6 Ups & 3 Downs For AEW Collision (Dec 9 - Results & Review)

5. The Pig-Headed Iron Will Of Eddie Kingston

AEW Collision Claudio Castagnoli Eddie Kingston
AEW

From the moment Eddie Kingston stomped to the ring like an agitated, angry toddler - in the best possible way - you knew the Mad King was in no mood to put up with Claudio Castagnoli's BS.

As soon as the bell rang, Castagnoli dominated Kingston, using his superior strength and technique to easily take control of the bout. From a narrative standpoint, Eddie was on his ass and on the cusp of being effectively eliminated from the Continental Classic. A loss here would've made it impossible for Kingston to progress in the tournament, and making it an even more bitter pill to swallow would be the fact that this L came against long-time rival Claudio Castagnoli.

The body language of Eddie Kingston was utterly exceptional here, whether that was outwardly showing his frustration at being dominated by Claudio, whether that was in how he at times mocked the Swiss Superman in an attempt to knock him off his game, or whether that was as part of Kingston's spirited attempts to get back in the game; spirited attempts that were constantly shot down by the one-time Cesaro.

No matter what Eddie threw at Castagnoli, the Blackpool Combat Club man forever had an answer. The only reason why Claudio couldn't score the win, was down to the sheer pig-headed stubbornness of his opponent. Kingston would be damned if he'd lose this match, and he'd be damned if his Continental Classic adventure - which of course has his ROH World Title and NJPW Strong Openweight Title on the line - was brought to a halt by, of all people, Claudio Castagnoli.

Even when Eddie did get the victory, it wasn't particularly definitive. Instead, it was a case of Kingston somehow surviving Claudio's plentiful onslaughts for long enough that he was able to take advantage of a minor opening to reverse Castagnoli into a pinning predicament and score the underdog 1-2-3.

The Continental Classic rumbles on, and Eddie Kingston is still just about alive and kicking in the Blue League.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.