam and another near fall but he has to reverse a Figure Four attempt. A half crab goes back to Strickland’s knee so he goes to the ropes for the quick break. Alexander misses a top rope knee though and Strickland is up with the rolling Downward Spiral. The House Call…gets two, so it’s the JML Driver to finish Alexander at 13:24.

Rating: B. Well so much for the, ahem, red hot Alexander with his…let’s see…ah yes, one singles win (via countout, when Kota Ibushi broke his leg) since May. Anyway, it’s nice to see Swerve fight through the injury and get a win as he’s back to being one of the top good guys in the company. He has the ability and crowd reception to make that work so go with what works.

Post match Swerve says he’s back for the World Title and wants to take the belt from Samoa Joe.

Video on the Elite vs. the Don Callis Family for the million dollars.

The Timeless Love Bombs are going to be at the Babes Of Wrath’s championship toast.

Kris Statlander/Jamie Hayter vs. Sisters Of Sin

Thekla comes to the stage for a distraction and the Sisters run in from behind for a cheap shot. Blue gets taken down though and the other team takes turns slamming each other onto her. Hart comes in for a rope walk hurricanrana but Hayter crushes her in the corner. A quick Blue distraction lets Hart take Hayter down though and a standing moonsault gets two.

We take a break and come back with Statlander cleaning house, including a Blue Thunder Bomb for two on Blue. The double superkick drops Statlander for two and Hayter has to clothesline Blue for a save. We get the four way slugout but Hayter and Statlander clothesline each other by mistake. Back up and Blue hits Hart by mistake, allowing Hayter to give Blue a German suplex. The Hayterade finishes Hart at 10:14.

Rating: B-. This was a fast paced match with Statlander and Hayter pretty definitively taking care of the Sisters, which should hopefully wrap up their feud. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Hayter get the next shot at the title at World’s End. That would be a nice announcement to make so close to her home and they even set it up a bit with the misfire in the match.

Thekla is watching from a sky box.

Post match Hayter challenges Statlander for World’s End and the match seems to be on.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli (6 points) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (6 points)

Non-title. They fight of a lockup to start with Castagnoli backing him up against the ropes for an early standoff. Takeshita backs him against the ropes and shoves him in the chest before getting in a hard knockdown. Back up and Castagnoli drops him face first onto the turnbuckle for the break and it’s time to trade the forearms. Castagnoli knocks him outside with a hard shot and then drops him face first. They go to the ramp where Takeshita hits a DDT, only to charge into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

We take a break and come back with Takeshita snapping off a middle rope hurricanrana to send Castagnoli outside. The big flip dive takes Castagnoli down again and the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two back inside. Castagnoli’s uppercut gets two more and he taunts Takeshita with some boots to the head. They slug it out again until Takeshita’s kneeling tombstone plants him into a wheelbarrow suplex for two.

A Hidden Blade drops Castagnoli again but he’s back with Swiss Death for two with five minutes left. Castagnoli’s springboard uppercut connects and they knock each other down again. Another forearm exchange takes them both to the apron, where Takeshita kicks him in the head. They slug it out on the floor until Castagnoli boots him down. A big forearm drops Castagnoli, who beats the count back inside at nine. Takeshita knees him down but the Raging Fire is countered into the Neutralizer for two…and time expires at 20:00.

Rating: B+. This was about taking two big men and having them beat the fire out of each other for a good while. That’s a fine way to go and it worked well here, as even if the draw felt pretty clear (they weren’t going to have one company’s World Champion beat another), the match was still a heck of a fight. I had a good time with this and it’s nice to see two champions survive like this.

Blue League Standings

Konosuke Takeshita – 7 points (2 matches left)
Claudio Castagnoli – 7 points (1 match left)
Mascara Dorada – 3 points (3 matches left)
Orange Cassidy – 3 points (3 matches left)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (2 matches left)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (3 matches left)

Post match they keep slugging it out until referees have to break it up. The Death Riders and Don Callis Family have to really split them apart.

Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey are ready to fight and want the other to bring it. Deal.

Here are the Babes Of Wrath to talk about their history together. They met early in Cameron’s time in the company but here are the Timeless Love Bombs to interrupt. They’re happy to have given the Babes a fight to remember but here is Mercedes Mone to interrupt. Mina Shirakawa tells her to shut up but Mone doesn’t want to fight tonight. She’ll have friends this week in Manchester for Dynamite. Storm: “We will raise a glass and we will wax your a**!” Mone uh, covers up, and leaves.

Ricochet is entering the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal and going on to win the World Title.

Video on the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal, with various people entering. Bobby Lashley is injured though and Shelton Benjamin will take his place.

Continental Classic: Kevin Knight (3 points) vs. Mike Bailey (3 points)

I do like the little background/factoids that Renee Young throws in during the entrances. That’s a very nice touch. They take turns dodging big shots to start until Bailey gets backed into the corner. A high angle springboard armdrag sends Knight outside for a triangle moonsault and we take a break.

We come back with Knight hitting a springboard clothesline to the floor. Back in and the Flamingo Driver is blocked and Knight grabs a running DDT for two. Bailey kicks him out to the apron though and hits the moonsault knees to the ribs. They get back inside with Knight hitting a superplex but Bailey ties up the legs in a small package for two more. They trade rollups for two each until Knight hits a hard dropkick.

Another springboard is kicked out of the air though and we’re ten minutes in. Knight sends him into the corner and hits that great Coast To Coast but the UFO Splash hits raised knees. The tornado kick gives Bailey two but the Ultimate Weapon misses. They trade more rollups until Bailey kicks him in the head. The Flamingo Driver finishes Knight at 12:57.

Rating: B. Another solid performance here as Bailey’s tournament run continues. Knight still feels like a great prospect though and has done some rather good stuff in the tournament thus far. It would be nice to see what he can do as a singles star, though odds are the Jet Speed stuff is going to keep going for a good while.

