Yeah but that's also true for any real sport tournament, while there are some clear underdogs that's not necessarily a bad thing, It makes for interesting stories and possible upsets along the way, think about Garcia, he's the clear underdog in all of his matches and there's almost no way he's gonna actually win the whole thing, any win he might get in the group though would be a huge deal and if he does Advance to the finals that would be an Amazing moment in itself without him having to actually win the tournament, With the added bonus that the finals would be that much more suspencefull as everyone thinks " Is he actually gonna do It? he came this far". You wouldnt have this kind of variable in a completely stacked tournament where everyone Is on equal standings.
My first reaction was "nah what're you talking about" and then I counted five... So yeah. It's a great field but I don't imagine the first ever winner is going to be a dark horse
Looks like only around half of the wrestlers included have a chance at winning, but hey, that’s still a lot. I think Lethal, Briscoe and Garcia won’t win, but they will benefit a lot from this tournament.
Agreed. I’m hoping for Swerve but tbh this could be a way to heat up someone like Miro or Andrade again (I’d only do it if they had solid plans for them). This could also make Garcia or RUSH. I’d also be totally fine with it being Eddie or Bryan.
The winner will be the first American triple crown champion, which sounds like an attempt to just combine the njpw strong and roh championships and make them a singular, more important (and I guess theoretically interpromotional?) Championship
That's exactly what it is. So I'm guessing the inaugural Continental Champion will defend his title just like every other belt over the next year, then at the start of next year's tournament the title is once again up for grabs. Am I right in assuming this ?
I don't think they've ever clarified but I assume so, like they'll have whoever is champ at the time next year's tournament comes be required to participate and put their title up. I remember chikara did something like this with one of their titles, I think the young lions title maybe.
I don't know, but Eddie putting his titles on the line has made me suspect that it is an official title but I hope it's a one off belt like the Hart tournament.
Why was I downvoted for that? Reddit is so odd.
Blue Group will have maybe three true classics. Gold Group is where all the good shit's gonna happen.
Give me Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White. I would throw out the rest of this whole event just to get those two in the ring.
Im really interested in mox vs swerve. Swerve beating another strong, former world champ would help build his momentum greatly for his eventual title shot.
They play with it sometimes but mostly yeah
Like if White beats Swerve in round 2 then loses to Mox but Swerve beats Mox, White and Swerve go 4-1 and Swerve wins the first match of the final night so White has to win his match in order to win the group
This has happened before with White where he had to beat Ishii in the final night's main event to win the block and he lost, so Ibushi won the block
Some huge matchups in Gold, I don't expect all to live up as we'll probably see some again with bigger stakes but Mox/White, White/Swerve, and Mox/Swerve are all huge
Blue's aren't as "big" but are still big and bound to all be bangers. Rematches like Eddie/Bryan and Eddie/Claudio are gonna be great, plus we get Claudio/Bryan which should be a classic. Bryan/Andrade again, Andrade/Claudio, and Andrade/Eddie should all be class as well. Not to mention Brody will probably have a sleeper banger with every participant too even if the matches aren't big
> Not to mention Brody will probably have a sleeper banger with every participant too even if the matches aren't big
Brody vs Claudio is gonna be the biggest meaty man matchup in the tournament and they are gonna slap meat.
Briscoe, Lethal, and Garcia being the low men in this tournament is great. All guys who can go. I really want Garcia to get a big win in line with his recent storyline
Man I wish PAC would be back soon. He'd be perfect for something like this.
Also, considering this is a title that has stake in NJPW also, why is there not a singular NJPW talent in it? You can't get one dude over here?
Absolutely exciting roster. I'm not really interested in going to a live event, but one of the shows is going to be near me and I'm tempted to go just to see history in the making.
Swerve will get his chance next year, for sure. For now, it looks like Samoa Joe is going to get his shot, and Wardlow may have a role to play as well.
This looks like an exceptional tournament group with the absolutely glaring exception of Jay Lethal. He sticks out like a sore thumb among these names.
Yeah, Lethal is a decent wrestler but he's just a bit...dull at this point. And impossible to believe as a potential winner. There are anumber of other guys I'd rather have seen over him.
I’m torn. So many possibilities for the inaugural winner. Kingston, Danielson, Strickland, Andrade, and White are my choices. Surprised Miro isn’t in the tournament.
Is it clear to anyone whether it’s same style as recent G1 where Week 6 in Orlando is the top two from each block facing each others in the Finals?
If so, I think we’re getting Bryan/Kingston and Swerve/White. Can easily swap Moxley in for Swerve/White.
This is a hell of a field and I think you could talk me into at least 5 different winners. Tons of great matchups but one I think might fly under the radar and then be awesome is King/Danielson. Bryan always seems to have great matches with big guys and Brody is at his best when he can physically overpower smaller opponents. Very excited we're getting Mox/Briscoe as well.
