C2 Needs Pomp and Circumstance

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On Sunday night, Tony Schiavone announced the 12 participants for the 2024 Continental Classic to begin on Thanksgiving Dynamite.

You can read our breakdown of the 12 participants here.

It’s great they were able to get this done on Sunday night as last year they basically rushed it before the Dynamite it was about to begin. Men at Work golf clap.

I want to first express something so some in the AEW audience don’t get too upset. The real star of the Continental Classic are the matches. You’re never going to see me claim that something is more important than the actual pro wrestling. The great matches we are going to get is the best part of this. It’s what we watch it for. Nothing I say here is to diminish or take away from what we get on the in-ring matches.

I’m sure some are going to read this and immediately assume that I’m acting as though the C2 will suck because it’s missing these things. That’s not the case, nor will it ever be. AEW could keep running the C2 this way and it won’t change the fact the pro wrestling in the ring speaks for this loudest.

There are a lot of things I’m sure delayed the announcement of the C2. I’m sure they might not have had the wrestlers finalized due to potential injury or booking changes. It can cause lineup changes. But there’s a lot of things that have nothing to do with lineup changes that AEW could embrace for the Continental Classic.

Where is the Schedule?

I don’t care if there might have been changes to the participants. Even so, the moment you have your 12 locked in? We should know who is wrestling who on EVERY SINGLE SHOW THE CONTINENTAL CLASSIC IS HAPPENING. I should know when Darby Allin’s fourth match is and who he is facing. I should know which three matches will be scheduled for the AEW Collision in St. Louis for the Continental Classic.

The fact AEW announced the 12 participants on Sunday but didn’t say who was working on the Thanksgiving Dynamite or the Collision taping after is absolutely ridiculous. We now know three matches on Dynamite but that’s it. This shouldn’t be difficult. This should be plugging names into a spreadsheet easy. I’ve created round robins for my pro wrestling sims before. I used to do it as a teenager when my friends would play WWF No Mercy and bring Memory Paks over to fight with our Create-a-Wrestler’s. This should be essential. The schedule should be done and public.

Opening Ceremonies/Press Conference

When CMLL does tournaments like the Grand Prix De Amazonas, they have all competitors in the ring on the opening night to present everyone. It feels like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics but for pro wrestling.

New Japan Pro Wrestling is known for their G1 Climax where they have all of the wrestlers in front of media and cut promos as to why they will win the G1 Climax. Every wrestler gets their moment in the spotlight to express why they will win the round robin. It’s a great way to present new wrestlers audiences might need some more time to be familiar with. Some wrestlers had their breakout moments during the G1 Climax Press Conference.

What did All Elite Wrestling do last year? Nothing but a video clip. What did they do this year? A video clip.

Now AEW could do what CMLL does, or what NJPW does, or do their own thing. But something, anything, to make this feel more important would help in getting people heavier into it. Why is Shelton Benjamin a threat in this? What does Juice Robinson bring to a round robin in his own words? How will Will Ospreay react having to stand near Kyle Fletcher? This is where you can find out.

Sports Presentation Through Post Show Discussion

Credit to TDE Wrestling for this tweet because it’s a great visual of what I’m talking about here:

When All Elite Wrestling had The Elite face Death Triangle in a Best of Seven series, Private Party and Daniel Garcia started doing “NBA on BTE” where they discussed the series no different to how sports shows do talking heads with hot takes and focused points. It was NBA on TNT but for AEW.

This is exactly what AEW should be doing after every episode of Dynamite and Collision with C2 competition. Give us a breakdown of the action, what the wins mean, what the losses mean, and how things will shake out later on. Make us care about this more than just in-ring action. Give us stories to follow and a serious showing of a sports based presentation.

I’m sure someone like Alex Marvez would be good for setting up a sports feel to this, as well as having people like Paul Wight to essentially play the role of the Shaq of AEW.

Having these post shows can be run on YouTube or social media or even on the episodes, but they are absolutely essential in creating an atmosphere where the Continental Classic feels important.

Why does this matter?

When I was a kid, I watched the World Wrestling Federation because that was the wrestling that was on Canadian TV. I didn’t have much choice in the matter. The only thing the WWF did that felt like a sport was the King of the Ring.

I loved the King of the Ring. All of my wrestling friends who got into it enough to one day work as ring crew or write about pro wrestling like I do? King of the Ring is something we all share. We also share obsessing over Royal Rumble stats and all that jazz.

Tournaments matter to us hardcore wrestling fans. It is just something we can sink our teeth into. It’s like a sports sim saving your stats so you can follow a players career trajectory or how teams have moved up and down through drafting and free agency signing. The minutia doesn’t have to matter to everyone, but it can mean the difference between casual fans and dedicated fans. Just because it isn’t for everyone doesn’t mean it can’t be a lot to some.

The WWF never cared about making the King of the Ring mean something. Aside from one cheap video about Royal Rumble statistics they don’t care about that either. New Japan Pro Wrestling does care about their G1 Climax, but it’s for the Japanese. AEW is a (Primarily English speaking) product and has an opportunity to do something different.

To make the details matter.

The Continental Classic in 2023 was awesome, with incredible matches and great weekly in-ring competition separated from the week to week storylines so it felt like something to look forward to every week. I’m sure 2024 will do that too, but what if it rewarded you for paying attention last year? What if it rewarded you for paying attention now?

What if the Continental Classic was the NBA/NHL/NFL/MLB Playoffs of All Elite Wrestling? The biggest game in town? What if that final at World’s End felt like winning the Stanley Cup instead of just winning a secondary men’s singles title? This is why presentation matters. That’s why this matters to me.

And again. I know the 2024 CC will be great in ring. I have no doubt in my mind when you have Darby Allin, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay in a round robin tournament you’re going to get spectacular matches. But this is an opportunity for AEW to be more than just great pro wrestling. This is an opportunity for AEW to give Western pro wrestling fans something that feels like not just great pro wrestling? But great sport.

Give the Continental Classic proper Pomp and Circumstance.

Photo from Kyle Fletcher’s Twitter Account, Photographer Unknown, Credit Likely All Elite Wrestling

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