Today's Holiday Bash episode of AEW Collision (December 23) featured the final three round-robin matches in the Blue League of the Continental Classic tournament. Would the league actually end in a wild 5-way tie?
The episode began with Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli in a match that Claudio had to win. Although they are allies in the Blackpool Combat Club, Claudio did not hesitate to target Bryan's injured eye when there was less than five minutes left on the clock for their fight. A neutralizer wasn't enough to keep Bryan down for the three count. Likewise, Danielson's Busaiku knee strike wasn't enough to defeat Castagnoli. Claudio sat on the Sharpshooter with less than a minute to go. Bryan refused to get out. Claudio attempted a last-second uppercut for a desperate pin attempt, but the time limit expired, resulting in the first (and only) draw of the tournament.
As a result of the draw, each man received a point. Castagnoli finishes the Continental Classic with 7 points and is eliminated, while Danielson advances to the next round with 10 points. After the fight they shook hands.
The 5-way tie scenario was off the table because of this result, but there was still a chance of a 3-way tie for second place. Brody King would have to beat Daniel Garcia to maintain this scenario. But the winless Garcia went into this match intending to play spoilsport, and that's exactly what he did. He survived a serious blow and another serious blow and managed to steal the match from Brody with a switchblade needle. This ended King's tournament with 6 points.
This set the stage for a life and death match between Eddie Kingston and Andrade El Idolo in the main event. After trying for more than 15 minutes, Eddie took advantage of several spinning backfists and knocked Andrade to the mat to secure the pin fall victory. With this win, both men finish the round-robin portion of the Continental Classic with 9 points each. However, with this direct victory, Eddie prevails against Andrade in the tiebreaker. This means Eddie still has a chance to retain his ROH World Title and his NJPW Strong Openweight Title, both of which will go to the winner of the tournament.
Here are the final rankings in the Gold and Blue Leagues of the inaugural Continental Classic:
Gold League
Jon Moxley (4-1-0): 12 points
Swerve Strickland (4-1-0): 12
Jay White (4-1-0): 12
RUSH (2-3-0): 6*
Mark Briscoe (1-4-0): 3*
Jay Lethal (0-5-0): 0*
Blue League
Bryan Danielson (3-1-1): 10 points
Eddie Kingston (3-2-0): 9
Andrade El Idolo (3-2-0): 9*
Claudio Castagnoli (2-2-1): 7*
Brody King (2-3-0): 6*
Daniel Garcia (1-4-0): 3*
* Eliminated and does not advance beyond the round robin phase.
Next week (December 27th) Dynamite will host both semi-final games. The Gold League Finals is a triple threat match between Moxley, Swerve and White. The Blue League final is Danielson vs. Kingston. The winners will compete for the Triple Crown (NJPW Strong Openweight, Ring of Honor World and new AEW Continental titles) at Worlds End on December 30th.
How do you see the rest of the Continental Classic evolving from here, Cagesider?
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