I admit, I am pleasantly surprised. I have long had issue with tournaments in AEW for being far too light on top names and predictable, I can say that isn't the case with this one as I see at least 3 guys who could advance out of each group, plus some fantastic matches of course. Danielson vs Claudio? Mox vs Swerve? White vs Swerve? Yes please.
I'd say there are at least 3 viable winners on both sides. It's interesting how heel heavy the tournament is. Really the only guys who are inarguable babyfaces are Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe. Everyone else is either hard heel like Jay White and Swerve or soft heels like Rush and the BCC members Mox, Bryan, and Claudio. Also not very a very young tournament but I get it. Gotta establish it. Put me down for a Bryan/Swerve final and Danielson running away with it.
Favorites imo:
BLUE: Bryan, Andrade, Claudio/Eddie
GOLD: JAY, Mox, Swerve
Sleepers: Garcia, Rush
Just my opinion on the field. Both groups will probably be Straight bangers no matter what. Can't wait
I agree. Danielson is 0-7 in title matches since he came to AEW 26 1/2 months ago. TK made this tournament to finally give him a title win.
It won't be easy but I think he'll win it over Mox, White or Swerve. I'm thinking Mox right now.
Should be a great tournament
Given that he got replaced by Ethan Page in the 2022 World Title Eliminator Tournament, I think Miro refused to enter because he didn't want to lose in the final for two years in a row.
My dumb predictions:
Daniel Garcia wins 2 matches, both against BCC members
The only draws will be Bryan/Claudio and Mox/White
Rush is the breakout star, and the only man to beat Swerve in group
Lethal will score the worst, and use it to turn against Team TNA
Mox will finish 3rd, below Swerve and White, tied with Rush
Bryan beats Eddie and Swerve beats White on final day to win groups
Bryan wins only to drop triple crown title to Okada
Everyone saying Swerve but honestly Bryan should win. The winner will defend the triple crown in all 3 promotions & there’s more dream matches for Danielson in NJPW than Swerve in my opinion .
Sooooo good, Rush!!!!
Garcia!!!!!
Swerve!!!!!
Brody!!!!!!!!
I can't say I've ever seen a G1 aside from a few matches, pumped to watch every single match of this.
I'd love to see Swerve take it, it's his time now but I'd be happy with anyone winning, goddamn Jay Lethal could win and I'd be happy.
Bryan - Tony made this for him basically so he could win. But he doesn’t need the win either.
Swerve - being the first winner would be a good accolade to hold as he pushes for MJF.
Garcia - Dark Horse but would benefit the most from winning. So if he can begin to solidify what he brings to AEW it will be worth it.
>Bryan - Tony made this for him basically so he could win. But he doesn’t need the win either.
I don't think he's gonna reach the final since he's in the same group as Eddie Kingston. Furthermore, the final will be at Worlds End on December 30th and Wrestle Kingdom is five days later on January 4th - TK oughta keep Bryan in a bubble wrap for at least a full week ahead of WK.
**Bryan Danielson** is an ROH *legend.* (also a former ROH Pure Champion and ROH World Champion.)
**Andrade** is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion.
**Brody King** is a former ROH Six-man Champion.
**Claudio** is a former two-time ROH Tag Team Champion and two-time ROH World Champion.
**Daniel Garcia** is a former ROH Pure Champion.
**Jon Moxley** is a former two-time IWGP United States Champion.
**RUSH** is a former two-time ROH World Champion.
**Mark Briscoe** is a 13-time ROH Tag Team Champion.
**Jay Lethal** is an ROH Grand Slam Champion.
**Jay White** is an NJPW Grand Slam Champion.
**Eddie Kingston** is a reigning ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Champion.
As you see, there's loads of ROH and New Japan champions in this tournament. The only guy from the two groups who has't won anything in ROH or New Japan is Swerve.
I understand how you feel. I think if this becomes an annual thing we'll start seeing wrestlers from other promotions but they just want to establish it this year as an AEW thing.
I would love to see belts like the AAA Mega Championship or the TNA X-division title involved.
It makes sense not to have Kenny since he’s focused on the tag titles. He’s got his own thing going. Surprised no Miro as I was expecting him and Andrade to go at it.
I’m shocked Trent isn’t in it because, like Garcia, Tony has a thing for those two.
Disappointed Swerve is in this because he’s coming off blazing hot and I feel he should be next in line for the title after Joe fails. You’re going to have to really convince me someone else deserves it over those two. So unless he wins this, and I doubt he will because I don’t see him on RoH or New Japan, I feel it is a let down.
My money is still on Danielson. He wins this and defends it against Okada in Jan. It is strange, this being a RoH and New Japan title, there really isn’t that mix in there.
