Pantoja’s AEW Continental Classic 2024 Night 8 Review

AEW Holiday Bash

December 18^th, 2024 | Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.

Another special episode of Dynamite features one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament.

Blue League: The Beast Mortos [0] vs. Shelton Benjamin [3]

On paper, this was an interesting one because Mortos is a luchador but he’s got some power to his game which has been the focal point of Shelton matches in AEW. As a WWE guy from the 2000s, he so much bigger than most dudes now so it works for him. They went through some awkward exchanges early on where you could tell their timing was a bit off and things came off slower than they wanted. Shelton took control heading into break and threw Mortos around on the outside. Upon returning, I liked how Mortos started surprising Shelton with his strikes, sitting up after taking a move, and getting in some aerial bits. However, Shelton fired up with a superkick and some German suplexes before winning with the Exploder in 8:47. One of the lesser tournament matches but with the C2, that’s still good. They didn’t quite click but made it work enough to give us something solid. [***]

Gold League: Darby Allin [3] vs. Will Ospreay [6]

Two guys who take bumps like they don’t want to be wrestling by 35. This kicked off with a stalemate as the idea seemed to be to make them feel like equals in a lot of ways. Will went for a dive outside only for Darby to move and lay him out with a cannonball plancha. Then Darby went for the Coffin Drop on the apron but missed, leading to one of his gnarliest bumps ever, which is saying something. He hit the edge. Darby spent a lot of the break struggling to get up but he beat the count and started taking a beating inside. Darby’s rally sparked sequences that took this to the next level, with some of the best and quickest counters you’ll see anywhere. The series involving the Code Red counter, Hidden Blade, and then a successful Code Red was breathtaking. Just a ridiculous exchange. When Darby got up from a Styles Clash off the apron, Will pounced with the Oscutter for a great near fall. Darby countered Stormbreaker into a Scorpion Death Drop and delivered two Coffin Drops to win in 14:38. Just a bonkers match. A wild match that packs a ton of action into less than 15 minutes is so my shit. [****½]

Blue League	Points	Gold League	Points
Kyle Fletcher	9 (3-1)	Darby Alin	6 (2-1)
Kazuchika Okada	7 (2-1-1)	Will Ospreay	6 (2-1)
Shelton Benjamin	6 (2-1)	Claudio Castagnoli	6 (2-1)
Mark Briscoe	6 (2-2)	Ricochet	6 (2-1)
Daniel Garcia	4 (1-1-1)	Brody King	3 (1-2)
The Beast Mortos	0 (0-4)	Komander	0 (0-3)

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

Even if the first match was just good, that second match was outstanding and the best of the tournament so far.