On the November 11, 2023, episode of AEW Collision, AEW President Tony Khan and Bryan Danielson announced AEW’s latest tournament, the AEW Continental Classic. The tournament kicks off on the 22nd November episode of AEW Dynamite in Chicago, with matches taking place over the weeks until the final on December 1st, 2023 at AEW World’s End.
The tournament is in round-robin format. There will be two “blocks” of 6, meaning 12 AEW wrestlers will take part. Each wrestler will face the other five wrestlers in their blocks, gaining points for winning, losing or drawing. The wrestlers with the most points in each block will advance to the final, where they will compete for a shot at MJF’s AEW World Championship.
AEW Continental Classic Entrants
Here are all the wrestlers currently confirmed for the AEW Continental Classic tournament. This page will be updated once more wrestlers have been announced for the tournament.
Bryan Danielson
The first wrestler announced to be taking part in the AEW Continental Classic is Bryan Danielson. The American Dragon recently suffered a broken arm against Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door 2023, before breaking his orbital bone against the same man on AEW Dynamite.
Despite this, he claims to be cleared by November 22nd to compete in the tournament. As one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, he has to be one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. We predict he will go all the way, becoming the first ever winner of the Continental Classic.
Bryan Danielson’s inclusion comes as a great surprise, as he recently spoke about how he is physically unable to compete in the NJPW G1 Classic, due to his age and current state of his body.
Andrade El Idolo
On the November 17, 2023 episode of 2023, CJ Perry announced her new client, Andrade El Idolo, as the second entrant in the AEW Continental Classic. While the Mexican star was originally reluctant to enter the tournament, after being told that there was more money in it for him (as well as something secret she whispered in his ear), Andrade was more than happt to be the second entrant in the AEW Continental Classic.
While Andrade El Idolo has struggled to break into the main event since signing for the company in 2021, winning this tournament could be his chance to finally break through the glass ceiling and into the AEW Championship scene in the near future.
Mark Briscoe
At AEW Full Gear 2023, Mark Briscoe announced himself as the third entrant in the AEW Continental Classic.
Eddie Kingston
At AEW Full Gear 2023, Eddie Kingston announced himself as the fourth entrant in the AEW Continental Classic. Interestingly, he vowed to put his ROH and NJPW Strong Championships on the line in every match, leading to the winner of the tournament being the “Triple Crown Champion”.
AEW Continental Classic Blocks
The AEW Continental Classic is split into two blocks of 6 wrestlers. This takes inspiration from NJPW’s G1 Climax, which is known to have anywhere from 1 to 4 blocks in its round-robin tournament.
These two blocks are called “A Block” and “B Block”, and will feature a mix of AEW’s biggest stars. Here are the blocks currently confirmed for the 2023 AEW Continental Classic. This page will be updated when more wrestlers are confirmed for the AEW Continental Classic blocks.
A Block
No wrestlers have been announced for the AEW Continental Classic A Block.
B Block
No wrestlers have been announced for the AEW Continental Classic B Block.
Click to read more about our AEW World’s End 2023 predictions.