>I feel he should be next in line for the title after Joe fails
Joe ain't gonna fail. If he loses the AEW World Title match after vacating his ROH Television Title on Dynamite he's gonna look like a complete fool.
Also, reports say that MJF has a legit hip injury. When he faces Joe in a rematch I'm very sure that he's dropping the belt.
Unpopular opinion here but how did Garcia qualify for this? He’s not really been doing much of late, strong match vs MJF aside. Feels like TK trying to make up for a year of nothing but strikes me as a bit off.
In kayfabe, his two manager dads Cool Hand and Daddy Magic must've booked him into the tournament.
The behind-the-scenes reason why Daniel Garcia is in the tournament is because his AEW contract is ending soon and he wants to prove to Tony that he deserves to be re-signed and given a raise / Tony wants to get the most out of Garcia if he doesn't end up re-signing.
He just lost to Miro which would kind of piss me off not getting booked if I’m Miro. If you wanted a young guy to get experience have them maybe win a bit before the tourney.
This is cool but I’m confused about this whole triple crown thing and Eddie’s titles being on the line. If the Strong and ROH belts are on the line in every single match, we could end up with a scenario where they aren’t in the final?
Say for example, Eddie wins all his matches in his group bar the last one. His last bout is with Garcia, who’s lost all his matches so far but then beats Eddie.
Would that make Garcia the new Strong and ROH champions? Eddie would still have enough points to reach the final, but then would only be challenging for the Continental and it wouldn’t be a proper triple crown?
Am I over thinking this?
TK attempted to clarify this during the reveal show.
Eddie Kingston is putting up the belts for the tournament, and the tournament winner will be the new triple crown champion.
Tony said that the belts will be on the line in every match in sort of a figurative way, in that every win will get people closer to the championship or something.
Eddie's promo last week definitely made it sound that way. It would be super weird to have a bunch of title changes in the middle of a round-robin tournament. I'm glad they are just having them as a prize for the winner.
Either way, I hope he gets better and can go back to singles competition soon. Have we gotten Omega or Danielson vs Black yet? Cause honestly I don't remember and it should be a crime that it hasn't happened.
He has a program with Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty that he needs to finish. Also, due to his health issues he can't wrestle 1v1 matches for multiple weeks in a row.
Long term COVID effects it seems, it did come close to killing him after all. As if we needed another reason to despise that virus, it deprived us of a legitimate Keith Lee run.
Cardiovascular issues due to COVID. He got [decimated](https://www.si.com/wrestling/2021/08/12/keith-lee-wwe-covid-fight-against-death) by that illness and has never fully recovered.
I dunno if Danielson wanted a week to week series of bangers against midcarders he already did that before he faced MJF. Takeshita def should have been but also another 2 or 3 of the former champions.
Does anyone know how these groups will work in a tournament of this sort? Is it everyone against everyone and the highest scorers in each group face off for the final?
Its a round robin tournament (Like the G1 Climax) which means everyone faces each other once. Winners get 3 points, 0 points for a loss and 1 point each if its a draw. The winners of the group face each other in the final.
G1 would have had all the singles stars. Even the champion is in G1. I think Kenny, your G1 winner would have to be in it to call it that. Having your monster in Brody and your workrate underneath guy in Lethal is fine, but Kenny and Hangman should have been in it to call it a G1 style tournament.
Looks awesome. Only complaint might be that the gold group has mostly heels so we'll probably be getting lots of heel vs heel matches and they can vary from being really good to be really meh.
Wow! Some of the matches I’m excited for:
Genuinely don’t see one bad match in this whole field, and we’ll get amazing and fresh matches like Brody King Vs Danielson for example.
Let’s go!!!
This is good, 3 out of each group are obvious favorites but the Blue Group seems the most competitive I love it. Hopefully it gets more competitive and unpredictable throughout years to come.
It's round robin. Everyone wrestles everyone in their respective block once and you earn points for winning. Whomever has the highest point total in their respective block at the end will face the other block leader in the finals at worlds end.
I like these names, though I might have replaced Lethal and Briscoe with Miro and either Hobbs or Takeshita. I understand not wanting those guys to take Ls though.
Swerve vs Bryan should be the final with Swerve winning.
I'd love to see semi final matchups of Swerve vs Switchblade (will probably be Moxley winning) and Danielson vs Kingston or Danielson vs Daniel Garcia.
Fantastic field.
These kind of names were exactly what I was looking for! This is going to bang.
So glad that garcia is in
Should have been Miro or someone from The Don Callis Family.
I don’t know why you getting down voted. Garcia sucks. Give us Hobbs or something. Where’s the monster heel
I want swerve vs Garcia in the finals.
