Continental Classic kickoff, ROH World title match set for Thanksgiving Eve AEW Dynamite
The second-ever AEW Continental Classic will begin in two weeks on the Wednesday, November 27th edition of Dynamite from Chicago.
No other details were announced other than the kickoff date, but reigning Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will be participating as made clear by a video last week. That Saturday’s edition of Collision will also be taped that night, leaving it a strong possibility that tournament matches will take place on that show as well.
If the format is the same as last year, the tournament is of the round robin variety with 12 wrestlers split between two “leagues.” Each competitor will have five individual matches as they look to earn points (three for a win, one for a draw) to win their group. Like last year, the tournament winner is expected to be crowned at December’s Worlds End.
Last year’s tournament winner took home the inaugural Continental Crown: a triple crown of the then-new AEW Continental title, the NJPW men’s Strong title and the ROH World title. Eddie Kingston won the tournament, but the crown aspect was disbanded shortly after the tournament wrapped as Kingston defended and lost all the titles individually.
**********
In a non-tournament match announced Wednesday, Ring of Honor World Champion Chris Jericho will defend against Tomohiro Ishii.
Ishii pinned Jericho in a Fight Without Honor trios match on last Wednesday’s Dynamite, gaining a measure of revenge for Jericho and the Learning Tree faction taking him out of action weeks prior.
It will be the first defense in Jericho’s second reign with the gold while Ishii is looking for his first ROH championship since winning the TV title for a short run in 2016. It will be a rematch from their 2022 Thanksgiving eve battle in Chicago that Jericho won.
Here’s the current lineup for Chicago:
- Continental Classic kickoff matches
- ROH World Champion Chris Jericho defends against Tomohiro Ishii