New Year's Smash (December 2021)
The December 2021 New Year's Smash was the second New Year's Smash professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on December 29, 2021, at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. The two-part event was broadcast on TNT as special episodes of AEW's weekly television programs, Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage. Dynamite aired live while Rampage aired on tape delay on December 31. It was the second New Year's Smash event to be held in 2021, after the first took place in January. The Dynamite broadcast was the show's final episode on TNT as Dynamite moved to TNT's sister channel TBS on January 5, 2022.
| AEW New Year's Smash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Promotional poster featuring (clockwise from left) Bryan Danielson, Ruby Soho, Adam Cole, and CM Punk | |||
| Promotion | All Elite Wrestling | ||
| Date | December 29, 2021 (aired December 29, 2021 and December 31, 2021) | ||
| City | Jacksonville, Florida | ||
| Venue | Daily's Place | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| AEW Dynamite special episodes chronology | |||
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| AEW Rampage special episodes chronology | |||
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In the main event of the Dynamite broadcast, the reunited team of Adam Cole and reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent? Beretta, and Orange Cassidy), while in the main event of the Rampage broadcast, Cody Rhodes defeated Ethan Page to retain the AEW TNT Championship. The Dynamite broadcast also saw the AEW debut of Mercedes Martinez, who cost Thunder Rosa her semifinals match against Jade Cargill in the AEW TBS Championship tournament. Martinez last appeared in AEW as a free agent at the All Out pay-per-view and an episode of Dark in late 2019.
Production
Background
In January 2021, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held a two-part television special of Wednesday Night Dynamite called New Year's Smash.[1] On November 8, 2021, AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that New Year's Smash would return live on December 29 for Dynamite and an episode of Friday Night Rampage that would air on tape delay on New Year's Eve. The December 29 episode marked the final episode of Dynamite on TNT; the show moved to TBS on January 5, 2022, while Rampage remained on TNT. This was part of AEW's end-of-year Christmas party. The event returned AEW to its home venue of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida.[2]
Storylines
New Year's Smash featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Rampage, the supplementary online streaming shows, Dark and Elevation, and The Young Bucks' YouTube series Being The Elite.
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen), and FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) defeated Christian Cage, Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus), and The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix) (with Alex Abrahantes) by pinfall | Ten-man tag team match | 12:52 |
| 2 | 2.0 (Jeff Parker and Matt Lee) and Daniel Garcia defeated Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz) and Eddie Kingston by pinfall | Six-man tag team match | 8:33 |
| 3 | Wardlow (with Shawn Spears) defeated Colin Delaney by pinfall | Singles match | 1:23 |
| 4 | Jade Cargill (with "Smart Mark Sterling) defeated Thunder Rosa by pinfall | AEW TBS Championship tournament semifinal | 11:00 |
| 5 | Adam Cole and reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, and Orange Cassidy) by pinfall | Six-man tag team match | 14:50 |
| No. | Results[5] | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darby Allin (with Sting) defeated Anthony Bowens (with Max Caster) | Singles match | 11:03 | ||
| 2 | TayJay (Anna Jay and Tay Conti) defeated Penelope Ford and The Bunny | Tag team Street Fight | 10:42 | ||
| 3 | Cody Rhodes (c) (with Arn Anderson) defeated Ethan Page (with Dan Lambert and Scorpio Sky) | Singles match for the AEW TNT Championship | 14:13 | ||
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References
- Rose, Bryan (December 9, 2020). "AEW announces Holiday Bash, New Year's Smash special events". Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- "Tony Khan confirms Jacksonville return for Dynamite & Rampage". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- Barnett, Jake (December 29, 2021). "12/29 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Orange Cassidy, Trent, and Chuck Taylor, Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz vs. 2point0 and Daniel Garcia, Thunder Rosa vs. Jade Cargill in a TNT Title tournament match, 10-man tag match, Jim Ross's return". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- "AEW Rampage and Elevation spoilers from Jacksonville, Florida". F4WOnline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 30, 2021.