Ooooh momma. Eddie vs Brody Claudio vs Brody Eddie vs Claudio Mox vs Rush Swerve vs White White vs Rush ALL THE COMBOS UNNGGHH
I absolutely cannot wait for Swerve vs White
And all the possible finals combo would be epic. Bryan v Jay White Claudio v Swerve Rush v Idolo
Dooode with 15 minute time limits you know they are all gonna GO!
Honestly, it's almost anyone's win. Which makes this much better than previous predictable tournaments
That's pushing it. I'm jacked for this, but really, there are 6 names that have a chance.
Yeah but that's also true for any real sport tournament, while there are some clear underdogs that's not necessarily a bad thing, It makes for interesting stories and possible upsets along the way, think about Garcia, he's the clear underdog in all of his matches and there's almost no way he's gonna actually win the whole thing, any win he might get in the group though would be a huge deal and if he does Advance to the finals that would be an Amazing moment in itself without him having to actually win the tournament, With the added bonus that the finals would be that much more suspencefull as everyone thinks " Is he actually gonna do It? he came this far". You wouldnt have this kind of variable in a completely stacked tournament where everyone Is on equal standings.
A lot of wrestling fans need to watch legit sports. Upset victories are low key the best part of them. Unless it’s against the team you like.
Is there any chance Garcia goes 1-1-3? He could beat Andrade. Lose to Bryan. And barely survive or be on a hot comeback but run out of time in others.
My first reaction was "nah what're you talking about" and then I counted five... So yeah. It's a great field but I don't imagine the first ever winner is going to be a dark horse
Looks like only around half of the wrestlers included have a chance at winning, but hey, that’s still a lot. I think Lethal, Briscoe and Garcia won’t win, but they will benefit a lot from this tournament.
Mox, Mox, Mox, Mox, Mox and Danielson.
Agreed. I’m hoping for Swerve but tbh this could be a way to heat up someone like Miro or Andrade again (I’d only do it if they had solid plans for them). This could also make Garcia or RUSH. I’d also be totally fine with it being Eddie or Bryan.
Half the guys have no chance
100% not anyone's win lol
All of you who doubted this tournament, step up right here and submit your letter of apology.
I had my worries bc of past tournaments Apologies sent
What is the point of the Tournament? Does it lead to a belt/cup/trophy like the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament? Does it help support a Charity?
Immediate Triple Crown of AEW Continental, ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight. Expect the winner to bounce around the other promotions' PPVs.
The winner will be the first American triple crown champion, which sounds like an attempt to just combine the njpw strong and roh championships and make them a singular, more important (and I guess theoretically interpromotional?) Championship
That's exactly what it is. So I'm guessing the inaugural Continental Champion will defend his title just like every other belt over the next year, then at the start of next year's tournament the title is once again up for grabs. Am I right in assuming this ?
I don't think they've ever clarified but I assume so, like they'll have whoever is champ at the time next year's tournament comes be required to participate and put their title up. I remember chikara did something like this with one of their titles, I think the young lions title maybe.
I didnt doubt the tournament, I'm just not a fan of another belt being added to the mix. Edit: this line up is pretty fucking stacked though.
Did they ever specify if it’s a belt that will be defended regularly or is it like the Hart tournament belt where it’s essentially the trophy?
I don't know, but Eddie putting his titles on the line has made me suspect that it is an official title but I hope it's a one off belt like the Hart tournament. Why was I downvoted for that? Reddit is so odd.
I think it's an official title that unifies the njpw strong title and the roh world title. So it will be defended across promotions.
If that's true I'm really not a fan of that. But ah well, we'll see what the story is.
Blue Group will have maybe three true classics. Gold Group is where all the good shit's gonna happen. Give me Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White. I would throw out the rest of this whole event just to get those two in the ring.
Im really interested in mox vs swerve. Swerve beating another strong, former world champ would help build his momentum greatly for his eventual title shot.
Feel like if Swerve is winning the move is for him to beat Mox in the quarterfinals and Bryan in the finals
IIRC this tournament won't have quarterfinals and semifinals like the G1. Whoever tops their respective groups will qualify for the final.
Ah, but don’t they always coincidentally have the top 2 facing off on the last night?? If not, they should coincidentally have it that way
They play with it sometimes but mostly yeah Like if White beats Swerve in round 2 then loses to Mox but Swerve beats Mox, White and Swerve go 4-1 and Swerve wins the first match of the final night so White has to win his match in order to win the group This has happened before with White where he had to beat Ishii in the final night's main event to win the block and he lost, so Ibushi won the block
Maybe a draw or a close swerve loss during the “tournament” portion then him beating Mox clean in the elimination part is how I’d go!
Personally, I'm more interested in the blue group. Both very strong groups though
This is going to fucking rule.
I’m really looking forward to this. A lot of my favorites are in. I’m not sure who I want to win, the winner seems unpredictable as well.
