Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
It is Wednesday and AEW Dynamite is in the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, and Tony Schiavone.
We get a quick recap of Full Gear and then a Continental Classic promo. The Continental Classic is a tournament, and while I know they aren’t popular, I LOVE tournaments, so I’m excited about the stories the matches will be telling. They let us know the people in each bracket quickly.
MVP grabs a mic on his way to the ring and he gets a lot of cheers from the crowd as he speaks, and he uses a lot of local sports figures as he cuts his promo. He says if he gives you a business card, it’s an opportunity, but if you turn it down, you put a target on your back. He runs down Swerve Strickland and when the crowd chants for Swerve, he shows how Lashley destroyed him at Full Gear. He puts over Lashley and Shelton Benjamin and they are here to get titles and leverage that into more power and money.
Shelton Benjamin vs Mark Briscoe - Continental Classic match
They shake hands before locking up and it’s going to be strength against Briscoe’s toughness. Once the match goes to the floor, Briscoe is tossed around and struggles to get anything in. Briscoe is able to even it up with a dive and he is working the crowd hard to get them more involved with cheering and making noise. When we get back from the commercial break, they are back to throwing hands and Briscoe showing how much punishment he can take.
When Benjamin moves to suplexes, he literally tosses Briscoe into the air with each one. Briscoe gets in a bit of a hope spot, but Benjamin cuts him off with an exploder into a power slam for the pin and the win.
Winner and earning 3 points: Shelton Benjamin
Tony Schiavone is on the stage to speak to Mercedes Mone and Kamille. Mone says Kris Statlander was a great opponent but she beat her to be the greatest champion of all time. Mone then heels Kamille and is about to fire her, but Kamille tells her to shut up and says Mone can’t fire her because she quit. They move on to the next sequence and don’t let the crowd really get on Mone about it, sadly.
Large William and Bryan Keith join commentary. I am hoping Large William gets a lot of time for his silly zen sayings.
Chris Jericho (Ring of Honor Champion) vs Tomohiro Ishii
Two years ago, when they fought, it was a chop fest where Jericho took so many chops his chest was legit busted open, and they started the same way. Ishii ends it with a German suplex and they move to clotheslines. They move to the floor and it’s just a fight. Jericho tears apart the announcer's desk and Tony is worried about the plant that Large William has given them.
They return to the ring and trade strikes. When they come back from commercial they take a LONG time to build to a superplex, and Ishii no sells it. They go back to throwing bombs. Jericho hits a Judas Effect and a codebreaker for a one count only. Ishii takes down Jericho with three headbutts. Ishii is able to hit a codebreaker and we see Ishii has a bloody nose. Jericho hits a pair of Judas Effect strikes for the pin and the win.
Winner and still Ring of Honor Champion: Chris Jericho
In the back, Swerve Strickland says that while he lost to Bobby Lashley, he will come build and rebuild. Swerve sees Max Caster who starts mocking Swerve, and Swerve, who obviously has had enough, beats him down and Prince Nana tells him they have to leave. I approve of Swerve beating down Caster and hope it becomes a regular feature every week.
Max also said “Everyone loves the best wrestler alive,” so we know who will be inheriting the catchphrase when the Acclaimed break up.
Tony Schiavone is doing double duty tonight as he is in the ring to speak to Adam Page. We are told that Orange Cassidy is recovering from the chemicals poured over him. Tony gives a recap of what happened at Full Gear and Page grabs the mic from Tony and says if Christopher Daniels gets in his way again, he will put him down permanently. He then says he held up his end of the deal, and if Christian Cage had held up his end of the deal, he would be world champion again.
Jay White music hits and he comes to the stage to let Page know he has beaten Page five times and if he wants another taste, he can have it tonight. White is attacked by Pac, and then Wheeler Yuta attacks Page in the ring. In the ring, White takes out Yuta and Pac, Page attacks White and then Marina Shafir nails Page with the briefcase. White sets to hit Shafir with a Blade Runner, but Jon Moxley attacks White. Shafir chokes White out and the Death Riders then stomp down White. Pac then nails White in the head with the briefcase.
Just a quick, brutal attack on both of them, but White takes the most damage.
Claudio Castagoli vs Ricochet - Continental Classic match
They are not making the mistake they made on Saturday and have Ricochet doing a lot of his high-flying stuff to get the crowd hyped. Once the match goes to the floor, Claudio takes over with power moves until they are in the ring again when Ricochet starts with the high-flying stuff again.
They go back and forth with this mechanic as they come back from commercial. The crowd reaction is the complete opposite of the match at Full Gear because people WANT to see Ricochet do his big moves, and this match is constructed so much better. When they move to near falls, the moves from each get bigger.
Claudio pulls the padding off the barricade and crotches Ricochet on the top of them. Ricochet returns to the ring and Claudio finishes him off with a lariat for the pin and the win.
Winner and earning 3 points: Claudio Castagnoli.
Renee is with Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher, and Don says you destroy people to get ahead. He says this proves Fletcher is better than Will Ospreay, and Kyle says the Continental Classic will prove he is the best yet again.
Adam Cole comes to the ring with Mike Bennett and Matt Taven. Cole says when he gets his hands on MJF, he will beat him within an inch of his life. This brings out Kyle O’Reilly, who says that Cole caused all of this, so he needs to fight MJF instead. Cole says he doesn’t want his friends to fight his battles. Kyle says he is doing this for Roddy and they have words.
We then see MJF on the big screen, and he says he doesn’t want to fight either of them. He says that next week is the Dynamite Dozen battle royal, he has that to deal with.
Cole and Kyle both say they are entering the battle royal and Kyle storms to the back.
Jaime Hayter vs Queen Aminata - Wrestle Dynasty tournament
The crowd goes dead for this, which is a shame, since these two are great wrestlers. Thankfully, the crowd wakes up as they have a chop fest in the corner. As the match goes on, they are just throwing hands like a safer echo of Ishii and Jericho. As the match goes on, they win over the crowd.
It also seems that the crowd is into Aminata as it goes on as well, with her more explosive style. Hater gets a series of rollups for two. She then locks in a sleeper and Aminata flips out of it and they continue with near falls. Hayter gets the Hayterade for the pin and the win.
Winner and moving on: Jamie Hayter
After the match the lights go out and when they come back on, there is a spotlight on the stage and the ring is lit. Nothing happens as we go to a pre-taped interview.
I get having the Continental Classic, but do we really need two tournaments at once? And it’s really just three matches all together? Seems like the mens’ tournament will overshadow this tournament.
Renee is with Mina Shirakawa who says that the day would come when Mariah May would turn on her, just like she turned on Toni Storm. Mariah May attacks Mina and says she wants Mina. We are told they will fight in two weeks on Dynamite.
Darby Allin vs Brody King - Continental Classic match
Darby and Brody shake hands to start the match, and yes, it's a little thing, but I like it. It shows that this is not a grudge match but an athletic style match. Brody then starts tossing Darby around the ring like he should. When we come back from the break, we don’t have any commentary, which makes the match feel odd. It is still Brody beating the stuffing out of Darby.
See what I did there? Stuffing, on Thanksgiving Eve? NEVER MIND.
Commentary returns and Excalibur makes up for us not getting commentary for about 2 minutes with extra volume. Darby starts throwing his body at Brody over and over with coffin drops from the top to the floor. Brody cuts Darby's chances to zero with the Gonzo Bomb for the pin and the win.
Winner and earning 3 points: Brody King
After the match, Claudio comes to the ring with a chair, and Brody stands there, waiting, defiant. Claudio thinks better of it and walks away as we are outta time!
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
