AEW Collision Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Dec. 23

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Collision's Holiday Bash episode on December 23.

Not only was this the holiday episode of Collision, but it also began the final buildup toward Worlds End next weekend.

Even though the PPV is the priority, Saturday's show still had plenty of action, including the return of Thunder Rosa to the ring, a trios title bout and three more Continental Classic matches.

Let's take a look at everything that went down on this week's Collision.

Instead of the usual series of quick backstage promos that open Collision most weeks, the show started with Bryan Danielson's entrance for his match against Claudio Castagnoli. This was a C2 tournament bout, so they started with a handshake to show some sportsmanship.

This match started with a nice technical exchange of takedowns, submissions and attempted pinning combinations. They intentionally held back on bringing strikes into the fight until The American Dragon nailed Castagnoli with a stiff kick.

The Swiss powerhouse fired back with an uppercut that seemed to catch Danielson by surprise. A couple of minutes later, he showed some frustration when he resorted to poking Danielson in his good eye before attempting several pinfalls.

It probably goes without saying that this was a very good match. These are two of the most lauded in-ring performers of their generation. They brought out the best in each other and had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands.

The way they worked this match made it clear that the victory was important to both men, but they never felt like adversaries. Even when Castagnoli took the low road, it felt like it was our of desperation, not animosity.

They started running out of time, so both men tried some of their biggest moves to take each other out. Castagnoli has Danielson locked in a Sharpshooter when they announced one minute left on the clock. The Dragon broke free and Castagnoli hit a big uppercut, but time ran out before he could make a proper cover.

This decision allows Danielson to advance to the finals of the blue league. They shook hands and hugged to a round of applause when it was over.

Result: The match ended in a time-limit draw

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations

• Some higher-than-usual camera angles were being used to film from the hard camera side of the ring. 
• Danielson smiling after Castagnoli dropped him for the first time was a great moment. 
• The way they were trying to one-up each other during the sequence when they had their fingers locked together was great. 
• The way Castagnoli caught Danielson in a dropkick and turned it into a Big Swing was awesome. 

Billy Gunn, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens put the Trios Championships on the line against Action Andretti, Dante and Darius Martin this week.

These are two very different kinds of trios. Top Flight and AA are high-flyers who focus on big spots and complicated sequences while The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass favor crowd interaction and multi-man spots.

It's not hard to mesh these styles to create a fun spectacle, and that is exactly what these teams did. This was competitive, high-energy and fast-paced, which is exactly what it needed to be.

Caster was able to get the win for his team by pinning Dante, but it was a win that left the door open for an eventual rematch because it felt like a lucky pin.

Result: The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass defeated Top Flight and Action Andretti

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Caster's rap felt like it might have been rushed this week. He went for a lot of the obvious jokes. 
• The way Gunn just sort of fell before making the tag to Caster seemed strange. 

Two big powerhouses helped Collision live up to its name when Brian Cage and Keith Lee met for a match.

Not only are these two men who pride themselves on their strength, but they also like to show off their otherworldly agility.

We saw moves that usually accompany cruiserweights like hurricanranas and tornado DDTs, but anyone who has been following the careers of both men isn't surprised by this. They're two of the most versatile powerhouses you will ever see.

Prince Nana put a cinder block in the ring but it didn't matter because Lee hit his finisher for the win to end a highly entertaining encounter.

Result: Keith Lee defeated Brian Cage

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• There was a video package before the match showing Hook accepting Wheeler Yuta's challenge for an FTW rules match. 
• It's hard to decide what is more impressive, the fact that a guy like Cage can hit a hurricanrana or the fact that Lee can counter it by catching and holding him up. 
• Also, Lee being able to hit his own hurricanrana is just wild. 
• Cage superplexing Lee was an awesome spot. 

Christian Cage came to the ring with Nick Wayne and brought out Shayna Wayne to explain her actions. The crowd booed her, and she responded by saying she did what she did to Adam Copeland because Nick is her son and she loves him.

