New Year's Smash (2023)
| New Year's Smash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the Dynamite broadcast | |||
| Promotion | All Elite Wrestling | ||
| Date | December 27, 2023 (aired December 27 and 29, 2023) | ||
| City | Orlando, Florida | ||
| Venue | Addition Financial Arena | ||
| Attendance | 5,729 | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| AEW Dynamite special episodes chronology | |||
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| AEW Rampage special episodes chronology | |||
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The 2023 New Year's Smash was the fourth New Year's Smash professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The two-part event took place on December 27, 2023, at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida, encompassing AEW's weekly television programs, Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage. Dynamite aired live on TBS while Rampage aired on tape delay on December 29 on TNT.
Seven matches were contested at the event, four of which aired live on Dynamite with the other three taped for Rampage. In the main event of the Dynamite broadcast, The Devil's Masked Men (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, who at the time were unidentified) defeated MJF in a 2-on-1 Handicap match to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the third time. In the main event of the Rampage broadcast, Top Flight (Darius Martin and Dante Martin) and Action Andretti defeated Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero in a trios match.
Production
[edit]Background
[edit]New Year's Smash is a two-part professional wrestling television special held around New Year's by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since January 2021.[1] The fourth New Year's Smash was scheduled to be held on December 27, 2023, at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. The first part aired live as a special episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite on TBS, while the second part was taped the same night and aired on tape delay on December 29 as a special episode of Friday Night Rampage on TNT.[2]
Storylines
[edit]New Year's Smash featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines, written by AEW's writers.[3] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.
On the November 11 episode of Collision, AEW president Tony Khan announced the Continental Classic, a 12-man round-robin tournament similar to New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) G1 Climax, to be held across episodes of Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, starting from the November 22 episode of Dynamite. The semi-finals, promoted as the League Finals, were scheduled for Dynamite: New Year's Smash.[4] As a result of Jay White's win over Jon Moxley on Dynamite: Holiday Bash, that tied him in points with Moxley and Swerve Strickland, with the three facing off in a three-way match in the Gold League Final. Additionally, due to Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli's time limit draw on Collision: Holiday Bash, that kept Danielson ahead in points to face Eddie Kingston in the Blue League Final.[5]
Results
[edit]Night 1
[edit]| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[6] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Moxley defeated Jay White and Swerve Strickland by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Gold League Semifinal match | 23:15 | ||
| 2 | Eddie Kingston defeated Bryan Danielson by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Blue League Semifinal match | 22:35 | ||
| 3 | Skye Blue defeated Kris Statlander by pinfall | Singles match | 9:15 | ||
| 4 | The Devil's Masked Men[a] defeated MJF (c) by pinfall | 2-on-1 Handicap match[b] for the ROH World Tag Team Championship | 1:25 | ||
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Night 2
[edit]| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[7] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruby Soho (with Saraya and Harley Cameron) defeated Marina Shafir (with Nyla Rose) by pinfall | Singles match | 5:00 | ||
| 2 | Wheeler Yuta (c) defeated Matt Sydal by pinfall | Pure Wrestling Rules match for the ROH Pure Championship | 9:34 | ||
| 3 | Top Flight (Darius Martin and Dante Martin) and Action Andretti defeated Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero by pinfall | Trios match | 13:00 | ||
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Notes
[edit]- ^ At the time of this match, the identities of the 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.
References
[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.
- ^ Varsallone, Jim (December 26, 2023). "AEW in Orlando for the holidays with a big gift: Swerve Strickland vs. Jon Moxley vs. Jay White". Miami Herald. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ Murphy, Don (November 11, 2023). "AEW Collision results (11/11): Murphy's review of Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland vs. Lance Archer, Vincent, and Dutch, Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart, Daniel Garcia vs. Andrade El Idolo". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (December 20, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (12/20): Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Jay White, Swerve Strickland vs. Rush, and Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal in Continental Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (December 27, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (12/27): Powell's live review of Swerve Strickland vs. Jon Moxley vs. Jay White, and Bryan Danielson and Eddie Kingston in Continental Classic semifinal matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ Murphy, Don (December 29, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (12/29): Murphy's review of Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, Wheeler Yuta vs. Matt Sydal for the ROH Pure Title, Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, and Trent Beretta vs. Top Flight and Action Andretti". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 30, 2023.