[9.0] "This is awesome. Danielson's approach here was fantastic, he goes for the mind games and psychologic attacks, not necessairily hurting Eddie's body, but his mind. He beated him once and he is now in control, he attacks where it hurts Eddie the most, his own mind. Bryan is more cocky than ever, bullying more agressively and way too confident. But this time is different, Eddie refuses to stay down and fights back. He chops Bryan so hard he fell to his knees, he is resilient towards every single strategy Danielson tries to use to get into his skin, Eddie is focused, he fights back and he wins. It's beautiful."
[8.0] "Nice, throwback 90s style match fitting for the Triple Crown semifinals. I am lower on Eddie Kingston than most people for his in-ring work, but he works so well as an underdog. This match doesn't work without Danielson's incredible heel work."
[9.0] "Bryan Danielson is so fucking good that he made EVERYONE things for real that Eddie is a bum. If you watch AEW not much often and don't have nothing agaisnt brawlers, you notice in SECONDS how Eddie Kingston is so fucking good, and AEW is missing him more than ever right now. A huge babyface that can control the crowd only with his actions, and on the other hand, we have Bryan Danielson, a wrestler that can do literally everything. Insane match, great storytelling that made Eddie finally able to beat Bryan Danielson"
[9.0] "[4.25*] This right here is my second favorite match of the tournament. The only reason I wont is because in a 22 minute match I think the slow paced part went way too long, there were times when the action was more frenetic in their first encounter, and I totally get it because it was basically an early days AJPW match, but as I said, it would have been perfect in a 30-40 minutes classic, but in a shorter match I think it took out a small bit. It was still insanely good and one of my favorite TV matches of the year."
[9.0] "This is one of those matches that when it finishes you feel like: "this is wrestling"... absolutely amazing bout. This was extremely lilting and slow paced, but enjoyable in the same manner. The psychology in this match was out of this world, Bryan dominating Eddie and talking the whole time was phenomenal, he did the dominating cocky superior being like few other wrestlers can, the same way Eddie played an incredible role as the underdog. The crowd was divided between "let's go Eddie" and "he's a bum" chants, and that final part had insanely good sequences and exchanges, Bryan's chest was busted. Post-match angle with Moxley and Eddie was incredible and this whole experience is one of the best things AEW has ever done - {****1/4}"
[6.0] "Pace was off here, it was bloated and dull and Kingston's comebacks didn't hit the way they should have. Danielson's work on top was boring in a way that's baffling considering their block phase match was much better than this. The ratings are really high for this for some reason so I have to leave a long comment but idk, this match just didn't connect with me."
[5.0] "I wanted to like this more, if only for Danielson, and I thought that they (well, Danielson) put on a decently good match at the start, but this was much more of a Kingston-centric match, and thus it wasn't as good. I'm not even a massive Danielson fan, but I do possess 2 functioning eyes, so even I'm aware that putting fake tough guy and hokey 90s-AJPW cosplayer Kingston over Bryan freaking Danielson is embarrassing. Kingston wasn't too bad at the start, since yes, he did still have his limited control work with his stiff chops, though he also actually had some okay power moves and aerial offence, the latter of which is very rare for him. Unfortunately, his hokey selling came out once Danielson gained control, and it was really underwhelming how his comebacks only ever featured the exact same, tired chops that he always does. Look, even I actually enjoyed Kingston for this 90s-puro-tribute style when I first saw him having these matches in 2021 into 2022, but it's ALWAYS the EXACT same moves, spots, and 'story' every single time with this guy, to the point that it doesn't work anymore. Danielson's outright mocking of Kingston was quite entertaining, though it's a shame that, in storyline, this was all for the sake of just putting Kingston over for his 'underdog' story. They had very generic trades as the went on, with Kingston of course beginning to then force in his various insufferable "I'm the badass main character" character-work spots with zero subtly. Danielson's offence continued to look good, while Kingston's own offence was admittedly at least okay, though it did look worse when they were going for their 50/50 trades, since all his efforts looked quite telegraphed, and his groggy selling continued to look really goofy to an off-putting level. Kingston's series of big moves in finishing stretch all looked pretty weak and sloppy (especially his terrible urakens), and his selling was again pretty bad. At least Danielson's bumping and selling for all of it was good, but the whole way Kingston just conveniently powered up for his comeback, despite having been beaten down so dominantly there at the end, completely changing the tide of the match in 30 seconds total, was absurd. Danielson did work his magic to some extent here, but Kingston remains a lost cause. **3/4"
