EJ Moreno looks at AEW’s 2024 Continental Classic…
How are AEW sickos feeling this time of year? As we await presents from Santa (I know those BRUV shorts are on a wishlist for many fans), we are in the middle of the 2024 Continental Classic. This year’s wild tournament has been the best gift for this wrestling lover.
After our impressive showcase from the inaugural contest last year, it was hard to believe anything could top it. With this latest AEW Dynamite and the wild match between Will Ospreay and Darby Allin, it’s fair to say things are on a new level.
In what could easily be the best television match in the latter half of 2024, the two top-tier young wrestlers blew the already high expectations out of the water. It’s not the only banger of a match we’ve had, but it’s a good indicator of how amazing things are shaping up.
How did the tournament bring back a joy I didn’t know was missing from AEW? Great matches from their lovely roster are how, but the stories being told should not be overlooked.
Early in the Continental Classic, the magic started to be conjured. At the root of the idea premise, we already get solid matches with time limits, adding stakes and mandating a lack of outside interference. You can easily immerse yourself with little touches, and it instantly shows.
Darby Allin and Brody King packed the usual brutality from the pairing, allowing Darby to build his AEW savior story. Claudio Castagnoli made his presence known, not only building towards their late-stage match but furthering the Deathriders v. Everyone narrative.
Yes, there are plenty of matches with the premise: “These two awesome dudes will just wrestle,” but a good chunk of these matches came with meaty stories. You can see something like Kazuchika Okada taking on Mark Briscoe as something without a significant narrative backing it; on the same coin, you can see how Okada and Briscoe tore down the house for entertainment. It’s just a prime example of getting a dash of everything from this tourney.
AEW seems to have discourse about too many “dream matches” with no stories or matches for the sake of matches. Not to dismiss the opinions of others, but that time of mindset seems lacking. While plenty of face-offs in the company come with little to no build, it doesn’t mean the competitors don’t build a story within the match.
Ricochet vs. Brody King had no real story outside of a “First Time Ever” label, but it was a great way to showcase this new persona sprouting from Ricochet, and it’s a match (and win) used by the star.
We know the Continental Classic will feature these impressive matches, but it’s nice to see the stories emerge from what could easily be throwaway tourney rounds.
That brings us to the latest episode of Dynamite, dubbed Holiday Bash. One of the most significant selling points of the week’s show was this ‘first-time ever’/’dream match’ between Darby Allin and Will Ospreay. There are two cliches in AEW matches that often turn people off.
But anyone with a working brain had to be thrilled to see what these two daredevils would cook up!
Thankfully, the two talents were given a moment the week before to build this, showing they both had a passion for defending AEW against the Deathriders. Even with both men needing to rack in points to advance to the finals at AEW Worlds End, the respect was there, and you can see they’d be linking up post-Continental Classic to take on these foes.
You get the labels of this dream match that we’ve never seen before, but we also have a small little story to work on beforehand. Then you put on that thinking brain and see the story within the match. Will Ospreay used to be the wild little freak we know Darby Allin to be, so he knows the game. That put Darby in a position to give it to Will with the intensity he’d usually save for a heated enemy. All of these indigents fell into this stew, and the final product was so damn tasty.
In a nearly 15-minute contest, these two did everything you knew they’d do; the moves were crisp, and everyone’s jaws dropped. The contest was a great showcase of what both have to offer, even getting me to watch the Picture-In-Picture commercial that I usually skip. You couldn’t take your eyes off this match; it was a pleasure to watch.
Another story being told throughout the tournament is who will make the finals, and this ending makes that journey even wilder. Darby’s win against his opponent ties up the Gold League and makes next week very intriguing. I would’ve been happy with a Meltzer-mind-breaking 5-star TV match, but we got so much more from this.
Stories were told. Styles were clashed off the apron. And Darby Allin puts the Will Ospreay/Worlds End dream in question. If you ask me, that’s better than most things I’ve seen from wrestling this week (besides another great Toni Storm segment.)
With the 2024 Continental Classic coming to a close as the final All Elite Wrestling PPV of 2024, it closes out the year and this era. AEW is looking to make 2025 a different year, and let’s use this year’s fantastic tournament as a launching pad.
Darby Allin vs Will Ospreay needs to be the future of AEW, not only metaphorically, but let’s book this match with some gold down the line soon.
EJ Moreno
