As a long term and pretty disappointed aew fan, it's crazy how refreshing the continental classic feels. All of a sudden it feels like the old aew promises can somewhat be kept. Wins matter, the time limit matters, tony can't just keep both his favorite action figures pure by having run-ins that refs are blind to interrupting matches. We get to see fresh matchups, and it's already much more interesting on day 1 than "guy goes to interview, says 2 words, gets interrupted, now they're going to fight at the ppv 2 months later" that 90% of rivalries are currently born from.
I've thought for awhile that a tournament format would benefit aew. Especially since Tony's proved he consistently can't provide a compelling reason for some of the best wrestlers in the world to fight. I hope this proves to be successful and tony doesn't screw with it too much.