"This is the only match I've seen from the Continental Classic, but I really enjoyed it. This is the only time out of 4 singles matches that Eddie has beaten Danielson and it was when he needed it most. Eddie has the ability to make everyone love and believe in him, his facial expressions and mannerisms always convince me that he thinks this is completely real. Put him in a match with Danielson and it's going to be a banger, which this was. My enjoyment was mostly hindered by the slow start and most of all by ad breaks, but I was still invested in the last 5 minutes. I think Meltzer is over-praising this match a little though. ****"
[9.0] "Great match. It was a hard hitting match, these two have excellent chemistry together, the story was fun and played well with the action. Danielson and Kingston gave as a nasty, gritty fight. The pace was meticulous, they told an amazing story, Bryan destroyed Kingston, he pushed Eddie to the absolute limit, he tortured Kingston, he was gonna break Eddie, the King of the Bums but Eddie didn't fall, he took all the nasty punishment Bryan dished out on him and kept coming back. By the end, it was who could take the most hits and keep coming back, Bryan could have tapped Eddie out, he had him on the ropes but ge got caught in Eddie's game and they just duke in out towards the end. There was nothing technical at the end but it was a great finale. ****1/2"
[9.0] "It all has led up to this. The previous match between Kingston and Danielson. Kingston's road in the tournament so far. The entire Blue League of the tournament. Eddie Kingston's last two years. Eddie Kingston's whole life, all culminating in this moment. Granted, that happens a lot. Every moment is the new end point of history, but this sure felt like it. Eddie's last promo before the match raised the question of whether or not he deserved this; he sounded unbelieving. But the second that bell rang, and for the first real time in this tournament, he believed. His hands were up. He didn't charge in. This was not Eddie the bum. This was not Eddie the scrapper. This was Eddie the Ace and Bryan Danielson had never encountered this Eddie Kingston. Danielson knew instantly he had to break him. He had to goad him. He had to bring out the rage and the fury and the animosity. He had to show the world that Eddie hadn't grown, that he wasn't better, that he never, ever could be better. But in the end it was Danielson who broke. No matter how much he told Kingston he was a bum or tried to get the fans to chant it, no matter how many times he attempted to goad Kingston in, no matter how far he pushed him, Eddie kept his chin up, kept his eyes clear, and refused to falter. Danielson spat up at Kingston and charged forth into a strike exchange, played right into Eddie's hands. There was still a finishing stretch ahead of them, flying knees and spinning backfists, the reversal to a power bomb that had ended previous matches in the tournament, all of the drama and heart and defiance that you'd expect."
[7.0] "Great match. Bryan was all over the place been a SOB with Eddie, even if you don't like him you absolutely ended up rooting for him this time. Danielson tried again to provoke Kingston so he can make a mistake, but now Eddie is much focus, that's why Bryan made all that work that ended up back fire him with an exploder that looked really good, you know the quality of the match when you think that just a move accomplished more that you expect. Bryan regain the upperhand many times with his ability, been able to counter Eddie into his LeBell Lock hurting his arm that brilliantly Kingston sold during the stomps. A lot of the match consist in a exchange of chops that were brutal, that let Bryan with very visible scars, good. That was interlude with kicks but when Danielson started his "Yes kicks", man, it was just FN strong style, i loved it. The ending is kinda chaotic with a lot of reversals but an effective way to end the match. ***3/4"
[9.0] "An excellent TV fight with a great story being told. Bryan Danielson defeated Eddie in the block and showed much disrespect towards him, calling him a bum. I liked the fact that Danielson didn't took Eddie seriously and it's the story told by this fight. Bryan's arrogance cost him the block final and I really liked this story, Eddie rules."
[9.0] "It seems that these two simply cannot have a bad match against each other. I would say this was a step-up from their previous match in the tournament when they were competing in normal Block Matches. Even though I was pretty sure Kingston was winning going in, it was still a super cool moment to see and I'm really excited to watch him face Moxley at Worlds End. Definitely the match I'm looking forward to the most for that show."
[10.0] "The best match of the tournament by a narrow margin, just barely edging out the final with Kingston and Mox. The build to this was incredibly, with Bryan beating Kingston in the round robin and verbally brow beating him before and after. The whole "Eddie is a bum" bit was phenomenal and gave tons of extra fire to the match. The match, jeez, it's exactly what I watch wrestling for. Not only extremely hard hitting and full of grit and guts, but also deeply entrenched in character and story. It felt like it mattered very, very deeply to both guys who would win, and that's the best feeling you can get in a wrestling match I think. I love both these guys but I was pulling for Kingston with all my heart here, and he gave one of his greatest performances yet in his career. In my top 10 for the year, just phenomenal."
