WhiteTail Wrestling

Continental Classic Delivers

AEW World’s End it was the best of worlds and it was the worst of worlds. A night where Will Ospreay had one of the great wrestling performances but we also got a disappointing mess of a main event. We got Kazuchika Okada have by far his best AEW performance in a match worthy of a January 4 Tokyo Dome event but we also got MJF and Adam Cole have a match worthy of their lifeless story that not a single person could possibly still care about. Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander had a great match the longest women’s match in AEW but we also got a slightly better than bang average women’s title match. Overall this was a show that epitomized AEW in 2024 some great matches but also moments that left you shaking your head. We need more of the great moments in 2025 and less of the head shaking.

Zero Hour

First match on the Zero Hour pre show features Toni Storm against Leila Grey. Storm is continuing her Amnesia gimmick thinking she is a rookie however this match was a massive improvement on the match from Dynamite with Storm getting quite a lot of offence in although Grey definitely had some moments too. Storm wins with a roll up but the result didn’t seem to be a fluke this time.

Jeff Jarett takes on QT Marshall. This was a match. It was perfectly fine but I didn’t need it to run as long as it did and it wasn’t a long match. JJ wins after the stroke. Lance Archer and Brian Cage teamed up with Lio Rush and Action Andretti to take on Top Flight and The Outrunners. This ended up being a number one contenders match for the AEW Tag Titles. Started off slowly but was fairly good by the end with some good action. The finish was all storyline with Archer and Cage set to win the match but Andretti and Rush stealing the win. Andretti and Rush now number one contenders but they have now angered Archer and Cage which may not end well for them.

Main Card

Will Ospreay against Kyle Fletcher in the Continental Classic Semi Finals. Wow what an epic match to start off this show. Will Ospreay is a genius 31 years old and already on track to have one of the greatest ever careers in professional wrestling. Kyle Fletcher his even younger opponent is pretty damn great as well. The winner of this match would have to wrestle again later tonight but that didn’t stop them from having one of the matches of the year. They went hard right from the start with Ospreay wearing the crimson mask from very early in the match adding a lot to the drama of the match. Some of the sequences in this match were out of this world with move and counter move and everything was executed in such a perfectly flawless manner. Some really great near falls and the physical action we even got a headbutt exchange which was just awesome. Great finish with Ospreay grabbing the win with the Styles Clash a move he never wins with giving him another move he can win with in the future. Must watch match and Ospreay has the chance to have another classic later in the night.*****

The next match had to slow things down after that crazy opener. Kazuchika Okada takes on Ricochet in the other semi final of the Continental Classic. This was an excellent match although they were clearly holding  back. The match built up well and Ricochet hit some nice moves but he falls short and we get a massive finals match later tonight Okada hits the rainmaker and will now face Ospreay in the final. ***1/2

Mariah May defends her AEW Women’s Title against Thunder Rosa in a Tijuana Street Fight. This was a decent *** match but compared to some of the other plunder matches in AEW this was a slight disappointment. Had the outside the ring spots and violence with thumbtacks and tables but never at any time did this match feel special. Rosa tries to choke May out with a chain but May finds some sand in a bag that had been given to Rosa by her father and throws it in her eyes. May piledrives Rosa through a table and wins the match.

MJF defeats Adam Cole to hopefully end their never ending story. The work here was mostly good and built up fairly well despite nobody really caring. They then did the finish. Mike Bennett and Matt Taven are guarding the Dynamite Diamond Ring to prevent MJF getting it and using it. MJF ensures the ref is distracted and then bangs the ring steps and falls over on the ground making it look like Taven and Bennett interfered they get thrown out of the match and then while the ref is dealing with that Cole tries to use the ring on MJF but he gets a low blow and the heatseeker and MJF wins. MJF looks to continue the attack on Cole but Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong make the save and are then joined by Taven and Bennett. MJF is surrounded and Cole uses the diamond ring on MJF to boos from the crowd. What a babyface. ***

Konosuke Takeshita defends the International Title against Powerhouse Hobbs in a very good ***1/2 match. This was a meaty man match with two big dudes going at it. Good action although it would have been better if it’s runtime was just a couple minutes less.

Mercedes Mone defends the TBS Championship in a great ****1/2 match against Kris Statlander which was the longest women’s match in the history of AEW. These two women are very talented in the ring and they showed with some excellent ring work building up this match so even though it ran longer than 20 minutes it was still dramatic and exciting right at the finish with Mone retaining her title once again despite a great performance by Statlander. The question now is Mone the best American in ring women’s wrestler?

It was now time for the Continental Classic final as Will Ospreay who had worn the crimson mask earlier in the night and then cut a brilliant promo with him calling on the fans to support him in the final and finishing with let’s fucking go lads with the type of passion sadly lacking in 99% of other wrestlers takes on Kazuchika Okada the rainmaker one of the great wrestlers of all time who has been lets face it taking it easy in AEW since joining the promotion. Going into the match the question was could Ospreay get the best out of Okada or will Okada continue to treat AEW as a payday and nothing else. That question was definitively answered in a classic match that worked perfectly to the strengths of both men. It started slow and methodical but never boring this was textbook Okada who hit Ospreay with multiple ddt’s as Ospreay whose head was covered in bandages to conceal the wounds from the brutal opening match sold these injuries in a brilliant way which proves that he can indeed sell. Ospreay continued to sell but he makes really great comebacks at various stages giving you hope that he can still win despite Okada holding all the advantages. The final few minutes were phenomenal as they picked things up a couple of gears with some brilliant sequences and exchanges which both men are just so great at. Ospreay gets some great near falls and he even kicks out of the rainmaker which got a massive pop from a crowd that peaked in this match being loud from before the bell even rang showing how over these guys still are even hours into a PPV show. Despite the brilliant and brave Ospreay performance Okada proves his class and puts him away with a second rainmaker. A classic easy ***** match and by far the best that Okada has looked since joining AEW. As for Ospreay despite this defeat he had perhaps the greatest individual wrestling performance in one night with two ***** matches. Ospreay at 31 is already in my mind a hall of fame wrestler and one of the true all time greats. After the match Kenny Omega makes his return to AEW to prevent the title belt to his old rival Okada. These two greats of wrestling in Japan are set to face each other once again. Could we see them face off at All In Texas?

Time for your WWE sorry AEW main event and this was the sort of convoluted rubbish you would expect from the former federation. Jon Moxley defends his AEW Title in a four way match against Adam Page, Jay White and Orange Cassidy. The entire storyline of this match was built on the old chestnut of can they co-exist with the three faces struggling to trust each other while Moxley was bound to have the assistance of his Death Riders stable mates. There were parts of this match with excellent action there was also parts of this match where it was an absolute cluster fuck. The three faces worked together in parts to try and take Moxley out but they could never truly succeed and towards the finish everytime it looked like Moxley would be pinned Wheeler Yuta would interfere and in the end Moxley did steal the pin to escape as champion. After the match Moxley did not escape from the end segment as his next rivals were set up as Adam Copeland made his return along with FTR they will face off in a six man match on Dynamite this Wednesday. But before going off the air Moxley was put into a crossface by Copeland using part of a chair in the mouth of the champion. Will the champion face a similar conundrum this Wednesday night?