Continental Classic (2024)

Last updated
AEW Continental Classic
Tournament information
Sport Professional wrestling
LocationUnited States
Dates November 27, 2024–December 28, 2024
Tournament
format(s)
Two-block round-robin tournament
Host(s) All Elite Wrestling
Venue(s)Various arenas (see matches )
Participants13 [a]
Final positions
Champion Kazuchika Okada
Runner-up Will Ospreay
←  2023

The 2024 Continental Classic (C2) was a professional wrestling round-robin tournament hosted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The second annual edition of the AEW Continental Classic began on the Thanksgiving Eve episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite on November 27, 2024, and culminated at the Worlds End pay-per-view (PPV) event on December 28, 2024. Tournament matches were held under "Continental Rules", which feature a 20-minute time limit with no one allowed at ringside and outside interference strictly prohibited. The prize of the tournament was the AEW Continental Championship. Incumbent champion Kazuchika Okada was automatically entered into the tournament and won to retain the title.

Contents

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 , 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 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. [1] For 2024, the format for the league finals was changed so that block winners would face the runner-up from the opposite block.

As the incumbent Continental Champion, Kazuchika Okada was awarded automatic entry into the tournament. Daniel Garcia announced his entry at the press conference after Full Gear, and the other 10 participants were announced in a "Selection Sunday" presentation prior to the beginning of the tournament: [2] [3] Okada, Garcia, Shelton Benjamin, Mark Briscoe, Kyle Fletcher, and The Beast Mortos in the Blue League, and Darby Allin, Claudio Castagnoli, Brody King, Will Ospreay, Ricochet, and Juice Robinson in the Gold League. [4] After Robinson sustained a suspected broken foot in his first tournament match against Ospreay, he was withdrawn from the tournament and replaced with Komander. [5]

Matches

Legend
 Blue League match
 Gold League match
Semifinal match
Championship final match
Tournament matches
DatesShowVenueMatchesTime
November 27 Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite Wintrust Arena
Chicago, Illinois 		B Shelton Benjamin defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 11:44
G Claudio Castagnoli defeated Ricochet by pinfall 13:01
G Brody King defeated Darby Allin by pinfall 9:35
Collision
(aired November 30)		G Will Ospreay defeated Juice Robinson by pinfall [a] 12:34
B Kyle Fletcher defeated The Beast Mortos by pinfall 9:52
B Daniel Garcia vs. Kazuchika Okada went to a time-limit draw 20:00
December 4 Dynamite Fishers Event Center
Fishers, Indiana 		B Kyle Fletcher defeated Shelton Benjamin by pinfall 15:48
G Claudio Castagnoli defeated Brody King by pinfall 14:17
Rampage
(aired December 6)		B Kazuchika Okada defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall 13:26
B Daniel Garcia defeated The Beast Mortos by pinfall 10:25
G Ricochet defeated Komander by pinfall 12:28
December 7 Collision Greater Columbus Convention Center
GalaxyCon
Columbus, Ohio 		G Darby Allin defeated Komander by pinfall 13:11
B Kyle Fletcher defeated Kazuchika Okada by pinfall 16:57
B Mark Briscoe defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall 16:22
December 11 Dynamite: Winter Is Coming T-Mobile Center
Kansas City, Missouri 		G Will Ospreay defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall 13:26
G Ricochet defeated Brody King by pinfall 12:46
December 12 Collision: Winter Is Coming
(aired December 14)		 Chaifetz Arena
St Louis, Missouri 		B Kazuchika Okada defeated The Beast Mortos by pinfall 12:44
B Mark Briscoe defeated Kyle Fletcher by pinfall 19:44
December 18 Dynamite: Holiday Bash Entertainment and Sports Arena
Washington, D.C. 		B Shelton Benjamin defeated The Beast Mortos by pinfall 8:47
G Darby Allin defeated Will Ospreay by pinfall 14:38
Rampage: Holiday Bash
(aired December 20)		G Brody King defeated Komander by pinfall 14:51
December 21 Christmas Collision Hammerstein Ballroom
New York City, New York 		G Ricochet defeated Will Ospreay by pinfall 14:27
B Daniel Garcia defeated Shelton Benjamin by pinfall 12:16
B Mark Briscoe defeated The Beast Mortos by pinfall 11:38
G Claudio Castagnoli defeated Darby Allin by pinfall 11:16
December 22 Dynamite on 34th Street
(aired December 25)		G Will Ospreay defeated Brody King by pinfall 15:30
G Darby Allin vs. Ricochet went to a time-limit draw 20:00
G Komander defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall 7:37
B Kazuchika Okada defeated Shelton Benjamin by pinfall 12:37
B Kyle Fletcher defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall 15:06
December 28 Worlds End Addition Financial Arena
Orlando, Florida 		SF Will Ospreay defeated Kyle Fletcher by pinfall 16:21
SF Kazuchika Okada defeated Ricochet by pinfall 12:55
CF Kazuchika Okada defeated Will Ospreay by pinfall 19:12

