Bryan Danielson Defeats Daniel Garcia in Continental Classic Tournament
The main event of tonight’s (Dec. 8) episode of AEW Rampage saw Bryan Danielson go one-on-one with Daniel Garcia in a Blue League match of the Continental Classic tournament. Earlier in the day, Bryan joked on social media about fining people who didn’t plan to watch him kick Garcia’s head in:
Also, if you don’t watch #AEWRampage tonight at 10pm EST/PM CT, I’M GOING TO FINE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/IsYmWEtgPU
The jokes were over once the bell rang to start the main event. Bryan had his first match in the tournament last weekend on Collision and a scored a win. Would he be able to do it again on Rampage and remain undefeated in the tourney?
Garcia came into this match with an 0-2 record in the tournament, so he changed things up by reverting back to his old wrestling trunks. Garcia’s newfound intensity served him well for most of the fight. However, he had something of a relapse late in the fight and did his sports entertainment dance as he was preparing to put Bryan away.
That opened the door for Bryan to blast Garcia with the running knee and apply the LeBell Lock. Garcia fought like hell, forcing Bryan to lay in vicious crossface strikes to keep him subdued. Garcia then passed out, and the referee called for the bell.
Just like that, Bryan wins again and now ties Brody King atop the Blue League with 6 points, while Garcia is on the verge of elimination with an 0-3 record and zero points.
That result gives us the following updated standings for the Continental Classic:
Gold League
Jon Moxley (3-0-0): 9 points
Swerve Strickland (3-0-0): 9
Jay White (2-1-0): 6
RUSH (1-2-0): 3
Mark Briscoe (0-3-0): 0*
Jay Lethal (0-3-0): 0*
Blue League
Brody King (2-0-0): 6 points
Bryan Danielson (2-0-0): 6
Andrade El Idolo (1-0-0):3
Claudio Castagnoli (1-1-0): 3
Eddie Kingston (0-2-0): 0
Daniel Garcia (0-3-0): 0
* Will continue, but mathematically eliminated and cannot advance past the round-robin stage.
The Blue League matches (spoilers here) continue tomorrow night (Dec. 9) on Collision with the following:
Bryan Danielson (6 points) vs. Andrade El Idolo (3 points)
Eddie Kingston (0 points) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (3 points)
The Gold League is