The C2 continues, so let's see if my picks continue to fail me. I only got one of three picks correct for Dynamite, coming up on the wrong end of things by picking Darby over Brody and Mark Briscoe over Shelton Benjamin.

I think tonight's matches are somewhat more clear-cut, but I'm still unsure about my pick of a draw in Daniel Garcia vs Kazuchika Okada. I just can't see them handing Garcia a loss right after coming off of the TNT Title win, but I also wouldn't expect Okada to lose the first match unless it becomes the motivation to win every match going forward.

Whatever the outcome of Garcia/Okada, I think the story will be that Okada isn't taking things seriously enough because he's had a bit of an easy ride alongside The Elite the past few months. He hasn't had to wrestle often and not every match has been on the level of classic New Japan Okada. He could be settled into a false sense of security or in a new comfort zone, and a freshly motivated Daniel Garcia might push him out of that zone.

I didn't end up watching this show live, as expected. I had to complete the essential task of visiting a thrift store which sells VHS tapes at a rate of 10 for a dollar, and you better believe we walked out of that place with 30 tapes! If you're not sure why I'm buying tapes by the bushel load, head over to Revival Video to find out.

Another mixed night for the Continental Classic

The show opener with Will Ospreay vs Juice Robinson didn't blow me away, but it was fun enough. I saw some posts online about Juice appearing at a convention over the weekend on crutches, and I hope that if he's injured it's nothing bad enough to keep him out of the tournament and he's just exercising an over-abundance of caution. I think Juice in the tournament is a fun wild card, even if I don't see him getting more than three points.

This was a bit of a lighter workload for Ospreay, who just had that insane match with Kyle Fletcher at Full Gear and has Darby Allin in the tournament in a couple of weeks. So, while it wasn't at the level of Ospreay's marquee matches, it didn't have to be. Juice got enough offense in to solidify himself as a contender in the tournament and Ospreay came through with a victory to rebound off of the big loss to Fletcher.

On the other side of the coin, Kyle Fletcher vs The Beast Mortos was a great showcase for both guys. Mortos is someone who is consistently over with live crowds and while I don't see him earning more than a few points in this tournament, I hope it continues to be a showcase for him on a path to some kind of championship in 2025. There's no reason LFI can't be Trios or Tag Champions sometime in the next year.

Fletcher, of course, continues to look incredible and is on a rise faster than anyone I can remember in recent years. Since being forced into the singles division due to Mark Davis' injury, Fletcher has only improved in every conceivable way. Again, I don't see him winning the tournament but I do think he'll finish in the top half in terms of points.

Okada and Garcia was everything I expected and everything I wanted. I love that Garcia is finally a champion and main eventing shows. He didn't look out of place against Okada in the least here which has to be seen as a huge boon for Garcia's future.

Garcia went in harder and faster than Okada did, telling the story I expected of Okada not taking this as seriously as he should have. Garcia went for pinfalls and submissions constantly throughout the match while Okada, when he was in control, was much more relaxed and slow to follow up when he had the advantage.

This became Okada's downfall as he failed to put Garcia away within the twenty minute time limit. Garcia earned a point for a tie against the current Continental Champion and it's my prediction that these two wind up as the block leaders moving onto the finals at Worlds End.

I love The Outrunners and I love their 4:3 entrance

As you can already glean from the intro where I talked about buying 30 VHS tapes today, the aesthetic of The Outrunners is one of my favorite things right now. Their recorded-on-VHS promos rule. Their 4:3 entrance with tracking issues rules.

I still think these guys can, and should, end up with the Tag Titles sometime in 2025 with how organically they've captured the hearts of AEW fans over this past year.

The same can't be said for Iron Savages. I've said it before how much I enjoyed Bear Country before they showed up in AEW, but they've just been treading water for years now. I know you need low-card and mid-card wrestlers with actual characters on the roster so squashes aren't always against Local Stars, but it feels like we've hit the peak of where AEW wants to go with Iron Savages.

It's a shame, because I think if they were given some focus they could really do some fun stuff in AEW.

Post-match, we got a for-no-good-reason handshake and pose with FTR. It feels obvious that this is all leading to an eventual heel turn from FTR which should spice things up nicely for those guys and give The Outrunners a feud and a goal since winning the titles will be a ways off while we ride the Private Party wave.

Wrapping Up

My picks! My beautiful picks!

I went 3 for 3 this week, a much better result than I had for Dynamite. While I'm not 100% confident on all of my picks, I do stand by that we'll somehow get to Okada/Garcia and Ospreay/Darby as the block finalists, leading to Okada/Ospreay for the Continental Championship at Worlds End with Ospreay taking the belt.

I'm a big fan of what is happening with Hangman Page, Jay White, and Death Riders right now. Coming at Moxley from multiple directions at once is a nice way to change things up when, for the past few months, it's been Moxley and Death Riders picking off wrestlers on their own terms.

This also means we probably get more of Hangman's descent into madness. He has no real claim to a title shot when Jay White is in the picture – White beat him at the PPV decisively and the only way Hangman is going to get into a World Title match is by becoming more and more unhinged with his actions in an effort to goad Mox and White into accepting whatever challenge he may lay out.