AEW’S TOP MATCHES OF THE WEEK: Continental Classic continues to be a showcase of novel matches, and one man so far has been the star

I am really starting to appreciate the story that Jon Moxley is telling. I think this is the most entertaining he’s been since the beginning of the Death Riders run.

One of the most underrated things about him is the story he can tell with just his facial expressions. He put a simple ankle lock on Konosuke Takeshita on Collision and just by his facial expressions while he had Takeshita in the ankle lock you would have thought he was really ripping Takeshita’s ankle clean off his leg.

I also love the absolute desperation he has on his face in these matches lately. You can feel the agony he’s going through not being able to put his opponents away during these matches the last couple months.

I’ll just tell you right now he’s on the list twice this week because I thought he had the best match on both Dynamite and Collision this week. I was one of the many people who was calling for Moxley to take a break after his loss to “Hangman” Adam Page at All In. Thank God he didn’t.

Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli – Dynamite 12/3/25

This was just a good ol’ fashioned fight and I loved every minute of it. I also loved Renee Paquette doing her sideline report while Moxley was making his way to the ring. It Gave it a real “big fight” feel. They should really keep doing that for the Continental Classic. Makes it feel like you are watching a big sporting event. I wouldn’t even mind her interviewing the wrestlers as they are walking out to the ring to get their thoughts right before they get to ring for their match. I think overall the production side of AEW has really taken a big leap recently.

Claudio having Pac, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta with him at the beginning of his entrance was clearly done just to get people talking about the possible split of the group. Marina Shafir definitely forgot she couldn’t be ringside for these Continental Classic matches, and it made me laugh when you could see it click in her head she couldn’t be there when the ref gave her the boot to the back.

I loved Moxley shaking his head at Claudio after he took a couple shots from Claudio in the early onset of the match. I love Moxley being like “That’s all you got?” and then going right back at Claudio. It reminded me of a boxer testing out his opponents punching power at the beginning of the match.

I also thought this was a good use of blood; Moxley’s face after Claudio swung him after being busted open was straight out of a horror movie. Daniel Bryan had a good line about Moxley being “very comfortable with the taste of iron in is mouth.” I thought that was just a hell of a line and could be a t-shirt.

This match was about as hard-hitting and physical as you are going to get, and I appreciated them for just beating the hell out of each other. I can’t say the same for Pac and Okada earlier on in the night. Those two didn’t even take it out of first gear in their match. I know it’s a long tournament and they both have a lot of wear on the tires, but they could have given us more than what they did.

I loved the ending of this match with Claudio hitting Moxley with that uppercut out of nowhere. I thought maybe they would have copped out here and had them go to a tie so I’m glad we got an actual finish here. Moxley sold the absolute agony of losing another match after this one and I thought Marina Shafir did a great job selling the worry on her face as she kneeled next to Moxley after the match. She knows what’s coming.

Kyle Fletcher vs. Kevin Knight – Dynamite 12/3/25

After I threw cold water on Kevin Knight’s hype last week, it was inevitable that he was going to come back this week and throw it right back in my face. I would still like to hear Kevin Knight speak on TV about this tournament, what he’s trying to prove, his journey to get here, though. That goes back to my thoughts on these Renee Paquette sideline interviews for the Continental Classic tournament. Have her walk with Knight from the locker room to the entrance stage and have him talk about what this tournament can do for his career and what he’s trying to prove to the fans and the other wrestlers in the tournament.

Knight and Fletcher put on an absolute show this week on Dynamite. I loved Fletcher just kicking Knight in the face at the beginning of the match and then just posing in his face after, then Knight walking over Fletcher’s back a couple minutes later and then posing in his face. Bryan Danielson also had another great line of commentary regarding Kevin Knight’s height and how he may be overlooked and may not be able to compete with the bigger guys on the roster. Bryan talked about how he was overlooked for his height too, but was still able to compete and beat the bigger guys he wrestled.

Knight had a beautiful springboard off the ropes to the outside on Fletcher in this match and had a beautiful dropkick in this match that landed flush on Fletcher’s face. One of the best dropkicks on the roster I’ve seen. The height Knight can achieve on these springboards is ridiculous.

They played up Knight having a lack of experience coming into play, though, when he didn’t cover Fletcher after the Coast to Coast he hit. I liked that little wrinkle they threw in there and I liked commentary jumping all over it too. The last three minutes of this match were insane with the false finishes, and I thought Fletcher winning was the right call here.

I think all the focus should be on Fletcher. AEW needs its next crop of stars and Fletcher should be right at the top of that list. I know that everyone is expecting an Okada vs. Takeshita final, but I don’t think that their eventual match will be downgraded at all if it isn’t in the finals of this tournament. I think Fletcher should be the one to knock off Okada to be crowned the tournament winner. I think Fletcher is too important to just be “ a guy” in this tournament.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita – Collision 12/6/25

This was one of the best matches on Collision in a while. What an embarrassment of riches this AEW roster is that a match like this can just be on a random Collision in December. I know that they are trying to get more eyeballs on Collision and having matches like this can do that, but man I thought the set up for Collision this week really looked bad, and that venue really did not look good on TV. I feel like this should have been a Dynamite match. If you haven’t watched this match, I really suggest you go watch.

I like this new thing in these Moxley matches where his opponent just focuses on his lower leg because they know he is susceptible to tapping now. I also thought Moxley sold the hell out of his ankle injury. It was a little cartoonish at times I thought, but Mox’s facials are just so good and the way he drags his leg like it’s a tree trunk attached to his body makes me laugh. I also loved these two trading off German suplex’ s and then immediately going into a double clothesline after. I also loved Moxley’s stomp to Takeshita to the ring apron.

When the announce table fell apart while Takeshita was clearing it off and then he just decided to pick Moxley up anyway and just throw him into the broken table, I think was my favorite moment from both Collision and Dynamite. He just chucked him right into the broken pieces of the table. I think many other people would have just given up on the spot, so I’m glad he didn’t.

I also liked Moxley playing possum towards the end of the match and turning that into a quick rollup on Takeshita. Desperate times call for desperate measures for Moxley. I liked Moxley losing again as well. I hope they keep up this slow burn for a little while longer.

Random Thoughts

– The women’s tag match on Dynamite was a mess. Don’t waste Toni Storm like that.

– Does Ricochet call his fan’s “ Frequent Flyers?!” How have I missed that? That’s incredible.

– What the hell took Kenny Omega so long to get to the ring to make the save this week?

– Excellent “Babes of Wrath” vignette this week on Dynamite. I wouldn’t be mad if they won the titles at Winter is Coming this week.

– Hangman sure does love to yell, huh?

– I don’t like FTR calling Juice Robinson “ Mr. Storm”. By doing that you are diminishing Toni Storm. You’re saying that Juice Robinson is an embarrassment because his wife is a bigger star than him. You’re insinuating that the man should always be a bigger star. I got news for FTR. She’s a bigger and more important star to AEW than them as well.