AEW Collision: Eddie Kingston Retains AEW Continental Crown Championship in First Defense
Eddie Kingston retains the AEW Continental Crown Championship against Trent Beretta!
Eddie Kingston became AEW's first triple-crown champion after he defeated Bryan Danielson at AEW Worlds End putting a neatly tied bow on his extraordinary 2023. With the win, Kingston cemented himself as one of the few greats that have been bestowed that honor and he's not wasting any time defending it. Kingston battled Best Friends member Trent Beretta who has been carving out a name for himself as a singles star for quite some time, recently earning a TNT Championship opportunity against Christian Cage and beating Bryan Keith, Brian Cage and El Hijo del Vikingo for a shot at the Continental Crown Championship.
The title match opens the show and gets underway shortly after. They trade shots in the middle of the ring, Kingston snapmare's and chops Beretta in the chest again. Beretta changes the pace of the match when he takes control, putting his foot right on Kingston's neck, choking him. Kingston gets on his knees and still fights, slapping Beretta's knees before grabbing onto his leg. Beretta snap suplexes Kingston for a one count. Kingston gets back up on his feet. Beretta is whipped into the corner and chopped yet again, rather vigorously. When Kingston chops Beretta in the nose it busts him wide open.
Eddie Kingston continues outsmart Beretta in this match.
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 7, 2024
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Kingston grabs Beretta into a choke but he fights out of it. Both men launch off the ropes and give each other clotheslines. They get to their feet, Kingston first, punching Beretta in the head with his fist, clutching his wrist. Kingston runs into two boots from Beretta who tries to go to the top rope, Kingston sweeps his legs out from under him. They stand toe-to-toe in the ring and chop each other some more, Beretta refuses to stay down. He chops, punches and kicks Kingston, sending him to the outside of the ring. Beretta takes flight with a topé right on top of Kingston.
Beretta power bombs Kingston for a near-fall. He lifts the champion up again but Kingston reverses it into the northern lights bomb. Beretta answers with a gotch style piledriver but Kingston proves his toughness, kicking out at two. On their knees, they punch each other and stand on wobbly legs. Beretta takes off his elbow pad and goes for a lariat but Kingston catches him again for a near fall. This time, Kingston gets him up for another northern lights bomb. He picks up his first win as the Continental Crown Championship.
