AEW Holiday Bash 2025: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

AEW held a Holiday Bash in Manchester, England. The special 3-hour edition of "Dynamite" and "Collision" had plenty of Continental Classic action, as well as a major return from MJF, who weasled his way into the Worlds End main event. But enough about what happened on the show, that's already been taken care of on the results page.

Instead, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to hold AEW programming to account, just like we do every Wednesday. With 3 hours of programming, there was plenty to love, and there was plenty to hate, from the aforementioned MJF promo to Roderick Strong getting jettisoned from the Continental Classic. Some loved the million-dollar trios match, while others hated the World Tag Title main event, and just the general vibe of FTR.

But enough introductions, here's what the Wrestling Inc. Staff loved and hated from the special Holiday Bash edition of "Dynamite" and "Collision."

This week saw Roderick Strong and Jon Moxley clash in a must-win Blue League bout in the Continental Classic, with Strong having been defeated in his opening two matches against Orange Cassidy and Konosuke Takeshita, while former World Champion Moxley had felt victory against Mascara Dorada before back-to-back defeats to Claudio Castagnoli and Takeshita.

Moxley has been on a rough patch since losing the World Championship to "Hangman" Adam Page at All In, going on to say 'I Quit' in a clash with Darby Allin, surrendering for his team to lose Blood & Guts, and tapping out Kyle O'Reilly at Full Gear. So much of the interest lies with how his Continental Classic journey, especially with teammates Castagnoli and PAC also in the tournament, turns out and impacts his standing as leader of the Death Riders.

Moxley could have been eliminated from the tournament early if he didn't get a win this week, and having just barely beaten Strong, he ensured that drama heads into his final bout of the league format; he faces Orange Cassidy, who will himself be looking to reach the knockout stages with a win. However, their fate isn't entirely up to them. Castagnoli and Takeshita both occupy the top of the group, seven points each, having drawn with one another. Takeshita has Dorada and Cassidy left to face, while Castagnoli will only take on Strong, who now has nothing to gain or lose.

That particular layout sees a variety of options moving forward, with Strong still effectively holding power over Moxley despite his loss this week, and Cassidy against Moxley presenting a truly must-win bout. The twist is that Moxley has to win to go through, whereas Cassidy can still find himself in the next round with a draw, depending on how he fares against Takeshita.

I could go through all the potential outcomes, but I am as aware as you that it would be boring. Let's just skip to the part where I say that the Continental Classic thrives for exactly that reason. There is a litany of directions, outcomes, and consequences to explore simply through the format, and that in itself is without taking into account that each and every one thus far has been, at the very least, a great match. Moxley's story in particular, though, has been compelling in his vulnerability and the sheer making it by the skin of his teeth. And this week, against Strong, a spiritual stand-in after O'Reilly's injury, that story shone through.

Moxley cut a backstage promo later to sell that aspect, and it's really starting to feel like he's reaching a crossroads in his character. If it can be good in the moment and promise good stuff further down the line, then that's a win for me.

Written by Max Everett

The 2025 Continental Classic tournament has been great so far. The matches have pretty much all delivered, the stories in each block are getting more layered by the week, and as the two shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom approach, it really is anyone's to win...except Roderick Strong. He was officially eliminated from the competition following his loss to Jon Moxley on the Holiday Bash edition of "AEW Dynamite," and that makes me sad. Not just because I think Strong is a very good wrestler, but because I think there was a big missed opportunity with him in this tournament.

We all know by now that Strong was never meant to be in the Continental Classic. He was a replacement for Kyle O'Reilly who wasn't medically cleared following his feud with the aforementioned Jon Moxley, so Strong's chances of winning were never that, well, strong to begin with. However, after he lost his first match to Konosuke Takeshita, Strong cut a promo backstage where he looked and sounded more motivated than ever, tired of trying to be lumped in with The Conglomeration and wanting to remind people why he was given the nickname "The Messiah of The Backbreaker."

Since that promo, Strong is the only man in either league to have not won a single match, and what's worse is that he still has two matches to go against Mascara Dorada and Claudio Castagnoli. Sure, his opponents still have something to fight for, which gives the matches some weight, but having a wrestler as good as Strong be the pin eater for this tournament is both a strength and a curse to how good this year's field is. With that said, Strong, wanting to shy away from The Conglomeration and be the man he knows he can be, could have been a great little story that ran through the competition. He didn't need to win the whole thing, but an upset victory over Moxley or a win over Orange Cassidy would have done wonders for Strong and made the Blue League even more unpredictable than it already is.

Where Strong goes after this tournament is anyone's guess now because, for as much as he wanted to prove himself on his own, being the first to be eliminated from the tournament kind of gives people the sense that he does actually need The Conglomeration, even if that group is already pretty full to begin with. Strong could end the tournament with two wins over Dorada and Castagnoli, but would have at least liked to have seen one of the best bell-to-bell wrestlers in AEW have a little more to do in the competition than being the foil to other people's campaigns.

Written by Sam Palmer

With the level of talent that was competing in the match between The Elite and The Don Callis Family, it was bound to be a good one way or another. While it certainly did not disappoint on that front with engaging action and a fast pace throughout the entire contest, it was made all the better by the fact that there were actual stakes attached to this match.