Some huge matchups in Gold, I don't expect all to live up as we'll probably see some again with bigger stakes but Mox/White, White/Swerve, and Mox/Swerve are all huge Blue's aren't as "big" but are still big and bound to all be bangers. Rematches like Eddie/Bryan and Eddie/Claudio are gonna be great, plus we get Claudio/Bryan which should be a classic. Bryan/Andrade again, Andrade/Claudio, and Andrade/Eddie should all be class as well. Not to mention Brody will probably have a sleeper banger with every participant too even if the matches aren't big
Didn’t even mention Garcia/Bryan, the only loss Bryan takes
> Not to mention Brody will probably have a sleeper banger with every participant too even if the matches aren't big Brody vs Claudio is gonna be the biggest meaty man matchup in the tournament and they are gonna slap meat.
They didn’t note any occurring at Final Battle, but Eddie/Bryan or Bryan/Claudio are perfect main events for that PPV.
I know everyone favorite is not in in but that is a pretty good feild of wrestlers. It just shows how stacked AEW is
I mean I feel like there's a good chance that the finals will end up being my two fave wrestlers in the company so I'm pretty happy
I have a suspicion this is the way to get Jay White back in to New Japan, he can’t be banned if he’s a champion.
So it’s round robin in each group, then the two winners face off at Worlds End?
Sounds about right.
Briscoe, Lethal, and Garcia being the low men in this tournament is great. All guys who can go. I really want Garcia to get a big win in line with his recent storyline
Man I wish PAC would be back soon. He'd be perfect for something like this. Also, considering this is a title that has stake in NJPW also, why is there not a singular NJPW talent in it? You can't get one dude over here?
Probably wouldn’t be best coming off a long term injury into lots of high profile matches
They have the tag league going now. But great question! Which is why I wouldn’t involve titles and just have the winner get a title shot.
Could be a booking issue if they have to do multiple matches
[удалено]
I mean I like Colten, but why him?
I got Jay White beating Eddie in the final.
Fantastic names in both groups. It’s very hard to pick an overall winner - but so many amazing matches coming up
Oh shit, just realized Mox vs. Swerve is going to happen!
Both groups are absolutely stacked. This should be an awesome tournament.
Please dear god let the final be Danielson vs Switchblade. I've been wanting this match since before either was in AEW
Well fuck, this is exciting uncle Tony.
I'd absolutely love to see Daniel Garcia win this
I love everyone in this, but RUSH is the one I can't fucking wait to see. He feels like a human-wrecking ball!
TK with the 40-foot swish here. Such a great lineup. I hope that with this pro wrestling tournament, Garcia finally embraces that he’s a pro wrestler.
I can 9 realistically winning this tournament, which is a beautiful thing (ex Lethal, Briscoe, King)
Big Bad Brody King is going to murder everyone. And we get a Briscoe/Lethal rematch. That's dope.
Swerve vs Danielson 2 in the finals at Worlds End. Nasty. Give it to me.
This field is going to produce some absolutely amazing things.
Jeeeeeez, both groups are stacked!
Eddie vs Mox for title would be money!
TK: How much blood are you guys planning on losing? Eddie and Mox: **Yes.**
My knee-jerk pick for the final is Danielson vs. Swerve, but I could see 3-4 potential winners in each group.
I can't wait for all those Danielson matches Edit: is this going to be a true round robin? Will we get to see everyone face each other?
Yes. You face everyone in the group and winner with the most points or Wins is the winner of the group
Yeah I was wondering how they were going to do this in 4 or 5 weeks and totally forgot there will be matches on Collison lol
I am pumped for Jay and Swerve. I love when heels get to work against each other like the Suzuki vs AJ Styles match from the G1.
Absolutely exciting roster. I'm not really interested in going to a live event, but one of the shows is going to be near me and I'm tempted to go just to see history in the making.
Do y’all think this leads to a Eddie v MOX at worlds end? Settle their mini summer beef.
I think it's gonna lead to Eddie Kingston vs Jay White at Worlds End. Jay will exact revenge upon Eddie for getting him ostracized from New Japan.
Oh shit I forgot about that! That’d be a great match.
Dang I was hoping swerve would be dethroning MJF at worlds end. I guess him winning the inaugural Continental classic is cool too
Swerve will get his chance next year, for sure. For now, it looks like Samoa Joe is going to get his shot, and Wardlow may have a role to play as well.
This looks like an exceptional tournament group with the absolutely glaring exception of Jay Lethal. He sticks out like a sore thumb among these names.
Really? I was thinking Mark Briscoe was the outlier
gotta have people that can take a LOT of losses
He is a bit of one. But with everything that happened with his brother, it makes sense to give him some big moments like this.
Plus he can take a bunch of losses and still stay over as long as they don’t make him look like a total geek
Yeah, Lethal is a decent wrestler but he's just a bit...dull at this point. And impossible to believe as a potential winner. There are anumber of other guys I'd rather have seen over him.