Gold League Standings

Kazuchika Okada – 6 points (2 matches to go)
Mike Bailey – 6 points (2 matches to go)
Kyle Fletcher – 6 points (2 matches to go)
Pac – 3 points (3 matches to go)
Kevin Knight – 3 points (2 matches to go)
Jack Perry – 0 points (3 matches to go)

Kyle Fletcher is ready for Pac and promises to get his momentum back.

Pac says he’s a different breed and Fletcher will soon learn that.

TNT Title: Mark Briscoe vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia, with Wheeler Yuta, is challenging. They go to the mat to start fast with Garcia slapping him in the back of the head a few times. Briscoe is right back up but Garcia slips out of a suplex. One heck of a right hand sends Garcia outside and there’s a dropkick through the ropes. A running knee knocks Briscoe off the apron but he’s right back to knock Garcia off the apron as well. The Bang Bang Elbow is broken up though and Briscoe gets tied into the ring skirt for a beating.

We take a break and come back with Garcia yelling at him, which brings Briscoe back up with a running forearm. Briscoe strikes away and a high collar suplex gets two. Garcia’s suplex is shrugged off but Shafir breaks up the Froggy Bow. The referee didn’t see it so the fans tell him and he…does nothing.

Instead Garcia hits a top rope superplex, which he rolls into two more, with Briscoe bouncing up from the third. A brainbuster drops Garcia for a change and they’re all down. Back up and they strike it out until Briscoe hits a hard clothesline. The Jay Driller is cut off by Shafir and this time it’s enough for an ejection. Wheeler Yuta comes in for a cheap shot but Briscoe is right back up with the Jay Driller to retain at 14:46.

Rating: B. Solid stuff here, even if I’m rather sick of seeing Garcia and Yuta no matter where they are. They’re all over AEW/ROH programming these days and Garcia still isn’t interesting in the slightest. At the same time, Briscoe is finally getting some recognition with a title that feels somewhat important and that is LONG overdue. Hopefully he gets to face someone else soon, as there is quite the crop of potential opponents.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a heck of a show, with more good action as the Continental Classic continues to do what it’s designed to do. What mattered the most is that this show felt more important than most Collisions, with the tournament going a long way in making that happen. AEW has had a good week with a second pretty awesome show and that is nice to see.

Results
Swerve Strickland b. Josh Alexander – JML Driver
Kris Statlander/Jamie Hayter b. Sisters Of Sin – Hayterade to Hart
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita went to a time limit draw
Mike Bailey b. Kevin Knight – Flamingo Driver
Mark Briscoe b. Daniel Garcia – Jay Driller

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: December 3, 2025
Location: Fishers Events Center, Fishers, Indiana
Commentators: Excalibur, Bryan Danielson, Tony Schiavone

We’re getting closer to Worlds End and that means it’s time to continue the Continental Classic. While I won’t even bother trying to get my head around the title situation, I can certainly enjoy the matches that come with the tournament. Hopefully it lives up to the hype so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to start and brings out World Champion Samoa Joe and next week’s challenger, Eddie Kingston. Joe tells Schiavone to get out and then insults the crowd, saying he’s not looking nice out here because….well because it’s Indianapolis. With that out of the way, he explains that Hook is where he is because he has had the right training. Joe wanted Hook to see what it was like to be around the low level stars and that’s why he picked Kingston.

Next week, Kingston will fight for everything he has but just like every other time, he won’t cross the finish line. Kingston talks about how Hook learned to never quit and yeah he yells a lot, but he gets stuff done. He accuses Joe of being the kinds of people who got in heads and messed with people. That’s who Joe used to hate but now he’s one of them. It better be old school Joe, or Kingston will eat him alive on the tenth (imagine that: saying the date of a big match!). Kingston was bringing the intensity here and that’s been missing since he came back.

The Opps are ready to fight tonight and they’re going to beat up….the Dark Order. Of course.

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac (3 points) vs. Kazuchika Okada (0 points)

Okada works on the arm to start and they forearm it out with Pac getting the better of things. Pac hits a nice missile dropkick and Okada needs a breather on the floor. Okada gets the better of things outside but Pac kicks him down back inside. We take a break and come back with Pac missing a dropkick, allowing Okada to hit a dropkick of his own. A DDT gives Okada two and the top rope elbow lets Okada flip off the crowd.

The Rainmaker is blocked though and Pac grabs a slingshot cutter. Okada shrugs that off and hits the dropkick but the Rainmaker is cut off again. The German suplex out of the corner drops Okada and a bridging version gives Pac two. Okada is back up with a Tombstone and goes to the top, where Pac superplexes him down. The Brutalizer is loaded up but Okada reverses into a cradle for the pin at 13:30.

Rating: B. They were laying it in out there and that made for a good opener, with Okada getting on the board in the tournament. Pac is someone who can be put out there and feel like a threat no matter who he’s facing. That’s a good combination and it made for a solid match here, which could have gone on even longer.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Pac – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Mark Briscoe is ready to face Daniel Garcia again for the TNT Title. He doesn’t think as much of Garcia this time, but he knows the talent is there.

Earlier today, Ricochet, with the Gates Of Agony, promised to beat Dalton Castle at Final Battle and he’ll even have another title defense on Collision.

Mark Briscoe is ready for Orange Cassidy vs. Roderick Strong in the Continental Classic, but Strong insists he is NOT in the Conglomeration and promises to break Cassidy’s back.

Darby Allin is injured and cannot travel, let alone wrestle. Well that’s not promising.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kyle Fletcher vs. Kevin Knight

Knight backs him up against the ropes to start and gives Fletcher a pat on the chest. They go to the mat with Fletcher throwing him down and getting in a kick to the face. Back up and Knight snaps off some armdrags and the threat of a dropkick sends Fletcher bailing to the floor. Fletcher manages to kick him out to the floor but Knight hits a springboard lariat (that looked good) as we take a break.

