9 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW Collision (Nov 11 - Results & Review)

4. The AEW Continental Classic Tournament

AEW Continental Classic Tony Khan Bryan Danielson
AEW

The announcement of the AEW Continental Classic Tournament gets an Up based on one caveat. That caveat? Why, that's the hope this means AEW will pull back on the sheer frequency and number of their tournaments.

Your writer has long since complained that AEW runs far too many tournaments, but hopefully prestige will be built for the Continental Classic by pulling back on some of the other tourneys the company typically runs. Also, this latest tournament at least will take a different approach to the standard 'Wrestler A beats Wrestler B to advance to the next round'.

Of course, the Continental Classic is essentially AEW's take on New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax. We'll have two blocks of six wrestlers competing to top their respective block by securing wins over the other five grapplers in their section. From there, the winners of each group will do battle at AEW World's End to crown the inaugural Continental Classic victor.

Is it lazy to simply copy the G1 format? Maybe. Still, wrestling promotions have been 'borrowing' ideas from other organisations for decades.

In AEW's relatively short lifespan, we've had tournaments to crown champions, we've had tournaments to crown interim champions, we've had tournaments to earn title shots, we've had the men and women's Owen Hart tournaments, we've had the Four Pillars tournament, and we've had blind tag team tournaments.

As mentioned, if the arrival of the Continental Classic leads to AEW pulling back on its overreliance on tournaments - say, maybe just annually running the Continental Classic and the Owens - then that's only a huge positive. That is a big ask, though.

Regardless, the prospect of a G1-style tourney featuring AEW's biggest stars is certainly an intriguing one.

Also, while the intent is clearly to drive ticket sales, advertising Bryan Danielson for All In 2024 - an event in ten months' time - seems a little questionable. A lot can happen in those months, and it would be awful if people got their hopes up of seeing the American Dragon at Wembley Stadium, only for, say, injury to strike.

Then again, here's to Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness, right?

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.