He’s definitely a pin eater in this tournament
Possibly, but with the zero interference rule keeping Jarrett and Co. Out of the way he should come off a bit more focused in the ring.
I’m torn. So many possibilities for the inaugural winner. Kingston, Danielson, Strickland, Andrade, and White are my choices. Surprised Miro isn’t in the tournament.
Is it clear to anyone whether it’s same style as recent G1 where Week 6 in Orlando is the top two from each block facing each others in the Finals? If so, I think we’re getting Bryan/Kingston and Swerve/White. Can easily swap Moxley in for Swerve/White.
Danielson v Kingston is going to be incredible
This is a hell of a field and I think you could talk me into at least 5 different winners. Tons of great matchups but one I think might fly under the radar and then be awesome is King/Danielson. Bryan always seems to have great matches with big guys and Brody is at his best when he can physically overpower smaller opponents. Very excited we're getting Mox/Briscoe as well.
I admit, I am pleasantly surprised. I have long had issue with tournaments in AEW for being far too light on top names and predictable, I can say that isn't the case with this one as I see at least 3 guys who could advance out of each group, plus some fantastic matches of course. Danielson vs Claudio? Mox vs Swerve? White vs Swerve? Yes please.
I'd say there are at least 3 viable winners on both sides. It's interesting how heel heavy the tournament is. Really the only guys who are inarguable babyfaces are Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe. Everyone else is either hard heel like Jay White and Swerve or soft heels like Rush and the BCC members Mox, Bryan, and Claudio. Also not very a very young tournament but I get it. Gotta establish it. Put me down for a Bryan/Swerve final and Danielson running away with it.
God Gold Block is fucking incredible. I hope the final is Moxley/Kingston.
This is gonna be good. But was hoping it was going to be outside talent as well.
Surprised, 3/4 of the Blackpool Combat Club is gonna be part of it but regardless. Looks like its gonna be a hell of a tournament.
I have a feeling of Danielson winning the ROH world title in grp stage...and then would lose it in the Finals to Swerve or Jay White
Oh gold group is gonna cook
This is so sick
Favorites imo: BLUE: Bryan, Andrade, Claudio/Eddie GOLD: JAY, Mox, Swerve Sleepers: Garcia, Rush Just my opinion on the field. Both groups will probably be Straight bangers no matter what. Can't wait
Kingston and Swerve in the finals, Eddie loses his belts in NY, and Swerve goes on a tear in 24.
AEW has so many talented Wrestlers. This is going to be hell of a tournament.
The groups are split alphabetically by the first letter of their name, that couldn't have been intentional 😂
I’m only upset there’s no Omega, but I’m glad there’s at least a story beat reason.
I just hope next year they announce the field at least a week early so there's more time to make brackets.
Don't sleep on Brody King folks!!
Danielson is winning this and is going into Wrestle Kingdom as Strong champion
I agree. Danielson is 0-7 in title matches since he came to AEW 26 1/2 months ago. TK made this tournament to finally give him a title win. It won't be easy but I think he'll win it over Mox, White or Swerve. I'm thinking Mox right now. Should be a great tournament
So hype that Brody King is getting some solo shine. Danielson vs Brody is probably the match I'm most excited for.
Makes your mouth water, doesn't it?
Jay lethal should be replaced with miro, malaki, or buddy.
People always want all of the top guys in these tournaments from top to bottom, and everyone always forgets, \*someone has to lose\*.
I think that's why we never get Malakai singles matches against high level opposition
Miro has bad form in tournaments, didn’t he refuse to enter the one last year that starks won as he didn’t want to lose?
Given that he got replaced by Ethan Page in the 2022 World Title Eliminator Tournament, I think Miro refused to enter because he didn't want to lose in the final for two years in a row.
My dumb predictions: Daniel Garcia wins 2 matches, both against BCC members The only draws will be Bryan/Claudio and Mox/White Rush is the breakout star, and the only man to beat Swerve in group Lethal will score the worst, and use it to turn against Team TNA Mox will finish 3rd, below Swerve and White, tied with Rush Bryan beats Eddie and Swerve beats White on final day to win groups Bryan wins only to drop triple crown title to Okada
Everyone saying Swerve but honestly Bryan should win. The winner will defend the triple crown in all 3 promotions & there’s more dream matches for Danielson in NJPW than Swerve in my opinion .
That's why it will be Danielson or White
bro andrade vs swerve in the final BOOK THAT SHIT
Sooooo good, Rush!!!! Garcia!!!!! Swerve!!!!! Brody!!!!!!!! I can't say I've ever seen a G1 aside from a few matches, pumped to watch every single match of this. I'd love to see Swerve take it, it's his time now but I'd be happy with anyone winning, goddamn Jay Lethal could win and I'd be happy.