We take a break and come back with Knight hitting a great dropkick for two. Fletcher sends him into the ropes but Knight scores with another springboard clothesline for two more. A running DDT plants Fletcher on the apron but Knight gets crotched on top. Knight is able to tie him in the Tree Of Woe for the Coast To Coast but the UFO Splash hits raised knees. A sitout powerbomb gives Fletcher two more and he cuts Knight off with a superkick. The Helluva Kick into the brainbuster finishes Knight at 13:09.

Rating: B+. Maybe it’s being a sucker for a top rope clothesline but I had a good time with this and Knight came off looking like a serious threat to someone like Fletcher. The good thing is that a loss only does so much damage to Knight and he was always going to be an underdog here anyway. Solid stuff here as Knight is becoming more and more of a star every time.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Pac – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Post match Don Callis gets in the ring for a chat and here are Josh Alexander and Hechicero, each carrying a bag of money. After a break, Callis calls out the Young Bucks for doing the unforgivable by signing with Kenny Omega. Callis tells the Bucks to come get their money so here they come, only to get beaten down. The Jurassic Express comes in but so do more members of the Family, with the villains taking over. Kenny Omega makes the real save and the Family escapes with the money.

Video on the Babes Of Wrath.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir vs. Timeless Love Bombs

Death match so it’s a brawl to start fast, with the Bombs actually taking over. The Bombs bust out some hard candy canes (Schiavone thinks it might be different than usual candy canes) to take over and Shirakawa is dropped onto Bayne. Shafir is back up with a headscissor driver to send Storm into the apron and Shirakawa is thrown onto Storm as we take a break.

We come back with the villains still in control and unloading with various weapons. Shirakawa dropkicks a chair into Bayne’s face though and Storm Zero sends Bayne from the apron through a table. Mother’s Milk is broken up and Shirakawa knocks Shafir outside, setting up the big dive.

A top rope sling blade onto a chair gives Shirakawa two, with Bayne driving Storm into the cover to break it up. Bayne spears Shirakawa HARD into a table in the corner but Storm Zero sends Bayne’s head into Shafir’s ribs. Cue Santa Claus with a present for Shafir…and it’s Luther, with a middle finger in the present. Storm gets in a shoe to Shafir’s head for the pin at 11:07.

Rating: B-. Good fight here, but certainly nothing that we haven’t seen done a bunch of times before. The stuff with Luther at the end felt stupid as Storm should be able to beat Shafir without help, but I guess they wanted to protect the villains a bit more. Either way, Storm and Shirakawa are a nice choice for the finals and the match certainly wasn’t dull.

The Triangle Of Madness are sick of Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter. The latter want a tag match…and Hayter wants to talk about the Women’s Title after.

The Dark Order is excited about being in action but tell Hangman Page not to ruin this. Page says he won’t, but he’ll be there as soon as the match is over.

Mercedes Mone doesn’t want to hear about Full Gear and brags about her various successes. She’s ready to beat Red Velvet again and she’ll even be on this week’s Ring Of Honor. How nice of her.

We look at FTR getting challenged by the Bang Bang Gang.

Stokely Hathaway finds it pathetic that the Bang Bang Gang wants the titles for their injured friends. FTR mocks every member and dare the Gang to touch their titles again.

Opps vs. Dark Order

Non-title. The Opps jump them from behind before the bell and keep up the beating as we officially start. Reynolds is dropped onto the apron and we take an early break. We come back with Uno fighting back, including a double DDT. Hobbs is back in though and the World’s Strongest Slam gets two. The spinebuster finishes Uno at 6:10. Not enough shown to rate but it was basically a squash, as it should have been.

Post match Hangman Page comes in and manages to clean house, but security cuts off the Buckshot Lariat to Hobbs.

Don Callis thinks the Family will win the Continental Classic. He tries to explain the Unified Title but he’s not putting the other legs of the title up because it would be stupid.

Hangman Page calls out the Opps for next week and says he won’t be coming alone.

Continental Classic Blue League: Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Marina Shafir goes for a test of strength as Castagnoli wins a test of strength to start (shocking I know). Moxley goes for the fingers but gets taken down with a backbreaker as we take a break. We come back with Moxley busted open (ah, an old classic) and Castagnoli grabbing the Swing. The Sharpshooter has Moxley in more trouble and Castagnoli switches it into a crossface.

That’s broken up and they slug it out with Moxley knocking him outside. Moxley’s suicide dive sends Castagnoli into the announcers’ table but Castagnoli blasts him with a clothesline back inside. Moxley hits a heck of a clothesline of his own and a Stomp gets two. Castagnoli powers him out to the floor and hits a running double stomp as Moxley is sitting in a chair. Back in and a powerbomb gives Castagnoli two but Moxley grabs a Paradigm Shift. They pull themselves up and Castagnoli hits a running uppercut for the clean pin at 15:05.

Rating: B. The fall of Moxley continues, though sweet goodness they’re taking their time getting there. I do like Castagnoli getting a run in the tournament, though it’s hard to imagine he actually wins the thing or really comes close. At least Moxley is losing for a change and not looking like the most awesome toughest guy ever and it does give Castagnoli a big win of his own.

Blue League Standings

Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B+. As usual, the Continental Classic shows offer some of the most consistent in-ring action that AEW can offer. They might not be much in the way of storyline advancement, but they are quite entertaining while they last. I liked the show again, which isn’t a big surprise, and now we get to see where things go for a bunch of people, including the Death Riders, who are having a rough time.

