The 2025 Winter Is Coming edition of “AEW Dynamite” aired live from Atlanta, Georgia on December 10, and as is tradition with the show over the past two years, it featured action in the Continental Classic tournament. It was strictly Gold League action on “Dynamite” this week, and it proved to be a mixed night for The Don Callis Family.
Kicking things off was a battle of former stablemates in The Elite as Kazuchika Okada went one-on-one with “Jungle” Jack Perry. Okada came in to the match on three points after picking up his first win of the tournament against PAC seven days earlier, while Perry, who was wrestling his first singles match since January, entered at a severe disadvantage as he was replacing the injured Darby Allin, meaning he inherited Allin’s point total of zero. Perry looked to have injured his ankle early on after being kicked to the outside and landing awkwardly on a cameraman at ringside, but he fought back with some inventive offense, including biting Okada in the crotch in order to escape a Tombstone Piledriver. However, he was no match for Okada who finished Perry off by hitting The Rainmaker to pick up his second consecutive win, moving himself up to six points with two matches left to go.
After the bout, Don Callis did attempt to recruit Perry to his family as a way to get back at The Young Bucks but Perry refused. The Family then beat down Perry which prompted Luchasaurus and The Young Bucks to clean house, even hitting a BTE Trigger on Okada before standing tall in the ring, while also recapturing their share of the $1 Million they won at Full Gear.
The other match for the night was between “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher and “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Fletcher came in to the match as the only man in the Gold League with a 100% record having won his first two matches, while Bailey was still looking to get some points on the board after losing his first match against PAC. The biggest turning point in the match came when Bailey went to drop his knees into Fletcher on the barricade, but Fletcher escaped and hit a Powerslam on the barricade, causing Bailey’s back to be a target for most of the match.
However, it was “Speedball” who unleashed everything he had in the final five minutes, including the Ultima Weapon which caused a near fall, but after trying to hit it on the outside, Fletcher moved out the way and hit a Powerbomb on the apron and looked to have the match won after hitting his patented Brainbuster. In the end, with less than one minute on the clock, “Speedball” countered a roll-up attempt by Fletcher into one of his own and secured a surprise victory. With the win, Fletcher remains top of the Gold League with six points thanks to his victory over Okada who also has six, while Bailey is off the mark with three points.
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