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Two weeks in and it already feels like things are crystallizing in the Continental Classic II tournament. The Blue League is all but the shouting. The Gold League is technically still up for grabs, but it feels like the path forward is pretty clear.
On a side note, I do wish we got little more in the way of reaction promos each week after the matches. We’ve gotten some but not nearly enough. For instance, I don’t think we’ve heard from Will Ospreay once about his goal in this tournament. That’s malpractice.
That’s said, let’s take a look at where each league stands as of Dynamite.
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Blue League
There were two Blue League matches on Rampage that I was unaware were happening prior to this column last week. Kazuchika Okada bounced back from his draw with Daniel Garcia to defeat Mark Briscoe. That victory brought him up to four points. For his part, Garcia pinned The Beast Mortos with a clever jackknife rollup bringing him to four points as well.
Things got much more interesting the next night on Collision. Okada and Kyle Fletcher put on a barnburner. These two had a really good match back in September, but it definitely felt like they kicked it up a notch for this one. Easily the standout match of the tourney so far. In the end Fletcher defeated Okada after a low-blow and a sheer drop brainbuster to win three more points. I didn’t mind this finish as it was a callback to their previous match where Okada used a low blow to set up the Rainmaker and Fletcher ultimately beat Okada with the brainbuster. With that win Fletcher remains perfect in the tourney and takes a commanding lead. It’s hard to see him losing either of his remaining matches. If, more likely when, he beats Mark Briscoe on Collision, he will officially win the Blue League outright.
As far as the runner up spot goes, I’d be shocked if Okada didn’t pull it out although it’s really a footrace between him and Garcia. In something of an upset, Garcia actually lost to Mark Briscoe on Collision last week. That was a critical three points Garcia could’ve used especially in light of Okada’s loss to Fletcher. Given that Okada will almost certainly beat Mortos on Collision and raise his total to seven, Garcia’s only real path to the semifinals is to win out and hope that Okada loses to or draws with Shelton Benjamin.
If Okada defeats Shelton, which isn’t necessarily a given, he’ll be the one going to Worlds End. There is an unlikely scenario where Okada loses to Shelton, Garcia loses to Fletcher but beats Shelton and he and Okada tie at 7 which would then require a rematch because of their prior draw.
I should note that Mortos is all but mathematically eliminated, Briscoe will be too after Saturday, and while Shelton is technically still alive, he’d have to win all three of his remaining matches which seems unlikely.
Gold League
The Gold League only got one match over last weekend, Ricochet vs. Komander. Ricochet beat Komander in a fun, albeit predictable match to get on the board with three points. There were two Gold League matches on Dynamite.
In the first matchup, Will Ospreay took on Claudio Castagnoli. To the surprise of nobody, these two had a good match even if Osperay’s new hairdo is a bit distracting. Ospreay won with a jackknife pin. I fully expected Ospreay to win, but I thought he would’ve and should’ve gone over stronger. Still, Ospreay got the three points and remains on the path to winning the Gold League as I don’t expect him to lose any matches.
The other match between Ricochet and Brody King was arguably more important as the winner is set up to make a run at the runner-up spot. After a hard-fought match in which Brody looked like a beast, the winner was Ricochet. To be sure, it took two shots on an exposed turnbuckle and two Spirit Guns to put Brody down. I didn’t mind this finish as the use of the turnbuckle coupled with the off-putting pre-match promo signal an incoming heel turn.
With that victory, Ricochet now sits with six points and reasonably clear path to the runner up. He will most likely beat Darby Allin and then close out the league round with Ospreay. Assuming Ospreay has won every match to that point, he would be sitting at 12 and Ricochet at 9.
An Ospreay win or draw would give Ospreay the league while Ricochet would need to win the match to win the league. I still think Darby plays spoiler to Claudio and beats him to keep him out of contention for the number two spot. If nothing else, the Gold League is not as sewn up as the Blue.
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(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at kellerwade@gmail.com. You can also send live event results and news tips to pwtorch@gmail.com. Also, we’re always looking for volunteer contributors to help us round out of coverage of the pro wrestling scene.)
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