Results
Kazuchika Okada b. Pac – Cradle
Kyle Fletcher b. Kevin Knight – Brainbuster
Timeless Love Bombs b. Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir – Shoe to the head
Opps b. Dark Order – Spinebuster to Uno
Claudio Castagnoli b. Jon Moxley – Running uppercut

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: November 27, 2025
Location: The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a special Thanksgiving edition of the show and you can tell it’s a big one because Matt Menard is in action. Other than that huge one, we also have more in the Continental Classic, which fits Collision better than almost anything else could. Hopefully they take advantage of the special time slot and put on a bigger than usual show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac vs. Mike Bailey

They chop it out to start with Bailey kicking him down to the floor. A running kick misses though and Pac pulls him outside for a snap suplex. Bailey gets whipped into the barricade and taken back inside, with Pac sending him even harder into the corner. The cravate goes on, followed by a running elbow in the corner for two. A dropkick gets Bailey out of trouble and it’s a running shooting star press for two. Pac gets sent outside for the triangle moonsault and we take a break.

We come back with Pac hitting a toss belly to belly superplex for two but charging into a boot in the corner. They get up and trade kicks to the head before going outside to do it again. Pac grabs a German suplex and Bailey has to jump up to the apron at nine, with Pac missing a charge to the floor. That lets Bailey hit the big moonsault, followed by a poisonrana back inside. The Ultimate Weapon misses and the Brutalizer finishes for Pac at 15:10.

Rating: B-. Well, it was nice to see Bailey get beaten up for a good while as there’s something rather soothing about seeing that every time. Pac is on a bit of a roll at this point and it would be nice to see him make a run in this thing. Then again the first match doesn’t tend to mean much, so now we get to wait and see where it goes, which is kind of the point of the tournament.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Pac – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Kazuchika Okada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Daniel Garcia, with Jon Moxley, is ready to end Matt Menard and get some gold.

Bandido takes the blame for the loss for the Tag Team Title match at Full Gear. Brody King says the team isn’t over and they want the belts back. For now though, King wants him to retain the World Title at Final Battle.

Apparently Rush is out of the World Title match though so Bandido is defending against Sammy Guevara, The Beast Mortos, Komander, Hechicero and Blake Christian. This is the first mention we’ve had of the title match and it comes on an AEW show eight days before Final Battle.

Daniel Garcia vs. Matt Menard

Jon Moxley is on commentary. Menard yells at Garcia to start and shoves him out of the corner, followed by the right hands. Garcia fights out of trouble on the floor and comes back in to slug away in the corner. Menard is already busted open as we take a break. We come back with Menard fighting out of a Boston crab, which he reverses into one of his own.

That’s broken up as well and they go outside, with Garcia ramming him into the announcers’ table. A running dropkick crushes the steps against Menard’s head, which is naturally only good for a nine. Back in and Menard mocks Garcia’s old dance so Garcia kicks him in the chest. A bulldog choke finishes Menard off at 11:09.

Rating: C. Forgive me for only being so interested in Garcia, one of the least interesting stars in AEW, beating up his former mentor who was mostly a comedy star. This is a story that has been put together over the last several months but that doesn’t make for an interesting story. I guess we needed to see Garcia beat him up for that long, though hopefully this wraps the whole thing up for good.

Post match here is Mark Briscoe to interrupt. He’s thankful to be in Nashville and to be your TNT Champion, but he’s also thankful to Garcia for saying he wanted the TNT Title. Briscoe had been wondering who he should face first and now he knows that he’s going to devour Garcia like he’s going to devour turkey and macaroni and cheese tonight.

Ricochet lists off some names he’s already beaten and you should be glad to have him as your champion.

Here is FTR to brag about winning the Tag Team Titles back. Stokely Hathaway talks about how FTR keeps overcoming obstacle after obstacle…and here is the Bang Bang Gang to interrupt. The Gang talks about how they’ve recently beaten FTR and don’t need to hear about FTR’s greatness again. Over the weekend, the Gang won $200,000 and now they want some gold to go with the green. The Gang slaps the title down and wants a shot, with FTR bailing instead. Makes as much sense as anyone else would.

Here is MxM TV, for some reason dressed as the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man, for the Casting Call.

MxM Collection/Johnny TV vs. Outrunners/Dalton Castle

Castle and the Outrunners get jumped to start fast with Taya Valkyrie being powerbombed onto Castle on the floor. Back in and Magnum gets pummeled in the corner, only to powerbomb his way to freedom. Madden cuts off the comeback attempt but the Collection misses their own Mega Powers elbow. Castle comes in to clean house and it’s Total Recall to Mansoor. The real Mega Powers elbow sets up the Bang A Rang to give Castle the pin on Mansoor at 2:30. Just a quick comedy match.

Post match the Demand comes out to interrupt the celebration. The Outrunners and Castle are beaten down so Ricochet goes over and gets in an argument with a country singer. Said singer (Michael Ray?) jumps the barricade and they’re held apart.

The Don Callis Family is grateful for various things, with Kazuchika Okada being thankful that he doesn’t have to team with Konosuke Takeshita. This was no Survivor Series 1989.

Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata

The brawl is on outside before the bell, with Shibata putting him in a chair for a boot to the face. They get inside for the opening bell and Kingston grabs a butterfly suplex. Shibata snaps off a German suplex and takes over on the arm. Kingston gets beaten down in the corner and we take a break. We come back with Shibata hitting him low but not being able to get a cross armbreaker, with the referee making him break due to the low blow. Well that’s different. Shibata charges into a boot in the corner and gets DDTed for the pin at 7:06. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what this was about but almost half of the match was in the break and Kingston’s offense at the end was literally those two moves. Kingston hasn’t done much since he got back and this didn’t help him in the slightest. At the same time, Shibata is supposed to be this big tough fighter and gets pinned by a basic DDT in that little time? I don’t get it.

Post match Kingston says he won’t comment on what Hook did. He says he never wanted to just play a character. Instead, he is pro wrestling because he loves these people who love pro wrestling. He’s the guy who wants to inspire someone to get into wrestling one day (Kingston: “By the way, don’t do it.”). Then there’s Samoa Joe, who took the AEW World Title. Kingston only gets peace when he’s in this ring so defend the title against him at Winter Is Coming. When Kingston is on, he’s great at connecting with the crowd and he was feeling it here.