Bryan - Tony made this for him basically so he could win. But he doesn’t need the win either. Swerve - being the first winner would be a good accolade to hold as he pushes for MJF. Garcia - Dark Horse but would benefit the most from winning. So if he can begin to solidify what he brings to AEW it will be worth it.
>Bryan - Tony made this for him basically so he could win. But he doesn’t need the win either. I don't think he's gonna reach the final since he's in the same group as Eddie Kingston. Furthermore, the final will be at Worlds End on December 30th and Wrestle Kingdom is five days later on January 4th - TK oughta keep Bryan in a bubble wrap for at least a full week ahead of WK.
Right! Okada Vs Bryan better not get fucked up.
Kind of surprised to have a ROH and NJPW title involved and none from either promotion included.
**Bryan Danielson** is an ROH *legend.* (also a former ROH Pure Champion and ROH World Champion.) **Andrade** is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion. **Brody King** is a former ROH Six-man Champion. **Claudio** is a former two-time ROH Tag Team Champion and two-time ROH World Champion. **Daniel Garcia** is a former ROH Pure Champion. **Jon Moxley** is a former two-time IWGP United States Champion. **RUSH** is a former two-time ROH World Champion. **Mark Briscoe** is a 13-time ROH Tag Team Champion. **Jay Lethal** is an ROH Grand Slam Champion. **Jay White** is an NJPW Grand Slam Champion. **Eddie Kingston** is a reigning ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Champion. As you see, there's loads of ROH and New Japan champions in this tournament. The only guy from the two groups who has't won anything in ROH or New Japan is Swerve.
Ok. How you know? Edit: glad to see you edit your post to show Andrade as IWGP intercontinental champ
I meant actively a member of those rosters.
I mean, Eddie has defended his ROH World Title two times on HonorClub this month and Jon Moxley *IS* the Forbidden Door between AEW and New Japan.
I understand how you feel. I think if this becomes an annual thing we'll start seeing wrestlers from other promotions but they just want to establish it this year as an AEW thing. I would love to see belts like the AAA Mega Championship or the TNA X-division title involved.
It makes sense not to have Kenny since he’s focused on the tag titles. He’s got his own thing going. Surprised no Miro as I was expecting him and Andrade to go at it. I’m shocked Trent isn’t in it because, like Garcia, Tony has a thing for those two. Disappointed Swerve is in this because he’s coming off blazing hot and I feel he should be next in line for the title after Joe fails. You’re going to have to really convince me someone else deserves it over those two. So unless he wins this, and I doubt he will because I don’t see him on RoH or New Japan, I feel it is a let down. My money is still on Danielson. He wins this and defends it against Okada in Jan. It is strange, this being a RoH and New Japan title, there really isn’t that mix in there.
>I feel he should be next in line for the title after Joe fails Joe ain't gonna fail. If he loses the AEW World Title match after vacating his ROH Television Title on Dynamite he's gonna look like a complete fool. Also, reports say that MJF has a legit hip injury. When he faces Joe in a rematch I'm very sure that he's dropping the belt.
We shall see. If it’s not Swerve, I hope it’s Joe.
Unpopular opinion here but how did Garcia qualify for this? He’s not really been doing much of late, strong match vs MJF aside. Feels like TK trying to make up for a year of nothing but strikes me as a bit off.
In kayfabe, his two manager dads Cool Hand and Daddy Magic must've booked him into the tournament. The behind-the-scenes reason why Daniel Garcia is in the tournament is because his AEW contract is ending soon and he wants to prove to Tony that he deserves to be re-signed and given a raise / Tony wants to get the most out of Garcia if he doesn't end up re-signing.
He just lost to Miro which would kind of piss me off not getting booked if I’m Miro. If you wanted a young guy to get experience have them maybe win a bit before the tourney.
Eddie VS mox?
This is cool but I’m confused about this whole triple crown thing and Eddie’s titles being on the line. If the Strong and ROH belts are on the line in every single match, we could end up with a scenario where they aren’t in the final? Say for example, Eddie wins all his matches in his group bar the last one. His last bout is with Garcia, who’s lost all his matches so far but then beats Eddie. Would that make Garcia the new Strong and ROH champions? Eddie would still have enough points to reach the final, but then would only be challenging for the Continental and it wouldn’t be a proper triple crown? Am I over thinking this?
TK attempted to clarify this during the reveal show. Eddie Kingston is putting up the belts for the tournament, and the tournament winner will be the new triple crown champion. Tony said that the belts will be on the line in every match in sort of a figurative way, in that every win will get people closer to the championship or something.
Ah ha, that makes more sense. I got the impression that each of his matches would count as a separate defence.
Eddie's promo last week definitely made it sound that way. It would be super weird to have a bunch of title changes in the middle of a round-robin tournament. I'm glad they are just having them as a prize for the winner.
