AEW C2 2026

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

It’s now or never for Adam Copeland. The most I’ve enjoyed him in AEW has been the fun exhibition matches in the Cope Open so I suspect I’d enjoy him in the Continental Classic, too. I’ve also decided I’d quite like him to turn heel this year, since that’s arguably his best role, so losing in the finals of this tournament could be the catalyst for that. Then in his anger he can turn heel on Will Ospreay and challenge for the World Title. Try and achieve what John Cena failed to do with his heel run at the end. Don’t give Cope the World Title though. Let’s not go crazy.

I was thinking that - it would be fun to see him have one last run as a heel before, in a complete role reversal, Christian Cage returns as an arsehole babyface to bring his career to a close. Whatever happens, I really want one final Copeland/Christian match to be the thing that brings his career to an end, it feels far more appropriate and emotional than any other possibility. And they've had some strong matches together in AEW, there's no doubt in my mind that it would be really good. 

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

I still hate that it’s fought for a belt that is otherwise defended in singles matches throughout the year. So stupid. It’d be so much better if the prize was a trophy, signalling some type of Title shot. The winner of the Continental Classic could fight for the World Title at Revolution, the same way the winner of the Owen Tournament now fights for the World Title at All In.

 

Yeah, as soon as there were rumblings of a continental cup, I assumed that's exactly what was going to happen this year - the addition of a second annual tournament hadn't crossed my mind!

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

I’ll take the next best thing to a Tag Team Continental Classic and have Nick Jackson enter it as a singles. I think he’s the most underrated wrestler alive and would love to see him mix it up with the rest of the midcard in fun singles matches.

 

100% this - I'd love to see The Bucks take part in separate brackets this year. Watching them wrestle a run of singles matches would be really fun, giving us matches we've never seen before. 

[Joe Blog]

30 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

100% this - I'd love to see The Bucks take part in separate brackets this year.

Sadly I cannot see it happening. The Bucks have been quite vocal about not enjoying working singles matches, which is a crying shame considering how brilliant Nick is. 
 

I have no interest in watching a Matt Jackson singles match though. He hasn’t got half the upside that Nick does. 

[Supremo]

I was going to suggest Matt Jackson could act as Nick’s manager/second throughout the tournament. I’m not even being a dickhead when I say being ringside, selling the story and action, is one of Matt’s greatest strengths. He was great during Omega vs. Ospreay at Wembley. The accepting nod to Hangman when he won his first World Title remains a company highlight, too.

But then I remembered no-one is allowed at ringside and outside interference is banned for Continental Classic matches! Still one of the daftest rules they have.

We now go live to Tony Khan in gorilla ahead of a non-Continental Classic match. Any fucker can bring and do whatever the fuck they want.

[Statto]

Not to re-open a debate from a couple of weeks ago, but it's just the phrasing that annoys me. 

"Everyone barred from ringside" = fine, makes sense as a special condition for a particular (set of) match(es) without it being no holds barred.

"No outside interference" = well, duh. Outside interference is illegal all the time. Even if it were "No outside interference with punishment for both parties more severe than the DQ in this one match" it'd be better.

And yeah - I hate that the only prize for this gruelling annual tournament (that's usually at least 75% top guys) is a mid-card belt that is then defended in singles matches throughout the year. I'd keep the belt, but only as a visual symbol that this guy won the premier tournament in wrestling today (which is what you should be selling it as, and probably also add a main event World Title shot at the next major PPV (which I guess would be Revolution if we're sticking to the classics.)

[BomberPat]

I think the issue with the tournament being for a World Title shot is that one guy gets a title shot by winning a gruelling two month tournament, another gets a title shot by insulting the champion and then "Tony Khan has made it official!". 

I do think it should be for a trophy that is seen as a major achievement in itself, rather than a regularly defended title. As a title, it should be viewed as almost equally prestigious to the World Title in order to warrant the tournament - the problem is, I think AEW think they have already achieved that equality of prestige when they really haven't, not least of all because it's a balancing act they're having to deal with around all the other singles belts as well.

[RedTwoster]

1 minute ago, BomberPat said:

I think the issue with the tournament being for a World Title shot is that one guy gets a title shot by winning a gruelling two month tournament, another gets a title shot by insulting the champion and then "Tony Khan has made it official!". 

I do think it should be for a trophy that is seen as a major achievement in itself, rather than a regularly defended title. As a title, it should be viewed as almost equally prestigious to the World Title in order to warrant the tournament - the problem is, I think AEW think they have already achieved that equality of prestige when they really haven't, not least of all because it's a balancing act they're having to deal with around all the other singles belts as well.

I suppose it's difficult at this point in that the CC is now established, and people love it. We're all buzzing about it here and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't invested in the outcome. If you change things up and make it about winning a trophy, do they then ditch the belt? 

I'd be fine with it being defended in the Continental Cup and in the CC and not outside of that. I don't even know if there's value in making the CC for a World Title shot, given that, because of the timing, it couldn't be at their biggest show of the year, All In, which could, I suppose, make the CC feel less significant. 

They've done something really weird here in that they've created a tournament everyone loves, with a prize that people aren't particularly invested in. 

[Statto]

36 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I'd be fine with it being defended in the Continental Cup and in the CC and not outside of that.

