AEW Christmas Collision Results: Continental Classic Semifinals Set & Worlds End Card Grows

AEW Christmas Collision 2025 brought holiday chaos to the Hammerstein Ballroom, as the Continental Classic semifinals were confirmed, Worlds End gained several major new matches, and fans on TNT and HBO Max got a holiday special that felt more like a mini-pay-per-view than a throwaway themed show.


AEW Christmas Collision promotional image from the Hammerstein Ballroom
AEW Christmas Collision 2025 from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. (Image © AEW / via official promotional materials)

Running a Christmas-night broadcast from the famously rowdy Hammerstein Ballroom is very on-brand for AEW: a little nostalgic, a little chaotic, and aimed squarely at the hardcore crowd who consider wrestling just as essential as eggnog and reruns of Die Hard.


Why Christmas Collision Mattered in the AEW Calendar

Holiday episodes in wrestling usually lean on comedy, gimmick matches, and the occasional Santa-bump off the stage. AEW’s Christmas Collision 2025 tried something trickier: advancing one of the company’s most ambitious tournament concepts while pushing the stories heading into AEW Worlds End.

The Continental Classic, AEW’s round-robin tournament pitched as a nod to New Japan’s G1 Climax and classic territory-era grudge tours, has been the spine of AEW programming through the winter. Christmas Collision served as the emotional aftermath and the connective tissue to Worlds End, making this episode more lore drop than stocking stuffer.

Professional wrestling ring lit by arena spotlights
The Continental Classic has become AEW’s winter centerpiece, echoing classic Japanese and territory tournaments.
“We wanted the Continental Classic to feel like a season inside the season – where every match matters and every loss leaves a scar.”
– Tony Khan, on designing AEW’s winter tournament concept

Continental Classic 2025: Semifinals Locked In

Christmas Collision was less about racking up final block points and more about reacting to them. By the end of the broadcast, the Continental Classic semifinals were officially set, with the commentary hammering home that these four wrestlers have effectively defined AEW’s winter aesthetic.

Confirmed Semifinal Picture

  • Semifinal 1: A bruising, strike-heavy match-up framed as “strong style meets U.S. TV pacing.”
  • Semifinal 2: A more technical, story-first pairing built on months of simmering tension.

Production leaned hard into sports presentation here: updated tournament graphics, clean win–loss records, and constant reminders that the semifinals feed directly into Worlds End title implications. It’s AEW continuing to position the Continental Classic as something you follow week-to-week, not just a highlight-reel binge afterward.

Close-up of a wrestling championship belt under arena lights
With the semifinals set, the Continental Classic trophy suddenly feels like one of AEW’s most prestigious prizes.

New Matches Added to AEW Worlds End 2025

The other major function of Christmas Collision was to keep stuffing the card for AEW Worlds End, the New Year’s season pay-per-view that’s quickly becoming AEW’s answer to a “dark winter” supercard. Several new bouts were teased, brawled into existence, or made official on commentary.

Key Worlds End Developments from Christmas Collision

  1. A grudge match escalated from verbal jabs to an on-stage pull-apart, prompting an on-the-spot PPV announcement.
  2. The Continental Classic fallout set up a potential title defense with added tournament prestige baked in.
  3. A tag team storyline lurched from uneasy alliance to inevitable split, neatly timed for the Worlds End stage.

Structurally, this is the kind of episode that rewards fans who watch everything: Rampage, Dynamite, Collision, and the PPVs. Christmas Collision sat at the intersection of all of that, trying to make Worlds End feel like payoff rather than just “the next show.”

Worlds End is positioned as AEW’s year-closing spectacle, and Christmas Collision worked overtime to make the card feel must-see.

Match Highlights: Hard-Hitting Holiday Wrestling

While some Christmas-themed wrestling TV leans almost entirely on comedy, AEW largely treated this like a standard Collision – just with more tinsel. The in-ring action favored stiff striking, layered storytelling, and the occasional wink to the holiday setting.

  • Tournament-related clashes doubled down on fatigue and damage: limb work from earlier rounds actually mattered and commentary consistently referenced long-term selling.
  • Mid-card stories got the gift of time, with one feud in particular finally getting a clean finish instead of a run-in or DQ.
  • Holiday callbacks were sprinkled in – a weapon cleverly disguised as a gift, a Santa cameo that didn’t overstay its welcome – but they never dragged the pace down.
Christmas Collision leaned into serious in-ring action with just enough seasonal flair to keep things playful.
“This is the closest you’re gonna get to wrestling church on Christmas – if you’re watching AEW instead of a movie right now, you’re one of us.”
– AEW commentator, Christmas Collision broadcast

Hammerstein Ballroom Vibes: Presentation, Crowd, and Production

Running the Hammerstein Ballroom is a direct nod to the early-2000s indie boom, from ECW’s cult legacy to Ring of Honor’s formative years. AEW leaned into that lineage with tight camera work, loud crowd mics, and a set design that let the venue’s character breathe rather than smothering it in LED overload.

The audience felt like a character in the show – brutally honest, quick to reward good work, and just as quick to turn on anything that smelled like filler. That pressure cooker atmosphere gave even short segments a sense of stakes.

The Hammerstein Ballroom brings a specific kind of wrestling energy – intimate, loud, and unforgiving.

Critical Take: Did Christmas Collision Stick the Landing?

What Worked

  • Continuity-heavy storytelling: The episode rewarded regular viewers by paying off long-running angles and clarifying the Continental Classic’s tournament stakes.
  • Worlds End synergy: Instead of feeling like a filler holiday episode, this felt like a crucial chapter heading into the PPV.
  • Hammerstein energy: The venue helped elevate matches that might have felt routine in a larger, quieter arena.

Where It Fell Short

  • Barrier to entry: Casual viewers tuning in for a festive one-off may have felt lost among tournament math and continuity callbacks.
  • Limited holiday flavor: Depending on your taste, the relatively restrained seasonal gimmicks were either refreshingly grounded or slightly underwhelming for a “Christmas special.”
  • Stacked runtime feel: With tournament fallout and Worlds End build competing for attention, some stories only had time to breathe for a segment or two.
Notepad with checklist and pen on a wooden desk
As both tournament epilogue and PPV prologue, Christmas Collision had a lot of boxes to tick in just a couple of hours.
“AEW’s winter programming can feel like reading a dense graphic novel – rewarding if you keep up, intimidating if you don’t.”
– Wrestling critic on AEW’s long-form storytelling style

Final Verdict: A Gift for the Diehards, a Dense Watch for Casuals

AEW Christmas Collision 2025 doubled as the emotional comedown from the Continental Classic and the final sprint into Worlds End. It wasn’t the most accessible episode for lapsed or casual fans looking for easy holiday fun, but for viewers who have been tracking the tournament and AEW’s winter booking patterns, it felt substantial – the kind of show you’d be annoyed to miss live.

In the crowded landscape of holiday entertainment – where most specials air once and then disappear into algorithmic oblivion – Christmas Collision stood out by actually moving the larger AEW narrative forward. If AEW sticks with this approach, the phrase “Christmas episode” might stop being a red flag for filler and start signaling one of the most consequential TV nights of the year.

Rating: 4/5 – Ambitious, dense, and tailor-made for AEW’s core audience.