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Well, it’s been twelve days since last I discussed this year’s C2 in this space and it’s blown up since then. There have upsets, some more questionable than others, and there was a fun finish in both leagues on Dynamite. Let’s dive in!
Blue League
The least discombobulated of the two leagues, the Blue League ended up finishing exactly the way I thought it would even if things didn’t play out exactly as I expected.
Kyle Fletcher was dominating with three straight victories including the relative upset over Kazuchika Okada. It seemed like him beating Mark Briscoe last weekend and clinching his spot in the semifinals was a foregone conclusion. That did not happen though. Briscoe and Fletcher had a really good back and forth match. Fletcher attempted to low-blow Briscoe but Briscoe blocked it and hit the Jay Driller for the upset win. Briscoe defeated the Beast Mortos this past Saturday bringing his point total to 9 and tying him with Fletcher. The caveat here is that Briscoe is not in control own fate.
Danny Garcia outwitted the veteran Shelton Benjamin in a match that saw Benjamin control at least 60 percent. Garcia targeted Benjamin’s recently repaired knee but it wasn’t enough. It took a cagey jackknife pin to secure the three points. Shelton was mathematically eliminated as result of that loss. Kazuchika Okada defeated Mortos last week on Collision bringing his point total but seven which puts him in a tie with Garcia.
That brings us to Wednesday night. Fletcher faced Garcia and Okada battled Shelton to close out the league round. Okada vs. Shelton was a very fun technical match. Shelton Benjamin has really shined throughout this tournament and this was special if for no other reason, nobody expected to see a Shelton Benjamin vs. Kazuchika Okada match. Okada put Shelton away with the Rainmaker and punched his ticket to the semifinals.
Fletcher and Garcia had a really good match. The problem was it was about five minutes too long and misaligned with Fletcher’s previous matches. For instance Garcia kicked out of Fletcher’s brainbuster, the move that put Okada away. I would’ve avoided that as well as the brainbuster on the apron. I get wanting to make Garcia look tough, but a few adjustments would’ve made this better. Truthfully this match and the Mark Briscoe should’ve been switched. Garcia getting an upset over Fletcher would’ve made more sense and Fletcher could’ve had a shorter, less overwrought match. In the end Fletcher won the match, and thus the Blue League setting up a semifinal rematch against Ospreay.
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Gold League
The Gold League is complete chaos at this point. The shocker of the tournament came last Wednesday when Darby Allin battled Will Ospreay. Easily surpassing Okada vs. Fletcher for match of the tourney, these two tore the house down. Some of the sequences they strung together were incredible. In the end Darby pulled off the upset with Scorpion Death Drop followed by two Coffin Drops in succession.
Personally, I preferred this upset to Briscoe beating Fletcher. Mark Briscoe is a glorified mid-carder. I don’t say that as pejorative, it just is what it. Darby is a top of the card star potentially being primed for a major AEW World Title match in the not too distant future. Him getting a clean win over the top babyface/best wrestler in the world actually helps him. Digressing, that victory coupled with Brody King unsurprisingly beating Komander on Rampage set up a five-way tie for first place.
That tie was broken in unexpected fashion on Saturday’s Collision. First Ricochet beat Ospreay when he kicked referee Stephon Smith into the ropes which caused Ospreay to fall and then fall victim to the Spirit Gun. Given that Ricochet looked like an absolute fool in his segment with the Hurt Syndicate last Wednesday I wasn’t keen on him beating Ospreay.
Nonetheless, that put Ospreay in a precarious position. If Darby had defeated Claudio in the main event, Ospreay would’ve been eliminated from semifinal contention. Instead Claudio, frustrated after not being able to put Darby away, used brass knuckles to knock him out and steal the win. That kept Ospreay very much in the thick of things.
On Dynamite the Gold League closed out with Ospreay vs Brody, Claudio vs. Komander, and Ricochet vs. Darby. Ospreay vs. Brody was very physical match. Ospreay winning was the only logical outcome but Brody did not make it easy. He survived two Hidden Blades before succumbing to an impressive Storm Breaker. The win moved Ospreay one step closer to the semifinals. Ricochet and Darby had a really good match in which Ricochet got a ton of heat. The match ended in time limit draw which put Ricochet in the semifinals and eliminated Darby.
The final Gold League match was between Komander and Claudio. Prior to the match, Darby whispered something into Komander’s ear. Komander hung with Claudio for a while, but eventually he rolled out of the ring, reached underneath where Darby had tossed his jacket earlier and put out the brass knuckles that Claudio used on him on Collision. Komander gave Claudio a taste of his own medicine, blasting him with the knucks and hitting the Cielito Lindo for the win. That win made Ospreay runner up.
The Gold League shook out pretty much as I expected it to. Ospreay made the semifinals. Ricochet winning the league was a bit of surprise but it makes sense to get him something ahead of the match with ZSJ.
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