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 strictly prohibit outside interference. 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.
| 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] |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | Kazuchika Okada |
| Runner-up | Will Ospreay |
Overview
editEstablished 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
edit| Blue League match | |
| Gold League match | |
| Semifinal match | |
| Championship final match |
Leagues
edit| Qualified to semifinal |
| Blue League | Gold 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 | |||
- ^ Ospreay advanced to the semifinals due to his head-to-head victory over Castagnoli.
| Blue League | Benjamin | Briscoe | Fletcher | Garcia | Mortos | Okada |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin | — | Benjamin (11:44) |
Fletcher (15:48) |
Garcia (12:16) |
Benjamin (8:47) |
Okada (12:37) |
| Briscoe | Benjamin (11:44) |
— | Briscoe (19:44) |
Briscoe (16:22) |
Briscoe (11:38) |
Okada (13:26) |
| Fletcher | Fletcher (15:48) |
Briscoe (19:44) |
— | Fletcher (15:06) |
Fletcher (9:52) |
Fletcher (16:57) |
| Garcia | Garcia (12:16) |
Briscoe (16:22) |
Fletcher (15:06) |
— | Garcia (10:25) |
Draw (20:00) |
| Mortos | Benjamin (8:47) |
Briscoe (11:38) |
Fletcher (9:52) |
Garcia (10:25) |
— | Okada (12:44) |
| Okada | Okada (12:37) |
Okada (13:26) |
Fletcher (16:57) |
Draw (20:00) |
Okada (12:44) |
— |
| Gold League | Allin | Castagnoli | King | Komander[a] | Ospreay | Ricochet |
| Allin | — | Castagnoli (11:16) |
King (9:35) |
Allin (13:11) |
Allin (14:38) |
Draw (20:00) |
| Castagnoli | Castagnoli (11:16) |
— | Castagnoli (14:17) |
Komander (7:37) |
Ospreay (13:26) |
Castagnoli (13:01) |
| King | King (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) |
| Ospreay | Allin (14:38) |
Ospreay (13:26) |
Ospreay (15:30) |
Ospreay (12:34) |
— | Ricochet (14:27) |
| Ricochet | Draw (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
editFootnotes
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. November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
- ^ "Juice Robinson out of AEW Continental Classic, replacement announced". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.