The 2024 Continental Classic continued during "AEW Christmas Collision" with four matches in the Gold and Blue Leagues.
The show kicked off with the first of two matches in the Gold League pitting Will Ospreay against career rival Ricochet, who bent the rules to secure the win, leaving their overall saga tied at 5-5-1. Ricochet and Ospreay met much like they have done before, exchanging high-flying and acrobatic offense, and both looking to secure the win with their respective finisher, the Spirit Gun or the Hidden Blade.
Ospreay did manage to land his finisher, but found himself unable to capitalize through exhaustion as both laid in the ring, but he would follow up with a Stormbreaker. However, the referee had been drawn into the crossfire just moments before and was thus unable to make the count. Ospreay went to the top rope for the exclamation point, but Ricochet sent the referee into the corner, opening Ospreay up for the Spirit Gun to win via pinfall. With his win, Ricochet secured three points to move his total to nine points with one match left to go, while Ospreay remains with six ahead of his last match against Brody King.
Ricochet's next and final opponent, Darby Allin, faced Claudio Castagnoli in the main event of the show. Castagnoli started the bout strong with Allin restricted to brief moments of counter-offense, mainly at the expense of himself at the same time; as he held Castagnoli in a sleeper, he was driven into through a table. However, Castagnoli would have to resort to cheating to secure the win, striking Allin with the brass knuckles while the referee was distracted for the pinfall. Castagnoli and Allin both have one match left, though the former secured qualification to the semi-finals by reaching 12 points, and the latter needs a win with six points so far.
The Blue League action on Saturday kicked off with Shelton Benjamin against TNT Champion Daniel Garcia. Benjamin dominated much of the bout, halting what little offense Garcia offered up with variations of powerslams and suplexes. But the story was ultimately one of Garcia's perseverance, winning by the finest of margins after he almost looked to have beaten, rolling up Benjamin for a tight pinfall. Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, and MVP sought to beat Garcia down, only to be interrupted by the emerging Mark Briscoe and Swerve Strickland.
With the win, Garcia moved ahead of Benjamin's total of six with seven points and one more match left to go. Benjamin will be facing Kazuchika Okada, and has a chance at not only qualifying for the semi-finals but also confirming a new Continental Champion should he manage to beat the reigning titleholder, who sits on seven points. Garcia will next face Kyle Fletcher, who holds a nine point total ahead of his own last bout.
The second match in the group saw Briscoe taking on The Beast Mortos, with the latter entering the bout without a single point and already mathematically eliminated. Not much changed for Mortos, suffering yet another loss to Briscoe despite a good showing, kicking out of the Froggy 'Bow before receiving another one followed by a J-Driller for the pinfall. Briscoe's win saw him finish the group with nine points, having done all he can do and his tournament future to be determined by the group's final bouts. He would need a favorable win and a draw to do so.
