Kyle O’Reilly makes first appearance since AEW Full Gear
After nearly a month’s absence, AEW star Kyle O’Reilly appeared for the first time on a televised program tonight during Christmas Collision.
Last seen beating Jon Moxley at Full Gear in a No Holds Barred match, O’Reilly appeared tonight in a backstage segment with Roderick Strong. O’Reilly confirmed himself to be suffering from a bulging neck disc injury and arm fracture, which sidelined him from in-ring action. The former WWE NXT tag-team champion provided a pep talk and hyped up Strong during their backstage segment. Reflecting on his own matches with Moxley, O’Reilly motivated Strong ahead of his high-stakes match.
“If you knew how close I was to giving up in those matches with Jon [Moxley], you’d be looking at me the same way I’m looking at you right now.”
Strong used the motivation and successfully defeated Claudio Castagnoli during their Continental Classic match later in the night. The final moments of the match saw The Death Riders and Marina Shafir attack Strong, before Mark Briscoe and Toni Storm ran down to make the save.
O’Reilly was earlier expected to be a part of the Continental Classic tournament; however, following his match at Full Gear, he was ruled out of action.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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