Grading The 2025 AEW Continental Classic Tournament

And it was one.

Past Continental Classic tournaments in AEW have been fine, but rested on the laurels of match quality rather than on true drama around who wins and who loses. This year's tournament had both.

Stories lead the 2025 AEW Continental Classic

On the storyline side of things, the tournament featured turmoil between The Don Callis Family. The puffy chests of Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, and Kyle Fletcher led to that group butting heads at various points and was a storyline in the semifinals at Worlds End.

Not only did Okada and Takeshita finally square off in a singles match on the show, but questions about the Callis faction's cohesiveness are now on display after Fletcher couldn't seem to find the weapon he needed in his match, which led to his semifinal loss to Jon Moxley.

Tony Khan spun the Don Callis Family plates from the start of the tournament, and it was a central point of emphasis. The tournament featured other prominent story arcs as well.

How about drama inside The Death Riders? The 2025 Continental Classic started with Jon Moxley as a heel and seemingly on the outs with his Death Rider faction. By the end, the AEW audience migrated to Moxley and pushed him to a tournament victory. Along the way? Moxley and fellow faction-mate Claudio Castagnoli battled it out in the same tournament league.

This year's tournament featured smaller storylines, too. This included the inner tag team competition between Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight and an in-tournament redemption narrative for Roderick Strong.

Those storylines hovering around the tournament action each week gave it more meaning than just tournament matches. Plus, it helped the in-ring quality of the tournament because those stories served as the foundation for the work in the ring.

As for the work in the ring? There's no question that this year's tournament action was the best since the C2 began in 2023.

Kyle Fletcher dominated the 2025 AEW Continental Classic

Kyle Fletcher was a stud. Not only did Fletcher have the best matches up and down the tournament, but he had them with a diverse array of opponents. Fletcher vs. Okada, Fletcher vs. Bailey, and Fletcher vs. Moxley were all highlights.

Same thing with Jon Moxley. Moxley didn't deliver in the same way that Fletcher did, but his matches came across as knock-out, drag-out fights. Moxley played the "come from behind" role, and his intensity and hard-hitting matches were perfect for that story.

Mike Bailey also shone. Like Fletcher, Bailey can have a good match with just about anybody, and he showed off in this year's C2. Bailey still has a lot to do in AEW as part of the Jet Speed tag team, but there is a singles push there with him if Tony Khan decides he wants it.

Finally, the best part of this year's Continental Classic was the unpredictability of the finishes. In years past, because the story wasn't prevalent, it was easy to look at the Gold and Blue Leagues and predict your winners and losers. The tournament struggled to build drama because the outcomes were too easy to spot.

This year was a different story. First, you had Jack Perry replace Darby Allin at the start of the tournament because Allin got injured. Right out of the gate, this helped things feel less scripted. In a meta way, fans knew that Tony Khan was booking off the cuff with Perry, so his matches all had an added layer of interest.

Second, Jon Moxley and The Death Riders being at odds throughout the tournament left the Moxley-Castagnoli matches open to interpretation regarding the finishes. The Death Riders turning on Moxley, Moxley tapping out, and Castagnoli potentially being viewed as the faction leader added questions and what-ifs to every match involving those two.

Same thing with the Don Callis Family. Because they were juggling so many balls, the match outcomes could conceivably go in any direction, leaving fans on their toes week to week.

The 2025 AEW Continental Classic Tournament grade is?

So, what grade does the tournament get?

It's a B+. About as good as could be expected, but still could use a couple of tweaks. The tournament could be the biggest pro wrestling tournament of the year, but it leaves out key company stars who should be involved. Seeing a Continental Classic with Adam Page, MJF, Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, and other top singles acts is important.

On that note, it would be easier for Tony Khan to load the tournament up with stars if the stakes were higher. The Continental Championship is the third- or fourth-most important championship in AEW. For as intense a tournament as this is, the stakes should be bigger. A title shot at the Revolution PPV? The world championship? Even just prestige as the tournament winner could be framed as a bigger deal than the Continental Championship itself.

Until next year ...

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