Red Velvet mocks Mercedes Mone for losing at Full Gear and wants a rematch at Final Battle. Do we really have to do this again?

Thekla vs. Tay Melo

Melo hammers away to start fast and throws Thekla down by the arm. Something like a reverse triangle choke (that’s a weird one) has Thekla in early trouble so she has to make the rope. A running knee sends Melo out to the apron and we take a break. We come back with Melo tying her hair up for the big slugout, with Thekla hitting a hard shot to the face. The Death Trap goes on but Melo stacks her up for two. Thekla does her spider thing and gets caught with a running knee. A piledriver gives Melo two more but the TayKO is escaped, allowing Thekla to hit a spear. The stomp gives Thekla the pin at 8:39.

Rating: B-. Another not very long match, especially with the break included, but at least Melo was able to put up a good fight. Melo might not be the most successful star in AEW but she’s often a tough out, which makes her a good choice in a match like this. Thekla continue to feel like a player and that’s a good thing to see, as the division can use some new blood.

Post match the Sisters of Sin come out for the beatdown but Jamie Hayter makes the save. Kris Statlander makes a fairly unnecessary appearance for part of the save as well.

Continental Classic Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Roderick Strong

Takeshita takes over with a test of strength to start, which is broken up rather quickly. Strong’s headlock doesn’t get very far so they go with the grappling. A backbreaker rocks Takeshita but he elbows his way out of an abdominal stretch. They go outside with Strong being sent hard into the barricade and we take a break.

We come back with Strong hitting a dropkick into an Angle Slam. The running forearms in the ropes set up a failed Strong Hold attempt, allowing Takeshita to hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. A super Raging Fire is blocked so Strong backbreakers him onto the turnbuckle for two instead. They strike it out until a fireman’s carry gutbuster rocks Takeshita. The Sick Kick misses so Strong German suplexes him for two. The running knee sets up Raging Fire to give Takeshita the pin at 13:17.

Rating: B. Commentary pointed out that Strong was taking Kyle O’Reilly’s place and that makes sense, as O’Reilly has been on a bit of a roll as of late. Other than that, this was pretty much exactly what you would have expected from these two, as Strong put up a good fight but wasn’t enough to overcome the rather complete Takeshita in the end. Still though, good main event and Takeshita had to work for it.

Blue League Standings

Jon Moxley – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 3 points, 4 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B-. Perfectly fine show here with some good matches, though it had some weak spots in there as well. The good thing is you can easily focus on the Continental Classic, which is going to eat up a bunch of time on any given show. At the same time, there were some weaker points on this show as well and they dragged the good stuff down. Not bad at all overall, but one where you should just catch a recap rather than watch the full thing.

Results
Pac b. Mike Bailey – Brutalizer
Daniel Garcia b. Matt Menard – Bulldog choke
Outrunners/Dalton Castle b. MxM Collection/Johnny TV – Bang A Rang to Mansoor
Eddie Kingston b. Katsuyori Shibata – DDT
Thekla b. Tay Melo – Stomp
Konosuke Takeshita b. Roderick Strong – Raging Fire

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Dynamite
Date: November 12, 2025
Location: First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Bryan Danielson, Tony Schiavone

It’s time to get back to one of the biggest shows of the year with Blood & Guts. This time though that means a pair of matches as the women are getting a chance as well. Other than that, Powerhouse Hobbs is facing Hangman Page in a falls count anywhere match, so this is going to be a violent night. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

For the sake of simplicity, here are the rules for Blood & Guts for both matches:

• One entrant from each team starts for five minutes.
• The team with the advantage gets to send in its second entrant.
• Every “few” minutes another entrant enters.
• Once all entrants are in, the first pin or submission wins.

Team Statlander vs. Team Mone

Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, Jamie Hayter, Mina Shirakawa, Toni Storm
Mercedes Mone, Skye Blue, Julia Hart, Thekla, Megan Bayne, Marina Shafir

Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue start things off and they go straight to the hockey fight style. Nightingale puts her hair up and commentary knows that’s going to be serious. They head over to the space between the ropes and the cage, with Nightingale slingshot alley ooping her into the steel. A Pounce sends Blue into the cage and she’s already busted open. Blue tries to fight out of the corner and it’s Julia Hart in to give the villains control (not quite five minutes but that’s going to happen).

Hart hammers away and starts looking for something in the turnbuckle pad. Nightingale manages to get to the other ring but a flipping elbow rocks her again. Harley Cameron is in to even things up and it’s a Sling Blade to take Hart down. Cameron slips out of a double suplex and Nightingale is there with a double clothesline. A baseball slide dropkick in to a chair hits Hart in the corner and we take a break.

We come back with Thekla coming in to uneven things up and house is quickly cleaned. Thekla whips out a belt to start some whipping and stereo dropkicks have Nightingale and Cameron in trouble. Jamie Hayter comes in to make it 3-3 and cleans house with a trashcan lid. That’s not enough so she grabs a barbed wire kendo stick. The tacks are poured out and Thekla is sent face first into them for a crash that should have been a bigger deal.

Megan Bayne is in at #4 and starts wrecking people, including a double suplex to Cameron and Nightingale. Hayter slugs away until Cameron’s trashcan lid to the back has no effect on Bayne. Kris Statlander evens things up again (wearing the title, which seems inconvenient), including a Vader Bomb. The injured Queen Aminata chases off the also injured Penelope Ford and we get the Statlander vs. Bayne showdown as we take another break.

We come back again with Cameron climbing the structure and Bayne giving chase, only for Bayne to be powerbombed down. Everyone is down and Mercedes Mone (yes the belts are at ringside) is in for the next to last advantage. House is quickly cleaned, including a tornado DDT to send Statlander onto the belt. Since we don’t have enough weapons (and no one in the other ring), Mone goes outside and grabs some belts for her team to use as weapons.

