AEW Collision live results: Continental Classic Blue League matches
The Blue League matches in AEW’s Continental Classic tournament begin on Saturday.
Two matches kick off the Blue League on AEW Collision. Claudio Castagnoli will face Daniel Garcia, and ROH World Champion & NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will face Brody King.
Other participants in the Blue League include Andrade El Idolo and Bryan Danielson, the latter of whom is recovering from an orbital bone injury.
The Continental Classic started on Wednesday with Jon Moxley, Jay White, and Swerve Strickland earning three points each. The winner of the tournament, which will be determined at AEW’s Worlds End on December 30 in Long Island, will become a new Triple Crown champion in AEW consolidating the ROH World Championship, New Japan Strong Openweight Championship, and the new AEW Continental Championship into a new Triple Crown Championship.
Collision will start at 8 pm ET. It will follow AEW Rampage, which is airing at a special time due to NHL coverage.
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The pre-roll videos returned, as we got words from the competitors in the Continental Classic Blue League before Sir Elton John welcomed us to Collision. Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
Continental Classic Blue League Match – Claudio Castagnoli [3] defeated Daniel Garcia [0]
The Continental Classic is what I want out of AEW, as the big fight feel and stakes of the tournament will only rise after every match. Garcia is a prime candidate for someone who will benefit from this tournament even if he doesn’t win it.
Castagnoli quickly caught Garcia with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a nearfall. Garcia jumped into a guillotine choke, but Castagnoli powered Garcia up-and-over with a suplex. Castagnoli shrugged off chops and hit a European uppercut. Castagnoli clubbered Garcia in the corner, drilling him with another uppercut as he fought back. Garcia sent Castagnoli to the apron and locked on a choke before kneeing him off of the apron.
Garcia did his dance to a pop before following Castagnoli to the floor and dropkicking him into the barricade. Garcia went for another dropkick, but Castagnoli caught him and swung him repeatedly into the barricade as we went to a commercial. Garcia fought back as we came back from the commercial, countering the Swiss Death uppercut with another guillotine. Garcia transitioned into a rear naked choke, but Castagnoli forced him into the corner.
Garcia caught Castagnoli with an O’Connor Roll before transitioning into an Ankle Lock. Castagnoli fought out and dropped Garcia with a lariat. Castagnoli dropped Garcia again with a short-arm lariat for a nearfall. Garcia rolled up and over the Ricola Bomb and went for the Dragon Tamer, but Castagnoli countered into a Sharpshooter of his own.
Garcia hooked Castagnoli’s head and rolled him up for a nearfall. Castagnoli hit the Swiss Death uppercut for a nearfall, then followed it with a heavy uppercut and a Ricola Bomb for the win.
Eddie Kingston was backstage complaining that the cold open promo wasn’t enough. Kingston accomplished his dream of winning the ROH Title and wrestling in Japan, and he put both the ROH and NJPW STRONG Titles on the line in this tournament to make the Continental Classic the most prestigious tournament in the United States. He needed to get ready for his match against King, asking the off-screen producer if he could wrap it up.
Handicap Match – Killswitch defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)
A fine piece of business, moving the Copeland/Christian story forward.
The renamed Killswitch made quick work of both Boys, dropping one with a chokeslam over the ropes onto the apron. He dropped the other with the Extinction lariat for the win. After the match, Killswitch chokeslammed a Boy onto an open chair before Adam Copeland’s music hit.
Copeland came out from the crowd with a chair, leveling Killswitch repeatedly with the chair. Copeland pulled the leg off of the chair and locked Killswitch in a crossface. Copeland hit Killswitch with the Con-Chair-To. Killswitch crawled onto his hands, so Copeland curb stomped his head into the chair before hitting a second Con-Chair-To.
