AEW New Year's Smash is a professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established by the promotion in 2021, the event is held annually around New Year's. The original January 2021 event aired as two back-to-back special episodes of AEW's flagship program, Wednesday Night Dynamite, while the second event, which aired in December 2021, occurred during the same week, first as an episode of Dynamite, then as a special episode of Friday Night Rampage, with the events in 2022 and 2023 retaining this format. The 2024 event reduced it to Rampage due to Dynamite airing as a different special that week.
| AEW New Year's Smash | |
|---|---|
 AEW New Year's Smash logo | |
| Promotions | All Elite Wrestling |
| First event | January 2021 |
The Dynamite broadcast for the second event was notable for being the final Dynamite to air on TNT before the show moved to TNT's sister channel TBS; Rampage remained on TNT. The 2024 event will be notable as it will be the final episode of Rampage as the program was not included in the media rights deal taking effect in January 2025.
History
editOn the December 9, 2020, episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced that the December 30, 2020, and January 6, 2021, episodes would be a two-part event titled "New Year's Smash".[1] However, on December 28, it was announced that the event had been postponed to January 6 and 13, 2021, due to the death of AEW wrestler Brodie Lee, with the December 30 episode instead being held as a memorial event for Lee. Night 1 of New Year's Smash aired live on January 6, while Night 2 was taped on January 7 and aired on tape delay on January 13.[2]
On the November 19, 2021, episode of AEW's secondary program, Friday Night Rampage (which began airing in August), AEW announced New Year's Smash would return as the December 29 episode of Dynamite (the final episode of Dynamite on TNT before its move to TBS) and the New Year's Eve episode of Rampage. Dynamite aired live while Rampage aired on tape delay on December 31. This in turn established New Year's Smash as AEW's New Year's event, with the 2022 and 2023 events retaining the Dynamite and Rampage broadcast format.[3] The 2024 event reduced it to just Rampage due to Dynamite airing as a different special that week.[4] It will also be the final episode of Rampage as the program was not included in the media rights deal taking effect in January 2025.[5]
Events
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ Rose, Bryan (December 9, 2020). "AEW announces Holiday Bash, New Year's Smash special events". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ^ Khan, Tony [@TonyKhan] (December 28, 2020). "AEW New Year's Smash will now take place across the first 2 weeks of 2021, on January 6 + January 13 on @tntdrama. I'll announce the card for this week's #AEWDynamite Celebration of Mr. Brodie Lee's Life in a moment. Thank you to all who have shared their love for Jon this week" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c Rose, Bryan (November 8, 2021). "Tony Khan confirms Jacksonville return for Dynamite & Rampage". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ a b "AEW: Dynamite New York, NY DECEMBER 22, 2024". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (December 22, 2024). "Tony Khan Confirms Final AEW Rampage 'For The Foreseeable Future'". Fightful. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
- ^ Acero, Tony (January 6, 2021). "Join 411's Live AEW Dynamite New Year's Smash (Night One) Coverage". 411 Mania. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ^ Barnett, Jake (January 13, 2021). "1/13 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of New Year's Smash night two with Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage for the TNT Title, Miro vs. Chuck Taylor, FTR vs. Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy, Serena Deeb vs. Tay Conti for the NWA Women's Title, Pac vs. Eddie Kingston". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- ^ "AEW returning to Los Angeles in January 2023". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. October 18, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ Raghuwanshi, Vipin (October 18, 2022). "AEW Dynamite December 27: MJF in Action, Continental Classic Semifinal Set". ITN WWE. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (December 28, 2023). "AEW Rampage Spoilers For 12/29 (Taped On 12/27)". Fightful. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
Notes
edit- ^ At the time of this match, the identities of both team members were unknown, but they were revealed as Matt Taven and Mike Bennett at Worlds End on December 30.
- ^ Samoa Joe was originally scheduled to team with MJF to defend the title in place of an injured Adam Cole, but Joe appeared to have been attacked by The Devil's Masked Men before the match, which was later revealed to have been a ruse as Joe attacked MJF after the match.