Tonight returns the best North American round-robin tournament of the year! The Continental Classic is back, with last year’s defending champion still holding the belt that he retained in winning last year. He’ll face Don Callis Family stablemate Kyle Fletcher tonight, with the potential of meeting his best frenemy, and the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Konosuke Takeshita in the finals! But that’s not all, it’s also the first Dynamite since a company-resetting Full Gear PPV that saw the return of Strickland, as well as new Men’s World, TNT, Tag Team, and the inaugural National Champion! What’s next?
Match One: Continental Classic: Gold League: Okada Kazuchika (c) (0-0) vs. Kyle Fletcher (0-0)
Getting straight to the point, eh?
Okada offers a handshake, Fletcher accepts, they go for a boot at the same time, catch, trade snapmares, trade trips for one, both keep going for kicks and catching each other, high five, lockup, Fletcher with an arm wrench, Okada rolls through, hammerlock, reversed into a side headlock, takeover, Okada forces a rope break, lockup, Okada presses Fletcher to the rope, misses a chop, side headlock, trading tackles, Okada with a boot, Fletcher with a tackle, stomp, body slam for two, chop, chop in the corner, misses a third, Okada with a boot, forearms, Fletcher with an elbow for two, stomps, body slam, goes up top, Okada knocks the ref into the ropes and crotches Fletcher, then dropkicks him to the floor, follows, toss into the barricade, breaks the count, another toss into the barricade, rolls Fletcher into the ring, neckbreaker for two, elbow in the corner, another, a third, running elbow for two, Fletcher with elbows, Okada witha boot, DDT, body slam, goes up top, Fletcher boots the ref into the ropes, crotching Okada, superplex, elbows, gutwrench suplex, goes up top, Fletcher with punches, Okada knocks him back down, elbow drop, tumble to the floor, Fletcher goes for a kick from the apron, Okada blocks, trip, hangman’s DDT, rolls Fletcher into the ring and covers for two, boots to the face, trading forearms, trading dropkicks, Okada hits his trademark dropkick, tombstone, Rainmaker, reversed into a Michinoku Driver, five minutes remaining time call, trading forearms, Okada with a lariat, misses a Rainmaker, goes for a Tombstone, reversed into Snake Eyes, Last Ride for two, running dropkick, brainbuster, blocked, Okada misses a Rainmaker, Fletcher with a kick, brainbuster, blocked, Okada with an eye gouge, Rainmaker, reversed into a rollup for three!
Winner: Kyle Fletcher (3 Points, 1-0)
They shake hands after the bell, as Don Callis holds both their arms up.
Backstage, Lexy Nair asks Kenny Omega if he and the Bucks have reunited. He says the answer is complicated, but he’s not always done the right thing himself, so he can’t completely write the Bucks off. The Bucks then exit Kenny’s locker room and say hi to Lexy.
They show a clip from backstage at Full Gear, with Mark Briscoe talking about having to rebuild his career after the loss of his brother, and how it didn’t start off great, but with family on the line, he found what he needed to get it done.
Match Two: AEW Women’s Tag Team Championships Tournament: Semi-Finals: Babes of Wrath vs. Sisters of Sin
Harley and Hart start off, trade shots, Willow in, double team elbow, double team back suplex, senton for two, Hart with a jaw breaker, Blue in, forearm, whip to the corner, blocked, reversed, Willow with lariats in the corner, misses one, Blue with a rollup for two, Willow with a rollup for two, lariat, Harley in, double team, Hart with a jaw breaker for two, Blue in, double team whip, flapjack, kicks, reversed into a rollup for two, Willow tosses Hart into the barricade, Blue with a fireman’s carry, blocked, Harley with a Slingblade, ten-punch, blocked by Hart, Blue with a neckbreaker for two, mounted punches, Hart in, stomps, whip to the corenr, lariat, Blue in, foot choke, elbow to Willow, Willow tries to run in but gets held back by the ref, Hart with a forearm to Harley in the ropes, Blue with a lariat, Hart pulls Willow off the apron, tags in, Blue with a foot choke, Hart with punches to the back, Harley with a jaw breaker, Hart with a lariat, Old School, Blue in, lariats from both of them, Hart locks in a Tarantula for Blue to hit a dropkick, Hart in, covers for two, Blue in, Harley with a German, double tag, Willow cleans house, Blue with elbows, DDT, double team beatdown, Willow powers up and resumes cleaning house, Harley in, Willow with a body slam, tosses Harley onto Blue for two, Harley with a fireman’s carry, blocked, Blue with a knee, Harley fights her way out of the enemy corner, Russian Leg Sweep, Blue with a Cheeky Nando’s, Hart in, Blue with a powerbomb, Hart with a moonsault for two as Willow breaks the count, Blue kicks her, double team throw down to Harley, superkick, Harley fights out, Sisters with a stereo superkick, whip, Willow in, she and Harley catch their opponents off guard with shots, Babe with the Powerbomb for three.