After a commercial break, Lexy Nair tried to get a word with Adam Copeland, but Copeland told her to leave and said what he needed to say to the camera. Copeland was upset that Christian Cage couldn’t get over his ego and kept pushing Copeland by mentioning his family and threatening to break his neck. Copeland said that he had two heads on his wall now in Nick Wayne and Killswitch. He wanted to take Cage’s TNT Title because it was the most important thing in Cage’s world and challenged Cage to a title match on the December 6th Dynamite in Montreal.
The House of Black (Malachi Black & Buddy Matthews) defeated Komander & Gravity
A bad night at the office for Gravity. I talk about style clashes a lot, and this was an example of one not going smoothly. These guys were still able to get the crowd into the match despite the communication issues and get an effective win for the House of Black.
After the opening exchange, Gravity caught Matthews with a German suplex. Matthews booted Gravity before tagging in Black. Black and Gravity had some miscommunication before Komander tagged in with a high crossbody. Black took Komander down with a German suplex after a Matthews distraction as we went to a commercial.
The House of Black held control over Komander as we came back from the break. Komander got the tag out to Gravity, who ran wild on both men. Matthews ran Gravity into a knee from Black, but Komander tagged in and ran wild. Komander hit a gutbuster on Black for a nearfall. House of Black ganged up on Komander, but Gravity clunkily got both men to the outside. Black and Matthews caught Gravity on a dive, but Gravity escaped and got them into position for Komander’s rope walk dive.
The luchadors went to the top rope, but both met knees from Black and Matthews. They hit stereo knees on both men, then drilled Gravity with pop-up knees. They isolated Komander, forcing him to crawl to Black before Matthews curb-stomped him for the win.
Action Andretti & Darius Martin were backstage. After a commercial interruption, they welcomed Dante Martin, who also got interrupted by a commercial. I assume we’ll be seeing Dante back in action soon, which is good news.
House Rules Match for TBS Championship: Julia Hart defeated Lady Frost to retain
Lady Frost chose No Countouts as her stipulation. Frost got some strikes early before Hart escaped to the floor. Frost went to the apron and cartwheeled out of the way of one attack before Hart swept her legs out from under her. Hart took advantage of the lack of countouts by pinballing Frost around ringside.
Hart grabbed a chair before the referee admonished her, as there would still be disqualifications. Frost sent Hart into the stairs before attempting a moonsault off of the steps, but Hart moved out of the way. Hart booted Frost before sitting her in the chair and hitting a running lariat that sent Frost rolling down the ramp. Back in the ring, Frost fired up with strikes. Hart cut her off with the rabbit lariat before locking on the Hartless submission for the win.
Powerhouse Hobbs & Don Callis were backstage with Lexy Nair. Callis wondered how Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega earned a title shot when Hobbs single-handedly destroyed them the last time they were in the ring together. Callis said that Hobbs could take them out by himself again, with Hobbs reiterating that he was big, black, and jacked.
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
A good TV match. The House of Black still has issues with FTR for some reason. I don’t expect the CM Punk reference to lead to anything, although it is funny that it happened here on the same night as Survivor Series in Chicago.
Vincent started with Wheeler, attacking Wheeler’s taped-up ribs. Wheeler came back with a shoulder block before tagging in Harwood, who worked together to take Vincent down with a double-team. Vincent quickly got back in control before tagging Dutch, who dropped Harwood with a lariat. Wires got crossed on a crossbody attempt, leading to Harwood biting his way out of a bearhug. Harwood sent Vincent out of the ring on top of Dutch as we went to a commercial.
We came back from commercial with Harwood fighting his way free of the Righteous. The commentators let us know that they would be replaying the Top Flight promo from earlier without commercial interruption before letting us know that Dynamite would be in Minneapolis this week. Harwood slid through Vincent’s legs before getting a tag out to Harwood, who ran wild. After a blind tag, Dutch caught Wheeler with a Bossman Slam for a nearfall.
The Righteous set up for Autumn Sunshine, but Wheeler sent Vincent into Dutch. Wheeler sent Vincent into the corner before Harwood blind tagged in and hit the Shatter Machine for the win.
