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It’s tournament time tonight on AEW Dynamite from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
What, you thought that was only in the spring? We’re not talking hoops here, but the inaugural Continental Classic that will pit some of the top wrestlers in AEW against each other. What’s at stake? Prestige, certainly. But there are also three titles that will go to the winner.
In addition to becoming the first ever AEW Continental Championship, which we’re assuming is an actual new title belt, Eddie Kingston has thrown his two titles into the mix as well. That means the person who emerges from the 12-man field will also become ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion. Not too shabby.
Kingston is one of four participants who have already been confirmed. The others are Andrade El Idolo, Bryan Danielson and Mark Briscoe. The other eight entrants will be revealed during a live stream at 1 p.m. ET today (and we’ll round them all up here on Wrestling Junkie once that happens).
As for the format of the Continental Classic:
- The 12 wrestlers will be divided into two group blocks of six participants each
- In round robin matches, three points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss
- The matches are strictly one-on-one, with everyone else barred from ringside and no interference permitted
- Round robin matches will take place on Dynamite, Rampage and Collision, with the semifinals (or League Finals) on the Dec. 27 episode of Dynamite and the Championship Final at Worlds End on Dec. 30
Because the Continental Classic is going to dominate tonight’s episode of Dynamite, AEW hasn’t announced too much else for the show. In fact, all that’s really been promoted as of the time of this post is the start of the tournament and Full Gear fallout, including MJF speaking.
Update — Here are the first three Continental Classic matches we’ll be getting on tonight’s Dynamite:
- Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe
- Swerve Strickland vs. Jay Lethal
- Rush vs. Jay White
All three matches are in the Classic’s Gold League; Blue League matches will get underway on Collision.
That’s good enough for us, as we’ll be tuned in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on TBS to get our final pro wrestling fix before Thanksgiving. If you’re not doing the same, definitely hop back here to Wrestling Junkie as we’ll have live results and updates all evening.