The AEW Continental Classic continued on AEW Collision with three semi-final matchups: Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia, fellow BCC members Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston vs. Andrade El Idolo. Though Garcia can no longer win points and advance in the tournament, not all hope is lost, he can still get on the board. Danielson and Castagnoli, meanwhile, can’t afford to lose.ย
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The show opened with a hard-fought contest between the two BCC members. They start with a lockup, Castagnoli quickly rolls up Danielson for a one count. Castagnoli shoulder tackles Danielson who tries to use his savvy mat wrestling to get him into a submission hold and win the match. Both men are clearly interested in trying to end the match early but that’s of course not going to happen. Danielson maneuvers out of a leg pick and transitions Castagnoli into an ankle lock the two men trade submission holds, both shoulders down on the mat, both lift their arms up. Castagnoli tries to swing him but he goes for a double wriest lock. He has no choice but to drop him and Danielson transitions into the LeBell lock but Castagnoli gets to the rope to break it.
Danielson works the arm of Castagnoli delivering chops and kicks. Danielson goes up high but Castagnoli catches him with a European Uppercut. Castagnoli takes control of the match now, whipping Danielson into the ropes and following through with uppercuts. Danielson goes for a running dropkick, Castagnoli catches him in the swing. He uppercuts Danielson twice more, setting him up on the top rope and punching him. Danielson slips out and gets Castagnoli caught up in the tropes instead delivering kicks to Castagnoli’s chest. Danielson pushes him back up to launch him back down with a belly-to-back suplex. Danielson puts him in the label lock again and Castagnoli makes it to the rope but the ref doesn’t see it. Danielson is forced to break the hold anyway.ย
Castagnoli goes for a Ricola Bomb, Danielson tries to turn it into a triangle but Castagnoli plants him to the mat with a neutralizer, Danielson kicks out. Castagnoli turns Danielson’s head kicks into kicks of his own and they both end up on the mat kicking each other in the heads. Castagnoli puts Danielson into the sharpshooter as the match time runs down to one minute. Danielson refuses to tap, drug to the middle of the ring. Castagnoli drops him and uppercuts him going for the pin just as the bell rings. The match ends with a time-limit draw. Both men earn one point but Danielson is the only one that advances to the Blue League finals.ย
Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia is next. Even though Garcia can’t advance in the tournament, he comes into the match strong, slapping King in the face. King cannonballs Garcia into the corner and pulls him over for a pin but Garcia gets his leg on the rope. He chops Garcia across the chest repeatedly. During commercial, King toys with Garcia, throwing him into the barricades. He picks him up and pushes him into the announce table, getting in Daddy Magic’s face. King rolls into the ring to break the count, throwing Garcia back in who crawls to the corner. King stalks him and chops his chest and turns his back on Garcia. When he turns around Garcia kicks him in the head trying to regain some momentum but King lands a sit down senton.ย
King continues to chop Garcia who stays up. He’s fired up now, chopping King across the chest but King just absorbs the blows. King dvd right into the King Kong lariat. Garcia is resilient, refusing to kick out. Gonzo Bomb Garcia kicks out. Garcia plays possum, and covers King for a three count, earning his first three points and eliminating King from the tournament. The rest of the HOB enter the ring and Daddy Magic attempts to save Garcia, covering his body. FTR comes to make the save, challenging HOB to a first time ever match.
The final match of the night was Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston. The match is very slow to start as both men are nursing their bodies from the previous Continental Classic matchups. Kingston is arguably the freshest man in the fight as El Idolo has been mixing it up in Mexico with CMLL and did so last night. After a stalemate in the ring both men trade a few shots before El Idolo makes quick work over Kingston’s knee. He delivers three suplexes as he plays into the crowd. They clearly like both men but Kingston is the obvious favorite. Kingston eventually gets a comeback with an exploder. They trade near falls until El Idolo goes for the Figure Four, bridging into the Figure Eight, Kingston maneuvers his body to the ropes before that can happen, though. Kingston eventually wins the match via pinfall. Kingston will face Danielson in the finals of the Blue League on AEW Dynamite.
