wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s AEW Continental Classic 2024 Night 3 Review
Image Credit: AEW
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December 4th, 2024 | Fishers Investment Arena in Fishers, Indiana
So we have news heading into this night. Juice Robinson is injured and out of the tournament. Instead of giving his opponents byes, he has been replaced by Komander. On top of that, Komander doesn’t have to start 0-1 as he’s getting a match with everyone apparently.
Blue League: Kyle Fletcher [3] vs. Shelton Benjamin [3]
It kind of rules that Shelton Benjamin is getting to work good matches in 2024 and is over as hell. A slow start to this one as the guys were feeling each other out. Kyle remains as arrogant as ever but Shelton could shut him up by running him over with a lariat or something using his power. Or he would just drop Kyle on his head to turn the tide. Both men spilled outside as this headed to break for some PIP action. Kyle managed to take control during that break but upon returning, Shelton sent him outside only for Kyle to goad him into getting thrown into the ring post. From there, this picked up a bit and when Shelton turned a Kyle kickout into a submission, the crowd came alive. The Hurt Syndicate are way over. They traded superkicks but Shelton’s LEVELED his young counterpart. Shelton was on the verge of winning when Kyle stole a win with a rollup and the ropes for leverage in 15:48. Love that ending was Kyle adds to his momentum but gets a shitty little win while keeping Shelton strong. It started a bit too slow but it picked up nicely. [***½]
Gold League: Brody King [3] vs. Claudio Castagnoli [3]
BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT. New Day might not love you anymore Big E, but I still do. They met in last year’s tournament and it was very good (***½). They delivered right from the start in the way of giving us a hoss battle. Just wailing on each other with forearms, chops, and uppercuts. Brody has a damaged hand and Claudio went after it from time to time. As they headed to the usual PIP section, Claudio continued to target the hand while throwing in some hard hitting strikes in between. It was a simple yet effective formula that also helped negate the vicious chops from Brody. Brody rallied and it led to them trading blows in the center of the ring. They gave us the slugfest we wanted. I loved when Claudio just went after him only to get floored by a forearm for a near fall. The superplex spot was exactly the kind of big move you want from these two. Brody survived a countout tease and went for his finisher inside but Claudio slipped free. He then hit a low bow behind the referee’s back and added the Neutralizer to win in 14:17. I really liked that hoss battle but I will say, I don’t like having two cheap finishes like that in one night on this tournament. [***¾]
| Blue League | Points | Gold League | Points |
| Kyle Fletcher | 6 (2-0) | Claudio Castagnoli | 6 (2-0) |
| Shelton Benjamin | 3 (1-1) | Brody King | 3 (1-1) |
| Daniel Garcia | 1 (0-0-1) | Will Ospreay | 3 (1-0) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 1 (0-0-1) | Komander | 0 (0-0) |
| The Beast Mortos | 0 (0-1) | Darby Allin | 0 (0-1) |
| Mark Briscoe | 0 (0-1) | Ricochet | 0 (0-1) |