Leagues

Legend
 Qualified to semifinal
Participants
Blue LeagueGold League
Kyle Fletcher 12 Ricochet 10
Kazuchika Okada (c)10 Will Ospreay [α] 9
Mark Briscoe 9 Claudio Castagnoli 9
Daniel Garcia 7 Darby Allin 7
Shelton Benjamin 6 Brody King 6
The Beast Mortos 0 Komander [a] 3
(c) – the incumbent champion at the beginning of the tournament
  1. ↑ Ospreay advanced to the semifinals due to his head-to-head victory over Castagnoli.
Tournament overview
Blue LeagueBenjaminBriscoeFletcherGarciaMortosOkada
Benjamin—Benjamin
(11:44)		Fletcher
(15:48)		Garcia
(12:16)		Benjamin
(8:47)		Okada
(12:37)
BriscoeBenjamin
(11:44)		—Briscoe
(19:44)		Briscoe
(16:22)		Briscoe
(11:38)		Okada
(13:26)
FletcherFletcher
(15:48)		Briscoe
(19:44)		—Fletcher
(15:06)		Fletcher
(9:52)		Fletcher
(16:57)
GarciaGarcia
(12:16)		Briscoe
(16:22)		Fletcher
(15:06)		—Garcia
(10:25)		Draw
(20:00)
MortosBenjamin
(8:47)		Briscoe
(11:38)		Fletcher
(9:52)		Garcia
(10:25)		—Okada
(12:44)
OkadaOkada
(12:37)		Okada
(13:26)		Fletcher
(16:57)		Draw
(20:00)		Okada
(12:44)		—
Gold LeagueAllinCastagnoliKingKomander [a] OspreayRicochet
Allin—Castagnoli
(11:16)		King
(9:35)		Allin
(13:11)		Allin
(14:38)		Draw
(20:00)
CastagnoliCastagnoli
(11:16)		—Castagnoli
(14:17)		Komander
(7:37)		Ospreay
(13:26)		Castagnoli
(13:01)
KingKing
(9:35)		Castagnoli
(14:17)		—King
(14:51)		Ospreay
(15:30)		Ricochet
(12:46)
Komander [a] Allin
(13:11)		Komander
(7:37)		King
(14:51)		—Ospreay
(12:34)		Ricochet
(12:28)
OspreayAllin
(14:38)		Ospreay
(13:26)		Ospreay
(15:30)		Ospreay
(12:34)		—Ricochet
(14:27)
RicochetDraw
(20:00)		Castagnoli
(13:01)		Ricochet
(12:46)		Ricochet
(12:28)		Ricochet
(14:27)		—
Semifinals
Worlds End
(December 28)		Championship Final
Worlds End
(December 28)
      
B1 Kyle Fletcher 16:21
G2 Will Ospreay Pin
G2 Will Ospreay 19:12
B2 Kazuchika Okada (c)Pin
G1 Ricochet 12:55
B2 Kazuchika Okada (c)Pin

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Juice Robinson sustained an injury in his first match against Will Ospreay; he was replaced for the remainder of the tournament by Komander.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AEW Continental Championship</span> Mens professional wrestling championship

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AEW Continental Classic</span> Professional wrestling tournament

The Continental Classic (C2) is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tournament hosted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The tournament is held at the end of the calendar year, beginning after November's Full Gear pay-per-view (PPV) event and culminating at the Worlds End PPV in late December. Tournament matches are held under "Continental Rules", in which matches have a 20-minute time limit, no one is allowed at ringside, and outside interference is strictly prohibited. The prize of the tournament is the AEW Continental Championship; the incumbent champion at the beginning of each tournament is automatically entered and defends the title throughout the tournament.

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Jeremy (November 19, 2023). "Tony Khan Gives More Details on AEW Continental Classic, Will Conclude At Worlds End". 411Mania . Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  2. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (November 24, 2024). "Daniel Garcia Declares For AEW Continental Classic". Fightful. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  3. ↑ Nason, Josh (November 23, 2024). "AEW to announce Continental Classic participants on 'Selection Sunday'". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  4. ↑ "AEW Announces Participants For 2024 Continental Classic Tournament". Wrestling On Fannation. November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Juice Robinson out of AEW Continental Classic, replacement announced". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
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