AEW’s continental Classic is returning for a second year, and late Sunday night, just under 72 hours before the tournament kicks off on the Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite from Chicago, Tony Schiavone announced the entrants live on AEW social media channels.
The entire Selection Special is worth your time to watch–and is just under 15 minutes in length, so AEW gets points for brevity–but here is the full lineup for each block league.
Blue League
- Kazuchika Okada
- Okada is the defending Continental Champion, having defeated initial tournament winner Eddie Kingston on March 20 of this year in Toronto on Dynamite. He also comes in with four G1 Climax victories to his credit (2012, 2014, 2021, 2022), including a win over Gold League participant Will Ospreay to win his most recent G1 in 2022. He has only suffered three losses (one by DQ) in his 12 AEW singles matches to date, and two of them were to the recently retired Bryan Danielson. In total he has had six successful Continental Title defenses, most recently against Kyle O’Reilly in mid-October. However, the only member of Blue League he has faced in singles action was Kyle Fletcher, whom he defeated in early September.
- Kyle Fletcher
- Fletcher comes into his first Continental Classic with serious momentum, with a win over Will Ospreay at Full Gear, and a 196-day run as ROH World Television Champion to his credit in 2024. His most recent major tournament was the 2023 New Japan Cup, where he defeated YOSHI-HASHI in round 1, but fell to Hirooki Goto in round 2. His round-robin tournament experience is mostly participating in World Tag League. With Okada waiting in block action, he has a chance to prove himself in a big way. Fletcher will be looking to avenge his Continental Championship loss to Okada from the September 4 Dynamite.
- Daniel Garcia
- The new TNT Champion, after defeating Jack Perry at Full Gear, Garcia hopes for a better performance than the 2023 tournament, which he salvaged with a late upset victory over Brody King, for his only win of the tournament. Garcia announced his participation in the tournament at Saturday night’s media scrum after Full Gear, and no doubt intends to do more than play spoiler this year. Even given his momentum, with Okada and Fletcher in the league, it’s a tough draw for the Buffalo native.
- Mark Briscoe
- Briscoe is hoping to have a better showing in Blue League, after leaving last year’s tournament with just three points–his only win a pinfall over Jay Lethal on the last day of block action. Briscoe would have a better 2024, with a 201-day run as ROH World Champion, defeating Eddie Kingston at Supercard of Honor in April for his first singles title in ROH. Briscoe has tag experience against Shelton Benjamin, from Shelton’s run in ROH in the early 2010s alongside Charlie Haas, but has singles wins over Kyle Fletcher and The Beast Mortos during his 2024 ROH World Title run.
- Shelton Benjamin
- Shelton participated in three G1 Climax tournaments in 2012 (8 points), 2013 (10 points), and 2014 (10 points), but was never in the same block as Okada. Along the way, he did pick up wins against names like Naomichi Marufuji, Satoshi Kojima, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kota Ibushi. Benjamin also has the distinction of being the only member of this year’s field to have participated in both NJPW’s G1 Climax and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N1 Victory tournaments. In 2024, to get out of block action though, one imagines he’s going to have to go through the Rainmaker. He’s 3-1 so far in AEW, but he has never faced any other member of the Blue League in singles action, and for many this will be the first time he’s stepped in the ring with them at all.
- The Beast Mortos
- The enforcer of La Faccion Ingobernable–if such a role can be said to exist in a faction led by Rush–has been a breakout star in 2024, earning a win in trios action over Mark Briscoe which earned him an ROH World Title shot against the Sussex County Chicken. Briscoe was able to avenge his loss, but Mortos has continued to put out impressive performances–albeit with a winning percentage hovering around .500. He also has three losses in singles action in 2024 to participants in the Gold League (Ricochet, Claudio, Darby).
