Welcome to the first weekly review of All Elite Wrestling's answer to New Japan Pro Wrestling's tournament G1 Climax, that being the Continental Classic (C2). This isn't AEW first rodeo, with last year's inaugural C2 seeing Eddie Kingston defeat Jon Moxley in the finals at AEW Worlds End 2023 to retain his ROH and NJPW Strong Championships and become the first Continental Champion.
This year I'll be recapping each round of C2 matches leading up to the finals at Worlds End 2024, and I'll highlight some of the big stories and must-see matches from each week.
How does the Continental Classic work?
The Continental Classic is a round-robin style tournament that features 12 wrestlers split into 2 leagues (Gold League and Blue League). Each League will see every wrestler face each other once, with the matches being contested under 20-minute time limits and with outside interference being banned (assumingly resulting in a no-contest, AEW haven't fully explained what happens here).
Wrestlers get three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss, and this year marks a change from last year's rules, as the top scoring wrestler from each league will face the second placed wrestler from the opposite league (i.e. 1st from Gold facing 2nd from Blue) at Worlds End 2024 on December 28th, with the winners of those playoffs facing each other later on the show to be crowned the 2024 winner and the new Continental Champion.
Who's in the Continental Classic?
This year we have four returning entries from last year, that being former ROH Champion Mark Briscoe, newly crowned TNT Champion Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli, and Brody King. Kazuchika Okada is the current Continental Champion (he beat Kingston on AEW Dynamite in March for the belt) and is the 'kayfabe' favourite for this tournament as he's not only the only man in the tournament to win the G1 Climax, but he's also won the G1 four times.
Our brackets for both league's are listed below, with the most exciting match up of the blue league being Kazuchika Okada vs Kyle Fletcher, the latter of which is fresh off a win against 2022 G1 Climax finalist Will Ospreay at Full Gear. The gold league's most exciting matchup looks to be Ospreay vs Ricochet, who both famously wrestled each other in the 2016 New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Tournament in a match that gave us some all-timer wrestling GIFs, and they both recently faced off against each other twice, with Konosuke Takeshita getting himself involved in some capacity both times.
With all the admin out of the way, lets first get into the C2 matches from the Thanksgiving Eve edition of AEW Dynamite.
Blue League Round 1 - Shelton Benjamin vs Mark Briscoe
We kick off the C2 with the Hurt Syndicate coming out to cut a promo. MVP boasts about Bobby Lashley's dominant win over former AEW Champion Swerve Strickland, and explains the Syndicate's objective, that being to win championship and use that as leverage for more money and power (I actually dig this a lot). Shelton's place here then is to represent the Hurt Syndicate and win the Continental Championship to give the group credibility.
Out comes Mark Briscoe, and after a stare down with the departing Hurt Syndicate (who are barred from ringside as per the rules) we start the match. Shelton Benjamin is on top for the majority of this match, showing off his amateur wrestling prowess by tossing Mark inside and outside the ring. Mark Briscoe plays the role of the valiant babyface fighting from underneath well here, with Mark's own eccentricity and gluttony for punishment being sold well by a confused Benjamin.
The main goal of this match is mainly to put over Benjamin as a credible threat here, and after nearly 12 minutes, Benjamin delivers a T-Bone Suplex and get the win. Looks like Benjamin is being set up for the spoiler role here and don't be surprised if he gets a win over someone like Daniel Garcia to further his credibility.
Gold League Round 1 - Claudio Castagnoli vs Ricochet
Claudio Castagnoli has the momentum coming into this opening match-up, with Claudio getting a win over Darby Allin on the Dynamite prior, whilst Ricochet is coming off a loss against AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita, with Takeshita effectively pulverising the back of Ricochet in his defence of the title. Ricochet continued to put over the story of his back being his weak point in this bout with Claudio from the off with him screaming in pain after Claudio hits him with a bodyslam at the start of the match.