Winners: Babes of Wrath
After a commercial, Tony Schiavone welcomes The Opps to the ring. Joe kicks him out. Backstage, Swerve pulls up with a chain. Hangman joins him with another chain. Joe tells Shibata to take care of it. Shibata comes back with the trainees. Joe then introduces a video package detailing the history of Hook “leaving” and “rejoining” the Opps, with the heavy implication that he never actually left. Joe says the people can now have a champion worthy of being called the greatest of the industry. Then he brings out Hook. Hook starts to speak, but he’s cut off by Swerve. He and Hangman meet at the bar and head for the ring, taking out the trainees as they go. They hit the ring and take out the last of the trainees as the actual members retreat. Swerve then starts stapling trainees before dumping them out of the ring. The last two get hanged with chains.
Match Three: Continental Classic: Blue League: Jon Moxley (0-0) vs. Mascara Dorada (0-0)
Mascara Dorada becoming the first wrestler from another promotion to compete in the Continental Classic, which I actually think does a lot to make the tournament feel like a bigger deal.
Knuckle Lock, Mox gets the better of it, straightjacket hold, Dorada rolls his way out, trip, leg wrench, Mox with an armbar, trip, Dorada with kicks, Mox with a cross arm breaker, Dorada escapes with a kip up, trading shots, Mox with a whip, Dorada with a hurricanrana, misses a suicide dive, Mox hits a suicide dive, rolls Dorada into the ring, misses an avalanche, Dorada with a springboard crossbody, misses a suicide dive, Mox grabs him, toss off the stage, reversed, Dorada with a running leap off the stage, Mox catches him with a forearm, rolls Dorada into the ring, pair of covers for two, stomp, front facelock, trip, leg lock, kicks, tosses Dorada to the floor, Russian Leg Sweep into the barricade, piledriver, reversed into a throw, Dorada with a hurricanrana, then another across the barricade, both men back into the ring, goes up top, corkscrew arm drag, spin kicks, Code Red for two, goes up top, Mox rolls to the floor, Dorada with a corkscrew suicide dive, both men back in the ring, Mox with a cutter, ten-punch, Dorada with an electric chair into a neckbreaker for two, cross arm breaker, Mox reverses into mounted punches, running knee, Death Rider, reversed into a rollup for two, Dorada with a superkick, 450 for two, spin kick, goes up top, shooting star, blocked with knees, Mox locks in what I can only describe as an upside down sleeper, Dorada struggles but eventually passes out.
Winner: Jon Moxley (3 points, 1-0)
Marina Shafir comes to the ring to celebrate with Mox. Toni Storm comes out, introduces herself, says she likes Moxley, but what she does for love is far more violent than anything he does for hate. She announces that her stipulation for the semi-final tag title tournament match was chosen after crashing following four nights awake and waking up next to Mina. She says she realized she didn’t get her anything for Christmas, so she’ll give her the heads of two sloptarts in a Hardcore Holiday Deathmatch.
Backstage, Renee asks Stat what’s next after becoming the second woman to ever beat Mone. Stat says she has the same question for the entire locker room. She says the only two options for the locker room are stay in the past, live in the present, or look to the future.