Mina Shirakawa comes in with a barbed wire baseball bat, which she throws at Bayne for a dropkick. Shirakawa goes after Mone until Marina Shafir completes her team. Shafir takes Statlander outside and knocks her into a bed of nails before beating up Hayter inside. Toni Storm completes the field and NOW we can officially have a submission to end the match. Storm hits Shafir in the face, which is shrugged off so Storm can be sent into the cage.

With that not working, Storm dips her taped hands into a bucket of broken glass, because when you can go Ian Rotten, you go Ian Rotten. A double DDT puts Bayne down and we take a break (now that the match can end). We come back with Blue being powerbombed onto a table, which doesn’t break. Statlander drops an elbow onto Blue….and the table only half breaks. That’s enough to set up the parade of knockdowns until Cameron whips out the puppet (oh no). Mone pulls it away….and reveals the brass knuckles under the puppet (nice save), which knock Mone silly.

Hart and Thekla slip through part of the cage and go outside to take the key from the referee, meaning the fight can go to the floor. Statlander and Mone go up, with Statlander Samoan dropping her through the belt table. The villains lock the cage, with a bunch of Statlander’s team outside. Storm pours out the bucket of glass and it’s a double DDT to send Shafir into said glass.

Back up and Shafir breaks a mirror over Storm’s head, leaving Statlander to superplex Bayne between the rings. Shirakawa grabs a figure four with the barbed wire baseball bat on Bayne, only for Shafir to….put glass in her foot and stomp Shirakawa for the save. Why she couldn’t have just, like, stomped her without injuring herself, isn’t clear. That’s enough for the villains to hold Storm while Shafir chokes Shirakawa. Bayne whips Shirakawa with a belt until Storm gives up to save her at 46:09.

Rating: B-. I’m never quite sure what to think of these things. I did like a lot of this and it was violent, but they could have dropped a member or two per team and, of course, shortened it a lot. The ending was fine enough as Storm and Shirakawa have been established as having that kind of relationship, but I’m not sure how good it was for a finish.

It kind of sums up the underlying problem with the match: I’m not quite sure what the major feud was supposed to be. It started with Thekla vs. Hayter, but that’s not exactly a top story. They had a bunch of stuff going on here, and the match felt like it was too much going on at once. As usual, it needs to be trimmed down, which is a regular issue for AEW.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, who had a heck of a fight last week.

In the back, the Don Callis Family lays out Jurassic Express. The Young Bucks pop up and say it was a message. Don Callis wants an answer about the Bucks joining next week.

Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Non-title and Falls Count Anywhere. Page has taped up ribs and Hobbs rips off a turnbuckle pad to start. They both tease sending each other into the buckle until Page knocks him into the other ring. Page misses a shot and gets knocked down with a clothesline. Hobbs heads outside but takes too long, allowing Hobbs to hit a shot from the apron. A charge misses Page and only hits the steps but Hobbs is right back up to slam page onto various things.

Hobbs is World’s Strongest Slammed onto the steps Page backdropping Hobbs off the announcers’ table (Hobbs landed on his tailbone and that looked ROUGH). Page clotheslines him over the barricade and they go into the crowd, with Page hitting a moonsault in the people. Hobbs cuts him off with a spinebuster through a table and they go up into the crowd. Page takes his boot off for a running shot to the face, knocking Hobbs off a balcony and through a table (which explodes) to give Page the pin at 14:11.

Rating: B+. I got into this one as it felt like Page was fighting against a monster and had to do whatever he could to survive. I cringed more at the backdrop off the table than anything in the cage match, as that’s the kind of thing that makes it look like more of a painful fight. Page came off like he was in a war here and Hobbs felt like a monster. Hobbs losing again isn’t great to see, but at least he held his own in there.

Post match the Opps run in to go after Page, with the cage lowering. Eddie Kingston and Hook comes out for the save just in time. Page turns the Full Gear match into a cage match. Of course.

Tony Schiavone brings out Ricky Steamboat for a special appearance. He talks about his history in this territory and his history around here with Ric Flair. The story is cut off by FTR (Steamboat: “I KNOW HIM!”), with Stokely Hathaway introducing himself to Steamboat. As Steamboat makes fun of Hathaway’s height, Stokely says he wants his favorite wrestler front row at Full Gear. Hathaway: “You got Macho Man’s phone number?”

FTR brags about making Steamboat look good in his retirement match and Harwood mentions Steamboat being his trainer. The thing is…Steamboat didn’t teach him a thing. Steamboat says he didn’t teach Harwood to have his attitude, but Harwood says Steamboat taught him to save his money.

If he and Ric Flair (who hasn’t been seen) followed that advice, they wouldn’t have to be here tonight. The brawl is teased with FTR telling Steamboat to get out and Steamboat saying he’s going to play it smart here. FTR jump shim so Bandido and Brody King make the save, with Steamboat getting in a few chops to send the villains running. This was WAY too long and dragged badly.

Team Death Riders vs. Team Darby Allin

Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli, Pac
Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly

Allin and Yuta start things off and they go straight to the floor, with Allin missing a charge and crashing into the barricade. They get back inside with Allin hitting a quick Coffin Drop from the cage to a standing Yuta. That’s enough to send Yuta to the other ring to reach for Allin’s skateboard. Allin gives him a Code Red and uses the thumbtacks on the back to cut Yuta open. Orange Cassidy is in to give the good guys the advantage and BREAKS HIS OWN SUNGLASSES. He uses the pieces to stab Yuta in the head (I’ve seen worse ideas) and Yuta is bleeding even more.

A jumping skateboard shot to the back has Yuta down again as Daniel Garcia is in to even things up. Garcia chokes Allin and Cassidy at the same time and a double chain shot puts Cassidy down. We take a break and come back with Garcia and Yuta being tied up with the chain as Mark Briscoe joins the fray. Well he’s supposed to at least as he has been attacked in the back.

