Continental Classic (2023)

Last updated
AEW Continental Classic
Tournament information
Sport Professional wrestling
LocationUnited States
Canada
Dates November 22, 2023December 30, 2023
Tournament
format(s)
Two-block round-robin tournament
Host(s) All Elite Wrestling
Venue(s)Various arenas (see matches )
Participants12
Final positions
Champion Eddie Kingston
Runner-up Jon Moxley
2024  

The 2023 Continental Classic (C2) was a professional wrestling round-robin tournament hosted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The inaugural edition of the AEW Continental Classic began on the November 22, 2023, episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite and culminated at the Worlds End pay-per-view (PPV) on December 30, 2023. Tournament matches were held under "Continental Rules", which feature a 20-minute time limit, no one is allowed at ringside, and strictly prohibit outside interference. Eddie Kingston—who also defended the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship in the tournament—won the tournament by defeating Jon Moxley in the final, and was crowned the first-ever AEW Continental Champion, as well as the first-ever AEW American Triple Crown Champion for holding all three titles, also referred to as the Continental Crown Champion.

Contents

History

On November 11, 2023, the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced a tournament called the Continental Classic (C2). AEW president Tony Khan and AEW wrestler Bryan Danielson announced that the tournament would begin on the November 22, 2023, episode of Dynamite , lasting six weeks and concluding at the Worlds End pay-per-view (PPV) event on December 30. [1]

The Continental Classic was announced to be a round-robin tournament consisting of two groups of six wrestlers. The first four confirmed participants were Bryan Danielson, Andrade El Idolo, Mark Briscoe, and Eddie Kingston. [2] A week later, AEW unveiled the AEW Continental Championship as a prize for the tournament winner, and announced that Kingston would also put his ROH World Championship and his NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line; the winner of the tournament would hence be declared the first American Triple Crown Champion, also referred to as the Continental Crown. Khan also announced that the incumbent Continental Champion at the time of future editions of the tournament would be given automatic entry to defend their title. [3] [4]

The inaugural tournament's matches were scheduled to be held across episodes of Dynamite, Rampage , and Collision , with the semi-finals (promoted as the "League Finals") held on December 27 at Dynamite: New Year's Smash and the tournament final (promoted as the "Championship Final") held at the Worlds End PPV. [5] All 12 participants and their groupings in the inaugural Continental Classic were revealed during the "Selection Special" midday on November 22 across AEW's social media. The two blocks were named the Gold and Blue Leagues, with the Gold League matches beginning that night on Dynamite. [6] During the tournament's final week, it was given the secondary branding of "Tournament For Tots", in conjunction with AEW and their action figure manufacturer partner Jazwares's donation of US$1 million worth of toys for the Toys for Tots charity for underprivileged children. [7] [8]

Overview

The Continental Classic is an annual tournament that starts after the promotion's Full Gear 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 , Rampage , 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. After the round-robin phase, the top two wrestlers in each league qualify for a league final match, with ties for position broken based on head-to-head record. The winner of each league final match then face each other for the AEW Continental Championship at Worlds End. [9]

Eddie Kingston was the incumbent ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion heading in to the tournament; he put these championships on the line as a tournament prize, with the winner to be recognised as the American Triple Crown Champion, also referred to as the Continental Crown. When the tournament was announced, Andrade El Idolo, Mark Briscoe, and Bryan Danielson were also announced as participants. The other eight participants and the league draw were announced in a "Selection Special" presentation in the afternoon preceding the first matches: Andrade, Danielson, Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, and Brody King in the Blue League, and Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Jon Moxley, Rush, Swerve Strickland, and Jay White in the Gold League. [10]

