Welcome to the week four review of the AEW Continental Classic 2024 on GrapPro.
You can find all content on the Continental Classic from GrapPro here.
Learn more about the participants of the 2024 Continental Classic here.
Update From Last Week: Nothing major to report. Nobody has injuries. There will be five Continental Classic matches at Dynamite on 34th Street, which tapes on the 22nd of December to be aired on the 25th of December. I will keep this spoiler free and post the final week results with a preview of the matches set for World’s End on the 26th of December.
Week One Review
Week Two Review
Week Three Review
The matches for the fourth week of the 2024 Continental Classic:
AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash
Gold League
Darby Allin (2-1) defeats Will Ospreay (2-1)
Blue League
Shelton Benjamin (2-1) defeats The Beast Mortos (0-4)
AEW Rampage: Holiday Bash
Gold League
Brody King (2-2) defeats Komander (0-4)
AEW Christmas Collision
Gold League
Darby Allin (3-1) defeats Claudio Castagnoli (2-2)
Ricochet (3-1) defeats Will Ospreay (2-2)
Blue League
Mark Briscoe (3-2) defeats The Beast Mortos (0-5)
Daniel Garcia (2-1-1) defeats Shelton Benjamin (2-2)
Current Results
Kyle Fletcher 3-1
Mark Briscoe 3-2
Kazuchika Okada 2-1-1
Shelton Benjamin 2–2
Daniel Garcia 2-1-1
The Beast Mortos 0-5
Claudio Castagnoli 3-1
Ricochet 3-1
Will Ospreay 2-2
Darby Allin 2–2
Brody King 2-2
Komander 0-4
Blue League Overview
Mark Briscoe finished early with 9 points, as did The Beast Mortos who got swept.
Due to the draws, Okada and Garcia can finish with a maximum of 10 points should they win their matches. Okada faces Shelton Benjamin and Daniel Garcia faces Kyle Fletcher.
Fletcher already has 9 points so a win for him just locks him as the winner of the Blue League.
Should Okada or Garcia tie their matches? They would be automatically eliminated at 8 points since Fletcher and Briscoe already have 9.
Interestingly, if Shelton Benjamin pulls out the major victory on Kazuchika Okada? That gives him 9 points with a tiebreaker over Mark Briscoe but not Kyle Fletcher.
Gold League Overview
With a big loss to Claudio Castagnoli, it doesn’t look like Darby Allin is going to get himself into the playoffs of the Continental Classic. Ricochet and Claudio Castagnoli currently lead with 9 points.
Ricochet has to beat Darby Allin to lock his playoff spot.
Claudio has to beat Komander to lock his playoff spot.
Ospreay, if he beats Brody King, would have a tiebreaker over Claudio but not Ricochet.
Brody King, if he beats Ospreay, has no tiebreaker on Claudio or Ricochet.
Darby, if he beats Ricochet, would have a tiebreaker over Ricochet but not Claudio.
Komander is out but can play spoiler to Claudio.
I could see Claudio winning the Gold League with a win against Komander and then it’s just a fight for the second place spot. That would allow Darby to hold a tiebreaker on Ospreay/Ricochet but not Brody, Ospreay could hold it over Brody but not Ricochet/Darby, and Ricochet should he not beat Darby would only hold a tiebreaker over Ospreay.
AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash
December 18, 2024
Shelton Benjamin defeats The Beast Mortos for three points in the Blue League
Shelton and Beast Mortos proved to be a solid mix of similar styles. The Beast Mortos brings more speed and Shelton Benjamin brings more power but both men rely on a mix of power and aggression in their matches.
It’s hard to recap not because it wasn’t good but because it was a lot of what we’ve seen from both men in other matches. Shelton brought suplexes, running knee strikes, and thrust kicks and The Beast Mortos did his best to shake off the impact. Shelton would win with The Hurt Fall to stay in the thick of the Continental Classic. The Beast Mortos has proved in countless matches he can take a beating, but you have to do more than just take a beating if you want to win in the Continental Classic.
Darby Allin adds three points in The Gold League beating Will Ospreay in a classic
Easily one of the best wrestling matches of the year and arguably the best TV match of the year.
Darby and Will ended up having incredible chemistry and essentially doing the perfect babyface versus babyface match as it was all about momentum and motion. Both men constantly reversed each other and didn’t waste much time to set up their spots.
