Pantoja’s AEW Continental Classic 2024 Night 10 Review

AEW Collision

December 21^st, 2024 | Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York

We’re 10 nights into this tournament and things are getting tight. We’ve also had the best match of the tournament in Darby/Will and some major ones lined up for tonight. On top of that, I always love shows in Hammerstein. It’s the venue where I saw my only live ECW show in 2000 and my fondest live ROH memories are in that building.

Gold League: Ricochet [6] vs. Will Ospreay [6]

They have a long history with some truly great matches and a handful that felt like they were trying way too hard to repeat what made them go viral in the first place. Since then, Will has evolved a lot as a wrestler and Ricochet is, well, Ricochet. Huge boos for Ricochet. It looks like they’re going to try and turn him, which will work if he remains his corny self. That’s the whole appeal of him as a heel. He must remain a dweeb. The crowd even threw toilet paper at him. The opening exchanges here featured the usual bout of athletic back and forth until Ricochet hit a dive outside. He also grabbed the toilet paper and did a mock wipe with it. From the front. I hope that was part of the bit but I feel like he might be the kind of dude who actually wipes that way. He held serve through the break but he then slipped on a top rope move. He might’ve done it purposely to get more heat because the fans ate him alive for it. Ricochet remained aggressive and I really liked the spot where he just kicked down on a seated Will’s head. Things leveled out late and they traded strikes. A ref bump meant that nobody counted when Ospreay hit Storm Breaker. Will went up top only for Ricochet to kick the ref into the ropes, crotching Will. He then pounced with Spirit Gun to win in 14:27. Not on the level of their best work but I do like that finish. [***¾]

Blue League: Daniel Garcia [4] vs. Shelton Benjamin [6]

A lowkey match in the tournament that I came in pretty stoked for. This got off to a hot start with both guys bringing it from the opening bell and having a harder hitting back and forth than you’d expect. I like that because the last match began with guys showing off athleticism and having something even happening. Here, it was more aggressive and Shelton took the first real bit of control, dominating Daniel at points. That works since Shelton is a tough, big dude and Daniel is a lovable babyface who the fans were behind for his comeback. Returning from a break, Daniel started fighting back with a big dropkick. Side note but I am not a fan of this gear for Daniel. The fight spilled outside where Shelton hit a big belly to belly and lariat to put Daniel back on his heels. Daniel worked a Sharpshooter back inside but Shelton survived. However, when Shelton went to pounce, he got rolled up into a jackknife pin for the finish in 12:16. Good stuff here and another finish that I enjoyed. [***¼]

Blue League: The Beast Mortos [0] vs. Mark Briscoe [6]

Mark Briscoe remains the crowd favorite in the tournament and he’s already doing much better than last year. Meanwhile, Mortos is searching for that elusive first win. Apparently, wearing a mask in this tournament means 0 wins. What I liked about this was that they’re two guys with unique styles and we got to see how they would mesh. Mortos is a luchador who has some power to his game and Mark Briscoe brings that redneck kung-fu to the mix, so it’s weird together. They worked through a commercial with things being rather even. As I watched Mark hit a cannonball plancha and hug a fan, I had fond memories of seeing him and Jay live in Hammerstein. Mortos hit a stiff looking powerbomb down the stretch but Mark fought back. It took several Froggy Bows and a Jay Driller to end it in 11:38. Another good match here, featuring two fun unique styles and some quality action in front of a hot crowd. [***¼]

Gold League: Claudio Castagnoli [6] vs. Darby Allin [6]

Claudio might throw Darby off one of the Hammerstein balconies. Darby dove out onto Claudio with a tope suicida during his entrance, sparking a fight outside and up to the entrance. Once there, Darby dove off the structure onto Claudio. Once in the ring, Claudio immediately hit a popup uppercut and turned the tide, beating Darby’s ass as you would expect in a match between them. Claudio can give out a beating and Darby takes one better than almost anyone. Claudio held serve through a break until Darby low bridged him and sent him outside, where he followed with a bit tope suicida. He also sent Claudio through a table, helping to level the playing field. However, Claudio could just block a sunset flip and stomp on Darby’s ribcage, changing the tide again. Darby got swung into steps and just got his ass kicked but as always, he just kept fighting back. Since he couldn’t keep Darby down, Claudio resorted to using brass knuckles to beat him in 11:16. The second best match of the night and some very good stuff in terms of action and in terms of furthering Darby’s issues with the Death Riders. [***½]

Blue League	Points	Gold League	Points
Kyle Fletcher	9 (3-1)	Claudio Castagnoli	9 (3-1)
Mark Briscoe	9 (3-2)	Ricochet	9 (3-1)
Kazuchika Okada	7 (2-1-1)	Will Ospreay	6 (2-2)
Daniel Garcia	7 (2-1-1)	Darby Allin	6 (2-2)
Shelton Benjamin	6 (2-2)	Brody King	6 (2-2)
The Beast Mortos	0 (0-5)	Komander	0 (0-4)

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Exactly the kind of show I’m looking for in the C2. Four good matches in front of a red hot crowd that sounded awesome all night.