Roderick Strong goes instead to buy time and drops Yuta onto Garcia. Claudio Castagnoli evens things up and sends Strong into a chair in the corner. Cassidy chokes Castagnoli….who swings Allin at the same time, because that’s something a human can do. The bleeding Strong’s head is rubbed into the cage and one heck of an uppercut drops Allin. Kyle O’Reilly is in as the next to last member of his team but Garcia and Yuta are back up with chair shots.

Yuta gives Allin a piledriver on the chair and we take another break. We come back again with Jon Moxley coming in and stabs O’Reilly in the head with a fork. Strong is stabbed in the head and Allin is stabbed in the back…and Briscoe isn’t here as Moxley stabs Strong with a piece of the mirror from the first match. We get word that the Don Callis Family attacked Briscoe as Allin is piledriven into a pile of glass. That’s enough to send us to another break and we come back again with Pac completing the field (with the villains up 5-4).

Allin Coffin Drops from the roof onto everyone else, leaving the very bloody Strong to get beaten up by Pac. One heck of a running clothesline drops Allin….and here is Briscoe with some boltcutters to break into the cage. Briscoe sends a toolbox into the ring and the good guys find some tools. Moxley shrugs off a wrench shot (of course) as Briscoe sets up a table on the floor. Garcia is put on the table and Briscoe goes up the cage, only for Garcia to move before the big jump.

Yuta joins Briscoe on top so Briscoe and O’Reilly rig up a pulley system to get some chairs up there. Yuta has to low blow his way out of a Jay Driller and we take one more break. We come back with Briscoe hitting the Jay Driller to Yuta onto a chair on top of the cage as Allin chokes Moxley with a hammer. Cue Gabe Kidd to drag Allin up the aisle as Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets.

They are then stapled as Kidd chokes Allin on the stage. Pac pulls All on top of the entrance…and Kidd lights some tables on fire. Pac is sent through the flaming tables and Kidd is taken away by security. Moxley chokes O’Reilly with a chain and gets flipped off so Castagnoli wraps a chair around O’Reilly’s neck. Cassidy rips the staples out of his pockets and Strong is up with some running knees. The Orange Punch hits Moxley and Garcia is sent into a table in the corner, with Garcia bouncing off of it in a nasty crash.

A powerbomb sends Yuta into (not through) another table in another corner before he gets whipped through it. Cassidy counters Swiss Death into an Orange Punch but Strong can’t put Castagnoli through the table (Where did they get these things from?). Another Orange Punch knocks Moxley into an ankle lock, which is reversed into the bulldog choke. That’s reversed into an ankle lock with a grapevine and Moxley taps at 54:07.

Rating: C. Was it a disaster? No. Was it bad? Not really. What it was instead was a FAR too long match that felt like it was just there to fill in time, with stuff like the Allin being sent through a burning table just being a moment in a long series of them. It’s another match that could have had nearly half an hour cut out without losing much. Now that being said, the ending was rather good and tied in with the bigger Moxley story. That part was well done, but it came at the end of a very long match and it didn’t have as much of an impact that it could have had otherwise.

Overall Rating: B-. This is just what Blood & Guts is and that isn’t a surprise anymore. It goes on far longer than it needs to and doesn’t exactly make me care about most of the people involved. I’m certainly not more interested in seeing Full Gear (which is now going to feature a smaller cage match) and that’s not a great feeling. The non-cage match here was very good, but the big focus was on Blood & Guts, which was pretty much exactly what you would have been expecting.

Results
Team Mone b. Team Statlander when Storm submitted
Hangman Page b. Powerhouse Hobbs – Boot to the head
Team Allin b. Team Moxley – Ankle lock to Moxley

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: November 8, 2025
Location: Bayou Music Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the last show before Blood & Guts and as luck would have it, we’ll be getting to see what happens with the two advantage series. That should be enough to carry most of the show, but other than that, we’re likely in for some build towards Full Gear, which is coming up as well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

FTR vs. Bang Bang Gang

Stokely Hathaway is here with FTR. Gunn starts with the Guns Up pose to Harwood before taking Wheeler down in an armbar. That’s broken up and it’s off to Harwood vs. Robinson as things slow down a bit. Robinson hammers away in the corner but is smart enough to catch Wheeler with a spinning high crossbody.

Harwood is taken out again but Wheeler is back in with a chop block to take Robinson down. Robinson fights out of trouble and gets two off a sunset flip, followed by a double DDT. Gunn gets the tag and cleans house, including busting out the old Quick Draw. Wheeler low bridges Gunn to the floor though and we take a break.

We come back with Robinson coming in to clean house, including a leg lariat to Harwood. A slingshot dive drops Wheeler but Harwood rolls through a high crossbody and grabs the tights for two. Cue Bandido and Gravity to go after Hathaway, though they stop to superkick Wheeler. The Fameasser of the middle rope staggers Harwood and the forward DDT gives Robinson the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. They certainly kept the energy up here and it made for a hot opener. At the very least, I rather like seeing the Gang get a nice win, as they’ve been doing nothing for such a long time now. Hopefully this is a sign that they’re getting back on their feet, as it’s not like they had much further to fall.

Kyle Fletcher is ready to beat up Ace Austin tonight and Mark Briscoe at Full Gear. Kazuchika Okada comes in to say they’ll win and be Proto-Kada. Fletcher likes it…I think?

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Ace Austin

Fletcher is defending. They fight over wrist control to start with Fletcher taking him down and striking a double biceps pose. Back up and Austin knocks him outside for an early breather so things can reset a bit. A big boot puts Austin down but he’s right back with la majistral for two. Fletcher backbreakers him into a swinging full nelson slam for two and we take a break.

We come back with Austin striking away, setting up a Russian legsweep. Fletcher bails out to the floor, where he counters a kick to the chest into a powerbomb onto the apron. Back in and the sitout Last Ride gets two on Austin, who is right back with some corner clotheslines.

A super hurricanrana plants Fletcher though and a faceplant gives Austin two. The Fold misses though and Fletcher lawn darts him into the corner. Austin fights back up but another Fold attempt is countered into a brainbuster for two. They trade kicks to the head until Fletcher takes him up top for the brainbuster onto the turnbuckle to retain at 14:38.