[9.0] "This was my favorite match of the tournament easily. Bryan fighting from underneath is my favorite version of him, but him being a bully can be just as good, and we saw that on full display here. Kingston got the shit kicked out of him by Bryan and his facial expressions during it taking the beating made it seem like he was going to pass out. Bryans shit talking was so good and even made the crowd really behind Kingston more. Kingston when on offense fired up greatly, especially with his chops at times. Eddie ended up winning this after a plethora of backfist and one big powerbomb to win.****1/2"
[9.0] "The match was pretty slow at some points but the story was told very well. Eddie was a fan favorite here and the fans loved to see him advancing to the final. Bryan played his role excellently to make the fans chant for Eddie even louder. The action itself was stiff with a lot of loud chops which I absolutely love. The outcome was right choice. Excellent stuff overall."
[9.0] "This match took the CC to the next level and I've got a feeling the final won't live up to it. The key to its brilliance was a masterful heel performance from Danielson, cementing the majority of the crowd's support behind Eddie. Kingston was at his best here too - he didn't oversell and the significance of him not losing his temper in the face of such flagrant taunting was immense. Oh, and it was a relentlessly violent war ****1/2"
[10.0] "I really can't remember the last time I was emotionally involved in a match, amazing stuff by these two. A late MOTY contender. Danielson is a tremendous heel and Kingston gotta be most lovable guy in this buisness. Danielson's trash talk with the "he's a bum" chants was amazing, Kingston's selling was outstanding, the strikes were hard-hitting, the action was filled with many memorable moments and the intensity was off the charts. Just look at Danielson's chest for God's sake. The closing stretch was a roller coster of emotions and the ending with Kingston finally slaying his biggest demon was really emotional. Post-match promo by Moxley was great, too. Top notch storytelling and breathtaking in-ring action that had me involved for all duration of the match: everything that I want in a pro wrestling match, five stars. 10/10 - 5*/5*"
[9.0] "This was an absolutely brilliant match, and very emotionally satisfying. The only downside is that Eddie's match with Mox probably won't hit this level."
[10.0] "5 minutes in and I couldn't remember the last time I was so emotionally invested in a match. It felt like the culmination of Eddie's journey. It might have been the best pure wrestling match of the year and was genuinely moving. Danielson's trash talk and use of the crowd was immaculate, as was the crowd chanting "he's no bum." At the end of the match you just wanted to give Eddie a big bear hug and say I'm proud of you. This match was everything pro wrestling can be."
[9.0] "Best match their have ever had 1 vs 1 in AEW. Danielson was arrogant and it was obvious that he got a complex of superiority against Kingston. The first minutes weren't a big deal but after they started rasslin for real they started a beautiful emotional trip that didn't stop until The Mad King finally put The American Dragon down. What a fight. ****1/2"
[9.0] "Their first match was the best match of the Continental Classic and this was a solid second. The closing stretch had a lot of great counters and both Eddie and Bryan were able to get the crowd into every chop and strike that was exchanged."
"Everything I love about wrestling, really. Two superb wrestlers who have different sorts of appeals, Danielson being the ultimate technician, and Eddie being the guy who makes you believe in a match more than almost anyone else. Two spectacular workers doing spectacular work."
[10.0] "In terms of raw in-ring I think their last two AEW matches may beat this, but this told the perfect story. Danielson always defaults into his most primal heel persona when he faces Eddie, and his promo to set this match up was excellent and set up multiple spots in it that rang out emphatically. The call out of Eddie flipping people off before he loses to try and mask that he's giving up, the taunting to make Eddie do it, Eddie pulling it out when he's on the way back into the match to Bryan's glee, only for Eddie to pull out the win clean as a whistle was beautiful before you get into how incredible the strike sequences in this were. The little variances are always what makes Danielson endlessly engaging, and his chops down to Eddie's chest & kicks to the inside of his knee to decentralize him were perfect ways to show how he feels about him, if the "HE'S A BUM" chants weren't enough (the shit Bryan can get over, it's crazy) which itself worked as Eddie chose to embrace that moniker. There will never be a wrestler better than Bryan Danielson at both portraying and elevating an underdog. ****3/4"
[7.0] "This didn't connect with me on the level of their previous match, but it's obviously still good since it's Danielson vs. Kingston. Great physicality, selling & emotion all the way through which made it a great finals for their block of this wonderful tournament."
[6.0] "Kingston tells one story, one way. Fortunately for him he is a great character worker very over with the crowd, and he's been regularly paired with dudes so good that they elevate his predictable structure and offense. Bryan works the crowd into a froth for Eddie, bumps his ass off for Eddie's interminable chopping (genuinely, is that all Eddie can do now? ), and gives Eddie a fantastic victory."