After another backstage segment with Big Bill, Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho, we went back to the ring for another C2 match between Brody King and Daniel Garcia.

DG may have been mathematically eliminated at this point, but he started by slapping King to show he wasn't scared of his much larger opponent.

What followed was several minutes of King putting Garcia through the wringer. Garcia never showed fear, but he was clearly in lots of pain. The more King dished out, the more it seemed to energize Garcia.

King put his hands behind his back and let him chop him several times before hitting a huge forearm strike. Garcia scored a huge upset win to eliminate King from the tournament. When the rest of HOB showed up, Daddy Magic tried to protect him until FTR showed up to clear HOB out of the ring.

The story that has been told with Garcia during this tournament has been great. Even with zero points, more and more fans are cheering for him every week. He is going to be an important figure in AEW in 2024 if he keeps up like this.

Result: Daniel Garcia defeated Brody King

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Turning Nick into a heel was smart. He has the kind of face you sort of want to punch, or at least see it get punched by someone else. 
• Christian implying that he hooked up with Nick's mom and Nick just standing there smiling was kind of weird, right?
• The way Garcia hulked up during the chop sequence was great. 
• The crowd was giving Garcia great reactions for all of his big babyface moments. If Tony Khan doesn't make Garcia a definitive face in 2024, he is leaving money on the table. 

Thunder Rosa made her long-awaited return to the ring with a special lowrider entrance to team up with Abadon to take on Skye Blue and Julia Hart.

Blue took Abadon down with some stomps to kick off the action. Blue played spoiler by knocking Rosa off the apron to prevent a tag when Abadon had the chance.

Le Mera Mera continued to cheer on her partner until it was finally her turn to dish out some punishment. The former AEW women's champion got a huge pop when she finally came in and cleared house.

This bout was well-structured to get the most out of the crowd. None of the moves were particularly memorable, but the way the fans were reacting to everything helped make the match feel more important.

Rosa scored the win for her team and celebrated in front of an excited San Antonio crowd.

Result: Thunder Rosa and Abadon defeated Julia Hart and Skye Blue

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Abadon coming out with a Santa hat in their mouth was funny. 
• The running knee Abadon hit on Hart was shot from a great angle. 
• Blue's choice of gear is going to have people talking. 

The main event of the night was another C2 tournament match between Andrade El Idolo and Eddie Kingston. They shook hands, but then El Idolo shoved him to show there was no love lost.

On the surface, these two men appear to be opposites. Kingston is the gruff brawler and El Idolo is the polished technician, but they have a lot more in common than it may seem. How they move from spot to spot may be different, but both men can finish you with a submission or a stiff strike out of nowhere.

They didn't try to match the intensity of Danielson vs. Castagnoli or the brutality of Garcia vs. King. Instead, they made this match more about the story of The Mad King doing his best to stay alive in the tournament that has both of his titles on the line.

After a long struggle to break free from a Figure Four, Kingston picked up the win to advance to the finals of the Blue League. The American Dragon came to the ring to end the show with a standoff.

Result: Eddie Kingston defeated Andrade El Idolo

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Few people in wrestling can make you care about a match more than Kingston.
• Kelly did a great job on commentary explaining why this tournament is so important to Kingston. 
• El Idolo has one of the best moonsaults in the game.  

This week's episode of Collision didn't feel like much of a holiday episode outside of some festive hats, but it delivered some outstanding action.

Danielson and Castagnoli stole the show before it even had a chance to get off the ground, but the other two C2 matches helped highlight why this tournament has been so great for AEW, too.

The return of Thunder Rosa was a welcome sight, Garcia scoring an upset win despite not benefitting from it was a great moment, and the promo segment from Cage cemented him as AEW's best heel.

There were no weak segments or matches on this show, which is a rarity in pro wrestling.

Grade: A-