The 2025 Continental Classic kicks off with matches from both leagues. Plus, The Opps hold a championship celebration for new AEW World Champion Samoa Joe. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN3, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
Continental Classic Gold League match: AEW Unified Champion “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada (0-0) vs. “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher (0-0)
It’s a battle of Don Callis Family members to kick off the 2025 Continental Classic with the 2024 champion, Kazuchika Okada, taking on a man who beat him in last year’s tournament in Kyle Fletcher. Darby Allin, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight and “The Bastard” PAC round out the rest of the Gold League. The matches will once again be contested under specialized rules. Each match has a 20-minute time limit, nobody can accompany a wrestler to the ring and interference results in the firing of the offending party from the company. It was a rough Saturday night for both Okada and Fletcher at Full Gear. Okada’s continued bickering with Konosuke Takeshita led to the Family’s attempt at the CMLL World Trios Championships failing when Hechicero got pinned and El Sky Team (Mistico, Mascara Dorada and Neon) retained their titles. While Okada wasn’t able to acquire gold last weekend, Fletcher lost his. In a brutal match, Mark Briscoe outlasted Fletcher to become the new TNT Champion. Bouncing back by winning the Continental Classic would be the perfect tonic for Fletcher, but it won’t be easy. Last year, Fletcher topped the Blue League, going 4-1 with his lone loss coming to Briscoe, before falling in the semis to Will Ospreay. Okada, of course, defeated Ospreay in the final. Though Fletcher is Okada’s stablemate now, he has not forgotten about last year’s loss and will be glad to avenge it. And what about Takeshita? Takeshita won this past summer’s G1-Climax and went on to defeat Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Championship in October. Okada is a four-time G1 winner, with only Antonio Inoki (10) and Masa Chono (five) having won more, and considers himself the greatest tournament wrestler of all-time. Not letting Takeshita show him up and proving himself to be the true centrepiece of the Family is undoubtedly fueling Okada in this year’s tournament. With the stakes high, which of these men will draw first blood.
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Continental Classic Blue League match: Jon Moxley (0-0) vs. Mascara Dorada (0-0)
The beauty of a diverse field in the Continental Classic is you’re going to get some truly intriguing matchups and huge styles clashes. We will see one on Wednesday night when Jon Moxley takes on Mascara Dorada. It’s the latter’s first Continental Classic and the former’s second, following competing in 2023. In fact, Moxley reached the final in 2023 where he fell to Eddie Kingston. Moxley’s Death Riders stablemate Claudio Castagnoli, Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy and Konosuke Takeshita comprise the rest of the Blue League. Mox enters this year’s tournament in what can only be described as a funk. At Full Gear, Moxley once again tapped out to Kyle O’Reilly. It was his fourth straight match against The Conglomeration member in which he couldn’t pick up a victory and the second in a row in which he tapped to the ankle lock. The frustration in Moxley became obvious after the match when he attacked a downed O’Reilly and injured his arm, keeping him out of the tournament. Moxley’s current state hasn’t gone unnoticed by the rest of the Death Riders. After his attack on O’Reilly, Daniel Garcia gave a very quizzical look to Castagnoli, who shot back one of concern in return. All is not well with the Death Riders and, perhaps, the Continental Classic is the kind of thing for Moxley to rediscover his touch. Of course, there’s also the chance this is where everything really goes off the rails. As for Dorada, it’s another chance to make his mark in AEW. The CMLL star has opened eyes every time he’s competed in the company’s ring, including last Saturday night at Full Gear, but he’s still searching for a signature win in the promotion. Participating in the Blue League will certainly offer the opportunity for one and that could come as soon as Wednesday night. Can Moxley bounce back or will Dorada take advantage of his slump to pull off the upset?
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Continental Classic Gold League match: Darby Allin (0-0) vs. “The Jet” Kevin Knight
If there is a breakout candidate among the Continental Classic field in 2025, it just might be Kevin Knight. “The Jet” has been a fixture in the AEW tag-team scene in recent months alongside Mike Bailey as JetSpeed, but the Atlanta-born wrestler is an accomplished singles talent in his own right. Knight participated in New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors this past spring, for a second straight year, where he took on the likes of El Desperado, Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles. A two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion alongside KUSHIDA as the Intergalactic Jet Setters, Knight has also stood across the ring from KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr. and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor among others. A competitor who mixes high-flying with technical prowess, Knight will have his hands full on Wednesday night with Darby Allin. It will be a first-ever meeting between the two men. If there is a similarity between the two it’s their resilience. Each man seems to be at his best with his back up against the wall. The more pressure, the more both Knight and Allin shine. For Allin, the Continental Classic comes around as his blood feud with the Death Riders is still going full bore. This past Saturday night at Full Gear, Allin went one-on-one with PAC, the man who put him through a flaming table during the Blood & Guts match last month, in what “The Bastard” called a pure sporting contest. As it just so happened, that’s not what played out. Thanks to interference from Wheeler YUTA, PAC picked up the victory. Allin will get another shot at PAC during the Continental Classic, but right now he must shift his focus to Knight. Which of these two men can get their tournament started with a victory?
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AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Tournament semi-finals match: Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron) vs. Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart and Skye Blue) (w/ “The Toxic Spider” Thekla)
One of the two teams who will vie for the inaugural AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships will be decided on Wednesday when Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron take on Julia Hart and Skye Blue. The victors on Dynamite will face off with the winners between the Timeless Love Bombs (Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa) and Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir. Both of these teams took part in the four corners match at Full Gear where the winners of the bout would get to choose the stipulation of their semi-finals match in the tournament. Storm won the match for her team with a small package on Cameron. Undaunted, both of these teams will look to rebound on Wednesday night. While all four of these women have shared a ring on multiple occasions, this will mark the first time that this combination of women has faced off in tag action. The history between Nightingale and Hart is the heaviest of the four women. At Dynasty 2024, Nightingale ended Hart’s 155-day reign as TBS Champion. As former TBS Champions, Hart and Nightingale have both held gold in AEW, but Cameron and Blue are still looking for their first belts in the promotion. A win on Dynamite would get them one step closer to that goal. For Nightingale and Cameron, there is also the matter of Thekla. “The Toxic Spider” will undoubtedly make her presence known on Wednesday night and do whatever she can to tilt the match in favour of her stablemates. Can the Babes of Wrath get the better of the Sisters of Sin or will the Triangle of Madness members advance to the final?
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The Opps hold a title celebration for new AEW World Champion Samoa Joe
The Opps pulled a fast one last Saturday night at Full Gear and it resulted in Samoa Joe earning the AEW World Championship for a second time. Joe defeated “Hangman” Adam Page for the title when seemingly former Opps member HOOK waylaid Page with the belt, allowing Joe to pin him. As it turns out, HOOK never left The Opps at all. Since returning from injury in September, HOOK claimed to be angered that the group took in Will Hobbs as his replacement and cast him aside while he was on the shelf. But the hints that something was up were there. HOOK faced off against Joe and The Opps twice and in both matches, he tapped out to the Coquina Clutch very quickly. At the time, it just seemed strange, but in retrospect it was suspicious. With the AEW World Championship and the AEW World Trios Championships in tow, HOOK, Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata and The Opps Dojo army will celebrate Joe on Wednesday night. Though they might be in a festive mood, they should stay on alert because the Cowboy is going to come looking for revenge and he’s not going to be alone. Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland made his return after the main event on Saturday night to help his eternal rival fight off The Opps. Joe might have won the world title, but in doing so, he managed to unite Page and Strickland. Will he be made to regret that decision in a hurry?