[9.0] "Bryan Danielson is my favorite wrestler of all time. Eddie Kingston is definitely up there in my top 20, maybe top 15. For some reason, their first 2 matches didn't do much for me. This one kicked ass. I watched the other 2 after they came out and were really hyped up, but I went into this one blind, and it really made everything better for me. Eddie finally winning "big ones" this year is so wonderful. One of the best matches in the tournament. Crazy to think this was on free television."
[8.0] "excellent striking contest, unfortunately, it suffered from a predictable result but they were trying to get this story element over and it kinda of did work. The crowd was fired up for Eddie to fight from underneath, which is very typical of any Eddie match, and I definitely not the biggest fan of Kingston, but this was very much enjoyable even if it went a little longer"
[6.0] "I honestly was kind of disappointed in this match. Their first encounter in the tournament was way better and here, when the storytelling in the ring could've ben amazing, with Eddie almost reaching the finals and Danielson not taking him seriously, for some reason this was not played out. Danielson kind off did, but it was nonexistent from Eddie. Plus, most of the match, except for a great final stretch, felt the same. Eddie's now going into the finale, and while I hope that Jon wins, looks like Eddie is going to take the Triple Crowd and go to ROH."
[5.0] "The stakes are a little higher and the chop exchanges are a little longer but otherwise this doesn't differ much from the other matches in the tournament--specifically Eddie's, which remain unathletic and have also become quite formulaic and predictable. Nothing too sloppy or particularly bad here but the red hot crowd embellished a match that is otherwise pretty ordinary given the circumstances."
[9.0] "I loved every minute of this match i mean this was absolutely fucking incredible, i could watch these two wrestle every week until the end of time. This was everything their last match was but so much better, everything was spot on in my opinion. Danielson played a perfect heel in this match and was the perfect foe for the super over babyface Eddie Kingston, and these guys just beat the living shit out of each other. I mean the chop exchanges in this match were exceptional and looked very brutal, Bryans chest looked like minced meat by the end of the match. All of their strikes looked great and the match looked like a genuine struggle for both men, also there were some amazing bombs and head drops in the match. The finishing stretch was also amazing, and im very happy with the results going into Worlds End. If Nomura v Abe didnt happen this year this would have probably taken the top spot on my match of the year list but for now it sits comfortably in 2nd place ****3/4."
[9.0] "The storytelling on this match was a thing of beauty, and the closing stretch is simply outstanding. I still can't believe how much credibility someone like Kingston, who's constantly bashed about his physique and presentation, can give to a wrestling match. He's a student of the pillars and it shows. Dragon is Dragon, so giving him flowers goes without saying, perfect cocky heel."
[9.0] "Undoubtedly the greatest TV singles match of the year. Better than their first Rampage match. The way the crowd shifts from 50-50 to completely pro Eddie is magic. Danielson trying to throw Eddie off his game with taunts and failing at it. Danielson dropping to the floor after a hard chop. The middle finger motif mentioned in his previous promo coming back to bite Danielson in the ass at the end and the entire closing stretch is an all timer."
[9.0] "Danielson and Kingston literally massacred each other in this match, they both gave a truly exciting performance. The best fight of their series and one of the best TV matches of the year. 4.5 stars."
[6.0] "A decent enough match. The ending 30 seconds were truly great but most of the third act was not a very fun watch. Nothing unwatchable about this match, but just nothing terribly exciting. I was also very confused as to why the match was occurring at all, as danielson had 10 points and Kingston had 9, and the tournament was never said to be top 2 advance. That had me waiting for some kind of explanation which I never got. Not the matchs fault, but something that still affected my enjoyment. Not very hype for it either, Im not the biggest Kingston fan so I just wanted a quick danielson victory and this was not that"
[6.0] "Has never been my favourite pairing, but the beat-em-up worked mostly well here. Some moments, like one of the chops, and the missed dropkick into the lariat, were really good. Everything else was just decent. The crowd pop at the end was legit so fair play to both men creating a face/heel dynamic."
[7.0] "It was a pretty good physical match a la All Japan. Eddie Kingston was a good underdog and Danielson kept attacking Eddie with all of his moveset. Love the transition with Eddie moving his bodyweight during a top rope suplex crushing Danielson's eye."
[7.0] "Standard Kingston layout elevated by supreme character work. Because he is in the ring with the GOAT Bryan Danielson, every exchange is heightened and becomes impactful. There are many nice call backs and an emotional crescendo. However, the match still suffers overall under it's Kingston-dictated limitation - an endless spamming of chops, ."
