AEW is back tonight (Dec. 24) with a taped Dynamite on 34th Street show (spoilers are here) from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This is the final episode of Dynamite during the five week build to Worlds End, which takes place on Saturday (Dec. 27). Dynamite has a special start time of 6 pm ET on TBS and MAX.
Tony Khan needs more time to finish the Continental Classic
The updated standings for AEW’s Continental Classic tournament show that nine more matches still need to take place before this weekend’s Worlds End pay-per-view, where the semifinal
and final rounds are scheduled.
Half of the wrestlers in the field still need to compete in two more matches in the round robin portion of the tournament. All of those men are in action against each other tonight on Dynamite in order to play catch up.
Tonight’s Blue League matches are Orange Cassidy (6 points) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (7) and Mascara Dorada (3) vs. Roderick Strong (0). The latter match features the two men at the bottom of the Blue League standings, who are already mathematically eliminated from advancing to the next round at Worlds End.
The one Gold League match scheduled for Dynamite on 34th Street is Jack Perry (3) vs. PAC (6). There is currently a 5-way tie atop the Gold League at 6 points each. With a win, Perry can make it a 6-way tie between all 6 competitors, where everyone has a record of 2-2.
After these tournament matches wrap up on Dynamite, that still leaves 6 more Continental Classic matches on Christmas Collision tomorrow (start time 9 pm ET on TNT and MAX, spoilers are here). Tony Khan needs more time to finish these C2 matches, so Collision has been expanded to 2.5 hours on Christmas night, according to TNT’s TV schedule. That’s where the mad scramble for the top two spots in each league takes place, as most of the wrestlers in the tournament still have a chance to advance to Worlds End.
The three Gold League tournament matches scheduled for Christmas Collision are Speedball Bailey (6 points) vs. Kazuchika Okada (6), Kevin Knight (6) vs. PAC, and Jack Perry vs. Kyle Fletcher (6). The three Blue League bouts on Christmas Collision are Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley (6), Roderick Strong vs. Claudio Castagnoli (7), and Mascara Dorada vs. Konosuke Takeshita.
When it comes to predicting which four men will win this week and move on to the semifinal round at Worlds End, the question I ask myself is, which four men in the tournament are most likely to be booked on a PPV by Tony Khan?
The wrestlers who don’t advance to the semifinal round at Worlds End may get stuck in some kind of 8+ man tag team match on the pre-show, because there isn’t enough time to come up with a new creative direction for them. For example, is Jon Moxley a pre-show wrestler in AEW? The answer to that question is clearly no, which means I won’t be surprised if this week’s C2 matches work out in his favor. So go ahead and write out the names of the two men in each league who you think Tony Khan considers to be most indispensable on AEW PPV, and you may have just figured out who will win this week in the C2 on Dynamite and Collision.
If you love the gift of Continental Classic tournament matches, then make sure to tune into Dynamite on 34th Street at 6 pm ET and then Christmas Collision tomorrow to see which four men finish atop the Blue and Gold League standings, with Worlds End just a few days away.
The rest of the card
MJF returned to AEW last week and he didn’t waste any time forcing his way into the AEW world championship match at Worlds End. MJF is actually “in action” tonight, which makes it sound like he’ll shake off some ring rust against a jobber. Will his Worlds End opponents (Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, Hangman Page) come out afterwards to trash talk him after MJF didn’t really let them get a word in during his return promo last week?
AEW National Champion Ricochet vs. ROH World Champion Bandido is scheduled for tonight at Dynamite on 34th Street. The stakes are high in this one, as the winner not only becomes the first non-MJF wrestler to ever win the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but also earns an AEW world title match at Dynamite Maximum Carnage in January. Considering that heel Joe is the current world champ, does that bode well for babyface Bandido?
Mina Shirakawa vs. Marina Shafir is also booked on Dynamite, as part of the feud between Timeless Love Bombs and MegaProblems. Will their respective tag team partners Toni Storm and Megan Bayne be at ringside and prove to be the difference maker?
Finally, Dynamite on 34th Street features a face-to-face confrontation between Jamie Hayter and AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander, ahead of their title match at Worlds End. If tensions escalate and things get physical, which star will have the last laugh heading into the PPV?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Do the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega plan to take a luxurious vacation together and away from AEW after winning one million dollars last week? Or will The Elite hold off on that and instead opt to chase after AEW World Trios Champions The Opps?
– It sounds like Andrade is finally free from WWE and able to return to AEW, perhaps as soon as Worlds End. Will there be any kind of hype video or cryptic video airing on tonight’s show that teases his return?
– Mercedes Mone is now losing belts from her massive collection of championships, but she has a chance to turn that pattern around at Worlds End when she teams up with ROH Women’s World Champion Athena to challenge AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale. Will there be a backstage interview tonight with The CEO so she can get angry at Renee Paquette for asking a question about her recent losses?
– Is there time left to book AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR in a title defense at Worlds End after they just retained the gold against Bang Bang Gang on Collision last week?
– Which douchebag heel is coming next for TNT Champion Mark Briscoe?
– Is there an update on when Darby Allin might be cleared after he was injured and replaced in the Continental Classic tournament?
– Where the f*** are Chris Jericho, Britt Baker, and Keith Lee?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