Ospreay proved to have the power advantage but Darby proved he could match Ospreay move for move and refusing to let much happen to him without an attempt to get out of it. Darby of course did a sick Coffin Drop to the apron making one of the hardest thuds I’ve ever heard off of the ring apron.
The attempted Code Red into a Hidden Blade into a Stormbreaker attempt reversed into a Code Red is one of the most incredible sequences I’ve ever seen in a pro wrestling match. Maybe I need to watch more Lucha but it was absolutely mesmerizing.
Darby and Ospreay are not really known for their strikes and they had an excellent strike exchange with knifehand chops and forearm shivers. Ospreay would maintain grip which almost cost him as Darby eventually reversed it into a La Magistral.
Ospreay then did an insane Styles Clash off the apron right to the ground which likely hurt both men. Ospreay would hold his knee while Darby barely got back to the ring for 10. Ospreay capitalized with an Os Cutter then went for a Stormbreaker but this time Darby Allin reversed into a Scorpion Death Drop. Darby then went up top to hit two Coffin Drops and win the match.
Go out of your way to rewatch this when AEW comes to MAX.
AEW Rampage: Holiday Bash
December 20, 2024
Brody King defeats Komander to stay in the race for top of the Gold League
Komander had a busy night on the 20th. He had his Continental Classic match with Brody King as a replacement for Juice Robinson and he had a six wrestler match for the ROH Television Championship at Final Battle. Lucky for Komander he at least won the match with gold going to the victor.
Brody has been leaning babyface lately but he had no issue taking the role of the powerful bully absolutely toying with his food. Maybe we should have realized he wasn’t going to be nice when he came out with such a dark tan. It wasn’t until Brody King missed an overhead chop and hit the turnbuckle did Komander finally get some offence on Brody. Unfortunately he got cute balancing on the ropes and Brody King made him pay right to the outside.
Komander’s entire strategy was to make Brody King submit, locking him in a submission as his best chance for victory. A Crucifix Bomb was his best impact of the match but Brody King rolled out of the ring before Komander could capitalize. Komander instead decided to fly at Brody outside the ring and it was once again a big mistake for the young man. It was now time for Brody King to make a mistake as he rushed Komander into the barricade and Komander moved away.
Komander started to build offence but once again took too much time to get to his next high risk move, but was able to reverse and do a sunset flip powerbomb off the corner followed by a 450 splash. It really felt like Komander could get Brody at that point after what was essentially a squash match.
After one too many high risks, Brody would grab Komander out of the air and drop him with a Gonzo Bomb.
AEW Christmas Collision
December 21, 2024
Ricochet cheats twice to get three points on Will Ospreay in the Gold League
Ricochet became the new Jimmy Rave as Hammerstein tossed toilet paper rolls at him. Ospreay quickly corpsed on it.
Will Ospreay is a very giving guy to let Ricochet always look like his equal in these matches. Ricochet wiping his crotch with toilet paper and putting it in Ospreay’s face should be that big giant sign for anyone who hasn’t realized Prince Puma is a heel now.
Early on it felt like Ricochet had an answer to everything Ospreay did and not the other way around. Ospreay finally started reversing moves himself but Ricochet was smart to roll out of the ring before a Hidden Blade. The DVD to the apron was fantastic.
Just as Ospreay wanted, the two men went in the middle of the ring to throw bombs. Ospreay got the best of it only for Ricochet to shove Ospreay into the referee and knock him down. The Hammerstein fans chanted all the way up to 10. Great crowd. Ricochet a second time shoved the referee, this time into the ropes to cause Ospreay to crowd the rope. Ricochet turned that into a Spirit Gun shot when Ospreay was asking what the referee did to win the match.
Ricochet’s heel turn is complete and he’s now in the lead of the Gold League.
Daniel Garcia shocks Shelton Benjamin and earns 3 points in the Blue League
Daniel Garcia is putting himself dangerously close to “Dumb Babyface” territory. First he tries to run at Hurt Syndicate with no strategy and eats an ass whoopin’ and now he starts the match with Shelton Benjamin just running at him with no strategy and the match stays in Shelton’s favour for a very long time.
Shelton just methodically beats down Daniel Garcia with slams and strikes and then just chokes him out at one point in the middle of the ring. It felt like a mercy killing. Garcia was able to get out of it and dropkicked Shelton but once again tried to run at Shelton only to get caught in a release German suplex.
Much like Kris Statlander in the prior match, Shelton is releasing all of his German suplexes instead of trying to roll them, which just makes them look far more vicious. Benjamin tried to German Daniel Garcia off the apron but Garcia stopped it. Garcia though once again just tried to rush Shelton and got caught once again.
