"I put off watching the Continental Classic until I felt like I had time to do it. It is August 2026. lol Now I know why there was zero buzz about the 2025 CC, after seeing the two blocks in this episode's opening spam. One side has a bunch of AEW heavy hitters and Mascara Dorada. The other has Okada, Fletcher and a bunch of 200 pound guys. You cannot be serious. I guess I should be happy that Perry or the Young Bucks aren't in there. Excalibur is already struggling to tell us how the CC works and it hasn't started. *eye roll*"

[7.0] "Great dynamite, the continental classic got off to a hot start with some great matches and the segments were pretty good."

[9.0] "Fletcher vs. Okada was very good, and the whole show kicked off the C2 in a great way with strong matches and some surprising results. The low point of the night was definitely the women's tag but it wasn't rough enough to drag down my overall enjoyment. Mox vs. Dorada was solid, and the fact that both Darby and Orange lost was wild in the best way. I also liked the Hangman and Swerve segment, though I was hoping for just a bit more follow-up there. Overall, this would have been a 10 if the women's tag hadn't been so mid, but everything else on the show was awesome. You really couldn't ask for a better start to C2 this year."

[9.0] "Aight, so this AEW show was lowkey fire. Peep the opener: Fletcher vs. Okada was bussin', a proper C2 match that had everyone shook with the finish. Fletcher's been the MVP, NGL. Then the Kenny backstage promo with The Bucks leaving? My heart is broken, no cap. Briscoe's promo was peak babyface energy. The Sisters of Sin vs. Babes of Wrath was kinda mid, though--too many green wrestlers, and that botched moonsault was cringe. Samoa Joe's promo was loud, then Hook came out, and everyone's side-eyeing if he's gonna sink or swim. Hangman and Swerve went full chaotic evil, literally chain-murdering jobbers--that was wild. Moxley vs. Dorada was surprisingly sick; Mox doing a tope was an iconic moment, and Dorada benefited big time. Toni Storm's promo? She's the GOAT, period. Darby vs. Kevin Knight was lowkey a banger, super entertaining with a shock winner--Knight is the truth. The FTR and Eddie promos were solid setups. Finally, Claudio vs. OC was a little sluggish until the end, but the show closed with a massive brawl that had the whole roster throwing hands. Overall, this was AEW flexing--it was a solid W."

[8.0] "The C2 season is always magical. This show kept the momentum going after a great Full Gear PPV with pretty much every match delivering and a few really cool angles. Fletcher vs. Okada was really good. Okada losing in his first match was unexpected. Sisters of Sin vs. Babes of Wrath wasn't as bad as the rating suggests in my opinion. It was alright with Julia making a few mistakes, even botching her own finisher. It's crazy how Harley (who's only been wrestling full-time since last year) is better than her. The Hangman/Swerve angle was GREAT. Seeing these two together just feels crazy. Also, it's gonna be really cool to see Eddie in the World picture. Moxley vs. Dorada was really good; Moxley just can't miss and Dorada keeps on showing out. Post-match angle with Toni Storm was hella funny. She's awesome. Darby vs. Knight was my match of the night. Kind of a star-making performance from Knight (at least in singles matches) and another unexpected result. They seem to want to strap a rocket to his back and they're right in doing so. Claudio vs. OC was a good main event. These two have good chemistry, but it was my least favorite match from the C2 tonight. The closing brawl between all the partecipants of the tournament was cool. 8/10."

[10.0] "Loved every bit of this episode. This year's C2 kicked off with a bang by having a major upset with Okada losing after an incredible match. I really admired how Okada performed like the tournament Okada of old as a show of respect for Kyle Fletcher, and not sandbagging his performance (despite a slow start at the first 5 minutes with the chain wrestling.) I also appreciate how they're backloading the major storyline progressions for the next episode to shine the light on the C2, as this episode teased storyline progression several times (as evident with the top faces interrupting HOOK as he was about to explain his actions at Full Gear in his promo.) The matches, bar the main event, were all spectacular given the boundaries of TV match structure. The matches were also booked very well, with having 2 upsets on the same night. Next week looks to be more story oriented, especially with the new match announcements."