The story of this match is Ricochet trying to use his speed and flips to try and counter and avoid the power of Claudio Castagnoli. Ricochet sells brilliantly here for Claudio, and example early on being a running uppercut from Claudio turning Ricochet inside out. We get some pretty phenomenal reversals in this match from both Claudio and Ricochet, one reversal that brought the crowd to life was Ricochet reversal Claudio's pop-up European Uppercut attempt by backflipping off Claudio's shoulders.
The finish of this match feels incredibly similar to how Claudio beat Allin, with Claudio brutalising Ricochet on the outside via the barricade, Ricochet crawling himself back into the ring before Claudio hits a running lariat for the win. Think the finish does a lot to help Claudio, but it did fall a bit flat in the arena considering how the pace was picking up in the final minutes before the finish. I do appreciate the story around Ricochet's bad back, although Ricochet perhaps should have sold it more throughout the match. That being said, still a very fun match from these two, albeit one that could have hit a higher gear.
Gold League Round 1 - Brody King vs Darby Allin
Brody and Allin have had many bouts both in and out of AEW, Darby has beaten Brody only twice in AEW, once in a coffin match on a 2022 edition of Dynamite, and more recently at WrestleDream 2024. These two often create magic so the position of this match as the main event of the week's Dynamite is more than fitting. Allin has his ribs, head and legs bandaged up in this match, injuries suffered when he crashed a car into AEW World Champion Jon Moxley's truck at the end of Full Gear. Allin has been on a collision course towards Moxley, but its that distraction that may cost him points in this tournament.
The two shake hands at the start of the match, calling back to their handshake after their WrestleDream match, giving us a sense of continuity from that match into this one. Brody King is overpowering Darby Allin early on, hitting him with Sentons, with running splashes, and with massive chops, one of which sending him crashing from the top rope to the mat leading into an ad break. The story of Darby Allin's sheer defiance versus the power of Brody King is told well (as always is the case with these two) with Allin kicking out at 2 no matter the punishment dealt.
In the middle of this match, Brody King hits a senton into the barricade that Allin runs out of the way for, and at least on my feed, the broadcast literally broke and then cut back in without the commentary for a couple minutes - not sure if that was actually an accident or just done to give the fight a more unhinged feel but I kind of liked it.
Allin hits a tremendous looking flipping powerbomb from the top-rope on King late on that gets a near fall. The finish of the match saw Allin go for the Coffin Drop in the ring, but that gets reversed into a rear naked choke on the floor which immediately gets reversed into a Bret Hart style near fall from Allin. King maintains the grip and tries to choke out Allin, but he transitions into a Gonzo Bomb for the three. This was the best match on Dynamite, telling a clear and compelling story with two wrestlers that are the best at their roles and have tremendous victory.
After the match we see Claudio Castagnoli walk into the ring with a chair but Brody King stares down Claudio as commentary announces that the two will face off next week - an effective way to put over the Death Riders story and give us an announcement for next week's Dynamite.
Gold League Round 1 - Will Ospreay vs Juice Robinson
Moving onto the three matches on AEW Collision, and we start a matchup that has only ever happened in a singles context once before, with the two facing off for the first time in NJPW in the 2022 G1 Climax. Will Ospreay is coming off a loss to Kyle Fletcher at Full Gear whilst Juice Robinson is a first timer to the Continental Classic. Ospreay is still rocking the black Punisher gear that he wore at Full Gear, it still doesn't suit him.
The neck and the top of Ospreay's back is heavily covered in Konesio tape, and the neck becomes a big part of this match. They spend the first part of this match making a point of Ospreay's neck, with Ospreay selling his neck anytime Robinson preformed a move. This bad neck story culminates half-way through the match, where Juice Robinson hits a draping DDT on the outside apron to Will Ospreay which causes Ospreay left arm to go numb. Ospreay just about makes the count and the crowd cheers him on as he gets back into the match.
