The inaugural Continental Classic tournament has officially come to an end, resulting in the first-ever Triple Crown Champion at All Elite Wrestling. Over the last several weeks, 12 AEW wrestlers have competed in the round-robin tournament, and it all came down to longtime friends Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston competing in the final match at . When the tournament was first announced, Kingston revealed that he’d be putting his NJPW Strong Openweight Championship and ROH World Championship on the line for the entire competition, meaning that the winner would take home those titles in addition to the Continental Classic Championship.
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Kingston had the most to lose in the Continental Classic, so it was only fitting that he defend his titles in the event’s very last match. Throughout the match, both stars would put their striking prowess on display, and Moxley did a great job of trying to counter Kingston’s close-range striking with his own brawling expertise. Late in the match though Moxley’s taunting of Kingston had the opposite intended effect, lighting a fire in Kingston and leading him to connect with a flurry of strikes and an out-of-nowhere spinning backfist to knock Moxley down and get the pin and the win.
Moxley and Kingston have had a lengthy history with one another, both in and out of the ring. Seeing their promo at the end of Dynamite this past Wednesday had fans instantly excited for their Continental Classic matchup, regardless of who came out the victor.
Who Was in the Continental Classic?
The 12 competitors in the AEW Continental Classic were split into two groups: the Gold League and the Blue League. Each competitor faced all of the other wrestlers in their league during the group stage, earning three points for a win and one point for a draw (occurring if the 20-minute time limit is reached without a victor).
The Gold League consisted of Swerve Strickland, Jay Lethal, Jon Moxley, Mark Briscoe, “Switchblade” Jay White, and RUSH. The competitors in the Blue League included Eddie Kingston, Bryan Danielson, Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli, Brody King, and Andrade El Idolo.
At the end of the group stage, Kingston clawed his way out from an 0-2 start and finished in second place in the Blue League, which put him up against the group’s champion, Bryan Danielson, in the semifinal. Kingston had never beaten Danielson in his career prior to his semifinal victory on Wednesday night. The Gold League actually came down to three men, as Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and Jay White ended up in a tie for first place. Moxley pinned White in a triple threat match to earn his spot in Saturday’s final.
What did you think of the very first AEW Continental Classic? Do you hope to see the tournament return next year? Let us know in the comments!
