The 2025 AEW Continental Classic tournament kicked off on the Thanksgiving Eve edition of "AEW Dynamite" with four league matches that had the fans in Nashville, Tennessee on their feet.
The reigning AEW Continental Champion, and last year's winner of the tournament Kazuchika Okada kicked the 2025 competition off against his fellow Don Callis Family member Kyle Fletcher, who both tried to stay friendly in the early going, but that didn't last long. "The Protostar" had the early advantage and even went for a lackadaisical cover, but Okada's experience got him back in the league by kicking Fletcher off the top rope with the assistance of referee Rick Knox.
However, Fletcher gave Okada a taste of his own medicine by kicking "The Rainmaker" off the top rope, allowing him to hit a big Superplex. Fletcher tried to keep the momentum but Okada took control and looked to hit The Rainmaker which Fletcher escaped from, but Okada would target the neck after hitting a DDT on the outside. Both men exchanged kicks and Okada looked to finish the match off with a Tombstone Piledriver, but when he tried to follow up with a Rainmaker, Fletcher countered with a Michinoku Driver. With five minutes left on the clock, both men threw everything at each other, and in the end, it was Fletcher who snatched a surprise roll-up on Okada to score the first win of the tournament. Fletcher walked away with the three points, and a win over Okada in the Continental Classic for the second consecutive year.
The Gold League match saw "The Jet" Kevin Knight take on Darby Allin. The match that started very even, but Knight was given a big advantage when he performed a Monkey Flip and Darby's leg caught the ring rope upon landing. Darby would try and keep up with Knight but with his knee bothering him, Knight was able to stay one step ahead of his opponent. During the commercial break, Darby would briefly get back into things, but Knight delivered a hard Irish Whip into the corner, to which Darby took the bump face first.
Darby would even things up on the outside with a Shotgun Dropkick off the ramp to the floor and tried to grab a quick win with The Last Supper to no avail. After a double down, Knight tried to get a count out win after hitting a DDT on the ramp, but he would leap over the top with a Lariat. With that said, Knight missed the UFO Splash to allow Darby to hit the Code Red. Darby went for the Coffin Drop but ended up in the Tree of Woe, leading to Knight landing a big Coast-To-Coast Dropkick, which he followed up with the UFO Splash and an upset victory. Knight joins Fletcher at the top of the Gold League with three points each, while Darby and Okada now have an uphill battle.
Over in the Blue League, Jon Moxley looked to turn his run of bad form around with a win in his opening match against CMLL's Mascara Dorada. Both men began on the mat, and despite being known for his high-flying, Dorada actually got the better of Moxley on the ground. Ironically, Moxley used a high-flying move to take the early advantage with a big Tope Suicida, and even used Dorada's aerial offense against him by elbowing him out of the air on the outside. Moxley would continue to ground the Mexican star, using submissions, strikes, and the ringside area with a lot of anger and confidence.
However, Dorada would get back into things with a Cutter over the barricade, and once things were back in the ring, Dorada would bombarde Moxley with a variety of moves. Moxley would hit a Cutter of his own and some corner punches, but Dorada took advantage of Moxley's confidence and almost got a submission win with an Armbar. He then almost got a pinfall win with a 450 Splash but Moxley kicked out, but when he went to the well again, Moxley got the knees up on the Shooting Star Press, secured a Darce Choke and picked up his first three points of the tournament.
In the main event of the night, Claudio Castagnoli looked to make it two wins out of two for the Death Riders as he took on Orange Cassidy. "Freshly Squeezed" wanted revenge for what happened to Kyle O'Reilly at Full Gear at the hands of Moxley, but he couldn't compete with the power of Castagnoli in the early going. Cassidy did get some moments of hope, but he was thrown around the ringside area, even receiving the Giant Swing into the barricade.
Cassidy remained defiant, which only frustrated Castagnoli, who began treating Cassidy like his own personal ragdoll. However, Cassidy would eventually get back into things and landed a big DDT on the outside. A Stundog Millionaire led to Cassidy going up top, but Castagnoli hit an Uppercut for a two count before landing the Hammer and Anvil elbows. With that said, two Orange Punches, another DDT, and a Beach Break looked to have won the match for Cassidy, but Castagnoli kicked out. Cassidy went for another Orange Punch but missed, which ultimately led to a pop-up European Uppercut from Castagnoli, securing another victory for the Death Riders as Moxley and Castagnoli sit atop the Blue League with three points each.