[9.0] "Thought this was an excellent show. They didn't quite nail the post-PPV formula in terms of capitalising on big developments but the wrestling outside the women's tag was between good and outstanding, I absolutely loved the Knight/Darby match in particular, with some extremely strong promo work from Toni Storm and in the Mark Briscoe backstage pre-tape. The C2 just massively elevates shows like this, should be a fantastic end to what's been my favourite AEW year so far."

[8.0] "An entertaining, action-packed episode of AEW Dynamite. The C2 Matches dominated the show as they delivered three quality C2 Matches on the show. We see the Elite reformation taking place as Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks clearly had some talking done in the locker room. The Death Riders still seem to have issues, and the main highlight of this show for me was Kevin Knight; he used to win against Darby Allin, which prompted him to gain three points in the Gold League of the C2 Robin Style Tournament. But this was an all-around fun episode of AEW Dynamite, and the C2 Matches continue into AEW Collision. AEW Dynamite is looking to finish their fun 2025 year strong with this tournament."

[8.0] "Best Dynamite of the year? Fantastic action from start to finish, a great promo by Joe, and apart from the dud of the Women's tag match, this was entertainment all the way through, with something for everyone. Great start to the Continental Classic."

[8.0] "[8, 5/10] I had a great time watching this episode. The Continental Classic started off wonderfully with some bangers, especially the opener, then the women's tag match was cool, and so was the angle with the Opps. It's one of my favorite weekly episodes of the year."

[7.0] "Mostly good wrestling on this show (women's tag was mid unfortunately) and one big segment with the world title which was also mostly good (hook stuff is bad). Enjoyed this."

[8.0] "Can't deny that the C2 season gives a fresh air to the overall vibe of the weekly shows at the end of the year. Tournament is off to a decent start where the tournament itself can be an effective tool to push forward some storylines that are reaching the end of their life cycles, it's time to pull the trigger (particularly about Okada-Takeshita and the deathriders ousting Mox). This episode was overall a solid start to that with decent to good matches overall except for the awful women's tag match which was the low point of the night. Toni confronting Shafir-Mox was a fantastic segment, Toni is an amazing talker and props to Mox for playing ball. It was really effective setting up the deathmatch next week although the only problem is that the semi final match feels more like the finals match which led me to question this bizzarely booked tournament. Joe is cool and all but Hook of all people being in the epicenter of the world title stuff is baffling, he doesn't belong there. Hangman-Swerve working together is at least nice."

[9.0] "I thought that was an excellent Dynamite, all the Continental Classic matches were very good with different stories, heel vs heel with Okada and Fletcher respecting each other but still with some dirty tactics, another big W for the Protostar against the Rainmaker! Darby Allin and Kevin Knight was a great face vs face, outstanding performance from the Jet and maybe his biggest win of his AEW career! The anticipation for the Jon Moxley match, will he lose again? will he tap out? He did a great selling job for Mascara Dorada who delivered once again, a great finish by pass out. Claudio vs Orange was just a very good main event, but the story with the Death Riders is so captivating and Mox vs Claudio is next week! What a great start for this C2!"

