TOP AEW MATCHES OF THE WEEK (+Random Thoughts on Hook, Joe, Hayter): Continental Classic delivers early with three particularly standout matches

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this past week. This was a great week of wrestling, and I think we are really in store for some special wrestling matches coming up over the next month with the Continental Classic. This is probably the most loaded this tournament has ever been talent wise and they already came out of the gate hot with the first week of matches. After a week of over the top violent matches with Blood and Guts and the Full Gear PPV it was a nice palate cleanser to have some straight up wrestling matches this week on Dynamite and Collision.

Pac vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey – Collision 11/27/25

One of the reasons I enjoy the Continental Classic so much is because you get matchups that you would have never really thought about before. Example #1 is this Pac vs. Speedball match. I thought these two had great chemistry together and it was my favorite opening round match of the tournament so far. I also think this was one of Speedball’s best singles matches. It is right up there with his match with Okada for me. Pac has become a bright spot on any show he is on currently. He’s either cutting a great promo or putting on one of the best matches on any show he’s on.

Pac launched Bailey with that avalanche belly to belly mid-way through the match. I could not believe the height Bailey got on that thing. I also loved the spot where they were just booting each other in the face in the center of the ring. I’m usually not a fan of the “ let’s keep hitting each other with the same move back and forth” spot , but I thought it really worked here. I also loved them staring at each other from across the ring while they were both standing on the outside. Then them running into each other with the boots to the face on the outside was a great spot too.

I also thought Speedball had some great kicks in this match. Speedball catching Pac with the heel kick to block the lariat by Pac looked awesome and the double revolution kick to Pac in the corner of the ring also looked great. I really liked Pac using the brutalizer after hitting the lariat to win the match too. I thought it was a great tone setter for how he’s approaching the tournament. He could have won the match after just hitting his running lariat, but he added that little extra by locking in the brutalizer.

Kazuchika Okada (AEW Unified Champion) vs. Kyle Fletcher – Dynamite 11/26/25

I needed a Tylenol after hearing Excalibur explain what would happen to Okada’s title in this tournament. I had to rewind the show to hear him explain the scenarios again. Now, I fully understand that may totally be a “me” problem, but something tells me I am probably not the only one that was confused by it.

Regardless of all that though, I really enjoyed this match. I mean the only way these two would have a bad match together would be if they did it on purpose. Luckily for us they didn’t do that. I loved the beginning of this match where they shook hands, but then they both went to kick each other and caught each other’s boot. Okada has the best drop kick I’ve ever seen and every time he hits it; I’m amazed at how perfect it is. Fletcher also hit his Michinoku Driver, and it is easily my favorite move he does in every match.

The height and intensity he hits it with is so good. Fletcher also launched Okada into the turnbuckle like a dart in this match and Okada’s head snapped back so hard on it. I also really liked the counter by Fletcher when he was going to get hit by the rainmaker and countered it into a pin. The near-fall on that pin got me. I thought it would have been a good way to end the match and protect Okada at the same time.

Don Callis had a great line on commentary in this one too. He said, “ we are watching a couple of one percenters here”. I thought that was such a great way to sum up this match. Just two guys who were born to be in that ring. Just the top of the food chain in terms of in ring talent.

I was happy they gave the win to Fletcher here. I think he needed it after that loss to Mark Briscoe at Full Gear. I think it was a mistake to take the TNT title off Fletcher, but I’m happy they gave him the opening round win here. I also like that Okada will be playing from behind in the tournament now. It adds another layer of interest to see how he will battle back to earn the points he needs to keep his title.

Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight – Dynamite 11/26/25

I try to watch Dynamite when it is on live as much as possible. I like to be able to have on the spot thoughts and opinions of what I’m watching. I don’t like watching it the next day or a couple days later because not only do things get spoiled, but also because I will go into a show with a preconceived notion of what I’m going to watch because I’ve heard other opinions of the show from wrestling articles or podcasts.

This match is a prime example of that. I thought this was a good match, don’t get me wrong, but I thought I was going to be blown away by this match the way it was being talked about. Kevin Knight looked good, and it was his best showing as a singles competitor, but my god people were talking about him like he was the next breakout star of AEW. Sorry to be “that guy” but how many times have we done this song and dance with wrestlers in AEW?

A guy has a great match, pulls an upset and then suddenly he’s the next big thing possibly. Listen, it would be cool to see Kevin Knight play the underdog role in this tournament and go on a run. Have some great matches, pull another upset or two and possibly be the talk of the tournament. I just find it hard to believe it happens with how loaded this tournament is. I’ll be the first to put my hand up and say, “I’m wrong”, but I don’t think I’m going to be.

Let’s talk about the match now after I just threw cold water on the whole thing shall we. That coast to coast Kevin Knight hit was a thing of beauty. I love how he waited until the last possible second to extend his legs into Darby. He got as much momentum in the air as he possibly could and kicked the hell out of Darby. His moonsault off the barricade early in the match was a cool spot too. Darby caught his leg off the rope awkwardly early in the match and whenever a wrestler hits their leg like that on the rope, I just pray they don’t tear an ACL.

It’s how Charlotte Flair tore her acl and it’s just such a dangerous way to hit the ropes. He was definitely alright though because later in the match he smoked Knight with a drop kick off the ramp to the outside and really knocked the hell out of Knight with it. I thought the flying lariat over the top rope by Kevin Knight was also a great spot. They got the perfect camera angle on it, and it looked like Knight was flying. Darby can take the loss here and I imagine they tell the story of how Darby’s injuries and recklessness in the ring is starting to catch up to him.

Random Notes

– Samoa Joe has just been off on the mic in this Hangman storyline. He’s too good to be doing this typical heel promo stuff he’s doing. That’s lazy and he’s not lazy.

– If Hook is going to be the “lynchpin,” to quote Samoa Joe, as to why he was able to pull one over on Hangman, then I’m going to need Hook to change his appearance. I think Hook should have come out in a suit this week and should have changed his hair. He was dressed like a kid. I can’t take that seriously. There is a reason Dom Mysterio changed up his look. He looked like a kid too. This is a storyline with some real bad asses: Swerve, Hangman, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, Shibata. The “lynchpin” cannot be a guy who comes out to music that you hear in an Italian restaurant and looks like he’s about to hop on his skateboard and go meet his friends at Taco Bell.

– Kris Statlander beat Mercedes Mone at Full Gear, and she barely got a reaction when she was in front of the live crowd for the first time on Collision. It’s not working. This thing needs an intervention quickly.

– Jaime Hayter is a badass. This Austin Powers look she has been wearing since her return is doing her no favors. It’s goofy and the outfit she wore on Collision this week was not great. I think this ’60s-’70s English vibe she is going for is diminishing the bad ass that she is. I give her credit for trying something different, but I think she should go back to the look she had when she was the AEW women’s champion and was the most over she ever was.