# Continental Classic (2024)

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.

## 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. 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: 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. After Robinson sustained a suspected broken foot in his first tournament match against Ospreay, he was withdrawn from the tournament and replaced with Komander.

## Matches

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

## Leagues

Legend :
* Qualified to semifinal
Participants :
| Blue League | Blue League | Gold League | Gold League |
| Kyle Fletcher | 12 | Ricochet | 10 |
| Kazuchika Okada (c) | 10 | Will Ospreay | 9 |
| Mark Briscoe | 9 | Claudio Castagnoli | 9 |
| Daniel Garcia | 7 | Darby Allin | 7 |
| Shelton Benjamin | 6 | Brody King | 6 |
| The Beast Mortos | 0 | Komander | 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.
Tournament overview :
| 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 | 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 | 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) | Semifinals Worlds End (December 28) | Semifinals Worlds End (December 28) | Championship Final Worlds End (December 28) | Championship Final Worlds End (December 28) | Championship Final Worlds End (December 28) |
| B1 | Kyle Fletcher | 16:21 | | | |
| G2 | Will Ospreay | Pin | | | |
| G2 | Will Ospreay | Pin | G2 | Will Ospreay | 19:12 |
| | | | B2 | Kazuchika Okada (c) | Pin |
| G1 | Ricochet | 12:55 | B2 | Kazuchika Okada (c) | Pin |
| B2 | Kazuchika Okada (c) | Pin | | | |