Teammate beats teammate in AEW Continental Cup tournament

The Continental Challenge Cup first round concluded on AEW Collision (Aug. 15, 2026). There was a trifecta of interesting matchups, which included a pair of teammate versus teammate bouts. Conglomeration pals Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong duked it out, Callis Family goons Brian Cage and Hechicero threw hands, and technical experts Katsuyori Shibata and Nigel McGuinness dueled in a chess match. First up was Hechicero sneaking out the win over Cage. The strongman executed tremendous power moves to control the action, such as a deadlift suplex into the ring. The Alchemist used wizardry on the mat to trap the Machine in submissions. In the end, Hechicero ducked a discus lariat to spike Cage with a flying guillotine. The masked man transitioned from a crucifix into a high stack pin for the win. McGuinness engaged Shibata in a display of skill. Shibata had the upper hand often, but Nigel always had a trick up his sleeve. One example was Shibata using a sleeper to slow down Nigel. Shibat