Robinson looks beat up near the end of the match, with his chest scratched up from the chops and hits from Ospreay throughout the match. The finish of this match comes when after Juice Robinson kicks out of the Styles Clash, as Ospreay shortly follows up with the hidden blade to get the win. Juice was always going to take the loss here, but the main point of this opening match is to set up the story of Ospreay's neck and I'm sure we'll see a spot of two in a couple matches time of Ospreay failing to connect with the hidden blade due to the loss of feeling in his arm as a result of the bad neck.
NEWSFLASH - Fightful Select are reporting that Juice Robinson "sustained an injury and was on crutches at Wrestlecade this weekend" - presuming he may have got injured here, but either way that sad to hear and I hope Juice isn't out for too long. The interesting thing here is if he isn't fit enough to compete, would someone take his place? Guess we'll see.
Blue League Round 1 - Kyle Fletcher vs The Beast Mortos
Kyle Fletcher has a ton of momentum currently, with his recent heel turn and win against Will Ospreay setting up Fletcher for a big push in AEW. Mortos is making his first entrance in a Continental Classic match, and has been a fan favourite with some incredible performances since changing his name from Black Taurus.
Fletcher starts on top for the first half of this match but Mortos manages to get Fletcher off his feet after the break with a crazy twisting corkscrew dive to the outside. Fletcher gets back in with a huge powerbomb that gets a pin, but Mortos responds with his signature crucifix bomb that gets a two. Fletcher gets the win after hitting a running knee into the corner and a big brainbuster. Pretty short match considering how long these two could go, but given Fletcher is being giving a big push at the moment, a convincing win over Mortos like the one we got was expected, even if it was underwhelming.
Blue League Round 1 - Kazuchika Okada vs Daniel Garcia
A big champion vs champion match is here to finish off the first round as TNT Champion Garcia faces Continental Champion Okada. They've shared the ring in AEW before in a big 8-man tag earlier in the year, but this is the first time we see them one on one. Garcia won the TNT Championship after beating Jack Perry at Full Gear, and like the Perry match, Matt Menard is on commentary for this one.
Okada starts off on top in this match, with Garcia doing his best to reply with strikes and kicks before being shot down time and time again. Garcia looked like he got himself on top after hitting a running kick to Okada on the outside, but as the referee Aubrey Edwards had her back turned, Okada hits Garcia with the chair and laughs maniacally as Collision goes into an ad break.
Okada teases the rainmaker pose later on in the match, only to do the Garcia dance - this really angers Garcia who puts Okada into the ankle lock and then repeatedly counters Okada's attempts to get out of Garcia's moves. With one minute remaining left, Garcia counters Okada's rainmaker attempt into a roll-up and then his sharpshooter. Garcia leans back as Okada bites his hand to stop himself from tapping, Okada manages to survive as the bell rings for the 20 minute time-limit with Garcia and Okada getting a point each.
After the match, Okada asks for a handshake of Garcia but he shows Garcia the middle finger instead, Collision closes with Garcia staring at Okada who walks away. This match was underwhelming considering the ability of the two wrestlers - there was some great flashes of counter wrestling from the two and a really great finish but I think there was another gear or two that this match should have gone through - good match, just not as good as it could've been.
Round 1 Results
In the Gold League, Brody King, Will Ospreay and Claudio Castagnoli all have three points and sit joint top of the group. In the Blue League, Shelton Benjamin and Kyle Fletcher are joint top of the group with three points each, whilst Kazuchika Okada and Daniel Garcia share the join 3rd spot with one point each. The best match this round for me was the Brody King vs Darby Allin match, which stood out compared to the rest of the matches.
We've got Claudio Castagnoli vs Brody King in the Gold League and Kyle Fletcher vs Shelton Benjamin in the Blue League for next week's Dynamite, not all the matches have been announced yet for Round 2 and I wonder if that's down to Tony Kahn just not deciding what he wants to put on next, or if Juice is going to be out a while and that complicating the Classic.
Comments