[8.0] "This show was excellent. A number of high quality matches, good story development and a well paced show. This is AEW at its absolute best. 8/10 Opens with Fletcher vs Okada. I love Continental Classic season: As a first course for the C2 this couldn't have gone much better really. Well worked, well paced and a surprise (in my opinion) winner. For my money Kyle Fletcher has been the most consistent wrestler this year. Heel vs heel is difficult to do right and they did that here. The final five minutes is as good a TV match as you are going to see. 7.5/10 Kenny backstage promo. Bucks leave Kenny's dressing room. I'm not crying! YOU ARE! Briscoe promo backstage. Peak baby face promo. Lad. Sisters of sin vs Babes of Wrath: actual women's wrestling. It was starting to feel like a novelty. That being said, this was no classic. This felt like one too many green wrestlers in the same match. The moonsault botch was particularly egregious. That moonsault has degraded from one of the best in the game to an elbow drop (this week) and unfortunately was a good example of the level. There is only so much willow can do. 4/10 Samoa Joe Promo. He was at his belligerent best here. Out came hook, and there is no getting away from this, he is in sink or swim here for my money. They have cashed in a lot of goodwill chips here to make him feel like a big deal. I hope that it takes. Hangman and Swerve arrive and go to work murdering Joe's dojo jobbers. They hang two of them using chains. Crazy. Moxley promo and he is furious. Moxley vs Mascara Dorada: I just saw Jon Moxley do a Tope on a luchador. I've seen it all. This was a much better outing for Dorada than the last showing. He benefited MASSIVELY from working with Moxley here. This was a solid, well worked tv match. No over the top bells and whistles but a thoroughly entertaining match.m with a really good and inventive finish. 7/10 Toni Storm promo setting up next weeks match. Outstanding work as always. Stat backstage, didn't really say anything. Darby vs Kevin Knight: I think that the time for pretending that Darby is some kind of inexperienced 'up and comer' is done. This was as solid a match as you will see on tv this year. Well paced, well worked, back and forth action, high spots that worked, a surprise winner. Kevin Knight was absolutely fantastic here. An outrageously entertaining match. 8/10 FTR video package, short and sweet. Eddie backstage promo. Sets up a match for Collision. Hoping this is better showing for Eddie. He needs it. Claudio vs OC: seems ridiculous to say (as a 6/10 match), this was a touch disappointing. The final three minutes were really solid, but getting there felt a little sluggish. This was by no means a bad match and I did enjoy it, but this felt a little off the pace of the previous matches. Weird to describe. 6/10 Renee in the ring with Claudio. This quickly descended into chaos with the Death Riders, DCF and C2 competitors closing out the show with a brawl."

[8.0] "Oh yes baby C2 season is here and we are cooking on all fucking cylinders with the gas turned up to high we got 3 great matches on this show with one very good and the other being a bit so so but at the end of the day the 3 real good matches made the show very worth the watch. We also got some great promos from the likes of Kenny, Stat and Toni Storm who announced next the stipulation for the tag semi final next week and also roasted the shit of our Jon Moxley. Then we got a great segment with Samoa Joe as per cutting a godly prono (minus the Hook lore video package) the segment also made Swerve and Hanger look badass as fuck man. We also got some great match announcements for tomorrow that have me licking my lips in excitement and anticipation so yeah what a great post PPV dynamite and here's to a great C2"

[6.0] "Solid show that largely had an in-ring focus with four Continental Classic matches. The tournament overall does not feel the most interesting with how infrequently the Continental title has been defended in months. The opener and Darby/Knight were both enjoyable while the other two were solid. The women's tag was decent but had its off moments. Some fine follow up on Full Gear although Hook's interview was poor as was Hook being the catalyst for the world title change at the PPV."

[6.0] "Two pretty good matches, two not so good matches (one being the main event), and an okay match. This whole thing with Okada and the merging and un-merging of belts is a complete mess and a buzzkill for the tournament. They really need to work this stuff out and tell us why winning this tournament and the trophy belt at the end of it is so important. Why is it worth the effort when it seems like it's a million times easier to just get a world title shot (See Joe getting his first shot at Hangman). This Hook thing looks like it's going to go nowhere and that the fans have already rightly checked out on him. I look forward to singles match with Hangman, Swerve, or Ospreay in which there are still heapings upon heapings of bullshit to prevent Hook having to wrestle for any meaningful length of time, or maybe they'll just keep in him tags. Is the Kingston thing dropped now with him just saying he doesn't want to talk about it? An okay show match-wise, but not a lot going on with interesting story beats. I think this episode ended with one of the worst mass brawls ever in AEW. The fans didn't care at all."

