6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Collision: Holiday Bash (Dec 23 - Results & Review)

by Jamie Kennedy

1. That Must-See Opener

Claudio Castagnoli Bryan Danielson AEW Collision
AEW

It paled in comparison to the must-see match of the night though.

Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli was just a stellar pro wrestling showcase from two true masters of their craft. Jim Ross posted about it on social media afterwards, and rightly gushed with praise for what these guys can do. The amazing thing is that you sense they could've taken things up a notch or two if the occasion had needed it.

Nigel McGuinness set the scene on commentary by wondering if Claudio would go all in on his BCC teammate and attack his injured eye. The bout's early knockings were respectful, but then Castagnoli realised he had to win to stay alive in the tournament. So, he went after Bryan's weakness.

That, in turn, fired Danielson up. It was all seriously high quality stuff from start to finish. Claudio, in particular, showed urgency as the time limit ticked down to the final few minutes, and the announcers reminded fans that a draw wouldn't do any good to the Swiss wrestling machine.

That draw meant both guys earned a point apiece; Bryan advances on 10, and Claudio is eliminated on 7 points.

Go out of your way to see this one. That's said a lot about top notch AEW TV bouts (which have been even more abundant during the Classic), but this might be one of the best All Elite matches ever.

What did you think of this week's AEW Collision? For more like this, check out 8 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 22 - Results & Review) and 3 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Dec 22 - Results & Review)!

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.