Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite on November 27.

The second Continental Classic tournament began this week, so we saw several matches in the gold league take place.

Here's a look at what All Elite Wrestling advertised for Wednesday's show at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago:

• Chris Jericho vs. Tomohiro Ishii (ROH Championship)
• Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli
• Darby Allin vs. Brody King
• Mark Briscoe vs. Shelton Benjamin
• Jamie Hayter vs. Queen Aminata

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's Dynamite.

Mark Briscoe vs. Shelton Benjamin

Dynamite opened with a long video recapping the events of Full Gear before we went to the ring for The Hurt Syndicate's entrance. MVP spent some time putting over his group's dominance before Briscoe came out for his C2 matchup against Benjamin.

Due to the rules of the tournament, Lashley and MVP were not allowed to be at ringside, but they tried to intimidate The Sussex County Chicken during his entrance.

They started with a handshake, but it was just so Benjamin could try to get an early advantage. They immediately picked up the pace and turned this into a physical fight that went in and out of the ring multiple times before the break.

Briscoe got in some offense here and there, but most of this match was Benjamin putting on a dominant display. He had his opponent outmatched in power, speed, technical ability and agility. The one advantage he didn't have was being unconventional, which Briscoe had locked up.

This was a fun outing to kick off both Dynamite and the Continental Classic. Briscoe did a good job selling for Benjamin to make him look like a beast while still making himself look good whenever he managed to take control for a moment.

After a good fight, Benjamin scored a clean win with a powerslam to get his first three points in the blue league for the C2.

Result: Benjamin defeated Briscoe

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• AEW is getting a lot of use out of the Guns N' Roses song that was licensed. 
• Lashley's suit had several zippers that served no purpose, but nobody would be brave enough to question his fashion choices to his face. 
• Nigel McGuinness was practicing his standup routine by mocking American football. 
• Benjamin running up the ropes to hit a suplex is always impressive. 

Chris Jericho vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Mercedes Moné and Kamille came out so The CEO could brag about her win at Full Gear.

She was about to fire Kamille, but The Brickhouse took the mic and told her off before quitting and walking away.

After a quick break, Jericho was out with Big Bill and Bryan Keith by his side to defend the ROH title against Ishii. They started with an exchange of knife-hand chops that went on for a long time.

They kept the pace on the slow side after trading some German suplexes. Jericho took control with an apron DDT, but once they got back into the ring, the chops started flying again.

This wasn't a fancy or pretty match by any means, but they beat the life out of each other and for some fans, that is just as good. The crowd popped big when Ishii kicked out at one after a Judas Effect and Codebreaker, but he was unable to kick out after another Judas Effect.

Result: Jericho defeated Ishii

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Ishii had a brace on his knee that stood out like a sore thumb. 
• The way the Japanese wrestler popped back up to his feet after a German suplex was impressive. 
• The DDT Ishii took on the apron looked nasty. 
• Jericho's mouth was busted open during the break. 

Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli

"Hangman" Adam Page and Jay White got into a yelling match that was interrupted by PAC and Wheeler Yuta attacking both men.

Marina Shafir showed up and almost took a Blade Runner from White before Jon Moxley arrived to choke him out.

After everyone cleared the ring, Castagnoli came out to take on Ricochet in his C2 match. The high-flyer got in some decent offense before the Swiss star took control and started punishing him at ringside.

These two have been in the ring together many times over the years, so it took them no time at all to find their groove and begin putting on a show.

Not only are both of them great performers, but their skills also complement each other well. Castagnoli's power allows him to be a great base for all of Ricochet's aerial antics, and Ricochet can use that agility to sell all of Claudio's big spots in ways others can't.

They didn't do anything we've never seen before, but everything they did looked terrific. Sometimes, all you need to do is put two gifted wrestlers in the ring together and watch the magic happen.

After Ricochet refused to be counted out, Castagnoli put him out of his misery with a brutal clothesline to get the win and three points in the gold league.

Result: Castagnoli defeated Ricochet

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Marina Shafir was not holding back. She walloped Hangman. 
• Fun fact: The last time Ricochet and Castagnoli were in the ring together was as partners in a tag match on an episode of SmackDown. 
• The running uppercut the Swiss athlete hit at ringside looked awesome. 

Queen Aminata vs. Jamie Hayter

Adam Cole, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven were out after a break to talk about what happened to Roderick Strong at Full Gear.

Kyle O'Reilly eventually joined them. Both men wanted to fight MJF, but the heel said he was focused on the Battle Royal next week.

Cole and KOR both entered the Battle Royal to get a shot at MJF.

Up next was the first match in the International Women's Cup tournament with Hayter taking on Aminata.

They locked up and tried to overpower each other to take control. Hayter won the initial exchange, but they kept locking up and trying again.

The former AEW women's champion was the first to take control, but The Queen didn't make it easy for her. They traded some stiff strikes in the corner before Hayter hit a snap suplex to send us into a break.

This was a tough and physical bout that made both women look like strong competitors. Aminata has really come into her own in 2024 and being able to give a former world champion a run for her money was great.

After a competitive final sequence, the Hayterade took Aminata out to give Jamie the win.

Result: Hayter defeated Aminata

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Page vs. Yuta was announced for Collision, which airs early this week. 
• Aminata was rolling a little early for Hayter's arm drags. It was like Hayter was trying to keep up with her even though she was the one who was doing the throw. 
• Hayter will take on the winner of Willow Nightingale vs. Serena Deeb.

Darby Allin vs. Brody King

Mariah May was shown attacking Mina Shirakawa during an interview before the announcers revealed they would battle for the title at Winter is Coming on December 11.

This week's main event saw two longtime rivals do battle once more when King took on Allin in another C2 match. Allin was 2-0 over King in AEW coming into this bout.

King was almost taking pity on his injured opponent at first, but Allin wasn't going to go down easily, so King began unloading on him with offense that kept increasing in brutality.

Allin began to do his usual comeback routine when we returned from a break, but it was too little, too late. King decimated him to win the match and earn three points.

When it looked like Castagnoli might attack Allin with a chair, King came back and protected him by standing over his body. The Swiss star shook his head and walked away to close the show.

Result: King defeated Allin

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Allin was heavily bandaged to sell the car crash he was in at Full Gear. 
• The way King flipped Allin head over heels was wild. 
• Commentary was knocked out during the break and it took a few minutes to get it going again. 

The Final Word

Wednesday's Dynamite did two things well: It provided a clear direction for the next few weeks of programming, and it provided some great in-ring action.

Ricochet vs. Castagnoli was the standout match on the card, but every bout was enjoyable for one reason or another.

Aminata and Hayter worked their butts off to put on a good show, Jericho and Ishii bled in a hard-hitting fight, and every C2 contest was fun for different reasons.

Benjamin, Castagnoli and King came away with three points each in the Continental Classic, but more wrestlers will join them on Collision.

This was a stronger-than-average episode and part of that may have something to do with the C2 returning after being so popular last year.

Full Gear was addressed early in the show to allow for the rest of the episode to begin the build to Winter is Coming and other upcoming events.

It was a well-structured episode and worth taking the time to watch if you missed it live.

Grade: B+