AEW C2 2026

[tiger_rick]

Was gonna write who I'd have in the C2 in the other thread but I thought this would be a fun standalone. Who would be your two blocks and who is making the semis and the final.

For info, here are the previous results so you know who has/hasn't been in it. 

Spoiler

I think what's most relevant is that Claudio has been in every year so I'd imagine he will again. Plus Mox as defending champion unless they do something with that.

My Block A would be Jon Moxley and Bandido, who would qualify for the semis, plus Kyle O'Reilly, Ricochet, Kevin Knight and Hook.

And Block B would be Jay White and Ilja Dragunov, who qualify, and Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Davis, Tomasso Ciampa and John Silver.

I know John Silver isn't making it but he would if I was booking.

Semis for mine would be Dragunov over Bandido. I considered both of these to win it but on balance, I think I'd strike while Dragunov is hot.

Moxley would beat White in the other semi, before putting over Dragunov in the final. I think that creates a really hot thing and an AEW title challenger for early 2027 in Dragunov.

What's your C2 blocks, winners and aims?

[BomberPat]

The big question for me is whether Jon Moxley makes it out of this one with the title. It's a really hard time to be booking him to drop the belt, but I think the C2 has more significant stakes if it's not just the Jon Moxley Show again. I don't think you need to explicitly continue the story of him dealing with grief, but maybe losing in the C2 could give him the crisis of confidence to move on to new things.

I'm not sure about blocks, but I would go with a field of Jon Moxley, Ilja Dragunov, Tomasso Ciampa, Kevin Knight, Mark Davis, Konosuke Takeshita, Speedball Mike Bailey and Ricochet, with the remaining numbers worked out based on who is involved in other stories and other title pictures - it would be fun to have Swerve and Hangman in there, though it would mean the Trios Titles being put on the backburner for the duration, which I wouldn't be happy about.

While I think it would be a downgrade in the usual match quality, I wonder if we see Adam Copeland enter it, given it will probably be his last opportunity to do so, and they could have him do an "old gunslinger's last stand" run for him. Maybe get Samoa Joe in there. It would be nice to have some NJPW or CMLL representation to vary things up, though other than maybe Hechicero I don't see it happening. Claudio is probably in again, maybe Gabe Kidd and Jay White, so there can be some Death Riders/Dogs/Bang Bang Gang tension.

I agree that Ilja winning feels like the right move now. When he signed, my first thought was to stick him the C2 and let him build up people's investment in him by just letting him have great matches, and figure out a long-term plan once the tournament's over. But striking while the iron's hot is definitely the move, and I think he's a guy they could have take the title from Moxley without it feeling like a downer, because they'd just beat the shit out of each other and shake hands afterwards.

[RedTwoster]

I reckon the original plan would have been to move the belt from Moxley to another Death Rider - either PAC or Gabe Kidd. I don't think it was accidental that PAC was the final person in shot at the end of every Moxley promo. I also wonder, if Sheamus is going to join AEW, if he might look to establish himself right away by taking part in this to immediately show the AEW audience exactly what he's about. 

Dragunov in the CC does make sense, but I'd still like to see a focus on the Death Riders, albeit in a different context. I'd like to see Moxley and Daniel Garcia in the same group, with the final group stage match lined up so that only one of them can progress to the next stage. I'd like to see Garcia progress - and go on to win the whole thing in a hugely emotional moment. 

I've tried to put together brackets, but it's so fucking hard. I feel like Adam Copeland probably will be in there, but there are so many people I'd like to see involved. It feels like the right time for Nick Wayne to get his chance in something like this, and Bandido is always great value. I'd like to see one or both of the New Level and I'd also like to see Bandido and Brody King. Then you have someone like Mistico, who would be a fun inclusion. Kevin Knight has had one hell of a year, so you'd probably want to include him and Hangman Page feels like a good shout given that he's out of the world title picture for the time being. Then there's Fletcher, Samoa Joe, Tommaso Ciampa, Orange Cassidy, Speedball, Darby, Jack Perry, Gabe Kidd, Jay White, Takeshita, Swerve, Okada, Claudio and even Jeff fucking Jarrett! 

I'd love to see The Bucks in there at some point - that would be interesting - but I don't think this is the year in which we'll see that. 

I can't come up with brackets I feel completely satisfied with...but I'm really excited for this year's CC, it's yet to disappoint.