[8.0] "A very strong Dynamite. It's C2 season so most of this show is dedicated to that. I enjoyed every C2 match here a ton and with Darby/Kevin in particular being especially great. The non C2 stuff here was a bit hit or miss though. I enjoyed the Mark Briscoe backstage promo a lot and the Hangman/Swerve/Joe segment was pretty entertaining even if it looks like this whole program is just another attempt to try and get Hook over which im almost certain will not work. The only non C2 match here was the women's tag title tournament semi final which wasn't very good. It had it's moments but was also very sloppy in a bad way. We also get Toni Storm announcing the stipulation for here tournament match next week which is going to be some kind of hardocore match which im sure will end up being quite good. Overall, a very enjoyable show with a lot of very good wrestling on it. C2 season is usually a pretty strong stretch for AEW TV so i expect all upcoming episodes to be pretty similar to this in terms of quality, especially on the wrestling front. MOTN - Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight"

[6.0] "A Continental Classic that started well with four solid and unpredictable matches. The women's tag team was disappointing, but overall, the in-ring action was still positive. Storm's promo was good, but the Swerve/Hangman angle was a bit basic, as was the final brawl. In-ring quality: 3.25/5. Angles and out-of-match segments: 1/3. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 6.25/10. Show watched on Triller TV."

"This was a good show to introduce the Continental Classic tournament again this year. The best match was the opening bout with Kyle Fletcher and Okada. The Don Callis Family implications are interesting to see if they will turn on each other with so many in the tournament. The women's match, I think Willow was good here I still think she deserves to win a singles championship again. Also the subtle hints that the Death Riders are not entirely satisfied with Jon Moxley's leadership, this I liked to see. Kevin Knight again demonstrated great jumping ability with his Coast to Coast move (is this a reference to the radio show he also likes ufo jump? ) But this tournament, it lets babyfaces vs babyfaces and heels vs heels in an appropriate way that makes sense."

[9.0] "Fletcher vs. Okada was a PPV worthy match on cable tv. Then the low point of the night, Willow pins the Sisters of Sin. Well at least Harley advanced. Solid match between Mox and Dorada, and then both Darby and Orange lose! So great!"

[8.0] "Brilliant start to C2 season. This showed balanced building the tournament with continuing the non-C2 storylines. There was a brilliant opener but the performers of the night were Mox, who is the undisputed Ace, and Kevin Knight, who had his best singles match in AEW."

[9.0] "This would have been a 10 if not for the womens tag match being a little rough, everything else on this show was awesome."

[10.0] "This show was one of the easiest to watch shows they've ever done, those 2 hours absolutely flew by, by the time it came to 3am I was absolutely shocked the show was over, what a great great show, an AWESOME upset with Kevin Knight getting a W, absolutely fantastic overall, this is what makes AEW so strong."

"Ohhhh the final segment felt like the Death Riders were trying to turn on Moxley but were interrupted. Anyway, great first day of 2025 Continental Classic, can't wait for tomorrow Collision."

[6.0] "This show flew by thanks to multiple great matches and very limited angles/storyline progression. That is parts of the show flew by, we also had a horrible tag match and a quite noring/middling main event that shouldn't have ended the show. It's understandable due to the C2 starting, but we also in theory had one of the biggest ppv's of the year and they did not make a good job at silencing the sceptics around ending a world title reign to put heat on hook, he didn't even get nuclear heat in the venue and his promo delivery (and material) was bad as usual. Though it does also make sense for Hangman and Swerve to interrupt Joe, but we meeded more Joe screen time this week."

[8.0] "Four good tournament matches with the opener being the match of the night. The women's match was a bit disappointing."

