Pantoja’s AEW Continental Classic 2024 Night 4 Review

AEW Rampage

December 6^th, 2024 | Fishers Investment Arena in Fishers, Indiana

For the most part, I typically avoid Rampage because it has become a C show where nothing of note happens. However, with some Continental Classic action tonight, I’ve got to pay attention.

Blue League: Kazuchika Okada [1] vs. Mark Briscoe [0]

Jericho was on commentary here and immediately plugged the “GREATEST TOURNAMENT IN WRESTLING” thing that they’re so hellbent on getting over. It’s like WWE’s $9.99 thing. Okada wrestling on Rampage is wild to be honest. Anyway, this followed a rather simple setup and it felt like Okada was kind of going through the motions for a lot of it. Maybe he’s saving himself for later tourney outings. Mark got busted open by hitting one of the ring posts. Okada mostly dominated here and did so through the PIP commercial break. Upon returning, Mark began to rally with the crowd behind him as he hit an apron Exploder and got two on a Fisherman Buster. He cut off the Rainmaker and hit Froggy Bow but only got two. That led to the usual hot finish of counters and such in Okada matches capped by the Rainmaker in 13:26. Good stuff but nothing you need to go out of your way to see. [***¼]

Blue League: The Beast Mortos [0] vs. Daniel Garcia [1]

Here’s a match that, even before it began, lacked any drama. Much like the previous bout, you kind of just knew there was no way the champion would lose. Okada and Garcia went to a draw because neither was likely to take a loss there so you figure they aren’t going to lose to Mortos and Briscoe. That said, they still went out there and had a good match. I like that Garcia used his technical skill and the crowd’s excitement to give himself fa boost while Mortos used his power advantage. The lariat he caught him with outside to stop the John Woo dropkick was stiff. That gave Mortos the upper hand through the commercial with the Garcia rally coming right after. Mortos mostly targeted the neck, harkening back to the piledriver he got hurt by a few months ago at the hands of MJF. Then, from out of nowhere, Garcia scored the win with a jackknife pin at the 10:25 mark. Oh, I’m all for those kind of endings. Stuff like that is key in a tournament like this. Keeps a guy like Beast pretty strong, gives us variety, and it even called back to Daniels’ previous C2 win. [***]

Gold League: Komander [0] vs. Ricochet [0]

For those unaware, Komander is replacing the injured Juice Robinson. Also, I thought Komander was getting a redo of Juice’s loss but I don’t know why I thought that because it wouldn’t make sense. So he enters 0-1. These guys took to the skies pretty early, working a quick paced match that felt like it belonged in the Best of the Super Juniors. That’s not a knock as it’s the exact kind of match I want from these two. Do what you know. After a commercial break, Komander got going with a big dive outside. The two had a good exchange involving Ricochet blocking a tornado DDT and hitting a Brainbuster. Some of the spots from that point on were breathtaking, especially with Komander walking the ropes and snapping off a sick rana. They traded stuff down the stretch but Ricochet was just too strong and honestly, higher on the card, for Komander. He put him down with a running lariat in 12:28. Again, I like that finish because it was different and it was a rare place for Ricochet to use his strength since this is an opponent he’s actually bigger than. [***¼]

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

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

A third straight good show in this tournament. I feel like we’re still waiting for something great but I believe Ospreay/Claudio will bring that soon. This is a good set of matches that are very easy to watch.