Agreed - although I do wonder if we'll see the Continental Cup again?

It was obviously geared towards a "cup final at Wembley" and facilitated getting to McGuinness vs Moxley. If they don't do a Wembley show, does the Continental Cup make sense?

[HarmonicGenerator]

46 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I think the issue with the tournament being for a World Title shot is that one guy gets a title shot by winning a gruelling two month tournament, another gets a title shot by insulting the champion and then "Tony Khan has made it official!". 

This kind of already happens with the Continental Title, which is my minor annoyance with it. Go through the gruelling tournament to become Continental Champion… or just hang on til February because you might get a title match out of nowhere and win it that way.

[RedTwoster]

21 minutes ago, Statto said:

Agreed - although I do wonder if we'll see the Continental Cup again?

It was obviously geared towards a "cup final at Wembley" and facilitated getting to McGuinness vs Moxley. If they don't do a Wembley show, does the Continental Cup make sense?

I think we probably will. You're right - it clearly was geared towards that, but I don't think it's reliant on Wembley even if that's the reason for its existence. The tournament worked well enough, although there was room for improvement - I like the idea of an early round upset, perhaps even the reigning champion crashing out in the first round - maybe you also add qualifiers in which lower card wrestlers can work their way into contention or something. There's the foundation of a better idea here, I think. 

[Infinity Land]

If they bring back the Continental Cup without it being held at Wembley. They should just do a one night tournament or in one week where Dynamite/Collision are Wednesday/Thursday.

[Supremo]

This reminded me of Moxley being so in the moment at Wembley that he completely forgot about even celebrating with the cup, immediately storming off into the crowd after beating Nigel, with Marina having to grab the cup before running after him. Funny.

[RedTwoster]

Right, after struggling to do this earlier I'm going to try pull together my brackets. No logic to it other than there being matches and pushes I'd like to see. 

Blue: 

Jon Moxley - As reigning champion, he clearly has to be in here. Even if he wasn't, I'd want him included, though. 

Ilja Dragunov - I'd have him win this group, although I'm not certain I'd have him win the whole thing. 

Bandido - one of the best wrestlers on the planet, maybe THE best wrestler on the planet. Why wouldn't you include him?

Daniel Garcia - I was split on whether or not I'd like him to meet Moxley in the final, or whether I'd want to have them in the same bracket; before settling on this as the more interesting scenario - I'd have the final match of the blue group be Moxley/Garcia, with it also being the decider for which man goes through to the next stage. Garcia wins in an upset. 

Nick Wayne - He beat Chris Jericho! Of course he deserves a place in the CC. Watching Moxley absolutely maul the little shit would be lovely. 

Lee Moriarty - One of the most underrated wrestlers on the AEW roster. He's obviously not going to win this group, but I'd have him pick up some big wins, including one over Moxley. If I was in charge, this guy would be in line for a big push in 2027. He can go in the ring, he's very good on the mic and he has a great look. 

Gold: 

Hangman Page - He can't win the World title (...for now) but winning the Continental Classic is surely something that should be on his 'to do list' for the time being. He's qualifying from this group. 

Brody King - He's never had a singles match with Hangman Page, amazingly. Time to sort that out as the two trios team mates come to blows. 

Takeshita - He wrestled Hangman once, back in 2022 before he was really established - but that's it. Similarly, he's only wrestled Brody King once in a 12-minute match. 

Kevin Knight - You could argue that last year's CC was Knight's breakout year. I'd have him break out even further by winning this bracket, undefeated. 

Mistico - I'd love to see what he'd do in a setting like this. The answer would probably be 'lose more than CMLL might like' but still...I'd have him pick up a few big wins. 

Roderick Strong - *vomits* I'd have him lose every match in under 2 minutes. 

We'd then have Knight vs. Daniel Garcia and Dragunov vs. Hangman. 

I think I'd go with a final of Hangman vs. Garcia, with Garcia picking up the win, followed by a Death Rider celebration and the opportunity for Garcia to pay tribute to both PAC and Andy Williams. 

Edited yesterday at 02:27 PM by RedTwoster

[The King of Old School]

12 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Blue: 

Nick Wayne - He beat Chris Jericho! Of course he deserves a place in the CC. Watching Moxley absolutely maul the little shit would be lovely. 

Gold: 

 Nick Wayne - He beat Chris Jericho! Of course he deserves a place in the CC. 

Nick Wayne beating Chris Jericho twice gets him in both brackets, I like the thinking.

Edited yesterday at 02:16 PM by The King of Old School

[BomberPat]

21 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Mistico - I'd love to see what he'd do in a setting like this. The answer would probably be 'lose more than CMLL might like' but still...I'd have him pick up a few big wins. 

I thought about putting Mistico on my list as well, but there's no way he's getting to the final, and no way he's taking enough clean losses to justify being in it otherwise. Which is a shame, I'd love to see him do something more interesting in AEW than his usual glorified cameos.

[RedTwoster]

25 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Nick Wayne beating Chris Jericho twice gets him in both brackets, I like the thinking.

I'd like to pretend it was a clever joke on my part, but I switched the brackets around and forgot to replace him. As punishment for my sloppiness, I've included Roderick Strong instead, softening the blow somewhat by making him my designated loser. 

Edited yesterday at 02:33 PM by RedTwoster