Worlds End 2024: Okada and Ospreay Give AEW a Brilliant Continental Classic Finish

Toni Storm pinned Leila Grey with an inside cradle after Grey attempted a suplex in the opening Zero Hour singles match at Worlds End 2024. Fans played into Storm's apparent new-rookie persona by chanting that she was a rookie, but Grey treated the contest seriously, catching Storm with a cutter and later trapping her in a dragon sleeper. Storm reached the ropes with her boot to escape the hold, answered Grey's offense with a running hip attack, and then countered the attempted suplex directly into the inside-cradle three-count. C (6.3) recognizes a short, tightly defined character match and legitimate non-title pin, rather than implying the winner needed a named high-impact finisher to settle the bout.

Jeff Jarrett defeated QT Marshall by pinfall. The match is framed as Singles match and runs 9:25. As a pre-show match, it has to create momentum before the pay-per-view proper while still feeling worthwhile on its own. The match is solid and useful, but it lacks the urgency or escalation needed to reach the top tier. The result does not rely on a championship change for its importance. At 6 out of 10, the rating reflects how the match works inside Worlds End 2024 as a complete show rather than treating historical importance and immediate match quality as the same thing.

Lio Rush pinned Dante Martin with a frog splash to win Worlds End 2024's eight-man Zero Hour match for himself, Action Andretti, Brian Cage and Lance Archer. The Outrunners and Top Flight rallied with a four-man biceps-drop sequence after Turbo Floyd cleaned house, but the Murder Machines regained control when Cage and Archer planted Dante with a chokeslam-powerbomb combination. Rush then tagged himself in, immediately hit the frog splash and stole the deciding cover from his own teammates, leaving Cage and Archer visibly frustrated. AEW World Tag Team Champions Private Party watched the match backstage before confronting Andretti and Rush afterward, setting up a separate tag-team issue rather than changing the completed eight-man result. C+ (6.8) credits the distinctive finish and uneasy winning-team dynamics without treating this supporting pre-show match as a title defense.

Will Ospreay pinned Kyle Fletcher after a Styles Clash to advance to the 2024 Continental Classic final. Fletcher had battered his former friend through the ropes and turnbuckles, countering a poisonrana with a Hidden Blade and threatening victory after a brainbuster and Liger Bomb. Ospreay survived by kicking out, then avoided another brainbuster and completed the Styles Clash for the deciding three-count. This was a tournament semifinal rather than an AEW International Championship defense, and Ospreay was visibly worn down before having to return for the final with Okada later the same night.

Kazuchika Okada pinned Ricochet with the Rainmaker to reach the Continental Classic final against Will Ospreay. Ricochet found near falls from a springboard moonsault, the Vertigo and a shooting star press, but Okada repeatedly denied the Spirit Gun and controlled the pace with a neckbreaker, elbow drop and dropkick. He countered Ricochet's second Spirit Gun attempt and struck with the finishing lariat for a counted pin. Swerve Strickland then publicly mocked Ricochet with a wagon of toilet paper after the match; the provocation was an aftermath angle, not a factor in Okada's official victory.

Mariah May retained the AEW Women's World Championship by defeating Thunder Rosa in a Tijuana Street Fight filled with weapons tied to Rosa's background. Rosa broke open a pinata filled with thumbtacks and survived May Day onto them, while May used a chair, tequila and a barbed-wire-wrapped knee. The challenger answered with a Death Valley Driver, a cane borrowed from her father and a chain. May eventually threw dirt into Rosa's eyes and drove her through a ringside table with Storm Zero to decide the match. The violent stipulation explains why none of the illegal objects produced a disqualification; May left as champion, not Rosa.

MJF pinned Adam Cole with the Heat Seeker to retain the Dynamite Diamond Ring after a distraction enabled a low blow. Cole had fought through a damaged leg to land Panama Sunrise and The Boom, yet MJF survived the near fall and attacked the knee until Cole struggled to stand. At ringside MJF feigned being assaulted by Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, persuading the referee to eject them. During their renewed protest, MJF hit Cole below the belt and used the Heat Seeker for the actual cover. Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly prevented a further chair attack afterward, and Cole later used the ring on MJF. That retaliation did not change the official result.

Konosuke Takeshita pinned Powerhouse Hobbs after Raging Fire to retain the AEW International Championship despite a hard-fought challenge. Hobbs repeatedly floored Takeshita with shoulder blocks and power offense, including a spinebuster and an avalanche powerslam, but began favoring a damaged knee as the bout continued. The champion kicked the exposed leg after Hobbs removed his brace, then landed his finishing move and covered him for the win. Don Callis was on commentary rather than acting as a legal participant. The title stayed with Takeshita; Hobbs's strong offensive showing was the reason the defense carried more tension than a routine squash.

Mercedes Mone pinned Kris Statlander with a tightly held cradle to retain the TBS Championship following a long match that threatened to end with either woman's signature offense. Statlander twice powered out of Moné's holds and survived several meteoras, but she became entangled in the ring apron after an exchange on the floor and had to remove her boot to continue. Moné attacked her leg and later trapped her in an STF, which Statlander broke on the ropes. When Statlander attempted Staturday Night Fever, Moné escaped, secured an ankle lock and converted the counterattack into the winning cradle. This was a pinfall retention, not a title change by submission.

Kazuchika Okada pinned Will Ospreay with the Rainmaker to win the 2024 Continental Classic final and retain the AEW Continental Championship. Both men had already competed in earlier tournament semifinals, with Ospreay's previous battle leaving him battered before facing his former New Japan mentor. Ospreay survived repeated DDTs and an earlier Rainmaker, while Okada kicked out of a Styles Clash, an OsCutter and Stormbreaker. Ospreay tried a Hidden Blade in the final scramble, but Okada evaded it and landed another Rainmaker for the legal fall. Kenny Omega's surprise return afterward to present the belt began a new confrontation but did not alter the tournament result.

Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Championship by pinning Jay White with a Death Rider in the four-way against White, Orange Cassidy and Hangman Adam Page. The challengers briefly worked together to neutralize Moxley, but fighting over who would score the pin broke their alliance. Page stopped Cassidy's cover and used Buckshot Lariats, while White landed Blade Runner on Moxley. Wheeler Yuta interrupted White's potential winning cover by tackling the referee, and Marina Shafir's presence caused further chaos. Moxley recovered, struck White with the Death Rider and made the official cover. Neither Cassidy nor Page was pinned, and the postmatch return of Adam Copeland came after Moxley had already retained.