Gold League
- Will Ospreay
- Ospreay features plenty of tournament experience from his time in Japan, but never won the G1 in four tries. He lost in the 2023 semifinals to eventual tournament winner Tetsuya Naito, and in the 2022 finals to Kazuchika Okada. However, he also participated in four Best of Super Junior tournaments as part of NJPW, winning two of them in 2016 and 2019. He also advanced to the finals in 2017, falling to KUSHIDA. Despite the recent loss to Kyle Fletcher, Ospreay comes into the Continental Classic as one of the favorites to advance out of Gold League.
- Juice Robinson
- Juice Robinson boasts five G1 Climax appearances to his record–albeit with a 17-25 record in block matches. However, he is a former three-time IWGP United States Champion, and a former IWGP Tag Team Champion. Admittedly, Juice is a puzzling inclusion in the Continental Classic, as he’s only had two singles matches in AEW in 2024, but he could make a major statement and signal big things ahead in 2025 with a strong showing.
- Brody King
- King enters his second Continental Classic and was a force in the 2023 edition. Big Bad Brody racked up six points, and was seemingly on his way to a nine-point finish and a logjam atop Blue League before a surprise roll-up from Daniel Garcia ended his tournament run. More decorated as a tag competitor, King did main event ROH’s Final Battle 2020, unsuccessfully challenging Rush for the ROH World Title, and challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW Interim World Title after winning Royal Rampage in 2022. Brody also defeated fellow Gold League participant Claudio Castagnoli last year, but also lost to Darby Allin by pinfall for the first time at WrestleDream.
- Ricochet
- Ricochet recently suffered his first pinfall loss in AEW, as he unsuccessfully challenged Konosuke Takeshita for the International Championship at Full Gear. He has also participated in four Best of the Super Juniors tournaments in New Japan, winning one (2014). As to history with other participants, he is 0-2 lifetime against Claudio Castagnoli, is 4-5-1 against Will Ospreay, and has never faced Darby Allin, Brody King, or Juice Robinson in singles matches.
- Claudio Castagnoli
- A former two-time ROH World Champion, Claudio entered last year’s Continental Classic, just a couple months removed from losing that title to Eddie Kingston. Claudio finished the 2023 tournament with 7 points, with wins over Daniel Garcia and Andrade El Idolo, losses to Brody King and Eddie Kingston, and a time-limit draw with Bryan Danielson. Claudio will get another shot at King in this year’s field. As to the rest of Gold League, Claudio is 1-0 against Darby Allin, 2-0 against Ricochet, 0-1 against Will Ospreay, and is 2-0 against Juice Robinson–but that was way back when they were Antonio Cesaro and CJ Parker in WWE’s developmental territories. He’ll have a chance to right the perceived wrongs of last year against a tough field.
- Darby Allin
- Darby does not have much of a tournament background–at least not in round-robin style tournaments, but brings a lot of toughness, a never-say-die attitude, and a great won-loss record in AEW to this year’s Continental Classic, and as was discussed during the Selection Special, is in this year’s tournament almost exclusively to play spoiler to Claudio Castagnoli. That said, Darby does have some history with a few of the participants in Gold League. He’s 1-0 against Juice Robinson with a TNT Title defense over Juice to his credit, he’s 0-1 against Claudio, is 2-4-1 against Brody King (with one of those wins coming in a Coffin Match) and has never faced Will Ospreay or Ricochet. He’s won 6 of his last 10 singles matches in AEW, and has as good a shot as any of advancing out of Gold League and thwarting Claudio’s chances to do the same as part of his ongoing issue with the Death Riders.
For those unfamiliar with the format, there is no change from last year, and it takes cues from the G1 Climax tournament, which runs every summer in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Each competitor will wrestle the other five men in his league, round-robin style. Matches feature a 20-minute time limit, and no one is allowed at ringside. Winners will receive three points, losers will receive no points, and in the event of a time limit draw, each competitor will receive one point. The winner of Blue League will wrestle the winner of Gold League at World’s End in Orlando on December 28, and will receive the AEW Continental Championship.
Everything kicks off Wednesday in Chicago, at Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite. Keep with Bodyslam for more coverage here and on our podcasts as we bring you all the latest!
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