[8.0] "The result was never in doubt. I just want Eddie to do a little more suplexes and submissions. His matches are filled with chops. It's great to watch when he does it with killers like Shibata, Brody or Moxley. It was still a really good match, but I was hoping for the awakening of Eddie's technical side in this one. That said, an intriguing bout with high stakes put in it. A chops overkill bout which was a little too much for a fan to watch again. They went to the limit with that"
[8.0] "Another Match, and another match where i dont see the appeal of Eddie Kingston, this was a fine match with eddies typical off putting move set, Bryan did his best with this match and i guess the result was fair with what is at stake, but a decent but not great match"
[9.0] "[4.75*] Bryan did excellent heel work in this match, attacking Eddie aggressively and letting Eddie play the underdog role he played throughout the tournament. The Storytelling was incredible and the "Battle of Chops" was a spectacle."
[9.0] "Another amazing match between these two. Probably the best I have seen from their series. Danielson was fantastic with his heel work. His trash talk was great and it ignited the fire in Eddie. Eddie as always rocked his role and fought with alot of heart and displayed incredible fighting spirit. The strikes were brutal and action was engaging from start to finish. Loved Danielson going after the legs with those kicks to unbalance Eddie and then lay in those vicious chops and the way he kicked the knee to hit the DDT on the apron. Finishing stretch was awesome. 8.60"
[10.0] "Bryan Danielson once again shows how fucking good he is. It's an brilliant match from both Eddie and Dragon and a perfect way to finish up their trilogy in AEW. Bryan doesn't take Kingston serious, he plays with him and provokes him. Eddie is fired up, ready to beat the shit out of the Dragon and simply proove him that he was wrong about Eddie Kingston. After really fanatastic work from Bryan, who plays excellent bully throught the entire match, Eddie strikes him with w Backdrop Suplex. It's a callback to first Misawa and Kawada encounter in which Kawada hit the Backdrop showing to Misawa, that he's going to do everything to win, the same way Eddie's willing to do miracles to beat Danielson for the first time here tonight. Danielson for a good part beats the living shit out of Eddie, he doesn't want to just win over Eddie again and he wants to embarrass Kingston. Eddie never gives up, he goes for his biggest weappon - chops. Dragon sees opportunity to embarrass Eddie with overcoming him in his, as I already said, biggest weappon. This leads to recreation of famous Sasaki-Kobashi spot which is followed by absolutely wonderful selling from both sides. They're going to the final point - ending. They put on many great sequences just for Eddie to finally beat Bryan Danielson for the first time in his life."
[9.0] "At least as good as their first match in AEW if not even better. A great hard hitting match where both made everything count. Both have been among the best to watch across this whole tournament and despite them just wrestling weeks ago, they had a different match here with the crowd firmly behind Kingston in his quest to comeback. Perhaps the best match across the entirety of the continental classic in my opinion combined with the post match promo with Moxley really selling the match to be my most anticipated of the PPV. 9-9.5 but may bump on a rewatch."
"I think this is probably TV match of the year, if not its up there with FTR vs BCG for sure. It was very simple but everything hit so hard, the chop and kick exchanges throughout the match never got old. 10/10"
[10.0] "This was absolutely incredible. Best TV Match of the Year and a Top 5 Match of the Year overall. Eddie exclaiming "FINALLY" as he's crying during the post-match almost brought tears to my eyes. I don't know how, but these two continue to top themselves My first instinct was ****3/4 but I would not fault someone for giving this the full five. I was on the edge of my seat. More of this please, TK. Plus, the post match promo from Mox added to the perfection of this entire experience. What a way to end the year."
[9.0] "The best TV match of the year. The chemistry they both showed in 2021 remained here. The way Eddie's Comeback was constructed in this tournament was sensational, Danielson sells is f****** incredible. 2 wrestlers with a great passion for Wrestling who, when they step into the same ring, give us an excellent match like that. I think this was the best way to end the tournament and I hope Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston is the Main Event of the PPV on Saturday. Jon and Eddie's story is too deep to not feature them being headliners. ****.75"
[10.0] "A big upset match for Eddie Kingston who delivers both intensity and passion to quite possibly the biggest win of his career. Bryan Danielson leans expertly into his heel persona, gets the audience to chant "he's a bum" when Eddie lies flat on his back. He projects an Eddie win so expressly that it might seem too obviously building toward an underdog victory, but holy moly does Bryan deliver the 'feeling' again. Some passages in this match are the most unreal of Eddie's career, delivering true triple crown energy reminiscent of the AJPW tournament classics. One of the best pastiche matches of all time."
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