AEW Star Claudio Castagnoli Wins Third Career Major World Championship

Claudio Castagnoli is once again a world champion.

The two-time ROH World Champion defeated Gran Guerrero on Friday night at Viernes Espectacular inside Arena Mexico in Mexico City to capture the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.

Castagnoli utilized the Neutralizer to pin Guerrero and end his title reign that dated back to November 7, 2022, when he defeated Hechicero at Lunes Clasico.

AND NEW!!!! ¡Claudio Castagnoli lo consiguió! El integrante de los Death Riders se corona como el nuevo Campeón Mundial Completo del CMLL tras imponerse a Gran Guerrero en una batalla inolvidable.#ViernesEspectacularCMLL
📺 EN VIVO: https://t.co/CLRvy9vSKt #LeyendaAzulCMLL pic.twitter.com/SeVYeunQ5D
— Lucha Libre CMLL (@CMLL_OFICIAL) November 29, 2025

It was only Castagnoli's fifth career match at a CMLL branded event. Most recently he competed at the jointly held CMLL/AEW/NJPW Wrestle Dynasty event at the Tokyo Dome in January. He lost that night to Shota Umino.

Prior to Friday night, Claudio's most recent win in CMLL came last December when he defeated Hechicero at Viernes Espectacular.

Castagnoli's Death Riders stablemates Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta also competed at this year's
Viernes Espectacular, but came up short in their bid to capture the CMLL World Tag Team Championship.

Claudio Castagnoli now carries World Championship cachet into next C2 bout

With the CMLL World Championship already around his waist, The Swiss Superman could soon add his first AEW singles title by winning the 2025 Continental Classic.

Claudio defeated Orange Cassidy this past Wednesday night on Dynamite to secure his first three points of the tournament. Jon Moxley, PAC, Kyle Fletcher, Kevin Knight and Konosuke Takeshita also won their opening bouts to put three points next to their names on the scoreboard.

Next up for Castagnoli in the C2 is a very interesting match-up against the leader of the Death Riders, Jon Moxley, this coming Wednesday night on Dynamite in Fishers, Indiana. Reigning Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will also look to shake off his early loss to Kyle Fletcher when he battles PAC, while The Protostar will take on Kevin Knight.

This Wednesday, 12/3!

The exciting second set of matches in AEW's premier annual tournament begins on #AEWDynamite!

Tune in for the #AEWContinentalClassic and more LIVE at 8/7c on @TBSNetwork + @SportsOnMAX! pic.twitter.com/Cs5uVBMAwE
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 29, 2025

The two competitors with the most total points in the Gold League and Blue League at the end of the round-robin portion of the tournament will move onto the semifinals, which will be held at Worlds End on Saturday, December 27.

The two men who advance out of the semifinals from each league will meet that same night with the AEW Continental Championship on the line.