[9.0] "Great start to the C2, all good matches with some surprise results in there too. Can't ask for a better start to my favorite time of the year. Liked the Hangman and Swerve stuff, I wish there was a bit more too it though since I was looking forward to the follow up. The women's tag was rough but not rough enough to bring down my enjoyment of the show overall."

"7.5/10 - really solid show to start off the C2 Holiday season. Fletch/Okada was magic but that is no shocker. I was expecting a time-limit draw as commentary brought up time remaining and I did not think either should be taking an L in the first match up but it just further showcases the unpredictability in this tourney. Women's Tag was pretty clunky which is really unfortunate; my belief was having the Sisters of Sin going to at least the finals or potentially putting the belts on them so Thekla could challenge for gold in the singles division but you can't really go wrong with the Babes of Wrath. Skye Blue is such a great seller and seems to finally be back to form after the shattered ankle and dropping the Code Blue (which was one of the coolest finishers). Julia might need to do the same with the Moonsault as I cannot remember the last time she hit it clean. Mox and Dorada was cool, Mox with the tope totally rules. Toni Storm cuts an amazing promo once again, she really is the best right now even without a title. Love the dynamic with Hanger/Swerve after everything they have been through. AEW always uses these unique venues well and showing Hangman rip a shot at the bar beforehand was a fun visual. Knight and Darby was super solid, love Kevin getting a dub early on, Darby can easily recover and it demonstrates how tough Knight can be in the Tournament. Claudio and OC never miss together, its almost automatic with those two. Solid way to start the tournament, stoked for another round of matches tomorrow night."

[7.0] "Very wrestling heavy show with minimal storyline progression outside the C2 but there was a lot of great in-ring work here with some interesting results. Full gear video packages through out the show, which was a good decision. Only the continental belt being on the line is kinda annoying/confusing. Opener was probably the most anticipated match and we got the typical Okada match pacing but it worked here because these 2 are characters, not just great wrestlers and so while the action built slowly, there were still bits of character work. The match finds another 2 gears and was thoroughly satisfying at the end after both men avoided each other's finishers. Omega has a follow-up segment on the full gear post match. Briscoe also had a decent segment after the title win but it could've been slightly shorter tbh. Women's Tag Semi Finals was smartly put together and the work was good until Julia Hart did that rope walk stuff and then required some miraculous commentary from Nigel Mcguniess to cover for a botched moonsault. The other three were decent here. Joe title celebration was brief and slightly disappointing (in terms of a proper explanation for Hooks actions), then the babyfaces get involved as expected. We then get Mox rambling as his time as leader of the DR's is on life support. Commentary was especially strong for the Dorada v Moxley match. Pretty good match as well and there was a real possibility that Mox could lose but winning here keeps O'Reilly's win meaningful. Toni Storm comes out to cut a promo afterwards on Mox & Marina. Great as always, she buries Mox and sets up the No dq match for next week. This would've been more impactful if we didn't get as many hardcore matches recently. Kris backstage segment had reasonable content, despite meandering a bit at 1st. It was delivered well enough and landed fairly well. Kris' character is supposed to be a bit quirky but she still needs more confidence to properly deliver it. Knight v Darby was very entertaining and high paced at the start. Knight with a great display and a surprise clean win. I was certain that Darby would kick out after the ufo splash. Also, great coast to coast. Gold league is looking very interesting. FTR video package to promote their collision appearance then Eddie kinda rambles his way into promoting the match with Shibata on collision but the fans still love him which is good. It feels like we've seen the main event a lot but this starts off pretty fun. Claudio ragdolls OC for sometime before OC finds a comeback, only to be stopped again by Claudio. Great match tbf but the final uppercut didn't look like it connected when I was watching. Final segment felt kinda random. Also, Marina could've stopped Dorada from doing the dive to the outside at the end, oh well. The in-ring here is about 8/8.5 but the story progression here outside the c2 was like a 5.5/6 so I'll give this a solid 7."