Finally after 10 punches on the outside Garcia executed a successful dropkick to Shelton on a chair, the first time this match Garcia started getting momentum. Shelton would cut it off with a clothesline. The fans at ringside helped Daniel Garcia up which should have got him disqualified for outside interference.
Daniel Garcia goes for a Dragon Tamer but eventually Shelton reverses it to a submission of his own. Garcia was able to turn it into a small package but then ate a thrust kick for his efforts. Shelton however took too long to capitalize and ended up caught in a pin to lose the match. Daniel Garcia with a big win to stay alive.
Mark Briscoe completes the shutout on The Beast Mortos for his final three points of the Blue League
The Beast Mortos is eliminated from getting to the playoffs of the Continental Classic so this is only for pride. Mark Briscoe needs a win if he wants to secure a playoff spot.
The crowd chanted, “BOTH THESE GUYS!” at one point because the fighting was equal. Beast Mortos then took the advantage with some quality running shoulder tackles. Mortos gets thrown to the outside but The Beast Mortos was smart enough to get back into the ring and make Mark Briscoe eat a spear.
Mortos mostly on offence on Briscoe and after commercial break took down his knee pad for a high knee but Briscoe got out of the way causing Mortos to fall right out of the ring. Mark Briscoe would quickly follow up with a tope suicida. Mark Briscoe then threw a chair in the ring, less to use as a weapon and more to use as a springboard. After some fighting on the apron Mark Briscoe got off a sick German suplex right on the apron.
Mark Briscoe then went up to fly twice but the third attempt with Froggy Bow made him eat knees. The Beast Mortos would hit a fireman carry into a backbreaker and then a powerbomb lift to a backbreaker. Mortos then hit a back body into a Samoan Drop for a close two.
This time Mark Briscoe would hit the Froggy Bow but he took too much time to get to it. Mark Briscoe once again goes to the top and hits another Froggy Bow before hitting the Jay Driller.
The Beast Mortos ends up 0-5 in the AEW Continental Classic and Mark Briscoe finishes with 9 points and holding the tiebreaker on Kyle Fletcher, who still needs to face Daniel Garcia.
Claudio Castagnoli uses brass knuckles to get three points on Darby Allin in the Gold League.
It surprised me that this match was on Collision instead of the final Dynamite of the Continental Classic. Not that I’m one of those weirdos who is against big matches not Dynamite, but more that I thought the faceoff between Darby and Claudio would be best saved for the fifth match. Instead Claudio has Komander and Darby has Ricochet.
Like many matches against Darby it’s about watching Darby get destroyed only to stay in the thick of it. It’s basically his Hulk Up to take sick nasty bumps and still find a way to keep his engine running. Darby got put through a table, had to struggle to break a 10 count, only to get back in the offence until Claudio double foot stomp and deadlifted Darby then threw him out of the ring. Ended up getting a “fuck” past the censors too.
Claudio smartly targeted Darby Allin’s back after the table shot, double stomp, and deadlift throw out of the ring, now running his back into the turnbuckle post. Claudio then hit Darby with a Giant Swing right into the steel steps. Claudio tries the running lariat to win but Darby kicks out with everyone in Hammerstein chanting Darby’s name.
Darby then hit a Scorpion Death Drop onto Claudio from the second turnbuckle and went for a Coffin Drop only to eat knees. Claudio hits a Ricola Bomb and only gets a two count which leads to Claudio almost getting himself disqualified yelling at the referee. Claudio tried another Ricola Bomb only for another two.
Claudio has to cheat to win, bringing in a chair and putting something in his tights. The referee takes away the chair only for Claudio to pull out brass knuckles and crush Darby with them to win the match. Claudio goes to do more damage to Darby only for Will Ospreay to make the save.
One Last Show
The final night of the Continental Classic round robin will be on AEW Dynamite: Dynamite on 34th Street, taped December 22 but broadcast on December 25.
Even though we will know the results, GrapPro will not post the results and discuss the final four until the episode has been broadcast.
The matches you’ll see that night:
Blue League
Shelton Benjamin versus Kazuchika Okada
Kyle Fletcher versus Daniel Garcia
Gold League
Will Ospreay versus Brody King
Ricochet versus Darby Allin
Claudio Castagnoli versus Komander
Once Dynamite is over we will have a preview of the two semi final matches and final for the 2024 Continental Classic as part of the World’s End preview.