The $1,000,000 that The Don Callis Family has been withholding from The Young Bucks has overall been a pretty throwaway storyline in terms of just being nothing more than a bit of fun. With that said, the fact that such an integral part of the ongoing storyline between the parties was used to elevate what would've otherwise still been a stellar match shows why it's so important to make a match more than just about the wrestling. It also worked to create further dissension in the relationship between Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita, with tensions between the two men almost boiling over on multiple occasions and being the reason that The Don Callis Family lost the match.

All around, it was great from top to bottom with tons of unique offense, the sense of urgency created from the stakes that made it even more engaging to watch, and kept the energy of the audience up with the right team ultimately coming out on top.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

With the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale tonight, it was highly likely that we were going to see the return of one Maxwell Jacob Friedman, current holder of the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but I'm not sure how many of us expected what MJF was really returning to do tonight. That was inserting himself into the now four-way match for the AEW World Championship at Worlds End, where he'll be taking on Samoa Joe, "Hangman" Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland.

I certainly was surprised, because the more I thought about it, the less it made sense. Sure, he tried to explain himself in a rather long promo segment, and while he did his best, I'm still not buying it. MJF got in Page's face and basically said that he's cashing in his Casino Gauntlet contract in this manner because "Hangman" has always called him a coward. He explained that he had the opportunity to beat Page and two of Page's closest rivals in one fell swoop.

While that does sound courageous on the surface, I think there's quite a difference between being a coward and just not being stupid about it, though I say that, and MJF will probably walk out of Worlds End with the gold. In addition to facing three of the most dangerous (including one who touts himself "The Most Dangerous Man in All of AEW") men in the company, he'll also have to deal with The Opps' Hook and Shibata, as well as the guys from The Opps Dojo, perhaps Eddie Kingston, and whoever else wants to get involved in the match, as there are basically no rules in a four-way bout. While I can see MJF's argument, because there are two other guys in the match for him to pin, it's not like either of them is an easy target.

I also don't think MJF just calling out Samoa Joe for a one-on-one match is cowardly, and I don't think "Hangman" would say that either. What this really feels like is AEW trying to get that contract off MJF before the beginning of the new year, and more importantly, before AEW doesn't have any pay-per-views for a few months.

In addition to this being a rather long segment during the "Dynamite" portion of the night, which I suppose was fine, though it was a pretty packed card for this three-hour special, this was certainly an MJF promo. The star was back like he didn't miss a step, bringing up WWE and all, though I could have done without a Diddy comparison to Strickland. The promo was what it was, for me, at least, but the overall thought process behind MJF's addition to the match just didn't land.

Written by Daisy Ruth

We are getting down to the business end of the 2025 Continental Classic tournament now people, as the Holiday Bash edition of "AEW Dynamite" and the first half of "AEW Collision" saw three matches take place. Both leagues were already getting very interesting before AEW traveled to the United Kingdom for their most recent shows, but after their trip to Manchester, the competition is in a very interesting position, especially the Gold League.

Heading into tonight's show, PAC was sitting on three points after two matches, while Kyle Fletcher was on six points, having wrestled three times. Regardless of what happened in this match, PAC would have the pressure of having to wrestle twice before Worlds End (if he makes it there), while Fletcher only has one bout left, that being against "Jungle" Jack Perry. A win for PAC would see two-thirds of the field end the night on six points, meaning that it was still anybody's ball game when it came to qualifying for Worlds End, and sure enough, that's the direction they went in as PAC defeated "The Protostar" with the Black Arrow.

The match between PAC and Fletcher was very good, as expected. After all, we are talking about PAC and Kyle Fletcher here, two men who could have a good match with me if they really wanted to. This was always going to be exciting, and neither man held back either, with Fletcher continuing to put on performances that will see him rise all the way to the main event scene in 2026, but PAC was doing something in this bout that I've only just picked up on when it comes to the Death Riders.

That group has been so hell bent on being vicious heels that you forget about the fact that everyone in the group is a very exciting wrestler who is very easy to cheer for. The Death Riders have been getting more and more cheers in recent weeks, and depending on who they face, they lean into more face-centric offense. Jon Moxley doing Tope Suicidas, Claudio Castagnoli keeping the Giant Swing on for longer than a few seconds, and PAC going to the sky more than once got the crowd on their feet while also suggesting that he had to dig deep into his bag of tricks to beat Fletcher, keeping him strong in the process. After all, I have the memory of a goldfish with CTE, but I genuinely can't remember the last time PAC won a match with the Black Arrow.

A great match that has made the stakes in the Gold League even higher, making the Hammerstein Ballroom shows must-see episodes of television.

Written by Sam Palmer

FTR and The Bang Bang Gang went into their match at Holiday Bash with the worst kind of build. Essentially, FTR had a legendary 55-minute title match against Juice Robinson a while back, and they wanted to run it back, likely ensuring that the match would be, well, a lesser version of their surprise hit from long ago.

FTR are starting to feel like a relic from a time when AEW didn't really know how to tell stories and relied on "This match will be The Best Match." These are not those days. There's several good storylines running through the shows, and the Continental Classic even provides a diegetic reason for all of those "Best Matches." So something just fell a little flat with FTR and The Bang Bang Gang's main event. Maybe it was the 3-hour runtime, maybe it was the abridged nature of their encounter. It just rang a little hollow.

FTR feel like a serious downgrade from the exciting Brodido reign. Their win and then continued success added a certain air of "anything is possible" that FTR's tiring reign simply lacks. There's something fatalistic about FTR, as if any exciting new tag prospect needs to be cut down by the "Top Guys."

Written by Ross Berman