After the match, Malachi Black and Buddy Matthews made their way to the ring from the crowd. Black had a microphone and noted that this time, no one would save them. No Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli). No Wheeler Yuta. And no CM Punk. Well then. Black said that this place wasn’t the brotherhood FTR believed it to be before the lights went out. The lights came back up with nothing, as it was just a fakeout.
We got the replay of the Top Flight video, with Dante Martin announcing that he was back.
We got video of Ricky Starks & Big Bill attacking Chris Jericho after Full Gear before Tony Schiavone welcomed them to the ring. Starks called Jericho a “clout vampire,” looking to get a bite on Starks after he won the tag team titles. Big Bill insulted the Golden Jets, saying they looked more like the Golden Girls. Even after suffering seizures from alcohol withdrawal and with no one believing in him, Big Bill knew he would get back to the top, with the tag team titles being proof that he had.
Bill said that Omega and Jericho didn’t realize who they would be in the ring with. Bill and Starks were Jordan and Pippen, while Omega and Jericho weren’t even Kukoc and Wennington. The Golden Jets were more like the guys who gave Jordan his gum before warmups. Starks let the Jets know that he liked his gum minty fresh, and Bill liked his Big Red. Good stuff here.
We got words from the Gold League competitors in the Continental Classic after Dynamite.
Keith Lee defeated Lee Moriarty
Oh hey, they finally followed up on the Keith Lee/Shane Taylor issue from two months ago! This was a good match, with Lee unable to get a hold of Moriarty until the very end. The Lee/Taylor match should be a good battle of the big men. Here’s hoping we get it before next November.
The announcers brought up the issues between Lee and Moriarty’s partner Shane Taylor, in a feud that feels like it began before Wembley. The two men squared off like a video game before trading punches and kicks, leading to Lee pouncing Moriarty. After a commercial, Moriarty went after Lee’s arm. Moriarty jumped into an armbar, but Lee curled Moriarty up and dropped him with a lariat. Moriarty rushed Lee with a boot before hitting a flying bulldog for a nearfall. Moriarty went back to the arm, but Lee hit a shoulder block out of a springboard. Lee hit the Big Bang Catastrophe to score the win.
During this match, the Gold League matches for the Continental Classic were announced for Wednesday’s Dynamite. Rush vs. Mark Briscoe, Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal, and Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White.
Keith Lee was backstage with Lexy Nair. He was tired of the lack of opportunities coming his way and said that “you” were who he wanted, and he knew who he was.
Continental Classic Blue League Match – Brody King [3] defeated Eddie Kingston [0]
This was a nasty, gritty fight, as you would expect from these two. This match ruled, and King scored the first big upset of the tournament.
These two started with shoulder blocks and chops as Nigel McGuinness took shots at Bryan Danielson for being “the poster child for osteoporosis.” King sent Kingston into the corner before hitting the cannonball. King sent Kingston off of the apron with a boot before they traded chops on the floor. King sent Kingston into the stairs, but Kingston dropped King with a drop toe hold into the stairs. King knocked Kingston into the barricade before hitting a running crossbody into him.
King brought Kingston back into the ring and crushed him with a senton. After a commercial, Kingston fought back with a lariat. Kingston hit the machine gun chops, but King fought off the Exploder suplex and hit a German suplex of his own. Kingston was on spaghetti legs but hit a Backfist for a nearfall. More chops, as Kingston took his straps down to challenge King. Kingston cut off King with a kick, an enzuigiri, and a DDT for a nearfall.
Kingston couldn’t power King up for a powerbomb, with King backdropping out and hitting an uranage. King went for a lariat, but Kingston hit the Exploder and the half-and-half suplex. Kingston hit the Backdrop Driver for a nearfall. King came back with a piledriver for a nearfall. King laid in forearms, but Kingston wouldn’t go down. Kingston hit a Backfist, but King came back and hit Dante’s Inferno to score the win.
After the match, next week’s Blue League matches were announced for Collision. Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King, and Daniel Garcia vs. Andrade El Idolo.