Match Four: Continental Classic: Gold League: Kevin Knight (0-0) vs. Darby Allin (0-0)
Knight shoots a hold, misses, lockup, Knight presses Darby to the corner, break, handshake, Darby with a rear waistlock, transitions to a hammerlock, reversed into an arm wrench, Darby with a takedown, side headlock, trading whip attempts, Darby with a springboard arm drag, regular arm drag, armbar, keylock, reversed into a head scissors, jockeying, Knight with a big boot, monkey flip, both men to the floor, Darby with a tackle, toss into the barricade, misses an avalanche, Knight with a moonsault from the barricade, rolls Knight into the ring, springboard, Darby shoves him to the floor, senton, both men back into the ring, Darby goes for Coffin Drop, Knight meets him up top, back superplex, hip toss, Darby with a boot, Knight with an elbow drop for two, trading shots in the corner, Darby with an arm drag, rollup for two, forearms, Knight with a whip to the corner, sets Darby up top, elbow, superplex, blocked, Knight dropkicks Darby to the floor, Darby with a kick on the floor, rolls Knight into the ring, Last Supper for two, forearm, whip, blocked, Darby with forearms, whip, Knight floats over, Darby goes for a Scorpion Death Drop, blocked, mutual clothesline, to the stage, Knight with a springboard clothesline, rolls back into the ring, hits a suicide lariat when Darby makes it to his feet, goes for the UFO back in the ring, blocked, Darby hits a Code Red for two, Knight with a trip in the corner, Coast to Coast, tosses Darby into the middle of the ring, UFO for three.
Winner: Kevin Knight (1-0)
Handshake after the bell.
Backstage, Eddie Kingston says everyone is asking for his thoughts about what happened Saturday. He says he doesn’t want to talk about Hook, but he heard Samoa Joe mention his name, and a good way to get in line for a title shot would be to beat Shibata tomorrow.
Main Event: Continental Classic: Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli (0-0) vs. Orange Cassidy (0-0)
Claudio misses an attempt at a running European uppercut, Cassidy with a pair of rollups for two, goes for a third, reversed into a slam, reversed into a rollup, reversed into a powerbomb, reversed into a rollup for two, Castagnoli with a backbreaker, elbow to the back, Torture Rack into a Snake Eyes, running European uppercut in the corner, Neutralizer, blocked, kick, blocked, Cassidy with facetious kicks, ducks a lariat, superkick, arm drag, suicide dive, Castagnoli with a lariat, toss to the floor, toss into the barricade, toss into a different part of the barricade, misses an avalanche, Cassidy goes for a DDT, reversed into a giant swing back and forth on the barricade, rolls him into the ring, body slam, stomp, delayed vertical suplex for two, European uppercuts, toss to the corner, stomp, gut breaker, another, Cassidy with a DDT, PK, Beach Break, blocked, Castagnoli with a knee, charges, Cassidy tosses him into the ring post, DDT on the floor, rolls Claudio into the ring, toss to the corner, springboard DDT, reversed into a suplex, reversed into Stundog Millionaire, goes up top, Claudio catches him with a European uppercut for two, elbows to the traps, Neutralizer, reversed into Beach Break, reversed into a giant swing, running European Uppercut, blocked with an Orange Punch, Cassidy goes for another, reversed into a powerbomb, reversed into a DDT, Cassidy goes for Orange Punch, reversed into a Very European Uppercut, reversed into an Orange Punch, Beach Break for two, Orange Punch, Claudio dodges and hits a lariat, Neutralizer, reversed into a hurricanrana for two, Claudio hits a Very European Uppercut for three.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
The rest of the Death Riders hit the ring. Renee talks about how this was a great night for them, then asks Claudio about being the only man to have competed in all three C2s. Before he can answer, Cassidy and Yuta get in a shoving match, sparking a brawl that eventually encompasses the entire Death Riders and other Continental Classic entrants. Mascara Dorada takes almost everyone out with a moonsault from the top to the floor, Cassidy hits Yuta with an Orange Punch, Okada just watches from the stage. Dynamite goes off the air with everyone staring each other down.
Continental Classic Standings at the end of the recap will return next week, it just felt a bit superfluous the first night.