Matches

Legend
 Gold League match
 Blue League match
 Tournament final match
Tournament matches
DatesShowVenueMatchesTime
November 22 Dynamite Wintrust Arena
Chicago, Illinois
G Swerve Strickland defeated Jay Lethal by pinfall 13:51
G Jay White defeated Rush by pinfall 13:53
G Jon Moxley defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 11:29
November 25 Collision Petersen Events Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
B Claudio Castagnoli defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall 10:27
B Brody King defeated Eddie Kingston by pinfall 16:41
November 29 Dynamite Target Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota
G Jon Moxley defeated Jay Lethal by submission 11:19
G Rush defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 11:25
G Swerve Strickland defeated Jay White by pinfall 15:27
December 2 Collision Erie Insurance Arena
Erie, Pennsylvania
B Brody King defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall 12:35
B Andrade El Idolo defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall 11:01
B Bryan Danielson defeated Eddie Kingston by pinfall 16:50
December 5 Collision
(aired December 9)
Bell Centre
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
B Eddie Kingston defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall 18:04
B Andrade El Idolo defeated Bryan Danielson by pinfall 18:33
December 6 Dynamite G Jon Moxley defeated Rush by technical submission 14:32
G Swerve Strickland defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 15:44
G Jay White defeated Jay Lethal by pinfall 11:24
Rampage
(aired December 8)
B Bryan Danielson defeated Daniel Garcia by technical submission 15:35
December 13 Dynamite: Winter Is Coming College Park Center
Arlington, Texas
B Andrade El Idolo defeated Brody King by pinfall 14:45
G Rush defeated Jay Lethal by submission 4:30
G Jay White defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 11:19
G Jon Moxley defeated Swerve Strickland by pinfall 16:23
December 16 Collision: Winter Is Coming Curtis Culwell Center
Garland, Texas
B Claudio Castagnoli defeated Andrade El Idolo by pinfall 15:33
B Eddie Kingston defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall 12:12
B Bryan Danielson defeated Brody King by pinfall 15:11
December 20 Dynamite: Holiday Bash Paycom Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
G Swerve Strickland defeated Rush by pinfall 14:53
G Mark Briscoe defeated Jay Lethal by pinfall 13:53
G Jay White defeated Jon Moxley by pinfall 15:09
December 23 Collision: Holiday Bash Frost Bank Center
San Antonio, Texas
B Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Danielson ended in a time-limit draw 20:00
B Daniel Garcia defeated Brody King by pinfall 10:21
B Eddie Kingston defeated Andrade El Idolo by pinfall 15:39
December 27 Dynamite: New Year's Smash Addition Financial Arena
Orlando, Florida
G Jon Moxley defeated Swerve Strickland and Jay White by pinfall 23:14
B Eddie Kingston defeated Bryan Danielson by pinfall 22:37
December 30 Worlds End Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Uniondale, New York
F Eddie Kingston defeated Jon Moxley by pinfall 17:16

Leagues

Legend
 Qualified to league final
Participants
Blue LeagueGold League
Bryan Danielson 10 Jon Moxley 12
Eddie Kingston [a] 9 Swerve Strickland 12
Andrade El Idolo 9 Jay White 12
Claudio Castagnoli 7 Rush 6
Brody King 6 Mark Briscoe 3
Daniel Garcia 3 Jay Lethal 0
  1. Kingston advanced to the Blue League final due to his head-to-head victory over Andrade.
Tournament overview
Blue LeagueAndradeCastagnoliDanielsonGarciaKingKingston
AndradeCastagnoli
(15:33)
Andrade
(18:33)
Andrade
(11:02)
Andrade
(14:45)
Kingston
(15:39)
CastagnoliCastagnoli
(15:33)
Draw
(20:00)
Castagnoli
(10:27)
King
(12:34)
Kingston
(18:04)
DanielsonAndrade
(18:33)
Draw
(20:00)
Danielson
(15:35)
Danielson
(15:11)
Danielson
(16:50)
GarciaAndrade
(11:02)
Castagnoli
(10:27)
Danielson
(15:35)
Garcia
(10:21)
Kingston
(12:12)
KingAndrade
(14:45)
King
(12:34)
Danielson
(15:11)
Garcia
(10:21)
King
(16:41)
KingstonKingston
(15:39)
Kingston
(18:04)
Danielson
(16:50)
Kingston
(12:12)
King
(16:41)
Gold LeagueBriscoeLethalMoxleyRushStricklandWhite
BriscoeBriscoe
(13:53)
Moxley
(11:29)
Rush
(11:25)
Strickland
(15:44)
White
(11:19)
LethalBriscoe
(13:53)
Moxley
(11:19)
Rush
(4:30)
Strickland
(13:51)
White
(11:24)
MoxleyMoxley
(11:29)
Moxley
(11:19)
Moxley
(14:32)
Moxley
(16:23)
White
(15:09)
RushRush
(11:25)
Rush
(4:30)
Moxley
(14:32)
Strickland
(14:53)
White
(13:53)
StricklandStrickland
(15:44)
Strickland
(13:51)
Moxley
(16:23)
Strickland
(14:53)
Strickland
(15:27)
WhiteWhite
(11:19)
White
(11:24)
White
(15:09)
White
(13:53)
Strickland
(15:27)
League Finals
Dynamite : New Year's Smash
(December 27)
Championship Final
Worlds End
(December 30)
      
Bryan Danielson 22:37
Eddie Kingston Pin
Blue Eddie Kingston Pin
Gold Jon Moxley 17:16
Jon Moxley Pin
Swerve Strickland
Jay White

23:14

See also

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References

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  7. Tessier, Colin. "AEW Partnering With Toys For Tots, Raising Over $1 Million Worth Of Toys". Yahoo!. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
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