Overview
Established in 2023, the Continental Classic (C2) is an annual professional wrestling tournament hosted by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that starts after the promotion's Full Gear pay-per-view (PPV) event in mid-November and ends at the Worlds End PPV at the end of December. The tournament takes place in a round-robin format, with two blocks of six wrestlers – titled the Blue and Gold Leagues – wrestling each other across AEW's television shows, Dynamite , and Collision .
Matches are held under "Continental Rules": each match has 20-minute time limit, no other wrestlers are allowed at ringside, and outside interference is strictly prohibited under threat of penalty. Similar to most soccer leagues, match winners obtain three points for a win, and drawn matches give one point to each participant, and ties are broken based on head-to-head record. After the round-robin phase, the winner of each league will face the runner-up of the opposite league in a playoff match at Worlds End to determine the two championship finalists, who will wrestle each other for the AEW Continental Championship later in the evening.
As the reigning Continental Champion, Kazuchika Okada was awarded automatic entry into the tournament. Two of his fellow stable-mates in the Don Callis Family, Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, announced their entry at Full Gear. [2] [3] The remaining nine entrants and the draw for the blocks was announced in a Selection Special on November 24: Okada, Fletcher, Darby Allin, "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Pac were drawn into the Gold League; and Takeshita, Orange Cassidy, Claudio Castagnoli, Máscara Dorada, Jon Moxley, and Roderick Strong were drawn into the Blue League. [4] After Allin was declared medically unable to continue the tournament after his first match against Knight, he was replaced by "Jungle" Jack Perry. [5] [6]
In July 2025 at All In: Texas, reigning Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Kenny Omega in a Winner Takes All Championship unification match to win the AEW International Championship and become the inaugural AEW Unified Champion; since Okada won as the Continental Champion, the Unified Championship adopted the rules of the Continental Championship. [7] Although he defended both belts as one between All In and the Continental Classic, the tournament was only for the Continental Championship, meaning if Okada lost, it would end the unification, thus forcing him to relinquish the Unified Championship. [8] [9]
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