Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite on December 4.

The Continental Classic continued this week, and we also had the annual Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal. MJF has held the diamond ring since 2019 and was looking to add a sixth win to his record.

Here's a look at what All Elite Wrestling advertised for this week's show at the Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana:

• Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal
• Swerve Strickland vs. Max Caster
• PAC vs. Jay White
• Kyle Fletcher vs. Shelton Benjamin
• Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Wednesday's episode of Dynamite.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Kyle Fletcher

Dynamite opened with a hype video advertising the matches to come on this week's show before we went to the ring for Benjamin and Fletcher's C2 match.

As usual, nobody was allowed at ringside, so MVP, Bobby Lashley and The Don Callis Family had to stay backstage, except Callis who joined commentary.

Benjamin knocked Fletcher to the mat a few times to establish a bit of dominance. The former ROH TV champion took a breather after eating a clothesline. For the first couple of minutes, it felt like Benjamin's experience was too much for Fletcher.

The 25-year-old managed to make it a more even battle during the break. When we returned, they were trading punches in the middle of the ring.

This was a great contest that told a story of a young talent trying his best against a decorated veteran who has worked in just about every major promotion around the world. Both men looked great, but Benjamin was the one who shined.

Ultimately, Fletcher resorted to cheating by using the ropes for leverage during a pin. He may have won the points, but Benjamin won the crowd's hearts.

The finish protects Benjamin in a small way, so it won't hurt him to take this loss to a guy who has been on fire lately.

Result: Fletcher defeated Benjamin

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The intro video at the top of the show was great. It did a good job hyping everything on the show very quickly. 
• It's wild that Benjamin is only a few months off from being twice Fletcher's age (25) and capable of doing just as much as his younger opponent. He is a true physical specimen. 
• Benjamin's crotch-lift suplex looked good, but Fletcher almost landed right on his head. 
• The crowd was really behind Benjamin. Everything he did was getting a pop. 
• There was an awkward moment when Benjamin had to get himself into position for an elbow drop. Usually, the person doing it would position their opponent before going to the top rope. 

Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal

Hook came to the ring and called out Nick Wayne and The Patriarchy. It didn't take long for Christian Cage and Shayna Wayne to arrive, but Nick and Kip Sabian attacked Hook from behind.

They ended up smashing Hook's hand between two steel chairs.

Backstage, Mercedes Moné gave an interview to Renee Paquette. We also saw MVP rip into Benjamin for losing. He got angry and attacked a random worker backstage. Benjamin and Lashley joined in and left four people battered.

Up next was the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal with Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and an assortment of other wrestlers. Evil Uno was the first to be eliminated by Mark Davis.

Top Flight was eliminated by its own allies, Lio Rush and Action Andretti, but most people who had a partner in the match worked together with them in an attempt to weed out the competition.

Lance Archer and Brian Cage were responsible for several eliminations. It came down to them, Cole and KOR as the final four. Cole and O'Reilly ended up being the winners, so they will face each other to see who gets to take on MJF at Worlds End.

This was a pretty standard Battle Royal. Nothing spectacular happened, but nothing ridiculous occurred either. The crowd was into it and the most logical people won, so it did what it needed to do.

Result: Cole and O'Reilly won

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Moné told Renee not to say Kamille's name and then said it herself at least three more times. 
• Uno tried to form an alliance with Cole before taking him down. 
• It was interesting to see Andretti and Rush wearing matching gear that was different from Top Flight's gear. 

Max Caster vs. Swerve Strickland

Caster had a talk with Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn backstage before this contest took place.

Gunn and Bowens tried to talk him out of the match, but he refused and seemed intent on proving he was the best wrestler alive, as he likes to claim.

Right after Caster was done with his usual pre-match rap, Strickland attacked him. He rolled him into the ring to begin the bout, but then they took the fight right back outside.

Caster managed to take control for a moment, but a quick House Call to the head turned things around again. Strickland hit a second and third House Call before covering Caster for a quick and easy win.

There wasn't much to this, but everything they did looked good.

Before making his exit, Strickland hit a Swerve Stomp at the crowd's urging.

Result: Strickland defeated Caster

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The look on Renee's face during the backstage segment was hilarious. 
• It's probably part of the ongoing storyline, but it almost felt like Caster was being punished with how this match was booked. 

