The 2025 Continental Classic (C2) was a professional wrestling round-robin tournament hosted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The third annual edition of the AEW Continental Classic began on the Thanksgiving Eve episode of Dynamite on November 26, 2025, and culminated at the Worlds End pay-per-view (PPV) event on December 27, 2025. Tournament matches were held under "Continental Rules", which featured 20-minute time limits, no one allowed at ringside, and outside interference strictly prohibited. The prize of the tournament was the AEW Continental Championship. The 2025 tournament winner was Jon Moxley.
Overview Established in 2023, the Continental Classic (C2) is an annual professional wrestling tournament hosted by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that starts after the promotion's Full Gear pay-per-view (PPV) event in mid-November and ends at the Worlds End PPV at the end of December. The tournament takes place in a round-robin format, with two blocks of six wrestlers – titled the Blue and Gold Leagues – wrestling each other across AEW's television shows, Dynamite, and Collision.
Matches are held under "Continental Rules": each match has 20-minute time limit, no other wrestlers are allowed at ringside, and outside interference is strictly prohibited under threat of penalty. Similar to most soccer leagues, match winners obtain three points for a win, and drawn matches give one point to each participant, and ties are broken based on head-to-head record. After the round-robin phase, the winner of each league will face the runner-up of the opposite league in a playoff match at Worlds End to determine the two championship finalists, who will wrestle each other for the AEW Continental Championship later in the evening.
As the reigning Continental Champion, Kazuchika Okada was awarded automatic entry into the tournament. Two of his fellow stable-mates in the Don Callis Family, Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, announced their entry at Full Gear. The remaining nine entrants and the draw for the blocks was announced in a Selection Special on November 24: Okada, Fletcher, Darby Allin, "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Pac were drawn into the Gold League; and Takeshita, Orange Cassidy, Claudio Castagnoli, Máscara Dorada, Jon Moxley, and Roderick Strong were drawn into the Blue League. After Allin was declared medically unable to continue the tournament after his first match against Knight, he was replaced by Jack Perry.
In July 2025 at All In: Texas, reigning Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Kenny Omega in a Winner Takes All Championship unification match to win the AEW International Championship and become the inaugural AEW Unified Champion; since Okada won as the Continental Champion, the Unified Championship adopted the rules of the Continental Championship. Although he defended both belts as one between All In and the Continental Classic, the tournament was only for the Continental Championship, meaning if Okada lost, it would end the unification, thus forcing him to relinquish the Unified Championship.
Matches +Legend Gold League match Blue League matchSemifinal match Tournament final match
+Tournament matchesDatesShowVenueMatchesTimeNovember 26Thanksgiving Eve DynamiteThe PinnacleG Kyle Fletcher defeated Kazuchika Okada by pinfall16:46B Jon Moxley defeated Máscara Dorada by technical submission12:55G Kevin Knight defeated Darby Allin by pinfall11:56BClaudio Castagnoli defeated Orange Cassidy by pinfall12:28Thanksgiving CollisionG Pac defeated Mike Bailey by technical submission15:16B Konosuke Takeshita defeated Roderick Strong by pinfall13:15December 3DynamiteFishers Event CenterGKazuchika Okada defeated Pac by pinfall13:32GKyle Fletcher defeated Kevin Knight by pinfall13:08BClaudio Castagnoli defeated Jon Moxley by pinfall15:08December 6CollisionGreater Columbus Convention CenterBOrange Cassidy defeated Roderick Strong by pinfall13:23BMáscara Dorada defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall12:00BKonosuke Takeshita defeated Jon Moxley by pinfall17:29December 10Dynamite: Winter Is ComingGateway Center ArenaGKazuchika Okada defeated Jack Perry by pinfall12:58GMike Bailey defeated Kyle Fletcher by pinfall19:10December 13Collision: Winter Is ComingUtilita Arena CardiffBClaudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita went to a time-limit draw20:00GMike Bailey defeated Kevin Knight by pinfall12:56December 17Dynamite: Holiday BashCo-op LiveBJon Moxley defeated Roderick Strong by pinfall18:10G Pac defeated Kyle Fletcher by pinfall14:54Collision: Holiday BashBOrange Cassidy defeated Máscara Dorada by pinfall11:12Collision: Holiday BashGJack Perry defeated Mike Bailey by pinfall12:41GKevin Knight defeated Kazuchika Okada by pinfall13:53December 20Dynamite on 34th StreetHammerstein BallroomB Konosuke Takeshita defeated Orange Cassidy by pinfall15:26B Máscara Dorada defeated Roderick Strong by pinfall9:20G Jack Perry defeated Pac by pinfall14:28December 21Christmas CollisionG Kyle Fletcher defeated Jack Perry by pinfall 19:18B Konosuke Takeshita defeated Máscara Dorada by pinfall 11:40B Roderick Strong defeated Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall 3:22G Kevin Knight vs. Pac went to a time-limit draw 20:00B Jon Moxley defeated Orange Cassidy by pinfall 17:03G Kazuchika Okada defeated Mike Bailey by pinfall 16:02 December 27 Worlds End Now ArenaSF Kazuchika Okada defeated Konosuke Takeshita by pinfall 17:17SF Jon Moxley defeated Kyle Fletcher by technical submission23:33FJon Moxley defeated Kazuchika Okada by pinfall20:01
Leagues +LegendQualified to league final +Participants Blue LeagueGold League 7 7 6 Pac 7 6 6 3 6 (c) – the incumbent champion at the beginning of the tournament
+Tournament overviewBlue LeagueCassidyCastagnoliDoradaMoxleyStrongTakeshitaCassidyCastagnoliCassidyMoxleyCassidyTakeshitaCastagnoliCastagnoliDoradaCastagnoliStrongDrawDoradaCassidyDoradaMoxleyDoradaTakeshitaMoxleyMoxleyCastagnoliMoxleyMoxleyTakeshitaStrongCassidyStrongDoradaMoxleyTakeshitaTakeshitaTakeshitaDrawTakeshitaTakeshitaTakeshitaGold LeagueBaileyFletcherKnightOkadaPacPerryBaileyBaileyBaileyOkadaPacPerryFletcherBaileyFletcherFletcherPacFletcherKnightBaileyFletcherKnightDrawKnightOkadaOkadaFletcherKnightOkadaOkadaPacPacPacDrawOkadaPerryPerryPerryFletcherKnightOkadaPerry
See also List of All Elite Wrestling tournaments
References