Rating: B. Good stuff here, as Austin is someone who has proven himself well in AEW thus far and Fletcher is rather dependable to put it mildly. This is the match designed to have Austin become a big deal and that’s a good way for him to go. Then again, that’s how a lot of people are treated in AEW and the results have been a mixed bag of success.

We look at Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir joining forces.

Kris Statlander thinks Mercedes Mone has a lot of things that she’ll never have, but Statlander has the focus. Statlander will follow her into Blood & Guts and then on to Full Gear to beat her once and for all.

The Don Callis Family wants the Death Riders to destroy Mark Briscoe and offers them favors for a job well done. Jon Moxley isn’t interested and a lot of staring ensues.

Anna Jay/Tay Melo vs. Hyan/Maya World

Melo takes Hyan into the corner to take over and Jay comes in to hammer away. World makes a save but gets sent outside, meaning it’s a Gory Bomb into a knee to the face to finish Hyan at 1:48. Total dominance.

Athena is annoyed at getting pinned by Harley Cameron, who is getting a Ring Of Honor Women’s Title match later this month. Now it’s time for pain in Blood & Guts and then retaining the title.

Women’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Skye Blue vs. Jamie Hayter

Blue’s team is up 1-0 and a win gives them the advantage. They trade some early rollups and go outside, with Hayter giving chance but getting sent into the steps. Back in and Hayter’s spinebuster lets her hammer away but she misses a dropkick. Blue gets two off a basement superkick and we take a break.

We come back with Hayter hitting a middle rope dropkick for two, followed by a big boot for the same. They trade forearms and then headbutts, with Hayter falling on top for two. Blue powerbombs her out of the corner for the same but Code Blue is countered. Hayterade gives Hayter the pin at 10:06.

Rating: B-. They weren’t exactly hiding the fact that Hayter was going to win here as otherwise there wouldn’t have been another match. Hayter continues to rise up the rankings and hopefully she’s able to get back into the title picture sooner than later. Blue is someone who can take losses without losing much and it won’t hurt her, so this was fine.

Post match the Triangle Of Madness run in for the beatdown but Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale make the save.

Women’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Thekla vs. Harley Cameron

For the advantage. It’s a brawl to start with the fans entirely behind Cameron in quite the reaction. They go outside with Cameron hitting a Russian legsweep before heading back inside. Thekla pulls her out of the corner for a face first crash onto the buckle, followed by a suplex on the floor. Thekla adds another one and we take a break with Cameron in trouble.

We come back with Cameron getting caught with the upside down choke in the ropes for two. Back up and a running faceplant drops Thekla and Cameron gets to stomp away in the corner. A sling blade gives Cameron two and she headbutts Thekla into the Tree Of Woe for a running dropkicks. That doesn’t get her very far though as Thekla hits a spear for the pin and advantage at 12:04.

Rating: C+. Cameron is getting better in the ring but what matters the most is that the fans love her. You can’t plan that kind of thing and it made for a great step forward for her career. She’s coming up on the biggest singles match of her career, which makes the loss here a bit of a bad idea, but it’s not like Cameron is likely to beat Athena anyway.

Jet Speed aren’t done with FTR and they’re ready to be in the Casino Gauntlet match for the North American Title.

Anthony Bowens insists that the Acclaimed is done. He and Max Caster will both be at the Tailgate Brawl but Tony Khan insists that there is more interest in them working together. Therefore, that’s what will happen at the Tailgate Brawl. Bickering ensues.

Full Gear rundown, oddly with the camera on commentary instead of the graphics.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe, setting up Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs at Blood & Guts.

Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat will both be at Blood & Guts.

Men’s Blood & Guts Advantage Series: Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong

For the advantage. Moxley’s early front facelock is countered into an armbar but he pulls that into a Kimura. That’s broken up so Strong shoves him out to the floor, where Moxley gets to flip off the crowd. Back in and Moxley takes over on the arm again, with Strong being knocked outside for a change. Moxley follows him outside but gets whipped into the steps. Strong tries a suplex but gets dropped onto the steps as we take a break.

We come back with Moxley tying up the legs with an Indian deathlock, sending Strong over to the ropes. A butterfly superplex drops Strong for two but he’s right back with a tiger driver for the same. Moxley tries the bulldog choke, which is escaped just as fast for the slugout. Marina Shafir trips Strong so here is Kyle O’Reilly, who is cut off by Wheeler Yuta.

That earns him an ejection so here is Pac to kick Strong in the face. That’s only good for two so Moxley gets a cross armbreaker, which is quickly escaped. Pac loads up a table at ringside but Strong puts an invading Daniel Garcia through it instead. A full nelson slam sends Moxley onto the steps and….someone (it’s Darby Allin) grabs his leg to make sure Strong wins by countout at 18:10.

Rating: B-. It was a nice brawl and Moxley’s fall continues, but I could go a long, long, long time without seeing the Death Riders doing anything again. It feels like the same “here comes all of them one after another as Moxley does submissions” that we’ve seen forever. In theory the team is mostly done after Blood & Guts, but that feels like it has been the case for a long time now.

Overall Rating: B-. This started really well and then slowed down a good bit. The problem is you’re only going to get so much out of control series for matches that are going to wind up with everyone staring at each other for a big showdown. Full Gear didn’t get a ton of attention here, but odds are that will have a lot of fallout from Dynamite. This was another Collision that would have been better at just an hour, which is so often the case around here.

Results
Bang Bang Gang b. FTR – Forward DDT to Harwood
Kyle Fletcher b. Ace Austin – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Anna Jay/Tay Melo b. Hyan/Maya World – Gory Bomb into a knee to the face to Hyan
Jamie Hayter b. Skye Blue – Hayterade
Thekla b. Harley Cameron – Spear
Roderick Strong b. Jon Moxley via countout

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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