PAC vs. Jay White

MJF spoke in a video package about promising to retain his Dynamite Diamond Ring while mocking Cole and O'Reilly.

The next match on the card saw PAC and Switchblade meet one-on-one. Wheeler Yuta accompanied The Bastard through the crowd, but nobody else from The Death Riders was there.

White had the upper hand at first and PAC took out his frustrations on Yuta by shoving him for no reason when he took a breather.

This was a competitive match that felt like a personal fight. They weren't trying to be as flashy as possible. It felt like they were trying to hurt each other, which made it a lot more fun.

Switchblade was bleeding from the mouth as PAC locked in the Brutalizer in the standing position, but White managed to reach the ropes for a break.

Yuta interfered but it didn't stop White from hitting the Blade Runner for the pin and the win. He hit one on Yuta before Marina Shafir showed up and stared him down as a distraction so Jon Moxley could attack.

"Hangman" Adam Page came out and looked like he was about to fight Mox before Orange Cassidy came out of nowhere and went after Mox with an extension cord. White, Page and OC ended up taking out The Death Riders to end the segment.

Result: White defeated PAC

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video recapping White and PAC's feud so far was good. 
• It was weird that The Bastard didn't have his trios title with him. 
• It sucks that Juice Robinson is injured again. Seeing White without him feels wrong. 
• They had an awesome exchange of counters and reversals that ended with White hitting an overhead suplex. 
• Christian lurking with his contract was kind of funny. 

Anna Jay vs. Penelope Ford

Jamie Hayter gave a backstage promo directed at Julia Hart before we got a grudge match between Jay and Ford.

These two have had several singles and tag matches in AEW, but this was the first in almost three years.

AEW aired a quick video to recap their longstanding feud between entrances. Ford came into this with a 2-0 record against Jay in singles matches, but Jay has won more tag bouts.

Jay offered a handshake but Ford kicked her hand away. They talked some trash before trading punches to get things going.

The second half of this bout was much more physical and saw both women come close to winning a couple of times, but it was Jay who scored the win in the end. She grabbed a mic after Ford left the ring and called out Moné.

The CEO came out and they almost got into a fight, but Moné acted like she had somewhere else to be in order to avoid the scuffle.

Result: Jay defeated Ford

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Chris Jericho had a quick segment and plugged an appearance on ROH this week. 
• We got a return vignette for Bandido, who has been out of action for some time. 
• Ford looked like she forgot to bump when Jay hit a flying forearm, so she sort of stumbled but remained standing. 
• Ford hit a nice double knee drop on the apron. 

Brody King vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Mina Shirakawa confronted Mariah May and issued a warning during a backstage segment before we went back to the ring for the main event between King and Castagnoli.

The two powerhouses locked up and fought for control for a long time. The Swiss Superman got in the first few shots, but King quickly put him down with a single blow, which the announcers noted is a rare thing to see.

Castagnoli began focusing on King's injured right arm as the show went to a break. When we returned, the powerhouse of House of Black began building a head of steam.

This was a terrific display of two totally different kinds of powerful wrestlers. Castagnoli is like a Lamborghini supercar while King is like a Ford truck. Both are powerful in their own way and serve completely different purposes, but both are classics for a reason.

Castagnoli picked up the win and three points with the Neutralizer, but King gave him a tough fight. The Swiss star is now leading the Gold League with six points.

Result: Castagnoli defeated King

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Seeing King wear a colorful jacket to the ring was so strange after being clad in black for so long. 
• King seems to have almost no limitations while wearing a wrist cast, which is impressive. 

The Final Word

Wednesday's Dynamite continued this year's Continental Classic while also addressing a handful of feuds outside of the tournament.

Seeing Hangman, Switchblade and Cassidy form a temporary alliance to fight off The Death Riders was the most memorable moment of the show, but we also saw some solid in-ring action.

King and Castagnoli put on a brutal contest in the main event, PAC and White gave us an entertaining grudge match, and Jay and Ford continued their years-long rivalry with a good performance. But one match stood above the rest.

Fletcher may have pulled out the win, but Benjamin was the star of the C2 matchup that opened the show. Both men looked great, but seeing the veteran look so dominant was a nice change of pace from how he was often booked in WWE.

There wasn't really a weak moment on the show. Every segment either advanced a storyline or included a good match, so it was a brisk two hours of graps.

Grade: B+