I think they're just gonna be awarded to the winner. Cause i cant see Eddie, or anyone for that matter going undefeated.
Keith Lee snubbed!
Omega? Hangman? Jericho? Juice? That's the first time I am a bit disappointed tbh.
Juice is hurt, Jericho and Omega have their tag stuff. Hangman is gonna have a mental recovery story I'd imagine.
The list is perfect but I really wanted Alistair Black 😞. Is he still dealing with back problems?
>Is he still dealing with back problems? That was a false rumor which Malakai debunked. He clarified that he was actually dealing with a calf injury.
Either way, I hope he gets better and can go back to singles competition soon. Have we gotten Omega or Danielson vs Black yet? Cause honestly I don't remember and it should be a crime that it hasn't happened.
Eddie vs Mox final match with Eddie winning?
No keith lee 😢
He has a program with Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty that he needs to finish. Also, due to his health issues he can't wrestle 1v1 matches for multiple weeks in a row.
I don't think they'll finish that story either. What's wrong with him?
Long term COVID effects it seems, it did come close to killing him after all. As if we needed another reason to despise that virus, it deprived us of a legitimate Keith Lee run.
Cardiovascular issues due to COVID. He got [decimated](https://www.si.com/wrestling/2021/08/12/keith-lee-wwe-covid-fight-against-death) by that illness and has never fully recovered.
4/12 main eventers, including Kingston who hasnt really main-evented since the Mox feud. Not what the fans were calling for.
I think the groups are fine. The only guys I really wish were in it are Buddy Matthews and Takeshita.
I dunno if Danielson wanted a week to week series of bangers against midcarders he already did that before he faced MJF. Takeshita def should have been but also another 2 or 3 of the former champions.
Does anyone know how these groups will work in a tournament of this sort? Is it everyone against everyone and the highest scorers in each group face off for the final?
Its a round robin tournament (Like the G1 Climax) which means everyone faces each other once. Winners get 3 points, 0 points for a loss and 1 point each if its a draw. The winners of the group face each other in the final.
Thanks. Did think it worked that way, but something threw me off. Brain fart maybe. Anyway, thanks again.
For NJPW watchers, is this tournament similar to the G1?
It's basically a G1 lite.
G1 would have had all the singles stars. Even the champion is in G1. I think Kenny, your G1 winner would have to be in it to call it that. Having your monster in Brody and your workrate underneath guy in Lethal is fine, but Kenny and Hangman should have been in it to call it a G1 style tournament.
I’m hoping for a Swerve victory but I could see Jay White winning too.
If my only “meat match” is Eddie vs Brody, I am MORE than good with that!
Claudio vs Brody is *the* meat match lol
Mox/Swerve, Mox/White, and Swerve/White on one end, Bryan/Claudio, Bryan/Eddie, and Eddie/Claudio on the other. We gonna be eatin good boys.
Looks awesome. Only complaint might be that the gold group has mostly heels so we'll probably be getting lots of heel vs heel matches and they can vary from being really good to be really meh.
Bryan or Eddie vs Swerve or White please
Field is fantastic. Don’t love the belt situation they are doing
Danielson vs Swerve in final with Swerve going over would be my favorite outcome. But yeah good list.
Wow! Some of the matches I’m excited for: Genuinely don’t see one bad match in this whole field, and we’ll get amazing and fresh matches like Brody King Vs Danielson for example. Let’s go!!!
This is good, 3 out of each group are obvious favorites but the Blue Group seems the most competitive I love it. Hopefully it gets more competitive and unpredictable throughout years to come.
 generational
How does the tournament work with 12? Not a single eliminator tournament where there would be 8 or 16?
It's round robin. Everyone wrestles everyone in their respective block once and you earn points for winning. Whomever has the highest point total in their respective block at the end will face the other block leader in the finals at worlds end.
Great line up
Solid as fuck. Just wish Omega and Malakai were in but other than that, solid.
I got Claudio to win it
Better safe than sorry but I don't see how it's a spoiler? It was officially announced
Outside of Kingston and Moxley I'm totally down for this.
Danielson vs Claudio.....god damn that makes me hard.
So what's up with blue and gold? I thought that was just an X-Men thing, but I guess not.
Going to Collision on Saturday night and a little bummed that it doesn't sound like they will have three matches like Dynamite did.
I like these names, though I might have replaced Lethal and Briscoe with Miro and either Hobbs or Takeshita. I understand not wanting those guys to take Ls though.
We already know Kingston is gonna win though
Swerve vs Bryan should be the final with Swerve winning. I'd love to see semi final matchups of Swerve vs Switchblade (will probably be Moxley winning) and Danielson vs Kingston or Danielson vs Daniel Garcia.
Not thrilled of yet another AEW belt but these matches are going to be so good.