The final four of the 2025 AEW Continental Classic tournament have been decided following the results of the Christmas edition of "AEW Collision,"with the semi-finals and final taking place this Saturday at the AEW Worlds End pay-per-view in Chicago, Illinois. Despite some initial confusion to start, the winner will become the AEW Continental Champion after the current champion, Kazuchika Okada, was forced to surrender the belt in order to enter the competition, with "The Rainmaker"automatically being entered into the tournament after winning the 2024 Continental Classic.
Okada will get the chance to reclaim his AEW Continental Championship this weekend as he finished second in the Gold League behind his fellow Don Callis Family member Kyle Fletcher, who finished top of his league for the second year in a row. In the Blue League, "The Alpha"of The Don Callis Family, current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita, became the first man in tournament history to go undefeated in the league phase, finishing with 13 points after four wins and one draw. He also finished ahead of former AEW Men's World Champion Jon Moxley, who is also entering the league final phase for the second time.
The semi-finals will see Okada and Takeshita finally lock horns after months of animosity, while Fletcher will take on Moxley for the very first time in singles competition. Takeshita already has experience in winning a round robin tournament this year given that he won New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax, while Fletcher and Moxley have both reached the Continental Classic league finals previously and Okada not only won last year's tournament but is touted by AEW as the greatest tournament wrestler in history. With all that in mind, let's break down the situation, starting with who we think will emerge victorious at Worlds End.
Konosuke Takeshita has had the biggest year of his career so far. "The Alpha" kicked off 2025 as AEW International Champion, then flew over to Japan to win the grueling G1 Climax in New Japan Pro Wrestling to earn a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. He cashed in his shot early to win the title in October, has a huge double title match at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 lined up on January 4, 2026 at the Tokyo Dome, and has had multiple match of the year candidates along the way. When it comes to the question of who should win the 2025 Continental Classic, you'd be hard pressed to find a better answer than Konosuke Takeshita.
He's also been built up like an absolute superstar throughout this tournament, beating everyone in the Blue League aside from current CMLL World Heavyweight ChampionClaudio Castagnoli. Takeshita's "Anything you can do, I can do better" story with Kazuchika Okada has also been at play during the competition, and now that the two men are finally going one-on-one after trying to be Don Callis' favorite son since the summer, it's only right that Takeshita go over "The Rainmaker"in the semi-final. With Okada still holding the AEW International Championship, AEW can always work towards another unification match for the AEW Unified Championship between Okada and Takeshita at a later date as "The Rainmaker" will likely want a rematch against the man who knocked him out of the Continental Classic. As for the final, it would make the most sense to keep it in the family and have Takeshita beat Fletcher, truly cementing himself as the crown jewel of the family while also giving Fletcher a little rub as he would not only have just beaten Moxley, but also gotten one step further than last year.
From a political standpoint, the powers that be in NJPW probably don't want their top champion losing so close to Wrestle Kingdom 20, but they probably don't mind Okada losing, as "The Rainmaker" taking a loss will give some fans hope that Hiroshi Tanahashi, the man Okada will face at the Tokyo Dome, could get one more win before hanging up his boots at the end of the night. Everything is pointing to Worlds End being a crowning moment for Konosuke Takeshita but whoshould be the ultimate winner?
With everything Takeshita has done in 2025, the one man who can make a genuine argument of having a year that is just as good, if not better, is Kyle Fletcher. Everyone has been so wrapped up in the idea of Takeshita taking on Kazuchika Okada in the final of the Continental Classic that "The Protostar," who has been a huge star in 2025, has almost flown completely under the radar, so why not give him the win at Worlds End?
There is a major talking point within wrestling right now about how a lot of younger stars simply aren't given the same chances as those who have been in the business for two decades or more. Both of the major American wrestling companies, WWE and AEW, are seemingly allergic to having someone under the age of 30 holding their top championships; since AEW was formed in 2019, no one aged 30 or less has held either of WWE's world titles, while AEW has had one world champion in their 20s, that being MJF. Yes, if a wrestler who is 45 years old is better than someone aged 25 then the older wrestler should be given the ball, but there's more mileage in a younger star, so why not take a chance with them?
That's exactly what AEW have with Kyle Fletcher. He has already been called "the future of the business" by people on AEW TV, andTony Khan signed him to a new multi-year deal earlier this year, so he knows what he has in "The Protostar." Fletcher has had a star-making year and Worlds End would be the perfect end to his year that would set him up to be a part of AEW's main event scene in 2026. A victory over Moxley in the semi-final, who is already at risk of being eaten alive by his fellow Death Riders, followed by a win over either Okada or Takeshita, showing Don Callis that he has overlooked the true gem of his family in the midst of the Okada/Takeshita beef, would be a career-defining night.
It might make more sense to have Takeshita win the Continental Classic and the AEW Continental Championship in the process, but wrestling isn't as fun when people don't take risks. Tony Khan taking a chance on Fletcher would be a risk that has an extremely high ceiling if it pays off in that sense, a win for Fletcher would literally be a win for the future of AEW.
