Continental Classic (2024)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Location | United 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) |
| Participants | 13[a] |
The 2024 Continental Classic, colloquially abbreviated as the C2, is an ongoing 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 AEW Dynamite on November 27 and will culminate at the Worlds End pay-per-view (PPV) event on December 28, 2024. Tournament matches are held under "Continental Rules", which feature a twenty-minute time limit and strictly prohibit outside interference.
Overview
[edit]The AEW Continental Classic is an annual tournament 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 twenty-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 ten 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
[edit]| Blue League match | |
| Gold League match | |
| League final match | |
| Tournament final match |
| Dates | Show | Venue | Matches | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 27 | Dynamite (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 | Kazuchika Okada vs. Daniel Garcia 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) (airs December 20) |
G | Brody King defeated Komander | |||
| December 21 | Collision (Christmas Collision) |
Hammerstein Ballroom New York City, New York |
G | Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli | |
| B | Shelton Benjamin vs. Daniel Garcia | ||||
| B | Mark Briscoe vs. The Beast Mortos | ||||
| G | Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay | ||||
| December 22 | Dynamite (Dynamite on 34th Street) (airs December 25) |
G | Darby Allin vs. Ricochet | ||
| B | Shelton Benjamin vs. Kazuchika Okada | ||||
| G | Claudio Castagnoli vs. Komander | ||||
| B | Kyle Fletcher vs. Daniel Garcia | ||||
| G | Brody King vs. Will Ospreay | ||||
| December 28 | Worlds End | Addition Financial Arena Orlando, Florida |
LF | Blue League first-place vs. Gold League second-place | |
| LF | Gold League first-place vs. Blue League second-place | ||||
| CF | League final #1 winner vs. League final #2 winner | ||||
| Cards are subject to change. | |||||
Leagues
[edit]| Eliminated |
| Blue League | Gold League | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Fletcher | 9 | Darby Allin | 6 |
| Kazuchika Okada (c) | 7 | Claudio Castagnoli | 6 |
| Shelton Benjamin | 6 | Will Ospreay | 6 |
| Mark Briscoe | 6 | Ricochet | 6 |
| Daniel Garcia | 4 | Brody King | 6 |
| The Beast Mortos | 0 | Komander[a] | 0 |
| Blue League | Benjamin | Briscoe | Fletcher | Garcia | Mortos | Okada |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin | — | Benjamin (11:44) |
Fletcher (15:48) |
Dec. 21 | Benjamin (8:47) |
Dec. 22 |
| Briscoe | Benjamin (11:44) |
— | Briscoe (19:44) |
Briscoe (16:22) |
Dec. 21 | Okada (13:26) |
| Fletcher | Fletcher (15:48) |
Briscoe (19:44) |
— | Dec. 22 | Fletcher (9:52) |
Fletcher (16:57) |
| Garcia | Dec. 21 | Briscoe (16:22) |
Dec. 22 | — | Garcia (10:25) |
Draw (20:00) |
| Mortos | Benjamin (8:47) |
Dec. 21 | Fletcher (9:52) |
Garcia (10:25) |
— | Okada (12:44) |
| Okada | Dec. 22 | Okada (13:26) |
Fletcher (16:57) |
Draw (20:00) |
Okada (12:44) |
— |
| Gold League | Allin | Castagnoli | King | Komander[a] | Ospreay | Ricochet |
| Allin | — | Dec. 21 | King (9:35) |
Allin (13:11) |
Allin (14:38) |
Dec. 22 |
| Castagnoli | Dec. 21 | — | Castagnoli (14:17) |
Dec. 22 | Ospreay (13:26) |
Castagnoli (13:01) |
| King | King (9:35) |
Castagnoli (14:17) |
— | King | Dec. 22 | Ricochet (12:46) |
| Komander[a] | Allin (13:11) |
Dec. 22 | King | — | Ospreay (12:34) |
Ricochet (12:28) |
| Ospreay | Allin (14:38) |
Ospreay (13:26) |
Dec. 22 | Ospreay (12:34) |
— | Dec. 21 |
| Ricochet | Dec. 22 | Castagnoli (13:01) |
Ricochet (12:46) |
Ricochet (12:28) |
Dec. 21 | — |
| League Finals Worlds End (December 28) | Championship Final Worlds End (December 28) | ||||||||
| B1 | |||||||||
| G2 | |||||||||
| G1 | |||||||||
| B2 | |||||||||
See also
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Juice Robinson sustained an injury in his first match against Will Ospreay; he was replaced for the remainder of the tournament by Komander.
References
[edit]- ^ Thomas, Jeremy (November 19, 2023). "Tony Khan Gives More Details on AEW Continental Classic, Will Conclude At Worlds End". 411Mania. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 24, 2024). "Daniel Garcia Declares For AEW Continental Classic". Fightful. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Nason, Josh (November 23, 2024). "AEW to announce Continental Classic participants on 'Selection Sunday'". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ "AEW Announces Participants For 2024 Continental Classic Tournament". Wrestling On Fannation. 2024-11-25. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "Juice Robinson out of AEW Continental Classic, replacement announced". F4W/WON. 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-04.